This is article three of a four-part series on Psalm 119.
My friend Helen turned 105 years old last Valentine’s Day. You may want to know her secret to long life, but I think you should seek a different answer. While wishing her a happy birthday last Tuesday, she exuded both joy and peace—even though the shooting on MSU’s campus was especially worrisome for her. You see, one of her great-grandchildren attends school there and was on campus the night of the shooting. Helen’s indignation at the evil act, and her concern for her great-granddaughter’s safety did not break her peace of mind.
Which would you rather know, her secret to long life, or her secret to possessing peace during a scary situation? You should choose the latter. What good is living a long life if you live scared all the time? What good is a long life if you have no peace?
Psalm 119:49-56 reveals how to gain the same comfort, hope, and peace Helen enjoys. I hope you read those verses alongside this article and think deeply about the instruction found in the seventh stanza of the Psalm 119 poem.
This section of Psalm 119 repeats the word “remember” three times in only eight verses. And it is the reflection on God and His Word that gives the psalmist, and Helen, the peace we all desperately crave. Psalm 119:49-50 says, “Remember the word…in which you have made me hope. This is my comfort in my depression, for your promise revived me.” The psalmist looks back and is comforted by the fact that God has never broken any of His promises.
If you ever get an opportunity to talk with Helen, she’ll probably bring up the many times God sustained her through the years. She loves reminding others of God’s goodness. Last Tuesday she told me of a time when God made His presence known to her, and one story where she remembers God saved her life from death.
Helen doesn’t look to a horoscope for her peace, nor does she need a new word, or a new sign from God for hope. Instead, she obeys the Scripture taking comfort by meditating on who God is and what He has done. This is Psalm 119:49-56 command to us, as well. It seems counterintuitive, but God gives us peace in our present, and in our future, by commanding us to look to the past.
Ultimately, Helen says she’s ready for when God takes her home, because she entrusts herself to Jesus Christ. Helen reminds herself of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, dying to save us from our sins, being buried and then after three days rising from the grave—this written reminder comforts Helen the most. “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
The Psalmist reminds us to make remembering this truth about the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus our practice for peace, too.
Dale McCamish is the pastor of Wilmington Church of Christ.
