As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of this verse:
4Memory
He has made to His ones being amazed;
gracious and compassionate [is] the LORD.
As I was studying this verse, I came across a most
interesting quote from Albert Barnes regarding our remembering the Lord’s works:
“‘They’ are so made, that man may
remember them; the memory of man, also, is so made, that it may retain them.
The highest and most appropriate exercise of memory is to retain the lessons
which the works of God inculcate; to treasure up for gratitude and for use what
He teaches His intelligent creation through those works. Memory can never be
better employed than in treasuring up the truths which the Creator teaches in His
providential dealings with us, and in His word. How much better would it be for
man if he labored more to “remember” these things; if he sought to forget many
of those things which he is so careful now to retain in his recollection.”
I’ve never thought before of our memory as a gift. The Lord
created us with this storehouse within us, this place where everything we see
and hear and think is recorded. Then He gave us the capacity to “remember,” to
go back to that memory bank and draw out those memories to replay them in our
minds. As Barnes says, “Memory can never be better employed than in treasuring
up the truths which the Creator teaches …” and I love his “How much better
would it be for man if he labored more to ‘remember’ these things; if he sought
to forget many of those things which he is so careful now to retain in his
recollection.”
Interesting. To some extent we can’t control what goes into
our memories, as far as the events which befall us every day. Then again, we do
exercise a measure of control. I can’t help it if as I’m walking down the street
I suddenly see something I wish I hadn’t. But I can choose not to be in places
where I’ll see things I shouldn’t. I can choose to spend my time with people
who say things that are edifying and helpful; or I can allow myself to be in
the company of someone I know will say things I wish I didn’t hear. In either
case, my memory will store up everything. Perhaps if we more appreciated this
gift of “memory” we’d be more careful where we are, who we’re with, what we
watch, and so forth. It is such a pleasant thing to have been with someone and
have such “good memories.” On the other hand, it is grief to have seen and
heard things I wish I hadn’t, but now they’re there, permanently imprinted on
my being.
But not only is there this bank of memories but there is
also the ability “to remember.” We have the ability to deliberately “recall”
specific memories, like when I’m “trying to remember” what someone said, or
deliberately working on memorizing Scripture and then going over those verses
to “keep them in my mind.” That is one kind of “remembering.” Then, certainly
for me, there is the sort of background video-tape playing constantly in my
mind. I don’t know if everyone else is like me but no matter what I’m doing, my
mind is constantly replaying memories. As they come up, I can choose to
willingly ponder over them or push them aside and think of something else. One
example would be a person who is bitter. Their mind constantly brings up the
faults or failures of others from the past and they allow those thoughts to
play on and on and poison their hearts. For me, one of the most common themes of
this replay is all my regrets – all the stupid things I’ve done and said, all
my failures to be who and what I should have been. Those memories are like
merciless torturers to me, never relenting, incessantly lashing me with their
condemning whips. It is interesting to me to note the only relief I find is by “remembering”
that God doesn’t see me that way. He is aware of all my failures, yet, as it
says in Zeph 3:17, “He rejoices over me with singing …” Early in my Christian
life I memorized from Romans 8: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ
Jesus … What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who
can be against us?” When I “remember” these verses, it allows me to push
away the bludgeoning regrets.
Again, Barnes’ thought strikes me: “How
much better would it be for man if he labored more to ‘remember’ these things;
if he sought to forget many of those things which he is so careful now to
retain in his recollection.”
I like this a lot. I’m going to try to be more aware of this
gift the Lord has given me, the ability to store memories and then the ability
to recall them (or choose not to). I would like to be more aware of where I am
and what I’m doing and who I’m with – with the thought that everything I see
and hear (good or bad) will go into my memory forever. And then I would like to
be more aware of what I am recalling and be more deliberately choosing, as I
recall, what I allow my mind to rehearse. As of today, I can’t change what has
already gone into my memory, but I can choose which of those memories I will
allow to replay. Like the old saying, “I can’t stop the birds from flying over
my head – but I don’t have to let them build a nest in my hair!”
Interesting – “A memory He had made …”
I close by quoting Barnes again:
“‘They’ are so made, that man may
remember them; the memory of man, also, is so made, that it may retain them.
The highest and most appropriate exercise of memory is to retain the lessons
which the works of God inculcate; to treasure up for gratitude and for use what
He teaches His intelligent creation through those works. Memory can never be
better employed than in treasuring up the truths which the Creator teaches in His
providential dealings with us, and in His word. How much better would it be for
man if he labored more to “remember” these things; if he sought to forget many
of those things which he is so careful now to retain in his recollection.”
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