Remember

There are many people who can tell you where they were and what they were doing on the morning of September 11 2001. His was one of the darkest days in American history as two planes crashed into thru World Trade Center towers and thousands of lives were lost. In the days that followed many churches were overflowing with people seeking peace and security for God and his people. As the fear subsided so did the number of people in the churches. These momentary times in history and in peoples lives that produce such a fear, that people have only one place to turn and that is to God is all the religion many people know. It has been said that two of the most religious places on earth are battlefields and mental hospitals. Some of the most passionate prayers can be heard on a battlefield, and otherworldly visions and supernatural voices in mental wards. While none of us would deliberately put ourselves on harms way must to invoke passionate prayer, or would we consult with a mental patient to determine godly things, many of us do go to church. Church provides us with a safe and predictable place to pray and discern God’s will. It provides us with a religion that feels safe. While safe is good, there is a real risk that we will become stagnant and complacent in our walk with God. How do we encourage passionate prayer and keep that feeling of stability? How do we grow more mature in our faith without fear? How do we keep moving forward, even though we do not know what lies ahead? The answer is simple we remember.

Psalm 132

Remember, O LORD, in David's favor,

all the hardships he endured,

2 how he swore to the LORD

and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,

3 “I will not enter my house

or get into my bed,

4 I will not give sleep to my eyes

or slumber to my eyelids,

5 until I find a place for the LORD,

a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

6 Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah;

we found it in the fields of Jaar.

7 “Let us go to his dwelling place;

let us worship at his footstool!”

8 Arise, O LORD, and go to your resting place,

you and the ark of your might.

9 Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,

and let your saints shout for joy.

10 For the sake of your servant David,

do not turn away the face of your anointed one.

11 The LORD swore to David a sure oath

from which he will not turn back:

“One of the sons of your body[a]

I will set on your throne.

12 If your sons keep my covenant

and my testimonies that I shall teach them,

their sons also forever

shall sit on your throne.”

13 For the LORD has chosen Zion;

he has desired it for his dwelling place:

14 “This is my resting place forever;

here I will dwell, for I have desired it.

15 I will abundantly bless her provisions;

I will satisfy her poor with bread.

16 Her priests I will clothe with salvation,

and her saints will shout for joy.

17 There I will make a horn to sprout for David;

I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.

18 His enemies I will clothe with shame,

but on him his crown will shine.”

This is one of the oldest of the Psalms, it is a psalm that reminds the reader of David’s obedience to God concerning the ark. It is a recount of David finding and returning the ark to its rightful place in the Temple. Ten ark was lost many years before to the Philistines, who took it as a trophy when they defeated Israel in battle. They did not keep it for long as God stick them with various plagues. The ark was returned to Israel where it rested in a village named Kiribati-jearim until David found it and returned it. The Psalm is not meant as a history lesson, but it is a reminder of how God blesses those who are obedient. For the Jewish pilgrims who would sing this song it was a reminder to them that this path they are taking up to Jerusalem to worship God was the same path taken by the David and thru ark and so ma y others who came in obedience to God for the many festivals. When we become stagnant and complacent, we are not being obedient we are being safe. Like those Jewish pilgrims we need to remember the history that has proceeded us, this history gives us thru information we need to be confident in always moving forward in our obedience to God. It helps to remain strong and keeps us from becoming vulnerable to false teachings and complacency. Eugene Peterson once said, “Memory is a data bank we use to evaluate our position and make decisions.” If we are to grow in our walk with God and be obedient to his will, we cannot rely on what we feel at the moment, or what we experienced yesterday or last week. We must know and understand the thousands of years of history the Bible gives us. We need to be aware of and act upon more than our recent experiences and look to the rich history of God’s blessings and interventions among his people.