Don't Forget!

A Challenging Thought From Psalm 106

While reading in Psalm 106 recently, the Lord impressed a powerful truth upon my heart.  I noticed how many action verbs there are in the chapter.  I mean verbs that are not good.  We are told that the Children of Israel lusted, tempted, envied, despised, murmured, provoked, etc.  I preached a message tonight out of Psalm 106 entitled "10 Dangerous Verbs".  The very first of the "dangerous verbs" though, which kind of started off the whole downward spiral and sad story that is the history of the nation of Israel is the verb "forgat".  Verse 13 says, "They soon forgat..."  A few verses later (vs 21), the indictment is repeated:  "They forgat..."  Of course, there are some things which need to be forgotten, but I believe one of the most dangerous things we can do is to forget things which should be remembered.

I want you to notice WHAT they forgot.  It does not say the same thing in both verses.  
In verse 13 it says "They soon forgat his works..." and in verse 21 it says, "They forgat God..."  So first they forgot everything God had done for them, and then they forgot God Himself.  Think about that for a minute.  I don't think the order that these were stated in the Bible is an accident.  It was the forgetting of God's works that put them in the position to just totally forget God altogether.  Had they not forgotten about God's works, they would never have been able to forget God.

I believe that principle can be applied to so many areas of life.  Take marriage for instance.  A successful marriage is made up of lots of little things.  The wife irons her husband's church shirt.  The husband stops at the store to pick up a loaf of bread.  The wife puts a delicious dinner on the table.  The husband changes a burned out lightbulb.  The wife goes to pick up the kids from school.  The husband brings her a rose.  None of these things are really that huge or magnificent.  These are the "works" of a spouse.  But the first step towards forgetting about one's spouse altogether is to forget their works.  The husband who remembers and recognizes all of the little things that his wife does is not going to soon forget (abandon, walk out on) his wife.  The wife who is mindful of and thankful for the works of her husband is safeguarding the future of her marriage.

I have an awesome God.  I want to always remember and be grateful for his works, so that I will never forget Him.  And I have an awesome wife.  I want to always remember her works, so that I will never forget her.  I pray the Lord will help me to be a man of gratitude.  A man who does not forget.