Remember Past Mercies

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · May 19, 1904

Remember Past Mercies

WHEN trials are sore, and difficulties are on every side, we are sometimes tempted to think that God has forgotten to be gracious. We overlook the fact that the mercy of the Lord endureth forever, and that he can not deny himself. When the accuser of our God suggests these wicked doubts to us, it will renew our faith and confidence if we call to mind past experiences where the Lord has shown his marvelous loving-kindness to us. We can all go back in the pathway of life to a place where we, like Samuel of old, have set up a stone, “and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath Jehovah helped us.” With the psalmist we can say: “I will make mention of the deeds of Jehovah; for I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also upon all thy work, and muse on thy doings.” With the recollection of past mercies comes the assurance that the Lord does not change, and that he has the same thoughts of mercy toward us in the present trial as when there was the most marked evidence of his gracious dealing with us. The clouds do not blot out the sun, and trials do not cast down God from his throne of grace.

“Each day reveals his constant love, With ‘mercies new’ from heav’n above; Through ages past his Word has stood; O, taste and see that he is good! His mercy flows, an endless stream, To all eternity the same.”

Then, “Bless Jehovah, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” “Let us look to the monumental pillars, reminders of what the Lord has done to comfort us and to save us from the hand of the destroyer. Let us keep fresh in our memory all the tender mercies that God has shown us,—the tears he has wiped away, the pains he has soothed, the anxieties removed, the fears dispelled, the wants supplied, the blessings bestowed, thus strengthening ourselves for all that is before us through the remainder

of our pilgrimage.” Remember the “exceeding great and precious promises.”

“When thy soul is dark and clouded, Filled with doubt, and grief, and care, Through the mists by which ’tis shrouded, I will make the light appear, And the banner Of my love I will uprear.”