ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Monite Sanuali 23, 2023 

God's Remembering Actions

Ko e Ngaahi Ngaue Manatu ‘a e ‘Otua

GENESIS 8:1

BUT GOD REMEMBERED NOAH AND ALL THE BEASTS AND ALL THE LIVESTOCK THAT WERE WITH HIM IN THE ARK. AND GOD MADE A WIND BLOW OVER THE EARTH, AND THE WATERS SUBSIDED.

SENESI 8:1

PEA manatu ‘a e ‘Otua kia Noa, pea ki he ngaahi manu kaivao mo e ngaahi manu lalata na‘e ‘iate ia ‘i he ‘a‘ake: pea na‘e fakaangi ‘e he ‘Otua ha matangi ki he funga fonua, pea taumatala ai ‘a e vai;

In Hebrew, to zakar ("remember") isn't so much a cerebral activity as it is a hand and mouth action. It's akin to remembering someone's birthday by the very act of throwing them a party. Such a Hebrew party would constitute the remembrance. Similarly, to remember a name isn't just to recall someone's name but to speak it - or, in God's case, to praise it. "I will cause your name to be remembered [zakar]," the psalmist says, meaning, the "nations will praise you forever and ever" (45:17). Remembering was praising. So when the Lord remembered Noah and the animals, it wasn't as if God slapped his forehead and exclaimed, "Good grief - I forgot all about the ship!" No, he remembered them in the very act of making the wind blow over the earth. Sending the wind was the act of remembrance.

When God remembers us, he acts to save and bless us. Likewise, when he does not remember our sins (Isa. 43:25), he doesn't act to punish us for them. Christ is the Father's remembrance incarnate. He is the tangible, verifiable, embodied gift of God's redemptive remembering.

"Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!" (Ps. 25:7).