“O offspring of Abraham, His servant, children of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the LORD our God; His judgments are in all the earth. He remembers His covenant forever, the word that He commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant that He made with Abraham, His sworn promise to Isaac, which He confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.'” Psalm 105:6-11
Devotional Thought For The Day
The psalmist is launching into a long discourse covering much of the history of God’s dealing with Abraham and his offspring, the children of Israel. He begins with the call of Abraham and specifically mentions the covenant regarding the “land of Canaan.” He will go on to share many details of the Exodus, which for the ancient people of Israel was the principal historical act revealing God’s will and power to deliver, save, and bless His people. In many respects it parallels God’s greatest act of deliverance and salvation, which He promised to Abraham and His people of old, the covenant of our rescue from the slavery, power, and damnation of our sin fulfilled in the suffering, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Both of these great acts of salvation clearly reveal the character and nature of God, that He is love, and also His specific love for each of us, His will that all be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
One might ask why it is important to remember, and to consciously recall and dwell upon the acts of God that occurred thousands of years ago. Often we are much more concerned about specifics of our own history, and even more interested in what has happened recently, or what is going on right now. We’re all aware of the proverbial question: “But what have you done for me lately?” Unfortunately, while this question seems quite poignant and important, it is fundamentally flawed. What God has done in the past is indicative of what He is doing right now and what He will do in the future. I used to find history quite boring and without much value, until I began to realize how much can be explained by knowing the history and that if we forget painful lessons from history we are bound to get a repeat lesson. It is no different with the history of God’s dealings with His people as recorded in the historical accounts of Holy Scripture, both the Old and the New Testaments. We can understand and know God’s will and purposes for our own lives by looking at what He has done for us in the past.
In many respects this is what the life and ministry of the church is all about – recounting and reliving and rejoicing in God’s love, His deliverance, His protection, His salvation, and His blessing of His people of old. And what He has done for us in Christ Jesus has direct application to this day – His forgiveness, mercy, guidance, and presence are distributed through the ministry of the church to this very day as we hear His Word, receive His absolution, and participate in the mysterious communion with Christ in the bread and wine which He identifies as His body and blood. We remember that God remembers His covenants forever, that the Word He speaks has binding and enduring force forever. Each blessed promise is as real and certain today as when He first spoke it and caused it to be written.
The Old Testament account of the Exodus, everything from the calling of Abraham to the long travail in slavery in Egypt to the Exodus and the conquest of Canaan, was constitutive of being a child of God in ancient Israel. It informed people of who they were in relation to God, nature, and eternity. It pressed God’s love and blessings into their hearts and minds, and it also informed them of how to live, what their purpose in life was, and how to please God and bless others. It is no different for us – when we recall what Christ has done for us, when we think of His covenant promises instilled in our baptism, and contemplate the wondrous blessings He has promised to us through faith. Through these things we know God, we know who we are, we know our purpose, and we know our eternal destination. And all of these things inform us as to how we are to live, how we are to behave, how we are to interact with others, and how we are to praise and thank God our Savior.
So we will follow the psalmist and join Him in recalling what God has done for us, and we will give Him our thanks and praise each day – and we will seek to live in accord with His great love and His calling.
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, help us to remember all that You have done for us and what You have made us every moment of every day, so that we live carefully and joyfully as Your dear children. Cause the holy history which You have accomplished to be a very present reality in our hearts and minds, so that we understand the things we are going through and know how to continue living by faith and in love. Amen.