A Deliberate Remembrance

Psalms 92

Forgetfulness always has plagued people who seek God.  Godlessness does not involve memory.  However, remembering to be godly is a formidable challenge!  One can live a godless existence without thinking while taking a thoughtless direction.  Being godly is intentional.  Godlessness requires no thought, no commitment.  Godliness is intentional continually—a deliberate life which requires direction and commitment.

A Jewish person began a Sabbath day by focusing on God’s goodness.  Gratefully praising God was a good thing.  Beginning the Sabbath Day by deliberately remembering God’s goodness and ending that day deliberately remembering God’s faithfulness was a wonderful focus!

He declared to God that His blessings thrilled him and provided great joy.  He declared the profound ways in which God touched his life. 

This person could not comprehend people who were blind to God’s activity.  Surely the wicked flourished like unwanted weeds, but destruction was their destination.  Just like weeds that grew in undesirable places, they were uprooted to die.

However, following God’s ways was to be strong and blessed.  To oppose God’s values was to embrace downfall and defeat. 

Symbols of enduring usefulness were palm trees and Lebanon’s cedars.  The palm tree had a long, fruitful life, and the cut cedar tree resisted decay.  

Both factored in God’s temple.  They were appropriate symbols of God—He who lives and endures!  God was (is) just, a rock, and absolute goodness.

It is essential for us to worship that (1) which is larger than us, (2) which leads us to goodness, and (3) which is enduring.  Worship was a whole life commitment.  It was not thoughtless acts at a tolerated time.

July 17, 2014  *  Fort Smith, AR
 

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