Remember, O God

OT: Nehemiah 1
NT: Acts 4:23-31

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Nehemiah 1:5-9 — “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’"

There is a praise song that is very popular these days called "Your Grace is Enough." Int hat song there is a line calling upon the Lord to "remember your people, remember your children, remember your promise, O God." When I first heard that song, I found the call on God to "remember" very odd. Doesn't God always remember? Or does He sometimes forget? But the more I thought about the great prayers of the Old Testament saints, the more comfortable I became with this lyric. Calling on the Lord to remember His promises is one of the hallmarks of the prayers of the ancients. It doesn't mean the Lord has forgotten His promises. God never forgets. It is, instead, a recognition that you know the promises of God and are pleased to claim them for yourself or someone you love. I fully recommend practicing the petitioning of the promises of God in prayer. Call on Him to act as He has said He would. Then wait in eager expectation for their fulfillment.

Nehemiah was the cupbearer of the king of Persia, Artaxerxes, and as a result had a very important position. He would wait on the king and have the king's complete trust. When food or drink was brought to the king, the cupbearer would taste it for poison. He was the canary in the coal mine. Nehemiah heard that the walls of Jerusalem had not been rebuilt like the temple had. His heart was devastated. So he lifted up his voice in prayer before the Lord, calling on the Lord to fulfill His promises and remember His people. Jerusalem was defenseless without walls. The people lived with a certain amount of fear. So Nehemiah called on God in intercessory prayer and then prepared to approach the king with an important request. Would God remember His servant?

Be God's.