“I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands. I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.” (Ps 143:5-6 AV)
There is cause for remembering the past. When it seems as though our present isn’t as good as our past, it is a good thing to remember the past so that we can see God in the present. He has not changed. He is still as active in the present as He was in the past. We simply have a harder time seeing Him in the present than we do in the past. We can look back and see how much the LORD has changed us. We can see the day of our salvation as the start of radical change. Change came quickly and dramatically. We had long hair, cussed, and did things we would be embarrassed to admit. All those things were rejected in a moment. It seemed as though God worked in obvious and dramatic ways. Over the years, we have had a harder time seeing God work because the changes we see are not nearly as dramatic. This does not mean God has ceased to work. He still is working. He is working just as much as He did on the day we accepted Christ. We have to be reminded of this. We have to look at the past as proof of the present. If God worked as He did decades ago, He is still working the same even though we may not be able to notice it all.
Remembering the past, however, has no value unless it produces a thirst in the present. This is the psalmist’s prayer. He remembers the past because he is thirsty for the LORD to do a dramatic work in the present. Some look at the past with regret over the present. They wish to go back to the past. They do not want to be in the present. They resent the present. They look at the past as better than the present. Solomon tells us this is not wise. “Say not thou, What is [the cause] that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this.” (Ec 7:10 AV) This is not what the psalmist is saying here. He does not resent the present as though the present was not any good. He is simply asking the LORD to work in the present as He did in the past. He is looking back with fondness. He is looking back at what the LORD did for Him and is grateful. He is not complaining about the present. He is seeking the LORD’s hand today as it was yesterday. And, there is nothing wrong with that!
When I look at the condition of our churches, I have to agree with the Psalmist. We need revival. We need God to do what He did in the 80s. The latter half of the 70s and into the 80s were marked by great movements of the LORD’s hand on our nation. It wasn’t a cultural movement like we are seeing today. It wasn’t a faux revival brought on by a change in music styles or watered-down truth. It was a true revival where people repented of their sin, were born again, and their lives radically changed as evidenced by holy living. Because of God’s hand, there was an unprecedented time of church growth and building. Churches were going up all over the place. What we see today is a cultural revival. Electronic communication is the fuel that fosters it. There is no real change. Values are not changed. Behavior is not changed. There is a form of godliness, but the power thereof is denied. This lack of real change is not systemic of a certain brand of Christendom. It is an epidemic. It is across theological and philosophical strata. What little numerical growth we see today is because we are selling a product rather than preaching a relationship. My prayer is that God might work again as he did almost fifty years ago. Our nation truly needs a real revival right now! If it does not, our nation and the world will be lost. I remember the works of old. I remember how God worked. I ache for these days to return. Please, God, work again!
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