Now please turn your Bibles with me to a portion of scripture that we read from Psalm 78. Psalm 78. And by the grace of God, this evening we'll be looking at verses 41 and 42. Yes, again and again they tempted God and limited the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember His power the day when He redeemed them from the enemy. I will be looking at those two verses under the title, the people of God fail to remember the power of God. The people of God fail to remember the power of God. Now when you read this psalm, the whole of the psalm, Psalm 78, you'll find here that the writer of the psalms reminds God's people. He is addressing God's people and he reminds them to constantly teach their children, the next generation, to continually teach them of the wonderful works of God. They are to continue to teach them all the wonderful works of the true and the living God. And here in verse 4 of Psalm 78, we find a key note. We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and his strength and his wonderful works that he has done. They are to continually remind and tell the next generation of the wonderful works of the true and the living God. And the aim, ultimately, is very clear. It is in order that they may continue to hope in God and not turn and be unfaithful to this God who has been faithful to them. And that's what we find in the first 11 verses of this psalm. In particular, in Psalm 7, in Psalm 78 and verse 7, he says, you, yourself. Verse 7, he says that they may set their hope in God. and not forget the works of God, but to keep his commandments. They are to continually teach the next generation so that they will not, as it were, forget to set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but to continue to keep his commandments and not to be unfaithful to the true and the living God. And then by the time he gets to verses 12 right through to verse 31, The psalmist says to them here, God has been gracious in his dealings with you. God has shown his grace in all his dealings with you, especially in his dealings to your forefathers there in Egypt and in the wilderness, where he delivered them and brought them out. But the gracious dealings of God with you and your forefathers has only met, as it were, with your unfaithfulness, he writes to Israel. Constantly, God has been gracious, but you have continued to be unfaithful to this God who has been gracious to you. And that has led to judgment upon judgment upon Israel. which is met, as it were, by a shallow, and indeed, a very temporary repentance by Israel from time to time. God judges them. In the heat and harshness of the judgment, as it were, they repent. And when God blesses them again, they turn back, and they rebel against Him. They become unfaithful again. So that the Psalmist says to them, In the continuous gracious dealings of God with you and your fathers, you have continually been unfaithful to him. He has judged and judged and punished you again and again. You repent, but your repentance has always been shallow. It has always been unsatisfactory. So that God is at risk, as it were, forced again to punish you. So that you may repent and come back to him and he shows that in verses 32 to 39 But then he continues He says there is a puzzle here. I See a puzzle and the word that he uses shows something of puzzlement It says I am puzzled because here I see Israel. I see something of Israel's unyielding stubbornness which is constantly, continuously as it were, met by God's grace all the time. All the time. Israel continuously is unyielding in her unfaithfulness to this true and living God. But God, over and against their unfaithfulness, continues never to waver his faithfulness to the children of Israel. So that the unfaithfulness of Israel is met by the faithfulness of the true and the living God. So in this puzzle the psalmist seeks to find out the root cause of the unfaithfulness of the children of Israel and he says their unfaithfulness is rooted in their forgetfulness. They continue to be unfaithful because they continue to forget. And so in verses 10 and 11 of Psalm 78, he says, they did not keep the covenant of God. They refused to walk in his law. They forgot his works and his wonders that he had shown to them. They have been forgetful. They forget all that God has been doing for them. But then he continues and he says very clearly in verses 38 to 39. He says that God has remained faithful and he tries to show this fact that God's faithfulness is motivated by something. It is motivated by his compassionate and gracious remembrance and understanding of who his people are. He remembers who they are. He remembers that they are but dust. So that in verses 38 and 39, the Psalmist says, First verse 38, but he being full of compassion forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. Yes, many a time he turned his anger away and did not stir up all his wrath. For he remembered that they were but flesh, a breath that passes away and does not come again. God remembers who they are. He remembers that they are but