Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Remember Not
An old Gospel song talks about God’s placing our sins in the “sea of His forgetfulness.” While the sentiment is good, the theology is a little shaky. Technically, God doesn’t “forget.” When we forget something, it is due to the weakness of our capacity for memory. God knows no such weakness. The sentiment, however, is correct in that God chooses not to remember our sins. In other words, once we have made confession to God (I John 1:9), our sins are forgiven—and He remembers them against us no more (Heb. 8:12; 10:17).
Along these lines, David prayed an interesting prayer (7).
Remember not the sins of my youth…remember thou me for they goodness sake…
You see, David did not pray for God to forget; he prayed that God would choose not to remember certain things. All of us have things in our past known only to ourselves and to God. And God is willing not to remember them if we confess them and make them right.
Once God chooses not to remember certain things about us, it’s best that we do likewise. Since no one can rewrite the past, and since God chooses not to remember sins that are confessed; there is no point in agonizing over events we can not change. God’s mercy and grace are generous (10, 11); and we must accept His forgiveness and go on living for Him. Remember, doing wrong in the past should not interfere with doing right in the present. Be like God—choose not to remember!
