“I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds” (Psalm 77:11–12 ESV).
Asaph had spent the opening verses of this psalm overwhelmed by trouble. He cried out to God, wrestled with sleeplessness, and asked painful questions: Had God rejected him? Had His steadfast love ceased? Had He forgotten to be gracious?
Then verses 11–12 marked the turning point. Asaph deliberately redirected his thoughts from his present circumstances to God’s past faithfulness. Notice the progression: he chose to remember, bringing God’s past works back to mind; to ponder, carefully considering what those works revealed about God; and to meditate, dwelling on those truths until they began to reshape his troubled heart. He did not merely recall what God had done. He lingered over it until remembering became fuel for faith.
The rest of the psalm shows that Asaph especially remembered God’s mighty deliverance of Israel through the Exodus. When he could not understand what God was doing in the present, he looked back to what God had already done in the past.
We are a forgetful people. Trouble can narrow our vision until all we see is what is wrong today. Yet faith calls us to remember.
For believers, this remembering ultimately leads us beyond the Exodus to the cross and resurrection of Christ. There God has given us the clearest and greatest demonstration of His love and saving power. Paul wrote, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32).
When we cannot see what God is doing in the present, we can remember what He has done in the past. We can rehearse His faithfulness, recall answered prayers, remember His provision, and above all, look again to the cross and the empty tomb.
Remembering what God has done strengthens us to trust Him for what He is doing now.
PRAYER: Dear Father, help us remember Your mighty works when present troubles cloud our vision. Fix our hearts on the cross and resurrection of Jesus, and strengthen our faith to trust You today. In Jesus’ name, amen.