As you read your Old Testament, have you noticed the people of God seem to have amnesia? How quickly they forgot God’s activity in their lives? It seems as if every page records the people of God forgetting God’s power and faithfulness. Well… I have this amnesia too! Isn’t that part of the purpose of the Word of God, to remind us of His faithful activity in the lives of His people through the generations? I find the Psalms to be particularly helpful in this regard.
If you live in North Brevard, I would like to invite you to join us at Trinity Community Church for a series of sermons from the Psalms to help us to be reminded of WHO God is and WHAT our response is to be to in light of who God is.
I find Paul Tripp’s book, Awe, to be extremely helpful in reminding me of what I so easily forget. Consider the three quotes below, be encouraged, and worshipfully remember our great God
“Because of our forgetfulness, God has created the physical world to be mnemonic, to help us daily remember that we are not alone, that we are not at the center, that life is not primarily about us, and that there is a grander story than the little stories of our individual lives. Physical things are meant to remind us of the grandeur and glory of the One who created all those things, set them in motion, and keeps them together by the awesome power of his will. These constant little physical reminders don’t just happen either. God has carefully planted them in creation to protect us from our amnesia.”
Tripp, Paul David (2015-10-14). Awe: Why It Matters for Everything We Think, Say, and Do (pp. 67-68). Crossway. Kindle Edition.
The earthly father is a God-given mnemonic device to remind us of the glory of the heavenly Father. The shepherd is a mnemonic device to remind us of God’s care for his own. The snow is meant to remind us of the Lord’s purity and holiness. The storm is a mnemonic device to remind us of God’s power and wrath. The daily rising sun is a mnemonic device to remind us of God’s faithfulness. We’re literally surrounded by gracious reminders of the presence, power, authority, and character of God because he designed created things to function mnemonically. He knows how quickly and easily we forget and how vital it is for us to remember, so he embedded reminders everywhere we look in his creation.
Tripp, Paul David (2015-10-14). Awe: Why It Matters for Everything We Think, Say, and Do (p. 68). Crossway. Kindle Edition.
But even with all that, we still tend to be blind and forgetful. When blindness combines with amnesia, nothing good results, yet that’s just what sin does to us. It blinds our eyes and dulls our hearts. We all carry the corrupted capacity to look at the world around us and miss God. We enjoy the glories of creation, yet as we do, we fail to remember the Creator. God meant the earth to ignite and stimulate awe in us. As we encounter the physical world every day, we should be blown away by the glory of God to which it points. But we’re not.
Tripp, Paul David (2015-10-14). Awe: Why It Matters for Everything We Think, Say, and Do (p. 68). Crossway. Kindle Edition.
![Awe: Why It Matters for Everything We Think, Say, and Do by [Tripp, Paul David]](https://i0.wp.com/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/313oRZakBDL._SY346_.jpg?resize=135%2C209&ssl=1)
Click the image and snag yourself a copy of Paul Tripp’s excellent book.
If you don’t have a church you call home, please come and visit us at Trinity this Sunday and be reminded of our great God! See below for our Psalm series beginning this Sunday.
July 29 – Psalm 31 (Part 1) The Rock, Our Redeemer
August 5 – Psalm 31 (Part 2) The Rock, Our Dependence
August 12 – Psalm 32 The Hiding Place, Our Forgiveness
August 18 – Psalm 5 The Lord, Our Righteousness
August 26 – Psalm 119 The Word, Our Need
September 2 – Psalm 16 The Presence, Our Joy
September 9 – Psalm 100 The Call, Our Response
September 16 – Psalm 2 The King, Our Refuge
We were gracefully reminded of God’s awe last Sunday by sitting out in the shade he provided for us from the sun in the middle of July, in Florida! Thank God for the technology of air conditioning also!