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Our Source of Hope – God’s Remembrance
“For He remembered His holy word
To Abraham His servant.”
(Psalm 105:42)
We return to the theme of remembrance. In verse 5, God’s people are called upon to remember the faithful things that God has done; now, we are reminded that God remembers his holy Word to Abraham. In a world where people like to present God as changing and unpredictable, the Scriptures remind us over and over again that God is unchanging, and because God is unchanging, we have hope. Furthermore, because God is unchanging, He is worthy of our worship, for He will lose none of His elect ones through the ages. Indeed, God is resolute in His promises and in that we can find great hope for the future.
Many translations will make an inference here and translate אֶת־דּבַר קָדְשׁוֹ (eth-dabar qadesho) as “His holy promise” instead of “His holy word.” The inference is a natural one because all of God’s Word is given as truth and a promise. In particular, they are looking toward the covenant promise that was given to Abraham and fulfilled as the people entered Canaan (of which the psalmist speaks). That said, it is worth reminding ourselves that the promise of God that is connected to the covenant is not the only aspect of His Word that “God remembers.” No, it is the totality of all He has spoken that stands unwaveringly before God as a neon-sign in the heavens declaring what God has done and what God has yet to do. This is part of God’s eternal Counsel (think Ephesians 1:11) and nothing can shake it. What God has said will come to pass for the joy of the believer and to the dread of the reprobate. What God has said, God will do. Not one “jot or tittle” will ever be lost or forgotten. And once again, in that, we can take hope.
God Remembers His Covenant Forever
“He eternally remembers his Covenant:
The word that He continually commanded to a thousand generations.”
(Psalm 105:8)
Were God to forget anything, He would hardly be worth our worship and praise. Yet, while there is no worry about God being forgetful, there is great comfort in knowing that God will remember His covenant with us as His people. That which He has promised to us will never be lost, cast aside, or forgotten. As God is eternal, so are the blessings and judgments that belong to His Covenant.
Of course, for those outside of God’s covenant, those who rebel against Him in pursuing sin and evil, God’s remembrance is a rather frightful thing. The judge will not neglect bringing every sin into judgment upon that day (Ecclesiastes 12:14; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Those outside of the judgment will receive in their bodies the judgment that they have earned for the sins of this life. Perhaps that is why the culture seems to take pleasure in presenting God as a kind of old senile grandfather rather than as the ruler and King of the universe.
And what is the nature of God’s covenant? It is the entirety of His Word which he has commanded to a thousand generations. Where do we find the blessings and cursings of the covenant? In the Scriptures. If we wish to know the depth of our sin, where do we look? In the Scriptures. If we wish to know of God’s promise of grace, where do we look? In the Scriptures. Have they changed? While the revealing of the Word was progressive in time across about fifteen-hundred years, the content remains consistent and thus we can say that the Word has been unchanging. Finally, are the stipulations a suggestion as to good behavior as many treat them today? No, they are commands that God has continually commanded throughout the generations and they will continue until the end of the heavens and the earth.
And so, dear friends, the question lies with where you fall with respect to God’s covenant. If you are under the covenant, having been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, take comfort. God will not forget His promises to you. If you are outside of the covenant, rebelling against God’s call to obey His Word, then fear condemnation that is eternal. To the first group, I say, rest in the great truth of God’s promise. To the latter, I say, repent and believe.
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