Today I am sharing an excerpt from A.W. Pink’s article, “Forgetting,” printed in 1950. It is so easy to forget what the Lord has done for us, how He has helped us in the past, how He has been faithful to His people and His whole church throughout the ages. It’s so important for all of us to take some time and remember the faithfulness of God! “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” (I Thess. 5:24) As A.W. Pink put it:
“… The Scriptures abound with exhortations to remembrance. At the fore of them, we would place that one where those of tender years are bidden, ‘Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come’ (Ecclesiastes 12:1). Bear in mind that, since He be your Maker, He is therefore your rightful Lord and Owner — so carry yourself toward Him as such, rendering unto Him the homage and honor that are His due. Meditate much upon His glorious perfections; call Him to mind constantly while your heart is yet impressionable, and habits for good or evil are being formed for life; and thereby you will be fortified against the temptations of youth. All of men’s wickedness and misery comes through forgetting God, hence the warning, ‘Beware that you forget not the LORD your God!’ (Deuteronomy 8:11).
‘They soon forgot his works’ (Psalm 107:13), so superficially were they affected by them. Pathetic and tragic statement! Of whom was it made? Of the heathen? No, of His own highly favored people, Israel. They had witnessed Jehovah’s mighty power in the plagues upon Egypt. They had themselves been the immediate objects and beneficiaries of the operations of His hand, delivering them from the house of bondage. They had again beheld His intervention for them by miraculously opening a way through the Red Sea, and then causing its waters to close over Pharaoh and his armies. Seemingly, their hearts had been deeply impressed on that occasion, for they had raised a song of acknowledgment and praise unto the Lord for what He had wrought for them — yet mark the sad sequel. Those signal interpositions of God ceased to engage their thoughts; the benefits and blessings of which they had been the partakers, no longer moved them. Nor was it only after an interval of years, that those gracious actings of the Lord faded from their minds, but ‘they soon forgot his works.’ Base ingratitude! Not only so; instead of thankful recollections, they broke forth in murmurings, saying to Moses and Aaron, ‘you have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill the whole assembly with hunger!’ (Exo 16:2-3).
So it has been in all ages.
The first man soon forgot the One who gave him such an excellent being and had entered into solemn covenant with him — allowing the allurement of the serpent and the solicitation of his wife to drive all holy considerations from his mind.
How quickly did Noah forget his wonderful salvation from the fatal deluge — no sooner spared from water, than he was drowned in wine.
How soon did Lot forget his rescue from Sodom — and fall into the fire of lust.
How quickly did David forget the Lord’s delivering him from Saul — and fall into the sins of adultery and murder!
How soon did Solomon forget the One who had appeared unto him thrice — turning unto false gods and committing the terrible sin of idolatry.
Of the ten lepers who were healed by Christ — all but one forgot to return and give thanks unto God.
Even the apostles quickly forgot the miracles of the loaves (Mat 16:9-10).
And these things, my reader, have been recorded for our learning and warning, for us to take to heart and turn into earnest prayer, that we may be kept from such God-dishonoring conduct, for we are men ‘subject to like passions’ (James 5:17).
Not only is the Lord grievously slighted by our forgetfulness of Him, but we ourselves are greatly the losers. As God declared of old through His prophet, ‘My people has been lost sheep . . . they have forgotten their resting place’ (Jer 50:6). As the Lord is the only true refuge for the soul, so He alone is its resting place. Consequently, when He is not in our thoughts, not only are we exposed to danger, but we are given up to a spirit of unrest and disquietude. There can be no joy in communion, no delight in His service, no calm and cheerful subjection to His will — when God is forgotten.
There can be no strength for the performance of duty, no calm facing of our problems, no courage to enter into conflict with the enemy — unless the sufficiency and fidelity of God be the heart’s stay, and the remembrance of His past mercies and deliverances and His present promises be much in our thoughts. Instead, we become like ‘lost sheep’ — pastureless, wretched, an easy prey for the wolves all around us.
It is by keeping fresh in our minds how graciously the Lord dealt with us yesterday, how unfailingly He supplied our every need — that faith is strengthened and hope stimulated today. Do not forget previous answered prayers as you ply the throne of grace afresh.”