Remember, God, All We�ve Been Through
2008-05-12

Psalm for today: 7

�I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.� Verse 17

Lamentations 5:1-12,17

This is a cry out to God to remember the things that Israel has suffered, even though the suffering was, frankly, deserved. Israel�s commitment to God was sketchy, at best. They constantly turned away from him (just like we do) to serve other �gods.� And then, when things would get bad, when the consequences became more than they could bear, they (just like we do) would turn back and cry out for mercy. And God, who is a God of mercy, always, ALWAYS received them back and healed them.

Honestly, when I read this passage, I don�t see it as humility. I see it as a pity party. There�s even a little bit of the �blame game� going on when they say, �Our parents sinned and are no more, and now we�re paying for the wrongs they did.� For some reason, I just don�t feel sorry for them. However, I�m not God. (Aren�t we all glad of that?) And I believe that God would see through the whining and blaming and look at the heart. If, in fact, this cry is truly from the heart, with a spirit of repentance, then God will see that and honor it and restore them. One huge difference between us and God in situations like this is that we can�t see the heart. We can only guess. And we probably guess wrongly a lot.


Father, I read the words in this passage, and then I read what Jesus spoke over Jerusalem in Luke 13:34. I am in awe of the fact that you continue to woo us, through time and through our sins and faults. We are such disobedient children, at times, yet you keep trying to �gather us.� Forgive us when we turn away. Forgive me when I turn away. You have shown me so often that you will never give up on me. I fall on my face before you in gratitude and ask for true repentance when I fail you. You continue to display such openhearted love towards us even when we turn away from you. This is even more amazing when we consider the vastness of the universe that you are the Lord and Master over.
Help me to know your responses to people in situations like this, so that I might have the correct response. Help me to put aside any preconceived ideas about people that have been built up over time. Help me discard completely the cynicism that has developed in my life. There is no room for that in the heart of a true believer. Let me know more clearly what you are like.

Let us all strive to respond to people the way God would respond.

Grace and peace, friends.



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