Forgetting God

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Scripture warns people how easy it is to forget God in the varying circumstances of life and to fail to give him his due place, and points out the consequences of so doing.

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Warnings not to forget God

Forgetting God’s past acts

Deuteronomy 4:9 NASB95

“Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons.

Forgetting God’s covenant

Deuteronomy 4:23 NASB95

“So watch yourselves, that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a graven image in the form of anything against which the Lord your God has commanded you.

Forgetting God’s ways

Isaiah 55:6–8 NASB95

Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.

Reasons why people forget God

Easy circumstances

Deuteronomy 6:10–12 NASB95

“Then it shall come about when the Lord your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, then watch yourself, that you do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Idolatry

Judges 8:33–34 NASB95

Then it came about, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the sons of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-berith their god. Thus the sons of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side;

See also Ex 32:1–8; Dt 12:29–31; 1 Ki 11:4–6

Pride and stubbornness

Nehemiah 9:16 NASB95

“But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly; They became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.

See also Dt 9:12–13; 2 Ki 17:14–17; Je 7:22–26

Consequences of people forgetting God

Spiritual adultery

Hosea 1:2 NASB95

When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord.”

See also Je 3:6–10; Ho 4:10–13; Ho 5:4

Social decay

Hosea 4:1–3 NASB95

Listen to the word of the Lord, O sons of Israel, For the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land, Because there is no faithfulness or kindness Or knowledge of God in the land. There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, And everyone who lives in it languishes Along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky, And also the fish of the sea disappear.

The destruction of the nation

Deuteronomy 8:19–20 NASB95

“It shall come about if you ever forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish. “Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the Lord your God.

The death of the sinner

Psalm 9:17 NASB95

The wicked will return to Sheol, Even all the nations who forget God.

See also Job 8:11–13; Ps 50:22; Is 65:11–12

Examples of people forgetting God

Jdg 8:33–34; 2 Ki 17:7–20; Ps 78:40–43; Ps 106:19–22; Is 1:2–3; Je 3:19–21

Exhortations and resolve not to forget God

Ps 103:2; Ps 119:61; Ps 119:109

God’s provision to help people not to forget him

His word

Psalm 78:5–7 NASB95

For He established a testimony in Jacob And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers That they should teach them to their children, That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, That they may arise and tell them to their children, That they should put their confidence in God And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments,

Covenantal meals and festivals

Dt 16:1–3; Dt 16:9–12; 1 Co 11:23–26

External signs

Ge 9:12–17; Ge 17:9–13; Nu 15:37–39; Dt 11:18–20

God’s challenge to those who forget him

Hosea 4:1 NASB95

Listen to the word of the Lord, O sons of Israel, For the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land, Because there is no faithfulness or kindness Or knowledge of God in the land.

See also Is 57:11; Je 2:31–32; Ho 2:2–13

God’s call to those who forget him

Jeremiah 3:19–22 NASB95

“Then I said, ‘How I would set you among My sons And give you a pleasant land, The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’ And I said, ‘You shall call Me, My Father, And not turn away from following Me.’ “Surely, as a woman treacherously departs from her lover, So you have dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel,” declares the Lord. A voice is heard on the bare heights, The weeping and the supplications of the sons of Israel; Because they have perverted their way, They have forgotten the Lord their God. “Return, O faithless sons, I will heal your faithlessness.” “Behold, we come to You; For You are the Lord our God.

God’s grace even when his people do forget him

Isaiah 49:15–16 NASB95

“Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. “Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.