Remember, O Lord, Thy tender mercies.
Things to remember and to forget
It is only by a figure of speech that we can speak of God as remembering and forgetting. It is an accommodation to our human weakness and ignorance. He who sees all things at a glance has no need to remember, and is incapable of forgetting. Yet God acts towards us as if He both remembered and forgot, and it is enough for us to think of Him in that way. Here the Psalmist’s mind seemed to sway backward and forward between these two words “remember” and “remember not.” And so--
I. We wish to be remembered by God. It is sweet to be had in remembrance by friends. No one of us likes to be forgotten. The religious man desires, above all things, to be remembered of God. It is the sign and proof of His sincerity. If there be no serious and solemn purpose in life; if all its aims and motives and actuating impulses are vulgar, sensual, selfish, there will be no wish to have God’s eye upon it; there will be a sort of relief in the thought that He takes no notice of it, that He passes it by in forgetfulness. But to one whose endeavours are after the higher life the thought of having no place in God’s mind is dreadful.
II. We are happy in the thought that God remembers. But we wish, like the Psalmist, that He could both remember and forget. Memory brought back to David the sins of bygone years. O God, he cried, forget all those crooked and dark things, as I would forget them, and call to mind only Thine own goodness and love. What a strangely mingled cup it is that memory gives us to drink--full to the brim, overflowing with sweetness. Yet we cannot take a deep draught of the cup without coming to bitter ingredients, nay, perhaps to fiery morsels that burn and blister the mouth. Memory is as the Ebal and Gerizim of our lives. The Psalmist wished to separate these two elements of memory. He was afraid lest God should eternalise those old sins by keeping them in mind. He did not like to remember them himself. He wished to think only of the brighter, lovelier things--the Divine, the promising, the hopeful. O God, forget the evil, that I may forget it too. Yes, forget as far as possible the dark scenes of the years that lie behind. Forget the very sorrows and trials and bereavements, unless, indeed, they are so recent and so acute that it would only mock you to ask you to forget them. Bring with you out of the passing years a large and generous legacy of sweet and pure and holy memories. Be sure that all the mercies which we have ever known, all the Divine love and pity and helpfulness which we have ever proved, all that compassion and sympathy of Jesus Christ which have been our stay, will be repeated in the coming days. He will not forget. (J. G. Greenhough, M. A.)
The Divine remembrance
An aged Christian, lying on his deathbed in a state of such extreme weakness that he was often entirely unconscious of all around him, was asked the cause of his perfect peace. He replied, “When I am able to think, I think of Jesus; and when I am unable to think of Him, I know he is thinking of me.”
For they have been forever.--
The eternity of God’s mercies
A fair commendation of God’s mercies from the eternity thereof. His mercies had no beginning, as Himself had none, and shall have no end--From everlasting to everlasting Thou art our God. As the ocean and main sea can never be exhausted, but would furnish water to all the world, if everyone should bring vessels to draw water therefrom; so if we have faith and prayer to seek grace from God, He is all-sufficient in Himself to furnish us all. (A Symson.)
The antiquity of mercy
Let the ancientness of Divine love draw up our hearts to a very dear and honourable esteem of it. Pieces of antiquity, though of base metal, and otherwise of little use or value, how venerable are they with learned men! and ancient charters, how careful are men to preserve them; although they contain but temporary privileges, and sometimes but of trivial moment! How, then, should the great charter of heaven, so much older than the world, be had in everlasting remembrance, and the thoughts thereof be very precious to us; lying down, rising up, and all the day long accompanying us! (J. Cole.)