Forgetful Hearts
June 19, 2025 | by: Bill Burns | 0 Comments
Posted in: Guest Writers
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is asked, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” He answers, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and First Commandment…”
There is an aspect to this answer, probably attributable to our hearing it so frequently, that seems entirely understandable, even simple in its clarity. At least, I think a lot of the time, we THINK we understand this commandment, but as you might imagine, it’s actually a profound commandment.
One of the first things to notice is that, to love anyone, especially the LORD, takes a myriad of forms. Helpfully, the scripture Jesus answers with lists the ‘tools’ of love: our heart, our soul and mind.
But that’s the rub, isn’t it? Our hearts are ‘desperately wicked.’ And our soul…well, how do we even start to talk about loving with our soul? And our minds…we THINK we understand how our minds work. But aren’t we all fallen creatures, whose minds are darkened by sin?
It’s true; this is, as I like to put it ‘our predicament.’ This is why we need a Savior. Thankfully, the scriptures tell us a lot about our hearts and souls, and our minds. Yes, our hearts are forgetful things, and our hearts are corrupted by indwelling sin. But if we have believed in Christ, we also have the indwelling Holy Spirit, who Jesus sent to come alongside us to help us. And we have the scriptures as our guide. So, there is hope for us yet.
Think about all the ways our forgetful hearts are to be reminded of this hope. The antidote to forgetfulness is…remembrance. Let’s think together about the pitfalls and the remedies of forgetfulness. The Psalms are literally (literally!) instructive.
Psalm 103:2 – “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits…”
Psalm 119:16 – “I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.”
Psalm 63:5–8 – “My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.”
Psalm 77:11 – “I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.”
Psalm 98:3 – “He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”
Psalm 106:7 – “Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.”
Remembering, and even forgetting are both huge components of Christian discipleship. You might wonder, how so?’ But consider; what we call the ‘ordinary means’ of grace involve a call to gather regularly each Lord’s Day to hear the word of God in the preaching and reading of the scriptures and to observe the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We understand from the scriptures that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” We are commanded to “not forsake the gathering together, as is the manner of some.” The Psalmist (see above), by the Holy Spirit, calls us to “forget not all His benefits.” But in order to forget His benefits, we would have to have heard of them in the first place. And, consider also, how the Apostle Paul describes his mindset regarding his own discipleship:
“…forgetting what lies behind, and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way…let us hold true to what we have attained.” (Philippians 3).
Paul says to ‘hold true to what we have attained, referring to his progress in discipleship. To ‘hold true’ means to be faithful, and that requires…remembering.
There are literally hundreds of instances of the words ‘remember,’ and ‘forget’ in the scriptures. We are commanded to remember and warned not to forget. We are exhorted by the Holy Spirit throughout the scriptures to remember God, to remember His great exploits in favor of His people. How He has formed us from the dust of the earth, how He has commanded us to live, how He has rescued us from sin and the power of death. And we are warned not to forget all His benefits: His longsuffering, His patience, His faithfulness, His power, His goodness and His soon return.
Every Lord’s Day, we hear the Assurance of Pardon, because our hearts are forgetful. But God mercifully provides for us a way to remember. Every Lord’s Day, we reenact that great foretaste of the future feast, when we see the broken bread, and taste the wine, and hear the admonition, “As often as you eat this bread…As often as you drink…do this in REMEMBRANCE of Me.”
Father God, let us forever revel in Your great gifts, and fellowship forever in Your presence. Teach us to set our minds on things above, where Christ is; let us meditate on all that is good, and lovely, and righteous and form our souls so that they cling to You, and so our hearts delight in Your holy word, and in Your Son. Let our minds ever consider and exult in Your mighty deeds as You have redeemed us from the pit. Then open our lips to tell of all Your wonderous works! Let us tell everyone of Your steadfast love and faithfulness to Your people, that all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of the LORD! Deliver us from our rebellious, forgetful hearts. Let us always remember You in praise and thanksgiving! Amen.
