Psalm 106: Even If You Forget, God Never Forgets You

Introduction

"Even if you forget, it's okay." That is the title of the message Pastor Hirano gave at Hiratsuka Baptist Church in Japan, during a service where adults and children gathered together. That month, the church was reading the Old Testament together: a book written thousands of years ago, but one that, in his words, "speaks to us in a surprising way, to us who live today."

The text for the day is Psalm 106, verses 6 to 23, then 44 to 47. It is a psalm that tells the story of a people who keep forgetting what God has done for them. The pastor starts from a simple question: why do we forget precisely what matters most? And above all: what about God? Does he forget too?

Message Outline

1. We All Forget

The pastor starts with himself. Not long ago, he completely forgot an important meeting. Afterward, someone asked him why he had not come, and only then did he realize he had forgotten. "I'm rather the absent-minded type," he admits.
He then asks: "Why do human beings forget the important things above all? And what does it mean to forget?"

2. "What Is Baptism?"

Twice a year, the pastor visits a church member who is 93 years old, in a care facility about an hour away by car. At each visit, he sees that dementia has progressed a little more.
This time, he came for the anniversary of this person's baptism. Since the birthday was also near, he brought a birthday card signed by the members of the church. Each time, he brings a birthday card shaped like a bouquet of flowers, and the room is full of them.
This person no longer remembers him. So, as always, he introduces himself by speaking loudly close to the ear: "I'm Pastor Hirano." Then he announces: "Today is the anniversary of your baptism."
A beautiful smile lights up the face of this person, who answers in a cheerful voice: "Baptism? What is that?"
The pastor leaves troubled. On the way home, a question haunts him: "What does it mean to forget your own faith?" Human beings forget. But what about God?

3. A People Who Forget Grace

The Old Testament shows how much the people of Israel lived in God's grace. Verse 7 recalls the miracles in Egypt, that is, the story of the Exodus: God led slaves to freedom. An unforgettable memory.
Yet, pursued by the Egyptian army and trapped before the sea, the people complain: "This is not what we expected. It was better to stay slaves." They had forgotten the grace of deliverance.
How does God respond to this forgetful people? With a new grace: he opens the sea and makes a way to escape. "Before reproaching them for forgetting, God gave a new path, a new rescue."

4. Forgetting, Again and Again

The people then wander in the desert. Verse 14 says it: they tested God. The pastor sees here the episode where, lacking water, the people complain again. They had forgotten once more everything God had done.
And God makes water flow from the rock. "God answered once again with grace those who had forgotten his grace."
Verse 21 is severe: "They forgot God, their savior." Human beings have always forgotten God's grace.
The pastor imagines what God feels: "I protected you. Don't forget it." But we forget quickly, and we repeat the mistakes of our fathers.
He sums up the cycle: God gives his grace, people forget it, distress returns, people cry out, and God answers again with his grace.

5. God Remembers His Covenant

Verses 44 to 47 show how God stands before this forgetful people: he sees their distress, hears their cries, remembers his covenant, and has compassion according to his great kindness.
"To people who endlessly forget grace, God endlessly responds with grace." Even if we forget God, God does not forget us.
The worries of life or illness can make us lose our bearings. "But God does not forget. He remembers his promise of grace forever."
God's grace does not depend on our memory. Grace does not exist because we make every effort not to forget. "God's salvation is not held up by our memory, but by God's promise."
"God does not love us because we remember him. He loves us even when we forget him." If God forgot us the way we forget him, could we live in peace?

6. Baptism Remains a Fact

On the way home, the pastor finally told himself: it is fine this way, we are allowed to forget. Whether this person remembers or not changes nothing: the fact of having been baptized remains.
"Even if this person has forgotten everything, this person is no less a Christian. God's grace does not change, whether we remember it or not."
That day, he says, it was this person who taught him something about faith: God does not forget. He does not forget the life this person has lived, nor the tears shed, nor the promise he made with this person.

7. The Church, the Place Where We Remember

We forget little by little. There was God's grace and guidance in our lives, and yet we forget them, to the point of counting only our reasons to complain. In worry and confusion, whatever our age, we forget.
The pastor encourages us to live remembering that we are in God's grace and guidance. But at the critical moment, we will probably forget. Even then, God remembers us: perhaps we need not fear forgetting.
The church is a place that makes us remember what we risk forgetting. It tells us again and again: "God does not forget you."
This service continues with the Lord's Supper, celebrated every month, to remember the last meal where Jesus shared the bread and the cup with his disciples. We always forget this grace and this teaching, but God reminds us of them every month. The Lord's Supper is the sign of a grace given again to people who forget.
"God has not forgotten who you are today." The pastor invites us to receive the bread and the cup with this certainty, then asks one last question: what will you remember?

Key Takeaways

Like Israel in Psalm 106, we forget God's grace, especially in worry and hardship.
God answers his people's forgetfulness not with reproach, but with a new grace: the parted sea, the water from the rock.
Salvation rests on God's promise, not on our memory. God loves us even when we forget him.
Even if someone forgets their faith, their life, and their baptism, God remembers his covenant.
The church and the Lord's Supper are places where God makes us remember his grace, again and again.

Personal Application

Which graces received from God have you forgotten, to the point of counting only your reasons to complain?
In what recent situation did worry make you forget God?
What difference does it make for you to know that your salvation depends not on your memory, but on God's promise?
How can you bring this assurance to an elderly or sick loved one who is slowly forgetting?
At your next Lord's Supper, what will you remember?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Psalm 106 say about forgetting God?

Psalm 106 tells how Israel repeatedly forgot the graces it had received: in Egypt, at the Red Sea, in the desert. Verse 21 sums it up: "They forgot God, their savior." But verses 44 and 45 show that God remembers his covenant and has compassion according to his great kindness.

Does God's grace depend on our memory?

No. For Pastor Hirano, grace does not rest on our ability to remember. Salvation is held up by God's promise, not by our memory. God does not love us because we remember him: he loves us even when we forget him.

Why do the church and the Lord's Supper help us remember?

Pastor Hirano describes the church as the place that makes us remember what we risk forgetting. The Lord's Supper, celebrated every month in his church, recalls Jesus' last meal with his disciples. It is the sign of a grace given again and again to people who forget.