flesh. sinners at birth. He remembers that they are weak and because of that they forget. They forget who the true and the living God is. They forget what he has done for them and they turn away from him. But he, the true and the living God, remembers. Why they forget? He remembers. He does not forget. And so he says in verse 40, Israel provoked, continued to provoke and grieve God in the wilderness. And in verse 41, he says, again and again, they tempted and limited the Holy One of Israel. And then in verse 42, he says, they did all this because they did not remember power. So two things come out as we look at verses 41 and 42. Two very simple things. In the first place, he says Israel tempted and limited God. Secondly, he says it was because they forgot his power and his redemption. They tempted and limited God because they forgot his power and his redemption. Now, against the background of all that God has done for Israel, he says first, God's people have tempted God and they have limited him. That is in verse 41. And the point that he is making there is very clear. He is saying very clearly that against the background of God's goodness, against all the signs and wonders that the Lord God Almighty wrote in Egypt and in the wilderness for the children of Israel, against all that background, the children of Israel, in their unbelief, have continued, as it were, to tempt the Lord and to limit the Lord. That is the background upon which Israel has continued in unbelief to tempt and limit the Lord God Almighty. And what he's saying here is simple, that they have limited God, as it were, in his ability to both deliver them and to provide for them. Because as he delivers them, as he provides for them, they murmur, they complain. It's as if, can he do it? Will he do it? He does it. They move on to the next stage. But even as they face the next challenge and the next trouble, they forget the deliverance of the past. And again, they begin to doubt. It's as if they begin to limit the wonders and the power of the true and the living God. Having just been delivered, from a serious danger. They seem to forget almost immediately. They don't remember what God has done for them. And in that respect, they doubt if God will be able to deliver them in the next danger that will come. But again, God in his mercy and by his grace delivers them. But Israel continues, as it were, to tempt the Lord and to limit the Lord. So that they limited him, as we have seen, in his ability and in his power to deliver and to provide for them. And that we see expressed here, especially in verses 19 and 20 of Psalm 78. In verses 19 and 20, the Psalmist says, yes, they spoke against God. They said, can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold, he struck the rock so that the waters gushed out and the streams overflowed. Can he give bread also? Can he provide meat for his people? It's an amazing picture of an ungrateful and miserable people. In the midst of the desert, there's no water. God provides water. Having seen the water that God has provided miraculously, what did they do? Oh, can he provide food as well? Is he able to do that? Here he has performed a miracle that you never expected he could perform. He does that. But still, you doubt that he can provide bread to meet the water? What a people! But that is a picture of the nature of man, isn't it? Ungrateful, unthankful, and ever forgetful. Always forgetting. But not only that, they tend to limit the power of God. They also try to limit, as it were, the wisdom of God. Can he guide us in the right way? Is this way that he's leading us actually the right way? They murmur and they complain in the wilderness. They, again, limit The ability of God to do what is best for them. They want to prescribe to Him what He should do for them. They seem to suggest to God as if they know better what they need, what they want than God. And they want to prescribe to Him what to do. They want to prescribe to Him when the time to do it. They also want to prescribe to Him the means by which to do it. The Almighty God, who is all-knowing, They limit him in all these categories. They did not trust God's power to accomplish what he has promised. They forgot that this is the same God that has delivered them in the past. They did not trust God to do all that they need for their subsistence. They think somehow, even though he has done it in the past, he's not able to do it again in the future. They limit the power of God to accomplish His purposes, both for His children and for the world in general. Now the moment, the moment that they suppose their situation was difficult, was hard, the moment they saw that it was turning out to be a very difficult situation for them, And they seem to think that no blessing will come out of that. They complain. They murmur. They grumble against the true and the living God. They tempted him again and again and doubted him in the wilderness. God's people tempting and limiting God. But secondly, he says in verse 42, they forgot his power and his redemption. They forgot the power