"O God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture? Remember the nation you purchased long ago, the people of your inheritance, whom you redeemed—Mount Zion, where you dwelt. Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins, all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.” (vv.1-3)
Many Bible commentators believe this psalm records the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. The psalmist (Asaph) was asking God to not forget His people and Mount Zion, where the temple once stood, to remember His covenant with Israel, and to save His nation. In this psalm (from the Babylonian captivity era), the psalmist records how many cried out to God to spare them, but He did not deliver them for many years. He of course hadn’t forgotten them, but had prescribed 70 years of captivity to discipline them for ignoring His word (Jeremiah 25:8-11).
To be clear, God doesn’t forget anything unless He chooses to. The one thing He does choose to forget is our sins - which are put away from us the moment we confess them to God. When God forgives us, He blots out our sins, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). And then forgets them, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more” (Hebrews 8:12).
Though it may seem that at certain times and seasons in our lives we are forgotten. I can assure you, we are not! God is there, and like Israel, we will be spared - in His time and for His purpose. Therefore, keep your faith my friend, "Be strong and of good courage," He does remember you!
The Truth: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)
