A Lesson from Yesterday

Psalm 77 has wrecked me. The words of the psalmist – better, the cries of the psalmist are filled with emotion. This person of God is wounded and weary. This person is begging for something to change. This person very boldly asks if God has forgotten them. They feel cut off; as if the heavens are completely silent. They are begging for some good news, but can’t see any on the horizon.

What this psalmist is stuck on is their immediate circumstances. I can’t read Psalm 77 and not hear the lament and the frustration and even the anger hidden between the lines. Whatever is happening to this person, or the nation, is bitter. And whatever is happening is occuring in real time. They are actively struggling.

But the psalmist doesn’t end with the present. The psalmist also doesn’t daydream about the future. The psalmist instead looks back and sees where God has moved, where God has shown up, where God has rescued. The psalmist chooses to remember God’s acts. The psalmist reminds himself that God is good.

And, I notice that nothing in the present changes. There is no revelation from heaven that tomorrow it’ll be better. There is no angelic visitation with a winning lottery ticket. There is no promise of plague on any enemies. There is only what God’s goodness and what God has done. And, that seems to make a HUGE difference.

I talk a lot about living in the present moment…of not getting too far ahead of myself, but the truth is that’s not always the best option. Sometimes the present moment is difficult, and the future feels bound up in all kinds of mess. It becomes easy to be like this psalmist and list out all the ways it feels like the world is out to get me. And when I’m in that place, I can’t see two feet in front of me without complaints and a rising anxiety that nothing may change.

What I miss out on is the reminder of the Psalmist to look back and remember God’s goodness. In the life of the follower of Jesus we are called to remember…often. We remember at the Communion Table. We remember in our prayers. We remember every year the acts of Jesus – advent, birth, revealing, lent, holy week, Easter, ascension and pentecost. We do a lot of remembering, or at least we’re called to remember.

I want to be like this psalmist who remembers the mighty acts of God and how those mighty acts have been seen in my life. I want to live as an Easter Monday person – as a Pentecost empowered disciple. I want to remember those acts, and internalize them. And I want to remember so that my current circumstances are always kept in a space where God’s transformation can happen within me.

We’re not told if the circumstances for the psalmist changed. But I have no doubt that in his remembering of God’s goodness that he changed. My hope is that as I remember, not just as some mental tricky coping mechanism but as a true encounter with God’s goodness, that I too will be changed.

Lord Jesus – you know how life has it’s ups and downs. You experienced the good days and the hard days. You lived and walked with people who exasperated you. But you also chose to dwell on and with the Father. You took the time to get away and be with Your Father – to remember and dream together. Help me in my day to be drawn back to your goodness – over and over. Don’t let me miss the resetting of my sites based on You and not on my circumstances. Thank you for being so good for you have been so good to me. amen.

*highly recommend listeing to Paul Baloche’s song “You have been so good to me” as a wrap up.