of God. They forgot His redemption. Verse 42, they did not remember His power the day when He redeemed them from the enemy. They did not remember His power. Why were the children of Israel so persistent in tempting the Lord and limiting Him? Why was it that They grumbled all the time. How is it that they continually at Suthwe doubted the Holy One? Why did they? The psalmist tells us, they did not remember. They forgot. They kept forgetting. They forgot. It was because they failed to remember. all the wondrous things that God had done in the past. They forgot to remember the power of God and the display of that power in the deliverance of their forefathers even from the land of bondage. They forgot to remember the power of God and his deliverance of their forefathers and themselves. They forgot all those mighty works which the Lord God wrote for them And for their forefathers, they forgot that the Lord is the Almighty God. They forgot that he is the one who spoke and creation came into existence. They forgot that he is the one that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or even imagine. They forgot that this is the God that is all powerful. They forgot the display of his power. How with signs and wonders he delivered, he redeemed their forefathers even from that land of bondage and brought them into the land of promise. And in Psalm 136 verse 12, he delivered them with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm. He delivered them but they forgot all that. He failed to remember. Now, what can we make from what the Psalmist teaches us here in verses 41 and 42 of Psalm 78? Just a few things as we come to an end. In the first place, one has said, remembrance is the hallmark of gratitude. That means remembrance is the distinguishing characteristic of gratitude. When you remember, then you are able to give thanks. When you forget, then you do not give thanks. Every mercy should be remembered and should be thankfully acknowledged. Mercy is not earned. Grace is not remembered, acquired. So that every mercy that comes from God is not only to be remembered, it is to be thankfully acknowledged before the true and the living God. And since the fall of man, since man fell in the sight of God, he became forgetful. So that even as believers, even as believers, we don't remember those things that are for our blessing, are for our benefit. We have to be reminded in scripture time and time again to do the very things that are good for us, that are for our blessing, and that are for our benefit. Think of this in the first place. When Adam and Eve fell, When they sinned against the Lord, what did they do? They ran and sought to hide from the presence of the Lord. What was the problem? They forgot that He is the omnipresent God. He is everywhere. There is no place to hide from Him. But they forgot that. Adam, in his perfection, knew all that. He knew that God was with him everywhere. But as soon as they sinned, somehow, they thought they could hide from God. Somehow, they thought they could run away from God. That has been man's problem since the fall. We forget, and we forget very easily. And God dislikes forgetfulness. Because as we have sinned, When we forget, a number of things follow. God does not like forgetfulness because it shows disobedience. In his word, he has commanded us to remember and not to forget. In Deuteronomy chapter 4, and there in verse 9, he says to the children of Israel, the time you come to the land of promise, don't forget, remember. Deuteronomy chapter 4 and there in verse 9 only take heed to yourself and Diligently keep yourself lest you forget the things your eyes have seen Unless they depart from your heart all the days of your life and teach them to your children and your grandchildren Don't forget When you arrive, don't forget Remember to teach them to your children And to forget, actually, is to be disobedient. We find the same thing in Deuteronomy chapter 8, and there in verses 11 to 14. But in the second place, to forget shows ingratitude. It was so light. You forget it. You don't even bother to be thankful for it. But not only that, in the third place, when you forget, it shows carelessness. Such a great and wonderful thing wrought by the Lord for you and for your sake. It's a believer forgetting about his salvation. How can you do that? You cannot be that careless, can you? It shows carelessness. But in the fourth place, it also shows contempt. You despise the mercy. You despise the blessing so much that you don't remember. You forget it. But ultimately, all that in the fifth place springs from unbelief. When you do not believe that it is the Lord that has wrought that mercy, when you do not believe that it is God that has blessed you in such a way, then of course you don't remember to thank him. Because it wasn't God anyway. You don't believe it was God. So there is nothing to thank God for. There is nothing to think of thanking God for. We cannot. We must remember. Remembrance is the hallmark of gratitude. But in the second place, Israel forgot that as the Holy