7/29/14: Never Forget

I attended a women’s conference recently and one of the songs we sang during the opening worship was an old spiritual I hadn’t heard in a long time.

Jesus, I’ll never forget what You’ve done for me.
Jesus, I’ll never forget how You set me free.
Jesus, I’ll never forget how You brought me out.
Jesus, I’ll never forget, no, never.

This chorus came back to my mind as I read of King Hezekiah and his son Manasseh, yet another couple of kings who forgot what God had done when they trusted God. Hezekiah had a long history of victories thanks to his submission to God, but for a short time, “Hezekiah did not repay according to the favor shown him, for his heart was lifted up; therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem” Second Chronicles 32:25 (NKJ). Thankfully, he soon “humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah” Second Chronicles 32:26.

Although Manasseh was just 12 years old when his dad died and he became king, his advisors must have reminded him of the spiritual legacy of trust in God passed down to him. Nevertheless, Manasseh forgot all the blessings God had reigned on Jerusalem because of their obedience. He “rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals, and made wooden images; and he worshiped all the host of heaven[a] and served them. He also built altars in the house of the Lord… built altars for all the host of heaven… caused his sons to pass through the fire… practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger” Second Chronicles 33:3-6. Manasseh’s lapse of memory regarding the God he should have obeyed led to his capture by the captains of the army of the king of Assyria. Hardship tends to jog the memory so “when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God” Second Chronicles 33:12-13.

Reading these accounts, the connection between trust and blessing is clear: trust God, win in life; forget God, lose in life. If you know the tune of the song above, sing it whenever you are tempted to turn from God and do things your way. (If you don’t know the tune, make one up.) God has proven Himself over and over again in the pages of Scripture and in the lives of His saints past and present. What He’s done for others, He’ll do for you. Remember that and worship God today for being the memory jogger.

____________________________

©2014 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s newest release,

Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children

available from Judson Press (http://www.judsonpress.com/product.cfm?product_id=17387),

at bookstores, and on all major online book buying sites.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2JH_gbinMk

Also still available:

Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame

from New Hope Publishers (http://www.newhopedigital.com/2010/08/power-suit/)