Stones of Remembrance
My phone “dings” multiple times a day.
Notification! Calendar reminders! News updates!
They all seem to yell at me, “Hey, don’t forget….”
Honestly, I thank God for the technology. It has been so helpful in keeping pace in our busy world and not forgetting all my important dates and things to do. The “ding” jogs my memory of a dentist appointment or assignment that’s due.
Unfortunately, it has made my brain too dependent on the device and subsequently lazy. I saw the red flag when I couldn’t remember my daughter’s phone number. How have I become so negligent? It seems I am prone to forgetfulness.
The word remember is found 161 times in scripture and within the Jewish community, memorization is a high value. “The command veshinantam, to study repeatedly, is in effect the command to memorize. Jewish people committed to memory vast portions of sacred texts in order to be able to daven (recite prescribed prayers) and to study.”[1]
I’m amazed when I hear young members of the religious community are able to memorize whole chapters of the Torah and Talmud. This practice has helped preserve their culture and traditions.
One of my favorite narratives in scripture is in 1 Samuel Chapter 7. The Ark of the Covenant was returned to Israel after it had been captured by the Philistines. It was entrusted into the care of a consecrated man named Eleazar for twenty years. Israel mourned and wailed after the Lord.
Samuel called his people to true repentance. He declared the need to remove all idols and worship only the Lord with all their hearts. They responded with prayer, fasting and consecration.
When the Philistines saw them hold an assembly at Mizpah, they took it as a threat because that was where they had first defeated Israel and seized the Ark of the Covenant. They planned to attack.
The people of Israel begged Samuel to intercede for them. Samuel took a tiny lamb and offered a burnt offering, which was offered purely for the glory of God. “Lord, help Your people for Your name’s sake.”
As Samuel humbly offered up the burnt sacrifice, the Philistines approached for the battle against Israel. Scripture tells us the Lord heard the prophet’s prayer and immediately answered with a thundering voice, sending His enemies fleeing. Israel pursued and defeated the Philistines in the very place twenty years previous they had seen defeat and where the Ark had been stolen (I Samuel 4).
“The sin which procured that defeat formerly being pardoned upon their repentance, the pardon was sealed by this glorious victory in the very same place where they then suffered loss.”[2]
In the wake of the victory, Samuel went to work to set up a physical reminder of God’s deliverance. “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer (stone of help); for he said, “Till now the LORD has helped us” (1 Samuel 7:12).
Oh, how we need visual reminders of those defeats and victories won! It is too easy to forget His faithfulness and all He has accomplished in our lives.
I am challenged to make every effort to memorize scripture to steady me in uncertain times and to set up “stones of remembrance” to prick my memory of His great faithfulness.
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.
Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I'll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.[3]
Written by Kori, Life in Messiah staff
When was the last time the Lord sealed a great victory after years of defeat in your life?
What physical reminder could you set up to prompt your soul in the art of remembering?
What Scripture verses or songs serve to remind you of God’s faithfulness in trying times?
Endnotes:
[1] https://prizmah.org/blog/memory-and-memorization.
[2] Matthew Henry Commentary on 1 Samuel 7 on the Blueletterbible app.
[3] The original text of the hymn "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_Thou_Fount_of_Every_Blessing