Remember :: Psalm 105:1-8

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CENTRAL THOUGHT: The Psalmist exhorts God’s people to worship the Lord continually because he faithfully rules over history. 

MALADY: Original sin has so corrupted us that we cannot by our own reason or strength believe the historicity of scripture. 

GOAL: That the hearers would gain confidence that God’s eternal purposes are continually being carried out, heading toward the eschaton of Christ’s return.


Do you remember the day God saved you? 

I imagine most of you don’t remember THE day, THE moment. That is, you don't remember God literally pouring out his water and word upon you, marking you as one of the redeemed, one of his chosen ones, one of his children, cleansing you, leading you out of the wilderness of sin into the promised land of life and salvation, of milk and honey. Most of us were baptized as infants, long before we could remember anything. 

But God hasn’t stopped remembering.


Our text tonight is a reflection of that. It’s all about memory. Continuing to remember. God hasn’t stopped remembering. He is calling us to remember.

Psalm 105, which was the meat of our Introit on Sunday, is a historical hymn, and a beautiful text for Advent, the first season of the church year. It is all about memory, the memory to prepare us. It is a great text for Advent, the first season of the church year that emphasizes our remembrance that Christ is coming. Prepare the way of the Lord. 

So Seek the Lord, the psalmist declares. Seek his presence continually. ... Remember.


We don’t know when this Psalm was written, but King David and the Israelites sang it in 1 Chronicles 16 along with Psalms 96 and 106 as a hymn of remembrance as they moved the ark of the covenant into the tabernacle at Jerusalem. Therefore, you can see how it is perfect for Advent, perfect as an Introit. It leads us into our sanctuary too, enabling us to remember all that God continues to do for his people, for you ... remembering the redemptive history of Israel, for you, recording and recalling at least five hundred years of God and his people living together. It sings of God’s continual faithfulness to his unfaithful people, how he enriched them, set them free from bondage, led them into the promised land. 

Listen to the litany of wonders the LORD has done and is doing for his chosen ones. 

He has remembered … He commanded (v. 8). He confirmed (v. 10). He permitted (v. 14). He reproved (v. 14). He called (v. 16). He sent (v. 17). He made (v. 21). He caused (v. 24). He turned (v. 25). He spoke (v. 34),  He brought out (v. 37). He spread (v. 39). He opened (v. 41). He gave (v. 44). 

You can’t escape the point! God continues to act for his people.


Our response to God’s grace should result in our praise to Him, our obedience to Him, and our resolve to recount him. How are you doing with that?

I’m sure, most, if not all, of you do a very good job remembering your Lord. At least very good by human standards. 

Think about it: You are here on a Wednesday night in December. The darkest day of the year is nearly upon us. It’s just 10 days away. Some of you have driven 35 miles to be here for a 30 minute service of prayer and preaching. God bless all of you in your faithfulness, for remembering to return. Your faithfulness to hear his word. 

Too often the world around us forgets, or allows the memory to fade away amid the din of evolution and science and existentialism and Deism. Too often we struggle to remember, if only for 60 minutes one day each week. That’s enough, we try to convince ourselves. I don’t need to forgiveness more than that, we say. 

As I have heard from too many people already since I have been here, Wednesdays is too much church in Appleton City. 

Yet here you are. Oh, give thanks to the Lord.


Too often we make all of this praise and joy about ourselves. Too often we think we don’t need to come every week, every Wednesday, to every worship service. Too often we think of our prayer and praise as what we are doing for him, how we are serving him. It takes too much of my time, we say. 

So the psalmist draws us back. Turn around, he says. And remember. 

It is only when we turn around and return to the LORD continually that we can discover that the feast of Word and Prayer, Preaching and Sacrament is not for him ... but it is for us. It is in the word we hear, the water we feel, and in the bread and wine we taste, that we can recognize that we are the ones who are being continually served by God, nourished by God, reminded by God that he remembers us, that he knows we need him.


Memory in scripture is not a static thing. The Hebrew word for remembering is Zakar. It is a living word. Zakar is what God does for us. We are dead in our trespasses and sins. Dead. But God’s memory is living and active. Alive. It continues to act, continues to serve, continues to call to you, continues to enliven you as He continually reminds you that He doesn’t forget you. When God remembers He always delivers His people. He preserves them, rescues them. 

And he does this very specifically through his living word, which acts on our behalf.

You know this word. It is near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that is the word of faith that we proclaim. 

Now you can do it, that is to give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name. To make known his deeds among the peoples. You can sing to him, tell of his wondrous works in your lives. Glory in his holy name. 

We do that by continually remembering. This is the basis for our joyful worship. 


Psalm 105 may sound like it is not much more than poetic history. But God shows us, reminds us, that it is much more. As Paul told us in our epistle reading from Romans 15 on Sunday: For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope ... that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

All of God’s promises find their yes in Jesus. The Exodus described in our Psalm is but a foreshadow of the life of Jesus. Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son. ... We have seen him with our eyes, we have heard him, and we can testify that through him we have eternal life. He has become our salvation, leading us through the waters of baptism through the wilderness of sin, death, and the devil, feeding us his bread from heaven and nourishing us with his living water. 


Remember what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. ... Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead. 

This memory is indeed important. When it is fed with the love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, it will never grow stale. The wonder the psalmist gave voice to, the wonder to seek the Lord and His strength, his presence continually. For the psalmist the presence of God gave him life. For us living and dying with Christ is a way of life. Yes, faith in Christ is to set aside our egos and the desires of our world which try to silence the memory of this living word, and give ourselves over to singing God’s praises.

How can it be otherwise. For we are here to give thanks to the Lord, to call upon his name, to make known his deeds among the peoples, to sing to him, to glory in his holy name. Yes, we who have come to this place to sing to God are being fed by God. 

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