Devo 37
2/13/01
OK, you can get off the edge of your seats now, the next devo is here. Sorry I missed last week--I actually did have the devo done and ready to send out last Tuesday, but some technical difficulties prevented me from sending it then. I had nearly decided not to send this one and just write a new one for this week, but after reading back through this a couple times I've decided to send it out after all.
"Forget Me Not"
"They forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt." Psalms 106:21
If you know much, if anything of Jewish history in the Old Testament, you'd probably understand how tragic this psalm is. If you get the chance, read through it, and see if you can't feel just a little of the emotions the writer of this psalm was experiencing. Psalm 105 was probably composed while the Israelites were captive in Babylon, and the psalm itself is a recitation of the history of Israel to that point. It's easy for us to say, looking back 3000 years, that Israel was in captivity because they failed to serve God; the problems are easy to see and the solution blindingly obvious. In fact, it is so obvious that we can't help but wonder how the Israelites missed it. And when we put it into words, we can't help but sound condescending, as if implying that there is no way we could ever fall into that trap. If you follow God and serve Him only, keeping His commandment, then of course He will bless you. We see the Israelite's downfall much like we sense something bad will happen in a movie. "Don't open that door!", we scream at the movie screen. Then when the event does happen, we feel some satisfaction knowing that, of course, we would never be that stupid. Do we read the Old Testament like this? This kind of abstraction is dangerous. We realize this quickly enough with the movies because we know that if something bad is going to happen, there will not be eerie violin music playing in the background, and if any of us did see that door swing slightly ajar, we would be running as fast as we could in the opposite direction. We know that things don't happen in real life the same way they do in movies. But how is it dangerous when reading the Bible? First, we need to realize that the problems Israel faced are still relevant to us today.
What was Israel's main fault? What caused them so much misery time and again? Like I said, the answer is easy: they forgot God and His commands. Because Israel turned to their own gods and the gods of their neighbors, the True God's wrath burned against them. It's easy to try and rate their sins against ours. The sins of Israel listed in this psalm are far beyond what any of us would consider doing. Sacrifice our children to demons? Certainly not! Worship foreign gods? Not likely! We might defend our sense of 'goodness' by saying, "I only thought about what it would be like to kill him, I could never actually do it" or, "I only look at those pictures, I could never act out those fantasies." For some reason we find shelter in thinking that because Israel acted out their disobedience, and we only think out our disobedience, we are the better. But the result is the same in both cases. God is forgotten.
I hate myself when God becomes forgotten in my life. In forgetting God, I also forget who I am. I forget that I am God's child, his adopted child, the child He chose to bear His name and His glory to the nations. I forget that I'm free from death and alive in Christ; that selfishness only destroys. I hate knowing that I will sin again, that I will forget God and wallow in selfishness again. I am not perfect; I look back at certain points in my life and scream at myself to walk the other way. I think this might be some of the emotion with which the psalmist composed this psalm. Israel; God's chosen race. And yet, so selfish, so forgetful. Forgetful. "They had forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, awesome things by the Red Sea." (vv. 21,22)
Stop for a minute here. What are the great things God has done in your life? What are the wondrous works and awesome deeds you have seen God do on your behalf? It may be hard depending on what's happening with you right now. But trust me, they're there. It's amazing when I look at where I am now and consider how I got here, the lessons I've learned, the provisions I've had. That God should care so much is hard to comprehend. When you think of what it is God has done in your life, write it down. Write it down where you can easily get to it, where you can record new wondrous and awesome acts of God. But most of all, use it to remember just how important and special you are to God. It sound's like a lesson for an elementary student, but it is vitally important to adult as well, maybe more so. I'm not trying to say that we shouldn't feel guilty about the sin we've done. Guilt is good, it is necessary, but only if it moves us towards repentance and reconciliation with God. Guilt drives us towards forgiveness, and forgiveness to obedience. And only in obedience is the fullness of God's love and grace to be found. Think about God's work in your life, your testimony, and remember what God has called you from, and pulled you through.
"Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's." Psalm 103:2-5