Hello everybody and welcome in to episode #286 of the Bible 2021 podcast. We are reading Psalm 105 today and our focus is on How The Bible Helps us Combat the Negativity Bias. Remembering and Reminding. We are a daily 10ish minute podcast, where we will dig in to the truth of the Word of God by reading one Bible chapter a day and discussing it. Welcome to new listeners in Our goal is to encourage DAILY Bible reading, so you can jump in at any time and join with us. We want to invite as many people as possible to join us in daily Bible reading, so help spread the word and share the podcast! Don’t forget about our web-page, Bible2021.com – contact page, show notes, transcript and more– Click here for our Bible 2021 reading plan\
Psalm 105 is a different Psalm, but it represents a very, very important part of worship: Remembering. Reminding ourselves and remembering the great and mighty acts of God formed a massive part of the lives of the Old Testament saints, and should also be a central feature of Christianity, but sadly, it often isn’t. Psalm 103:2 exhorts us to:
My soul, bless the Lord,
and do not forget all his benefits. Psalm 103:2
DO NOT FORGET all His benefits. This is an important command because you and I are so apt to remember bad things more vividly than good things, even secular psychology agrees with this and has a name for it: the negativity bias. According to multiple scientific studies, humans tend to:
- Pay more attention to negative events than positive ones.
- Learn more from negative outcomes and experiences.
- Make decisions based on negative information more than positive data.
And this means that we will tend to forget all of God’s benefits and blessings, and remember with greater clarity all of our trials, stumbles, troubles and wounds. Why is this? My best guess would be that we are fallen humans living in a fallen world that has been supremely impacted by the fall of man and the introduction of sin that we read about in Genesis 3. This means we are broken. The good news is that Jesus will ultimately come and fix that brokenness and make all things new, as He promises in Revelation 21:
“Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.” And he who sat upon the throne said, “Behold I make all things new.” Revelation 21
But, between now and then, we must intentionally set up a daily habit of remembering what God has done. And Psalms like Psalm 105 are absolutely WONDERFUL for that. Note the beginning:
1 Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;
proclaim his deeds among the peoples.
2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell about all his wondrous works!
3 Boast in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Psalm 105:1-3
We are to give thanks to God – remembering all of His mighty acts on our behalf – we are to TELL about His wondrous works and His mighty acts in our singing and in our words. We are also to BOAST about God – He is good – He has helped us. In boasting about God’s goodness, we REMEMBER God’s goodness. We aren’t to boast in ourselves, our accomplishments, our kids, our churches, our football teams, or whatever – but we most certainly can boast in the goodness of God as we remember His mighty deeds!
Vs. 5 is the key here, and has our key word:
Remember the wondrous works he has done,
his wonders, and the judgments he has pronounced, Psalm 105:5
Remember people of God – remember His wondrous works, His wonders and even the judgments He has pronounced. Remember!
And then, after these exhortation to remember, the Psalmist does just that…he remembers, and recounts how God has helped His people, up to the current time of the writing of this Psalm. Let’s go ahead and read it now, and remember ourselves all of God’s wondrous deeds on behalf of His people the Israelites.
Let’s close out with some thoughts from Spurgeon on our command to remember in Psalm 105:5
Memory is never better employed than upon such topics. Alas, we are far more ready to recollect foolish and evil things than to retain in our minds the glorious deeds of Jehovah. If we would keep these in remembrance our faith would be stronger, our gratitude warmer, our devotion more fervent, and our love more intense. Shame upon us that we should let slip what it would seem impossible to forget. We ought to need no exhortation to remember such wonders, especially as he has wrought them all on the behalf of his people. “His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth”—these also should be had in memory. The judgments of his mouth are as memorable as the marvels of his hand. God had but to speak and the enemies of his people were sorely afflicted; his threats were not mere words, but smote his adversaries terribly. As the Word of God is the salvation of his saints, so is it the destruction of the ungodly: out of his mouth goeth a two-edged sword with which he will slay the wicked.
C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 88-110, vol. 4 (London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 337.
So then, dear friends – let us be diligent to think about and bring to mind all of the wonders of God, His judgments, His rescues, His mighty works and His deliverances of our lives. Remember!
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Bible Memory passage for the month of October: 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:7-8
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