One, God will always do what is best for His glory. Because He is the Holy One. And this is what the Psalmist tells us. Yes, he says in verse 41 of Psalm 78, again and again they tempted God and limited the Holy One. As the Holy One, He will always do what will redound to His glory and to His honor. But not only that, the psalmist tells us that He is the Holy One of Israel. So that as the Holy One of Israel, God will always do what is best for the welfare of His people. For He is their God. He loves them. And as the Holy One, He will always do what is good, what is beneficial for His people. And so we must never limit God. We limited God's wisdom. We cannot limit the wisdom of God because it is infinite. We must never think of limiting the power of God because it is omnipotent. He is. the Almighty God. His power is beyond measure. We can never limit the power and the mercy of God because it is higher than the heavens and it is deeper than the deepest hell. His mercy, scripture tells us, endures forever. And we must never, ever limit the love of God because it is all-encompassing. It is sacrificial, but it is also all-encompassing. We must remember never to limit Him in terms of time, because He is the one that reigns in eternity. He is from everlasting to everlasting. We can never limit Him to time. But we must also remember that we must never, ever limit God to our own ways, because He is all-knowing. He knows all things. We are also never ever to limit God in terms of place because He is omnipresent. He is everywhere. He does all things according to the counsel of His will. Now, in the third place, since the First World War, there has been a time of remembrance And the aim has always been from the beginning to thank God for his faithfulness to his people. To thank God for enabling people to give their lives in order that those who are alive, those who survive, may enjoy something of the peace that they have. It's always been that way. There are many today who are still putting their lives on the line in order to defend and protect us from terrorists, in order to defend and protect us from criminals, and in order to make sure that we enjoy something of the peace that we have. And we must remember so that we can truly thank our God and our Maker. Now, we've been looking at the Gospel of John, remember, in the mornings, and one of the thoughts of Martha and Mary was that they limited our Lord Jesus Christ, remember, to time and to place, if only you were here. So if he was here in that time, and if he was here in this place, then perhaps, no, you cannot limit the Lord to time. We must never limit him to place. We should never limit him to anything. If anything, we must say with Jonathan of old, Jonathan, the friend of David, the brother, as it were, of David, according to covenant, we must always say with him as he said in 1 Samuel chapter 14, and there in verse 6, he said, it may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few. That must always be our attitude when it comes to this true and the living God. He is exceedingly abundantly able to deliver and to save by many or by few. Now or later, But we must never limit him to time, we must never limit him to place, we must never limit him to anything. He is able. And he will do at his time, not our time, in his place, not our place, according to the counsel of his own will, not ours. That is what we must always remember. And when he does, we must remember in order that we may give thanks to him. for all that he has done for us. Finally, the Israelite remembered the deliverance from Egypt. And for the Israelite, remembrance of that deliverance from Egypt was not only a sign of an active and living faith in the Lord God Almighty, no, It was also that which kept him thankful. It was also that which kept him trusting in the Lord God Almighty. When he remembered, it showed the activeness of his faith. It also showed the fact that he was thankful for what the Lord has done, and he was trusting God even for the future. Now, for the believer today, For the true Christian today, remembrance of the cross, remembrance of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is that which revives our faith and grants us victory in spiritual trials and conflicts. It also keeps us fruitful and joyful. as we keep looking to the Lord Jesus, the one who is the author and the finisher of our faith. So that when we come as the children of God, even if others would not remember to thank God, we must remember to thank God. We must not be like ungrateful children who come and ask, and haven't received, we forget. and we forget to return thanks, we must always remember to be thankful to the Lord for all his goodness and all his mercies to us. And our prayer is that the Lord will keep us faithful and true in remembrance all his mercies in our lives so that we'll continue to thank him and praise him and glorify his name for all that he does for us. By the grace of God, tonight we'll continue to thank him for his faithfulness to us. Let's bow our heads together, please. Let us pray.