What does the Bible say about God’s ability to remember us?
Apr 19th, 2009 / Salt and Light
“Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses, for they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; according to Your mercy remember me, for Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.” Psalm 25:6–7
Memories are tricky things. I have observed that everybody has his own unique way of remembering. Everyone has to develop habits which help him to remember items of importance. Some folks wear rubber bands, others develop acrostics, some have learned association tricks. Nothing is too silly to consider when remembering important things.
Yet there are some memories which collect in the mind hidden away until some smell, word, or thought causes them to rush to the forefront of consciousness and insistently demand an audience. Those memories, though unbidden, may be either sweet or wormwood. A healthy mind is a marvelous gift from God. What a tragedy when death, disease, busyness, and forgetfulness rob us of precious memories!
Needless to say, remembering gets many references in the Scriptures. Most often, remembering is dealt with in the human sphere. Man has to come up with ways to remember that God is preeminent despite the “tyranny of the urgent” and the distractions which vie for his attention. Solomon’s word of wisdom is to “remember now your Creator” in the days of youth. Our Lord instituted the Communion ordinance with the words, “this do in remembrance of Me.” As Paul explains, we are to “remember the Lord’s death until He comes.”
Because this concept of remembering what is important to us is highly valued among men, it is no wonder that we tend to wonder if God remembers us. In fact, a few references speak of God remembering. As is typical of the days before the finished work of redemption by Christ on the cross of Calvary, the references to God remembering are in the Old Testament. Israel’s time awaiting the Messiah meant that the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies once a year and offered the covering atonement of the blood of a lamb which pictured the actual, final atonement of the Lamb of God who took away sin.
Frankly, God cannot forget; He will always remember. This is why Christ had to die; there was nothing any man can do to remove the decree of eternal death for personal sin and to cause God to forget the offense. Christ paid the debt in full for those who are His. The Old Testament’s lamb’s blood was only a covering until the real Day of Atonement about 2000 years ago. Our text speaks from the experiential side of the desire to be remembered by God for good?—?the only One whose memory counts in the end.
The New Testament (post-substitutionary death of Christ) believer does not fear forgetfulness from God, and thus he does not fear exclusion from His grace. Quite the opposite. When something is really important to us, we plan a way to remember. God’s planned will (memory) will not fail. The integrity of the memory of God is extolled in Hebrews 6:17?ff, “Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.”
If you have a living relationship with God who has willed to commit to remember you, doesn’t it stand to reason that you should redouble your effort to remember your commitment to Him. Don’t let the remembrances you owe Him irretrievably slip away. Trust and obey.