“He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD [is] gracious and full of compassion.” (Ps 111:4 AV)
Memory. Something that easily slips the older we get. Memory. It seems like we forget what we should remember and remember that which we wish we could forget. The whole psalm regards God’s wonderful hand. The psalmist is praising the LORD for all He has done. Above, he makes the observation that memory from the LORD is an manifestation of His compassion. It brought to mind a prayer request we seldom pray. Because we live in the moment, or more toward the future, the past doesn’t seem as relevant. After all, it is in the past and there is nothing one can do to change that. Yet, as we age, we naturally grasp toward the good things of the past. I wonder why. It was not out of the ordinary to call on someone laying in a hospital bed. The sicker and older they were, the more they tended to look to the past. Perhaps it was family memories. A special vacation or event that bore fond emotions. Sometimes it was a song that would remind the elderly saint of some special time in the past; the baptism of a grandchild; the salvation of a child; or their wedding day. It seems it is the LORD’s way of bringing to our minds pleasant thoughts so the current trial is much easier to bear.
I love ministry to older people. When I was young, that was not a pleasant experience for me. However, as I matured, and the LORD gave me wisdom, it became one of my favorite parts of ministry. We used to have a widow/widower luncheon once a month. It was the easiest time of ministry I had. All I had to do is to get them talking about fond memories of the past. Riding a horse to school or going down to the might Ohio River for a dunk was a constant topic. They would talk of hog killings in the front yard. They would remember how the old days were. I learned much. For one thing, our past generations were much hardier people. They worked hard and lived hard. Life was difficult. It never was. I learned about growing food for yourself rather than rely on the grocers every week. I learned that root cellars were much cheaper and never broke down. Keeping food in the cool of the root cellar was the way to preserve food for the short term. I learned what it was like to live without running water or electricity. They seem to yearn for those days all over again. These dear folks could remember names from decades ago when new people they just met would escape their minds. I was a tremendous blessing and I will always treasure those times. Those seasoned saints let me into their world and welcomed me as though I had lived that far back all along.
Doctor's appointments, funerals, low income, and aches and pains are what they deal with every day. Life was good once. Now, it is a challenge just to get out of bed. When life gets this way, a photo album can be the best friend you have. Mementos hanging on the wall or little treasures tucked away in a shoe box can become the medicine needed for a struggling soul. Life went by so quickly. Where did the time go? It seemed like just yesterday I was coming home from the hospital being up all night and not being able to sleep for another 24 hours because God had given us our first son. It seems like just the other day when I was coaching my son’s baseball team in an 18 inning ball game. I will always remember the rally back and forth. What a game! It seemed like just the other day that my son shot his first deer, then his first turkey. It seems not too long ago when my eldest earned all his awards in Awana. We were so proud. The younger generation doesn’t seem to understand that, for older folks, to spend some time in the past is cathartic. It helps with the pain of today. We have enough with the oncologists, the cardiologists, the OB/GYNs, and the surgeons to fill a lifetime. The older we get, the more our week is filled with the reality of more struggles ahead. So, the LORD, in His compassion, helps us to remember the times of faithfulness and blessing sent from the portals of heaven. Praise the LORD for the wonderful memories of past blessings that make present trials much easier to bear.
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