A God That Remembers

“But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.” (Le 26:45 AV)

 

This statement is made in the context of warnings to Israel regarding the forsaking of the law, and in particular, the sabbath.  They are warned there would be consequences including the invasion of enemies and captivity in foreign lands.  This is exactly what happened.  Israel forsook the ceremonial law and went after the false gods of their neighbors.  They forsook the Sabbath for four-hundred-plus years.  So the LORD carried away Israel to Assyria and Judah to Babylon.  However, the LORD makes this promise above.  No matter how disobedient Israel may have been or will become, the LORD will remember the covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac, and David.  He will honor those promises and be their God that they might be His people.  What grace!

Without doing a word search, I think I can safely say that when God says he will do something, the majority of the time it is for His own glory or His own name’s sake.  The minority of times does the scripture say that for the sake of creation or mankind, or as is above, for a nation’s sake He will perform something.  Herein is one of those times.  Which makes the statement even more gracious.  At a time when the LORD could send mercy to a backslidden and disobedient people for the sake of His reputation as a merciful God, He states He will remember the covenant He had made with their forefathers for their sake.  For the fact they are helpless and wicked people who are in desperate need of God’s mercy lest they suffer consequences from which they would never recover otherwise.  It was the mercy of God that protected the nation with the ascension of Esther as queen.  Her presence as the king’s wife saved the nation of Israel from complete extermination.  It was the mercy of God that opened Cyrus’ heart to allow Israel to return and rebuild the temple and city walls.  It was the mercy of God that kept Israel as a people through four-hundred years of constant attack.  Two thousand years in the diaspora and God still remembered His covenant with Israel for their sakes.  A World War and the Great Solution came around.  Yet this resulted in the proclamation of 1948 which organized the Jewish State in the land of Palestine.  Down through the millennia, God has never forgotten His people and the promise of the unconditional covenant made to the children of Abraham and Isaac.  No matter how they treated Him, He never saw fit to cancel the covenant.  He did it for their sakes.

When we stop and consider the same faithful God who made covenants with Israel is the same God which the saints worship, we can take a similar comfort in that He will remember His tender mercies towards us, too.  He has promised to keep us until the day of redemption.  He has promised that nothing can separate us from His love.  He has promised to always be by our side and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit will never leave.  He has promised the church will survive no matter the attack from Satan and the world.  He has promised a glorious home in heaven where all our troubles will cease.  He has promised that if we truth Him, He will use us as an instrument in His hand to be a witness of His love to a lost and dying world.  He does all this for His name’s sake – yes.  But He also does all this for our sakes.  What love!  What mercy!  What grace!  To think that a God who is perfect and without flaw, demanding complete holiness from His creation, would still consider all of mankind who has failed Him!  To think the wondrous God who must judge wickedness had sent His Son to be our offering to satisfy His wrath.  And after we have trusted in His Son, we fail Him in wicked ways, yet He still honors His love towards us!  What love!  What grace!  To have the confidence that no matter what happens in life, there is one thing the world, the flesh, the devil, and death cannot take from me.  That is, the presence of a holy and loving God who will be my strength and my high tower!  What love!  What grace!  Let us live every day in the remembrance of this God whom we say we know.  What love!  What grace!