Psalm 78:42-43

Psalm 78:42-43

Do not forget!

These two verses are really a variation on what we read in verses 11-12. What so incensed the writer is that the people simply forgot what God had done for them! As the years unfolded, the past slipped from their memories. The glorious acts of the Lord God were lost in the dimness of time, the stories of deliverance belonged to a previous generation and the people of the present confiscated them to the basket of history. 

This indictment of God’s people is a powerful reminder to us of the importance of returning again and again to the events of the past. God has put no limits on time, everything that happens is in the “now”. “Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:8-9.

That is why the incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are not events that are consigned to history, they are as real and as relevant as if they had happened today. The salvation worked by God 2,000 years ago, is up-to-date and just as powerful as it was then. The shedding of the blood of the Lamb, the agonies of His death and the power of His resurrection need to be proclaimed again and again lest we forget. That is the whole point of breaking bread and sharing wine together. That is why Jesus asked His disciples to do this “Until I come.” Every time we share this sacred meal together, we are celebrating the current and relevant purposes of His death. And as we do so, isn’t it amazing that the partaking of it is fresh? I calculated that so far I have probably been present at over 3,000 Communion Services in my lifetime and that does not include the informal times when I have shared the bread and wine with other believers. Every time we do this, it seems that the Holy Spirit has something fresh to teach us and some new truth to uncover. Just as He has done today! So let us never forget His power and, “the day He redeemed us from the oppressor.”

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