2nd Sunday of Advent (December 4): Remember

Prepare to Listen.  Light 2 purple candles.  Be still and silently repeat: You are the Lord my God.
 
Prayerfully Read 1 Chronicles 16:14-22
14He is the LORD our God;
    his judgements are in all the earth.
15Remember his covenant for ever,
    the word that he commanded for a thousand generations,
16the covenant that he made with Abraham,
    his sworn promise to Isaac,
17which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
    to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
18saying, ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan
    as your portion for an inheritance.’
19When they were few in number,
    of little account, and strangers in the land,
20wandering from nation to nation,
    from one kingdom to another people,
21he allowed no one to oppress them;
    he rebuked kings on their account,
22saying, ‘Do not touch my anointed ones;
    do my prophets no harm.’
 
Prayerfully Wonder
Remember.  Israel did as they rejoiced when the Ark of the Covenant arrived in Jerusalem.  They remembered and recited what God had done for them from the time of Abraham.  They remembered when they were a few wandering aliens, and God said, “You shall be my people, and I will be your God.”[1]  Of course God protected them, saying to nations they met, “Do not touch my anointed ones.”
 
When I first read these verses about God protecting them, I’ll confess I thought, ‘That’s not true!’  I’ve read how often Israel was attacked and defeated.  They weren’t always protected from their enemies.  But as the Ark finally arrived in Jerusalem, they chose to remember and sing only about God’s faithfulness.  They rejoiced that God had brought them to that joyous moment in their history.  They hadn’t forgotten the bad times, but they chose to remember that the Lord could be fully trusted to keep the promises made to their ancestors.
 
We can learn from Israel.  Bad things happen to us and it’s easy to doubt God’s faithfulness.  We can’t forget the bad times, but we can choose to remember how God worked in them, making us into new people, bringing us beyond the bad and into a broad place where we can be and enjoy life in Christ.  Praise is possible when we trust God to keep the covenant made with us in Jesus.
 
Prayerfully Reflect
Remember all the great things God has done for you and make these your focus today.
 
Respond in Prayer
Lord God, you continue to work with and for your people today, even as you did with the ancient Israelites, and I praise you.  Help us live remembering your work on our behalf, all the time.  Amen.
 
Live Obediently.  Remember and trust the Lord.
[1] Jeremiah 30:22; Ezekiel 36:28.