Of all the capacities of the human brain, the acquisition, retention, and recall of information are undeniably among the most marvelous and mysterious. Experts in intelligence declare that every impression experienced by an individual, verbal or otherwise, is stored away in the cognitive memory bank, waiting there to be retrieved and brought to the consciousness of those who wish and are able to recover it. Such capacity, though not understood scientifically by the ancients (or even fully by moderns for that matter), has been celebrated and pressed into the service of the intellectual, cultural, and religious life of all people. Human beings have always had the desire and the ability to bring the past into the present by way of memory and in so doing to perpetuate tradition by repristination and reenactment.
Eugene H. Merrill (professor of Old Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary)
What is your earliest memory? Who was your best friend in 4th grade? Who was the last person that wrote you a letter? When was the last time God answered [one of] your prayers? When was the last time you did something you were really proud of? What was the last thing you thanked God for?
Our humanity often seems to be accompanied by forgetfulness. We quickly forget or fail to recall with frequency even the most significant events in our past. This short-sightedness into the past may hinder us as worshippers of our great God. How often do we fail to acknowledge God's work in our lives. We even find ourselves creditting His work to our own strength or goodness.
Remembering God -- His power, His faithfulness, His working in lives -- is a common theme found throughout the Bible. Psalm 63:1-7 expresses David's longing for God and his desire to praise Him. It is interesting to note the temporal change between the present, past, and future. David's first-hand experiences of God leads him to desire God more than anything else and to continue doing so into the future, knowing that God will continue to sustain and fulfil him. David lies awake at night recalling the Lord's goodness. David's worship is based on experience and remembering God.
In 1 Samuel 7:5-13, we read an awesome recounting of God's demonstration of power and His faithfulness to the Israelites. God's people cry out to Him and He powerfully delivers them the Philistines. You might think that such a blatant display of God's thunderous power would never be forgotten. Yet, Samuel takes the time to set up an altar in remembrance before moving on. He names the altar Ebenezer, which means stone of help. "Thus far has the Lord helped us."
Here I raise mine Ebenezer
Hither by thy help I’mcome
And I hope by thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God
He to rescue me from danger
Interposed his precious blood
“Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”
Describe a time when God did something memorable in your life.
Not only is it important that we reflect and remember how God has worked in our own life, but we need to share with one another and see how God is working in the lives of those around us. Just as we can read stories of great people of faith in the Bible and see how God was present in their lives, we can build our faith by experiencing God through our friends and family. As lead worshippers, our role is to help others remember God. We can point out and remind people of how God has worked in their lives, other people's lives, and our own lives. In Joshua 4:20-24 we see that the twelve stones taken from the Jordan River serve to not only remind the people who crossed the Jordan on dry ground of how God delivered them, but to be a testimony to other peoples and generations.
O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips
will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
return
Then Samuel said, "Assemble all Israel at Mizpah and I will intercede with the Lord for you." When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, "We have sinned against the Lord." And Samuel was leader of Israel at Mizpah.
When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. And when the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. They said to Samuel, "Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines." Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it up as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel's behalf, and the Lord answered him.
While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Car.
Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far has the Lord helped us." So the Philistines were subdued and did not invade Israelite territory again.
return
And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. He said to the Israelites, "In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.' For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God."
return
Jonah 2
Joshua 3-4
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Deuteronomy 8