11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
12 I will ponder all your work,
and meditate on your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is great like our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders;
you have made known your might among the peoples.
Remembering all that God has done was a common theme in the Psalms. Throughout the Bible, we are taught to remember God’s greatness, His works, his power, and his might. We are to remember how he has dealt with others in the past and how he has worked in our own lives. In such recollection, we remember that He is God and we are not. We remember that it is because of His mercy that we have come to this point in life. We remember that he is in control and has intention and purpose for all that is happening at any given moment in time. It also helps us to look beyond the moment we are in and look forward to what He is doing.
An important part of remembering is to pass on the stories from one generation to another so that the next generation could also be encouraged by the great acts of God. We are to pass them along to our children,(Psalm 78:4) declare them in our Christian meetings,(Psalm 40:9-10) and tell them to unbelievers (Psalm 96:2-3).
Psalms 105 – 107 are great examples of remembering God’s mighty works and dealings with Israel – If you are short on time, just read Psalm 107 for now.
Each psalm begins with an admonition to ‘give thanks’ and then goes on to explain why. Then both Psalm 105 & 106 end with “Praise the Lord!” Remembering God’s past works should invoke a praise response in each of us.
Psalm 107 is an awesome poem. You will be able to read it and identify with at least one, if not all of the 4 personal examples that are given in this psalm. After the beginning admonition to praise the Lord, it is broken into 4 sections: 4-9, 10–16, 17–22, and 23-32. Each section is follows a consistent pattern:
1. They start with what “Some” people did.
2. Then about 2 – 4 verses after, this verse appears: “Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.”
3. Immediately following is an explanation of how God saved them.
4. Then there is the following refrain, “Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man.”
5. This refrain is followed by more praise to the Lord.
Then the next verses (33-42) we can read of more great things that God has done.
It all ends with a great command or piece of advice for people that want to be wise: My loose paraphrase would be, “If you pay attention to the mighty works of God, His steadfast love will become obvious to you.” And this brings to mind a well-known verse:
Lamentations 3:21-23 (ESV)
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I hope it will become obvious to you how God will be glorified as the Spirit brings to our remembrance his mighty deeds and we help others to remember also. Our lives will exude confidence in the love of Jesus that has been showered on us in so many ways. Our minds will be full of fascination for his control, power and glory displayed through history and in our lives. Our hearts will be filled with fascination for his care and mercy towards us, his wayward, weak and unsubmissive servants.
Take a moment and ask the Spirit to bring to your mind a time that he worked mightily in history for his glory and the growth of a single Christian or Christian group. Then pray for another example of how God has worked mightily in your own life. I strongly encourage you to write down (or at least think over) a simple psalm similar to the four that are written in Psalm 107. And then share them with someone and praise God together.