Word of Encouragement (09/12/2024)
Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of Israel his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones! (1 Chron. 16:8-13)
The last invitation of David in this section is, “Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of Israel his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones!” This is similar to an earlier invitation: “...make known his deeds among the peoples..., tell of all his wondrous works!” The only difference is the imperative verb: remember.
Many of you already know the importance of this word, remember, in the biblical religion. Why is it so important?
The word shows that the biblical religion is a supernatural religion. David calls on the people of God to remember “the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles....” The biblical religion is not merely about “helping people to be good” or providing them with a “crutch” so they can fare this world better. Its object of faith is a supernatural God, who created the heavens and the earth. Even though He established the natural laws to sustain the world, He is able to suspend them and perform “wondrous works” and “miracles.” He does not do this arbitrarily. He does this to show that this physical world is not all there is to reality, and the supernatural, eternal realm (or the age to come) is our ultimate destiny. He does this also to accomplish our salvation, showing that our salvation is the supernatural work of God, not man’s moral achievement.
This nicely leads to the fact that the biblical religion is a redemptive religion. It is not a religion of self-actualization or self-improvement. Man’s ultimate problem is sin and the eternal damnation it leads to. Man’s ultimate need is not a measure of moral improvement because the fallen man is dead in trespasses and sins. We need to be redeemed, not just taught and helped. And this redemption is accomplished by God’s appointed Savior, Jesus Christ—by His life of perfect obedience to God’s law to fulfill for us God’s rightful demand of righteousness, and by His suffering and death to pay the penalty of our sins.
The word, remember, also reminds us that the biblical religion is also a historical religion. “The wondrous works” and “miracles” are God’s acts of redemption in history. Christianity is not just a religion of morality and philosophical contemplation for human enlightenment. It is a religion of God’s redemption accomplished in the realm of time and space, in which we live, sin, suffer, and die unto eternal punishment. So, God achieves our redemption in history: He sent His only begotten Son into the world to live, die, and rise again for our salvation.
Lastly, the word, remember, reminds us that the biblical religion is a religion of faith. We cannot achieve our salvation by our works of goodness: as corrupted sinners, we cannot do works of pure goodness that are acceptable to God. We receive our salvation by accepting and trusting Jesus Christ as our Savior. This also means that God does not always perform the works of redemption. This is why we are to remember what God has already done for our redemption. Of course, God continues to work, but it is the work of applying Christ’s already accomplished work of salvation to His elect people. So, as Jesus died on the cross, He declared, “It is finished” (John 19:30)! So, it is not spiritually healthy to always seek signs and wonders as if God has to do more miracles to prove His existence and earn our trust.
God has revealed for us what we are to remember so we can praise God and grow in faith. It deserves our prayerful reading, study, memorization, and meditation.