Celebrate What God Has Done
Psalm 126 is a great Psalm of celebration. It begins with words celebrating what God has done in the past: "Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, 'The LORD has done great things for them.' The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." (Psalm 126:2-3)
They're looking back on what God has done, and celebrating because of it.
The Danger of Spiritual Amnesia
Jeffrey Arthurs recounts a true story about a man named Jimmie who had a rare neurological disorder called 'Korsakoff's syndrome'. Let me read it to you:
He walked into the doctor's office with a cheery, "Hiya, Doc! Nice morning! Do I take this chair here?" He was cooperative and answered all the questions Dr. Sacks asked. He remembered his childhood home, friends, and school, and he remembered joining the Navy in 1943. He had been stationed on a submarine and could still remember Morse code. He recalled, almost relived, his Navy service through the end of the war in 1945, but that's where the memories stopped. Completely stopped.
Jimmie could not remember anything from 1945 to the present (1975) - thirty years… He could not recall anything that had happened more than a few minutes in the past. He thought he was nineteen years old, not his actual forty-nine. Dr. Sacks showed him a mirror and Jimmie gazed at the middle-aged man with bushy grey hair. He was shocked!
In Dr. Sacks' words, "He suddenly turned ashen and gripped the sides of the chair. 'What's going on? What's happened to me? Is this a nightmare? Am I crazy?'" Sacks calmed Jimmie by taking him to a window to watch a ballgame in the park below and removing the bewitching mirror. He left him alone for two minutes and then returned. Jimmie was still at the window gazing with pleasure at the kids in the park. He wheeled around with a cheery expression: "Hiya, Doc! Nice morning. You want to talk to me—do I take this chair here?" There was no sign of recognition on his frank, open face… Sacks had never "encountered, even imagined, such a power of amnesia, the possibility of a pit into which everything, every experience, every event would fathomlessly drop."
Frightening story! A bit sad too.
Yet, I wonder how many of us have got a sort of spiritual amnesia? We forget quickly how God has proven Himself again and again and again. We forget that His word is true and His promises are always trustworthy.
Remembering What God Has Done
God's leaders would often call the people of God to remember what He had done. David said to the Israelites "Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced" (1 Chronicles 16:12). The great Psalmist Asaph declared "I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago" (Psalm 77:11). Even Jesus said "remember what I told you" (John 15:20), and told His disciples to "do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19) during the Last Supper. Moses said: "Be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them." (Deuteronomy 4:9)
If you're only looking at right now, you may be short of things to celebrate. But if you will look back and remember how God has come through for His people again and again…
You'll be able to sing a song of celebration today.
The Psalms call God's people to remember His past faithfulness and celebrate it, yet spiritual amnesia is a real danger for every believer. Pause today to actively recall what God has done for you, and let that remembrance become a song of gratitude.