CHOOSING TO REMEMBER
Psalm 77:7-11
7 Will the Lord cast off forever?
And will He be favorable no more?
8 Has His mercy ceased forever?
Has His promise failed forevermore?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah
10 And I said, “This is my anguish;
But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
11 I will remember the works of the Lord;
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
This Psalm is about David having to process some negative things that were taking place in his life. In the first six verses, David does not sound as if he is doing well. He feels disconnected from God. He cannot find a place of comfort for his emotions. He was complaining, and his spirit was overwhelmed. He felt so troubled that he could not speak. This is not a good day or night.
And David begins to ask questions. But these are questions about God’s goodness and character that David knows the answer. He knows the Lord will not cast him off. David knows the Lord has shown him favor all his life. He knows God is merciful. It was David who wrote that the Lord is good, and His mercy endures forever.
David knows that God’s promises do not fail. Psalms 119 is the longest Psalm and the longest chapter in the Bible. The entire theme of this Psalm is David’s love and respect for God’s Word. Almost every verse is about how faithful God’s Word is and how much David values what God has said. So, it’s obvious that David is in the middle of an extremely difficult situation. He even questions God’s graciousness and highlights God’s anger instead of His tender mercies. If anyone had confidence in God’s graciousness and tender mercies, it was David.
One of the things that has always impressed me about David is his ability to bounce back. David does not appear to be a stoic man who shows no emotions. He is a passionate guy who has to deal with real-life problems. David dealt with marriage problems, children problems, kingdom problems, enemy problems, and personal problems of his own doing. David was not immune to problems and expressed his anguish. But David’s strength was in the fact that he did not stay beaten down by his problems.
“But I will remember.” After expressing all this mental and emotional pain, David makes a choice to remember. He remembers his times with God when God’s goodness and strength, His right hand, caused David to come out victorious. He remembered the works of the Lord—the things God had done to protect his life and establish him as king. And David remembered God’s wonders from way back. He may have been remembering the miracles God did for Israel or even the creation of the heavens and the earth. There is much to remember with God, and by choosing to remember, David pulls out of his anguished state.
APPLICATION
David chose to use his memory for good. To remember what God had done for him and for Israel. This is such powerful wisdom. It’s way too easy, especially when things are not going well, to drag up all the bad memories from the past. And we have an enemy, Satan, who is more than willing to help in the bad memories department.
We, as David did, must choose to remember the good that God has done for us. We must choose to remember His promises and how He has helped us in the past. This is an easy choice but not an easy path. To stay in the negative is to stay with the current we are surrounded by. Choosing to remember the good is swimming upstream, but the effort is well worth it.
PRAYER
Lord, thank You for helping bring to my memory what You have done and what You have said and Your mercies and graciousness. I choose to remember Your goodness.