Remember

DEVOTION

PSALMS

REMEMBER

Ps 78:9-16

9 The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows, turned back on the day of battle; 10 they did not keep God's covenant and refused to live by his law. 11 They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them. 12 He did miracles in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan. 13 He divided the sea and led them through; he made the water stand firm like a wall. 14 He guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night. 15 He split the rocks in the desert and gave them water as abundant as the seas; 16 he brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers.

NIV

We have a lot more of this language to deal with for quite a while. The rebuking of the children of Ephraim. This is one of the tribes of Israel and they are the descendants of Joseph. There is a battle mention in Chronicles regarding some members of his tribe beaten badly by the men of Gath. But we cannot be certain this song has any reference to that. However, what it does show us is that Israel or this tribe, but it is most likely calling out all of Israel, they are losing their battles, and they will go into exile because they have no keep the covenant of God. This was the case in history. We know God used foreign kings to overrun Israel because of their unfaithfulness to him. They forgot what he had done for them and for stanzas of this song we will be reminded of all that he did for the Children of Israel during time he brought them out of Egypt. But what about us? Is there a lesson for us in this concept? Have we forgotten all that God has done for us? Some would say we should not rest on our, or his laurels, always talking about what he did, instead of talking about what he is doing. But what if he isn’t doing? That might seem like he isn’t doing anything majestic, or the miraculous in our lives at the moment, but he is. Still, it is always good to remember those mighty acts he did in the past. If we get complacent, not remembering, not testifying of his mighty working in our lives, we could lose the battle against evil. We might even throw down our bows. What this would look like for us, is that we are armed with the armor of God so we can fight against the forces of this dark world. This needs to always be in the forefront of our minds and spirits. If we get lazy in our faith, lazy in our consideration of God and all he has done for us, in us and through us, we might just not have all our armor in place. It is good to recount all his deeds. First he save us, that alone should be enough to remember our experience and keep telling the story to whoever will listen. But we have been healed physically too. And we have been given miracle after miracle, provisions when there were none. He has provided from places we would have never expected, just as he did bringing water from a rock, enough to supply for several millions of people. He has guided our path, he lead us from the inner city to the suburbs and then to this place, and to each community of believers for an expressed purpose. Just as he led the children of Israel with a pillar of fire and smoke, he led us by his divine voice, speaking directly to us, giving us direction and what he was going to do. This is our personal testimony, but each believer has their own. We will not forget, we will tell the story over again, and it not only serves as a testimony to other, about God, but it serves to keep us in relationship with him, not setting aside any of the armor, keeping our guard up against those forces of evil, against the schemes of the evil one, and the forces of evil in heavenly realms, the spirit world. God is doing great things each and every day in someone’s life, and yes, in ours. We cannot forget ever. We must continually remember.