As we turn to the Word of God this evening I want us to briefly consider just two verses from Psalm 25. Listen again to verses six and seven: "Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O Lord." This little prayer might be entitled a Prayer of Remembrance. In these words David speaks of the memory of God. In these three great "Remembers," I think we too can find a place to anchor our faith in God's memory just as did David.
Consider the first petition that David prays: "Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love for they are from old." This is, of course, not really a prayer intended to jog God's memory. Rather it is intended to remind David, himself, to focus upon the saving action of God's grace in his life. Throughout his life, David, could look back and see that God's hand was always with him - strengthening, guiding and providing for him. From the shepherd's field to the battle fields to the throne - God was pouring out love and mercy upon David.
This is a good prayer for us to pray as well. It is important for us to reflect upon the goodness of God in our lives as we journey through this world. We all need, as Fredrick Buechner describes it, to periodically enter The Room Called Remember. "In the Room called Remember, it is possible to find peace - the peace that comes from looking back and remembering that though most of the time we failed to see it, we were never really alone." How true even through the worst of times, we can look back and see evidences of God's love and mercy giving color to even the grayest moments. In the Room Called Remember we should reflect upon our past and know that throughout our lives God has never left us alone and from that we can be confident that he will continue to be with us through eternity. "Remember your great mercy and love from old."
Note the second petition in David's prayer: "Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways." Here I think David is praying for Divine Amnesia. David knew that his life was not spotless before God. His adulterous affair with Bathsheba compounded by murder were a vivid reminder that even a man "after God's own heart" was capable of horrible sin. Indeed David cries out in Psalm 51 that his sin is ever before him! And now here he is asking God to forget his sin.
I think all of us are like David in this respect. Like David, we all have parts of our lives we would wish away, buried deep within the earth, dropped into ocean depths, forgotten for eternity. We know that sin is the great stumbling block - the great wall that separates us from a living relationship with the God of mercy and love. The psalmists record in another place our realization of how great this gulf is: "If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?" Indeed who of us is worthy in and of ourselves to approach the throne of heaven? And so we pray "Remember not..."
And do you know the wonderful news? God has promised us in his Word: "I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more." Our God is a God who forgives and forgets...He forgave and forgot the sins of David and he will forgive and forget our sins as well - if we will only pray "Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways."
Now we come to the third petition of David's prayer of Remembrance. Words that one author has described as the "most human words in Scripture." He prays: "According to your love remember me..." Remember me...a heart-felt plea not to be forgotten in the hustle and bustle of the world; not to be forgotten in the rush and crush of humanity. A whispered hope that God would look with favor upon our fragile human condition and show mercy. Remember me...Words that stretched through the centuries.
500 years after David penned this words - they became once again a prayer upon the lips of a man with nothing to lose and all eternity to gain. Do you remember him? The thief upon the cross. A criminal suspended between heaven and hell - who took upon his dying lips the words of David. "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." A feeble plea from man who deserved nothing. But in the end got everything...because to that little prayer came back a thunderous reply that set the heavens cheering..."I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise!"
"According to you love, remember me..." Have you ever prayed that prayer? Have you ever asked God to forget your mistakes, forgive your past and free you from sin? If you have then you know the joy of David and the joy of the thief who went from prison to paradise. If not now is the time to take these words of David upon your lips: "Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from old. Remember not the sins of sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your great love remember me, for you are good, O Lord."
Would you know the confidence of God's hand ever upon your life? The blessings of being relieved from sin's burden? The hope of eternal life? Then you must remember this. Amen.
