Forgetting God

1 "Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you. 6 Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. 11 "Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today,

Deuteronomy 8:1-11 (NKJV)

“How soon they forget,” is more than a frequently quoted proverb. We are prone to be a forgetful people. Children often forget the sacrifices of their parents. Students forget who taught them. Sports fans forget that a head coach was a winning coach not long ago.

The point is we suffer many kinds of amnesia. We forget names, dates, places, and even old friends. Thankfully, most of what we forget is not all that serious.

Joke about the pastor who went to the nursing home to visit one of his sweet members. When he found her he approached her and said, “Hello Mrs. Jones. Do you know who I am?” At which she responded, “No, but if you go to up to that front desk they’ll tell you!”

Forgetfulness in the spiritual realm, however, is far more serious. In the O.T. Book of Deuteronomy Moses, the man of God, shares his farewell address to God’s people. In doing so, he warns them of the danger of forgetting God’s activity in their past and of His present faithfulness in their lives.

We too need to remember that God sustains us when we are nobody and have nothing. Far too many are prone to forget God when they become somebody and have something.

What does the word of God say to those who would forget God?

I. RESTRAIN FROM FORGETTING GOD, Deut. 8:11-14

A. The Reality of Forgetfulness, Deut. 8:11

"Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today,”

The fact that Moses warned his people not to forget God is an indication of the reality that the human mind is prone to forgetfulness. This is not just the simple absentmindedness I referred to a moment ago, but an amnesia, a spiritual amnesia, far more dangerous.

The children of Israel knew the wonderful, deliverer of the Exodus, the God who guided them for 40 years through the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. The God who divided the Red Sea, and fed them with manna from heaven, but they quickly forgot God when God’s man lingered on the mountain for a mere 40 days!

All this leads me to say that we may know facts about God but forget God Himself. It has to be the ultimate oxymoron to say that we can forget the One who is always with us and everywhere present!

T/S—Next we are told the reason for our forgetfulness is the present abundance of life.

B. The Reason for Forgetfulness, Deut. 8:12-14

12 lest--when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

Moses warns the people of his day that they would face the danger of forgetting God now that their 40 years of wandering was coming to an end. They would begin to accumulate wealth and possessions they had never before known. Precious metals, strong herds and flocks of animals, beautiful homes, and food a-plenty.

Abundance can blunt the edge of our awareness of God, or at least our need for God. When we have little we live in dependence on God. When we have a big house, a big car, and a big bank account, we can easily forget God. It is the danger of or the curse of prosperity.

T/S—Secondly, not only should we restrain from forgetting God, but if we don’t, notice the results of our forgetfulness.

II. RESULTS OF FORGETTING GOD, Deut. 8:14, 17

A. Spiritual Forgetfulness Leads to an Arrogant Attitude, Deut. 8:14

14 when your heart is lifted up,

Pride is the great ignored sin. Pride is hidden deeply within the seat of our personality, the heart. Pride grows in the heart when we forget our past dependence upon God.

Israel had forgotten its dependence upon God. They owed their existence as a nation to God who had provided and protected them for an entire generation. God protected them from the desert wilderness, providing for them when it seemed nearly impossible, water from a rock and food from the heavens.

Most of us experience a wilderness in life. Supplies are limited. We live from day to day, from pay check to pay check. We borrow to make ends meet. We have a consumer mentality and live in an indebtedness society.

As Christians we learn to rely upon God’s miraculous provision.

But when times are good, and we are fat and full, we tend to forget God.

In any event, that is when spiritual forgetfulness leads us to an admission.

B. Spiritual Forgetfulness Leads to an Arrogant Admission, Deut. 8:17

17 then you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.'

Notice that this admission is one we make to ourselves, to our own hearts. We may publicly go on in worshipping God, but privately we congratulate ourselves.

We secretly say to ourselves, “All that I have I have earned, look what I have accomplished.” By my own strength I have worked for everything that I have. By my intellect, I have acquired my wealth.” God begins to fade in the darkness of our own self-worship. Instead of singing “How Great Thou Art,” we sing “How Great I Am!”

How do we recover from this kind of spiritual amnesia?

III. RECOVERING FROM FORGETTING GOD, Deut. 8:18

The opposite of forgetfulness is remembering. And this is what the word of God challenges us to do. Look at the first part of verse 18.

A. Remember that God Alone Sustains, Deut. 8:18a

18 And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth,

The idea is for us to deliberately or intentional remember or recall all that God had provided for us that has brought us to where we may be today. Moses declares that God is the One who provides the strength of life and health to gain wealth.

B. Remember that God Sustains Because of Who He is, Deut. 8:18b

that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

We recover from our forgetfulness when we remember that all we are and have is the result of His faithfulness to His word and covenant. God’s blessings and provisions for our daily needs are a result of who He is. He is a covenant keeping God who loves us unconditionally.

And remember that His provisions are not based upon our performance.

2 Timothy 2:13 says, if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.

Related Media

Related Sermons