Has God forgotten us?

Nehemiah 1:8–9 ESV

8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’

Lexham Theological Wordbook Theological Overview

The act of remembering does not mean simply recalling information from the past, but also implies an appropriate response to that knowledge in the present. Remembering is closely linked with action

Nehemiah 9:6–8 ESV

6 “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. 7 You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.

Remember God’s Sovereignty

Remember God’s Faithfulness

Nehemiah 9:16–17 ESV

16 “But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. 17 They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.

Nehemiah 9:30–31 ESV

30 Many years you bore with them and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. 31 Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

Remember mistakes and learn

Nehemiah 9:32 ESV

32 “Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised Steadfast Love

ḥeseḏ, one of the most important theological terms in the OT. Ḥeseḏ occurs over two hundred times, and most frequently refers to the certainty of God’s concern for people.

Nehemiah 13:31 ESV

31 and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.

Remember God’s “steadfast love” is for your good.

How are we to respond?

Remember God’s steadfast love

Be Obedient

What are some ways to actively remember?

In Prayer

In conversation

In writing

In singing

Where are you being called to Obedience?