Allocated Memory

“ZAIN. Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me. The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law. I remembered thy judgments of old, O LORD; and have comforted myself. Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law. Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage. I have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night, and have kept thy law. This I had, because I kept thy precepts.” (Ps 119:49-56 AV)

 

If you’ll note the underlined phrases, this section of Psalm 119 is all about memory.  The first mention is a request by the writer to the LORD to remind him of all upon which he has come to hope.  He is asking those passages of scripture that have been so familiar to him yet escape his memory, be brought back that he might have hope.  Particularly, hope to live according to the law and promises of God’s holy word.  The next mention is the answer to his prayer.  He has not remembered God’s actions or work of old.  He mulls over in his mind all those times that God had worked things out according to His unbending word.  The judgments are God’s actions in reference to His absolute law and truth revealed in His word.  The psalmist is encouraged the God of the past is also the God of the present and will be the God of the future.  The third mention of memory is the Psalmist remembering the name of the LORD in the middle of the night.   It is often the middle of the night when our thoughts trouble us the most.  When he does remember the LORD in a very personal way, he is committed to walking in the law of God despite the trouble that surrounds him.

I used to have Popeye arms.  Truly.  The rest of my body was scrawny.  But my arms from my elbows to my wrist were buff.  No, I didn’t have a physical abnormality handed down from birth.  No, I didn’t walk through a chemical spill.  No, I wasn’t bitten by a poisonous spider on both my arms.  I am not exaggerating when I say that my forearms were almost twice as big as my biceps.  You think I am exaggerating, don’t you?  Let me explain.  In my early adult years, I worked at a pizzeria.  I even managed on for a time.  The first pizzeria I worked at had a machine that would cut a sixteen-pound blob of dough into sixteen pieces and roll them into sixteen individual balls of one pound each.  Then we had to weigh them and add or subtract dough to make them exactly the same.  It was easier to do it all by hand.  So, for nine years or so, I made pizza dough cutting each batch into individual one-pound pieces, and tucking them into balls.  This happened every day for hundreds and hundreds of dough balls.  Average that out over nine years and I probably kneaded millions of pounds of dough.  The thing is, the only muscle group one uses to kneed these dough balls are your forearms.  This is why I had Popeye arms.  Today, I am no longer a freak of nature.  At least where my arms are concerned.

Memory is a valuable thing.  As I age, I am beginning to appreciate this more and more.  Yet, there is a very practical application in our passage above.  The brain is like any other organ or muscle in the body.  It must be exercised.  Our lungs automatically exercise themselves.  We can improve our lungs by exercise.  Our hearts are the same.  It beats automatically.  But exercise will strengthen our hearts.  There are other organs in our bodies that drive on automatic.  Our pancreas and thyroid produce hormones or chemicals needed for other muscles or organs to function.  They do so without a deliberate act of the will.  Doctors tell us that a good diet will keep these organs healthier for a longer length of time.  The brain is no different.  There are things we can do to improve cognitive function.  When it comes to remembering, this takes work.  When David asks the LORD to bring to the memory that which he needed for his situation, he did not sit there and hope it happened by osmosis.  He worked his brain and at the same time, relied on the Holy Spirit to bring to memory what he desired.  If we are struggling to remember, then we work the brain.  We don’t stop just because we cannot remember.