October 14, Remember

Today’s reading: Psalms 66-70

“When you, God, went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel” - Psalm 68:7-8.

David obviously wrote and composed when he was in trouble, which was pretty much all the time, and his writing must have helped him process his situation and regain his perspective. His complaints or laments almost always ended in praise, and he was especially effective at remembering all that God had done, not just for him, but all the people of Israel as a way to encourage himself in his troubles. In today’s passage, David went all the way back to the story of the Exodus and reiterated how God worked on Israel’s behalf during that period of history. Jesus also emphasized the need to remember and established a rite to be practiced for the rest of time to commemorate what He did for His people: “And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me’” (Luke 22:19). Do you take time to remember what God has done not just for you but for all His people, of whom you are a part? Are you in a church where you celebrate the Lord’s table regularly? Do you take time to read what God did for His people in the past and count it as if He did it for you? Why not take some time right now to reflect on God’s goodness—and thank Him for it?