forgetting

Leviticus 20, Ecclesiastes 3, Psalm 106

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Read Leviticus 20, Ecclesiastes 3, and Psalm 106.

This devotional is about Psalm 106.

This song asks for God’s help (vv. 4-5) and his re-gathering of the people of Israel from other nations (v. 47) in the context of praising God for his work by reviewing all he had done for Israel. As he recounted how God worked for his people, he noted that the ancient Israelites (v. 7) and his own contemporary Israelites (v. 6) were guilty of forgetting God’s works. Verse 7 put it this way, “they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.” Later in verse 13 we read, “But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his plan to unfold.” Also, verse 21 says, “They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt….”

When we forget what God has done for us, we stop trusting him to do anything for us and rebel against his word. Could this be going on in your life? Are you entertaining faithless thoughts about the Lord or even acting outside of his will because you’ve forgotten about all that he has done for you?

Despite our failures to remember God and his works, God is merciful to us. Right after verse 7 said “they did not remember your many kindnesses….” verse 8 followed with, “Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known.” We are often faithless, but God is faithful. He desire to work in your life so that you will glorify him and others will see how glorious he is.

So, if you have forgotten God’s work in your life, here’s an opportunity to change your mind (aka, “repent”). Think back over your life of instances where God showed his goodness to you even when you didn’t deserve it. Write it down, even. Then praise the Lord for his faithfulness as the Psalmist did in verses 1 and 48 and ask him to help you wherever you need it (vv. 4-5, 47).

1 Kings 10, Hosea 13, 2 Timothy 2

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Read 1 Kings 10, Hosea 13, and 2 Timothy 2.

This devotional is about Hosea 13.

Temptations await us at every point in our lives, in every circumstance in our lives. When we are discouraged or suffering or just discontent, we will be tempted to blame God or to reject him completely.

But when we are prosperous, thriving, excited about the future, and happy with the present, the temptation we face is to forget God. Israel faced all of these temptations and vast numbers of people in the nation surrendered to them throughout the history of the nation. 

Although the people of Israel complained a lot about the Lord, the truth is that God was very good to his people. He led them out of Egypt  and called them to worship him exclusively (v. 4). He provided for them in the desert—a place hostile to human life (v. 5). Yet verse 6 says, “When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.” Ungrateful for what the Lord did, forgetful of how badly they needed his divine intervention, they took credit for surviving on their own for verse 6 says, “they became proud.”

When we think we have succeeded on our own, we think we can continue to succeed on our own. We buy into the myth of self-sufficiency, so we do not praise God for what he’s done and is doing in our lives, we do not worship God based on what he has revealed to us about himself, we do not ask God for help to serve him today, we do not look to God for wisdom in the decisions we make, and we do not think about God and what he wants to do in the future. That is the temptation we face when times are good. 

Israel and Judah encountered these temptations as unbelievers, for the most part. There were people who worshipped the Lord from the heart but most of God’s chosen people forgot him because they never knew him in the first place. This is why God brought severe judgment on them (vv. 7-16). Although they had his word and his covenant, they rejected him and put their faith in other gods. Although we have come to know God by faith, we still encounter the temptation that verse 6 described. It happens when our prayer life diminishes during good times; we stop praying altogether or pray token prayers only. It is a good time for us to remember the Lord and evaluate our relationship to him. We need God far more than we realize and it glorifies God when we live in dependence on him.