1148. Beware Lest Thou Forget

Beware Lest Thou Forget

"Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping His commandments, and His judgments, and His statutes, which I commanded thee this day:

"But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant, which He sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day" (Deu_8:11, Deu_8:18).

The warnings of the key verses present three suggestions:

1. Who is it that forgets God? Place the emphasis upon the pronoun. "Beware lest YE forget the Lord THY God. The message is not for those who have never been saved; it is for those who have known the Lord. We can understand why the heathen might "rage," and the peoples "imagine a vain thing;" we can bring ourselves to understand why the kings of the earth and her mighty men, would "take counsel against the Lord," but how can those who have been saved by Him, who have known His power and His grace, how can they forget?

Israel should have remembered His kindness to her in her youth, the love of His espousals; the time when she was holiness unto the Lord; yet, Israel forgot the Lord, she went far from Him, she walked after vanity.

Surely Israel, whom God had favored and brought out of the shadow of death, a land where no man passed through and where no man dwelt; surely Israel would not forget! Yet the record is true:

"Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord; for My people * * have forsaken Me, the fountain of Living Waters. * * Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet My people have forgotten Me days without number."

"Lord, help us to remember

Our sacred debt;

Oh, by the love that sought us,

Oh, by the Blood that bought us,

Oh, by the grace that brought us

To the fold-

Lord, let us not forget;

Oh, let us not forget."

2. How we forget God. "Beware that ye forget not * * in not keeping His commandments." Our Lord said plainly, "If ye love Me, keep My commandments;" He also said, "He that keepeth My commandments, loveth Me." Those who have turned like sheep to their own way; those who refuse to hear His voice and to walk in His will; those who are unwilling to say to Christ: "Rabboni," "Master," have forgotten the Lord.

3. When we forget God. The Word says:

"When thou hast eaten and art full;"

When thou "hast built goodly houses;"

"When thy herds and thy flocks multiply;"

When "thy silver and thy gold is multiplied;"

When "all that thou hast is multiplied,"

THEN

"Thou forget the Lord thy God."

In the words above we have the dangers of prosperity.

It was the rich farmer, who had increased with goods, who had no place wherein to bestow his grain, that forgot God. It was such an one who said, "I will say to my soul, Eat, drink and be merry."

Let favor be shown to some and they will turn against the very God Who favored them. Of Israel it is written: "Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful; and thou hast forgotten the God that formed thee."

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR