Remember Me
“Remember me, LORD, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them, that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise.
We have sinned, even as our ancestors did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.”
Today’s Text: Psalm 106:1-12 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
— Ephesians 2:8-10
There’s the gospel in a nutshell. And we must not forget to include verse 10. Western tendencies to divide and categorize and break down and analyze have separated out our ordained response to God’s saving grace, as if it was an option for us. Our response is a part of our salvation.
Probably, most thoughtful evangelical Christians know in our heads that “We have sinned, even as our ancestors [the Israelites in the wilderness] did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.” What we forget is that such sinning is actually our modus operandi. It is just how we are all the time, and we can’t help it.
Instead, we tend to pat ourselves on the back for our “good works,” and we will compare ourselves to the “lesser” works of others and feel smug about it.
Actually, I think that we should remind one another of our obligation to salvation. I couldn’t be a preacher otherwise! But I must never become “satisfied” in my “good works” and forget that I am a sinner through and through. Without God’s active and continual grace in my life, what hope would I have?
Continually remembering that I am a sinner through and through, continually remembering that it is only by God’s grace I am saved—that is what saves me.
I have to remember that God has chosen a people too, not just the individual me-myself-and-i. How did I end up in this place, in this time, so that I could hear the gospel of Jesus Christ in a nation that practices religious liberty.
Salvation is not just for me. It is for the world. And God by HIS grace has remembered me and allowed me to enjoy the shalom of HIS chosen ones and share in the joy of HIS nation and join HIS inheritance in giving praise.
What else ought I to do then but to praise HIS name and give HIM the glory that is due and live in the good works that He has prepared in advance for me to do. And what are those good works? He has revealed it to us in His word—to seek and to save the lost and to build up HIS church so that the full number of the chosen ones may be accounted for to praise His name!
Father, You are God Almighty. You are worthy of all glory, honor, and praise. My life belongs to You and to You alone. David’s psalm is my prayer, Lord. Let me live in Your shalom so that I may bear witness to Your glory. Show me Your glory, so that I may share in Your joy and share that joy with others. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
