“Two things have I required of thee; Deny me them not before I die: Remove far from me vanity and lies: Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? Or lest I be poor, and steal, And take the name of my God in vain. Accuse not a servant unto his master, Lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty. There is a generation that curseth their father, And doth not bless their mother. There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, And yet is not washed from their filthiness. There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up. There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, To devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.”
Proverbs 30:7-14 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/pro.30.7-14.KJV
Luke 11
“And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity...
Remember What God Has Done
Remembering what God has done is an important part of Jewish worship...
After God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, He instructed the people to remember His words. He told them to diligently teach His commands, and to talk about them in their houses, when they walked, when they were lying down, and when they got up in the morning (Deuteronomy 6:7).
The Israelites were told to constantly remember what God had done, who God was, and what He had said.
And so, in Psalm 85:2, the Psalmist engages in an act of remembrance by reflecting on God’s forgiveness:
“You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered all their sin.” (ESV)
The Israelites had sinned against God many times, and many times over God forgave them. The author of Psalm 85 didn’t want Israel to forget God’s great kindness, so he crafted a Psalm that would remind anyone who repeated it of God’s mercy, forgiveness, power, and love.
The Psalmist appeared to know that purposefully remembering what...