Read
The Lord
14I, the Lord, will rescue you!
I am Israel's holy God,
and this is my promise:
For your sake, I will send
an army against Babylon
to drag its people away,
crying as they go.
15I am the Lord, your holy God,
Israel's Creator and King.
16I am the one who cut a path
through the mighty ocean.
17I sent an army to chase you
with chariots and horses;
now they lie dead,
unable to move.
They are like an oil lamp
with the flame snuffed out.
Forget the Past
The Lord said:
18Forget what happened long ago!
Don't think about the past.
19I am creating something new.
There it is! Do you see it?
I have put roads in deserts,
streams in thirsty lands.
20Every wild animal honors me,
even jackals and owls.
I provide water in deserts—
streams in thirsty lands
for my chosen people.
21I made them my own nation,
so they would praise me.
22I, the Lord, said to Israel:
You have become weary of me,
but not from worshiping me.
23You have not honored me
by sacrificing sheep
or other animals.
And I have not burdened you
with demands for sacrifices
or sweet-smelling incense.
24You have not brought
delicious spices for me
or given me the best part
of your sacrificed animals.
Instead, you burden me down
with your terrible sins.
25But I wipe away your sins
because of who I am.
And so, I will forget
the wrongs you have done.
26Meet me in court!
State your case and prove
that you are right.
27Your earliest ancestor
and all your leaders
rebelled against me.
28That's why I don't allow
your priests to serve me;
I let Israel be destroyed
and your people disgraced.
Reflect
Remember. Remembering is the spiritual discipline that builds faith in God’s promises. God is telling his people about what seems to be an unlikely future: There will be a way back through the wilderness and streams there to quench their thirst as they go. How can this be? God reminds them how he brought them out of Egypt and made a way in the Red Sea, and how the Egyptian army perished as they pursued them. He did it then; he will do it again in their present circumstances.
It is important for us to remember that God did indeed keep his promise to bring Israel back from exile, but not everyone came back. Some had grown “weary” of God. The rest of this passage is about Israel’s relationship with God through temple worship. Worship itself is an act of remembering God’s acts of salvation. But these acts of worship had become a “burden” to Israel. Instead, Israel had burdened God with their sins.
To restore the relationship, God says that he will “blot out your transgressions.” That’s what God does. But our role is to “put [God] in remembrance.” Faith cannot easily be sustained where we don’t actively recall the great works of God in salvation history and in our lives. Without this kind of deliberate remembering the mechanics of the Christian life can become a burden.
The cares of the present often overwhelm the past. As Christians, we don’t try to escape from the present but we put it in proper perspective by remembering God’s work in the past and trusting him for the future.
How can you structure your life so that remembering God’s work in your life always stays at the forefront?
Respond
Heavenly Father, You have been faithful in the past both to me and the saints that came before me. Thank you. When I’m tempted to be overwhelmed by the present, please prompt me by your Spirit to remember your great works. Please also give me the discipline to constantly bring your great works to mind each day. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Rick Hiemstra
Rick Hiemstra is Director of Research and Media Relations at the EFC. Prior to coming to the EFC, he served as a Wesleyan pastor and as a high school mathematics and computer science teacher. Rick speaks on Canadian church and cultural trends, including the new Renegotiating Faith research about emerging adulthood and faith formation. He has recently contributed to Canadian studies on Bible Engagement, local church missions engagement and emerging adulthood and faith formation. Currently he is leading a study on small evangelical churches and another on parental discipleship of children in the home. He holds a BMath from the University of Waterloo, a BEd from Ottawa University and an MTS from Tyndale Seminary.