A Covenant Remembering God Amidst His Not Remembering People
I am amazed by the covenant theme throughout Scripture both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. There is covenant making, covenant keeping, covenant breaking, and covenant renewal. Above all, there is a covenant remembering God in a not remembering covenant community. In last Sunday’s excellent lesson, Patrick walked us through Psalm 107 with its emphasis on the steadfast love of our covenant making God (Ex. 34:6, 10).
During that week my reading and devotional time, quite by happenstance, was on Psalms 105 & 106. There the LORD “remembers his covenant forever . . . the covenant he made with Abraham” (Ps.105:7, 9). The Psalmist recounts the story of the exodus with the two-fold admonition to “seek the LORD and his strength, … remember the wondrous works he has done” (105:4-5). He concludes, “For he remembered his holy promise and Abraham, his servant” (105:42). In Psalm 106 the Psalmist implores, “Remember me when you share favor to your people” (106:4). He confesses that both we and our fathers have sinned. They did not remember God’s steadfast love (106:7). They soon forgot his works and did not wait for his counsel (106:13). The psalmist recalls the sins in the wilderness and early years in the land. “Nevertheless . . . for their sake he remembered his covenant and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love” (106:45-46). At this point the psalmist changes from “they” back then to “us” and their present exile among the nations – “Save us, gather us, that we may give thanks and glory in your praise” (106:47).
How may we as a new covenant community, the church, call on a covenant making and covenant remembering God? Paul’s two-fold counsel to the Corinthians comes to mind: 1) “Come out from among them and be separate says the Lord” (2 Cor. 6:16-18) and 2) “turn to the Lord … beholding his glory [we] are being transformed from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor. 3:16-17). May we be a people who remember and act in keeping covenant with our covenant keeping God.
—Tom Yoakum