A Call to Remembrance: Why Your Soul Needs to Remember

This article has been adapted from a full sermon titled “A Call to Remembrance” based on Psalm 103.

Have you ever noticed how quickly your soul forgets? I know mine does. Not just the mind, but the soul. The part of you that knows God is faithful but still tightens with fear. The part that has seen God provide but still wonders if this time will be different. And that is why scripture doesn’t merely suggest remembrance—God commands it. As Thanksgiving week settles in and life slows just a little, people naturally start thinking about gratitude, family, traditions, and the year behind them. But Scripture calls us to something far deeper than a moment of seasonal sentiment. It calls us to remember.

There are moments when worship almost feels like a foreign language, when the soul feels heavy, foggy, or numb. Psalm 103 opens with David issuing a command not to the crowds but to himself: “Bless the Lord, O my soul.” He isn’t swept up in emotion—he is deliberately coaching his soul toward truth. Worship isn’t always instinctive. Sometimes your soul must hear truth long before it feels truth.

Feelings can wander far from truth, and God knows how often the heart drifts. Throughout scripture—Deuteronomy, Isaiah, the Psalms—God urges His people to remember. Comfort dulls dependence. Abundance whispers that we’re self-sufficient. Disappointment makes us forget what we once knew. So God surrounded His people with reminders: Scripture on doorposts, stories passed to children, memorial stones, feasts, and a rainbow stratched across the sky. Remembrance was never nostalgia—it was spiritual protection.

That experience is far more common than people admit. Many enter the holiday carrying grief, stress, disappointment, or spiritual dryness. Some stare at an empty chair that wasn’t empty the year before. David knew emotional complexity. His psalms record joy, sorrow, doubt, courage, despair, and hope. And when his soul was sluggish? He didn’t wait for worship—he called it forward.

Most people speak to themselves more than they realize—little pep talks before difficult conversations, unfamiliar tasks, or nerve-wracking moments. I remember sitting in my car as a young man, preparing to ask Debbie’s dad for permission to marry her—whispering to myself, “You got this.” Every Sunday, before preaching involves the same kind of internal coaching: preparing the heart, steadying the nerves, speaking truth that focuses the mind. This is exactly what David models—not giving the floor to a discouraged self, but speaking truth that focuses the mind. This is exactly what David models—not giving the floor to a discouraged self, but speaking truth directly to the soul.

I think about a recent 10K I ran with my daughters. Around mile four, the race looped back toward the crowd, and suddenly the noise hit you. Bells ringing, people clapping, strangers calling out your number. And something in you lifts. Your legs don’t feel as heavy. Your pace picks up. Remembrance works the same way in the spiritual life. When you call to mind God’s goodness, the fog begins to clear. The weight on your soul lightens. It’s like David in the Psalms coaching his own heart, reminding himself who God is and what God has done until worship rises again.

David lifts his eyes from his won discouragement by listing what is eternally true—truths the soul easily loses sight of.

Forgiveness from God isn’t partial, hesitant, or halfway. David says He “forgives all your iniquity,” and that includes the parts of your past you wish you could erase. When the enemy brings up your sin, God brings up your pardon. This is the heartbeat of salvation: shame covered, sin removed, guilt replaced with grace.

David connects forgiveness with healing because both are acts of mercy. Physical healing may not always unfold in the timing or way we desire, but the deepest healing—salvation from the disease of sin—is fully accomplished in Christ. God heals through medicine, through providence, through miracles, and ultimately through redemption.

Every life contains moments that make no sense apart from the mercy of God. When I was an infant, my parents rushed me to the hospital for aspirin poisoning. I don’t remember a thing—but they do. I was pumped. I was saved. God preserved my life. Years later, I drove a yellow pickup truck off the road into a tree. My Bible sat beside me, untouched. So was I. Then there was the day on the tollway with little Riley—The car rolled, glass everywhere—and she climbed out asking, “Daddy, why’d the car break?” We both walked away without a scratch. These aren’t coincidences. They are redemption stories—reminders that God redeems life from the pit.

4. Do You Remember That God Crowns You With Steadfast Love?

God is not content to rescue from danger and then step back. He surrounds His people—love that remains steady even when ours falters. He is a Father who knows our frame, remembers we are dust, and treats us with compassion anyway.

5. Have You Forgotten That God Satisfies?

David says God “satisfies you with good” and renews your youth like an eagle. Even as the body ages, the soul can be renewed. God’s satisfaction is not small—it is sustaining, strengthening, and sufficient for every season.

When Was the Last Time You Looked Beyond Your Own Story?

David didn’t stay focused only on his personal experiences; he widened the lens to remember God’s works among His people. He recalled God’s justice, His deliverance, His mercy, His revelations to Moses. The church today witnesses similar reminders: baptisms, salvations, transformed lives, and ministries born. Nearly 30 people were baptized across recent services—clear evidence that God is moving. Corporate remembrance strengthens gratitude.

Do You Remember Who God Is?

David anchors his soul not just in God’s works but in God’s character. Psalm 103 describes God as merciful, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. He does not deal with us according to our sins. His compassion reaches as high as the heavens on above the earth. This is the God who knows our fraility and loves us still.

What Awakens Thanksgiving When Gratitude Feels Out of Reach?

The simpliest act of remembering has more power than we realize. When gratitude feels distant, naming God’s blessings can shift an entire atmosphere. One person sharing what God has done can spark warmth, joy, and worship around a table. Memory produces gratitude. Gratitude produces worship.

What If Your Struggle to Worship Is Really Spiritual Amnesia?

David’s internal list becomes outward praise: “Bless the Lord!” Worship rises when the soul remembers. Memory fuels adoration.

What If Your Faith Could Be Strengthened by Remembering?

Past faithfulness becomes a source of present confidence. What God has done before becomes the anchor that steadies the soul now.

So What Does Your Soul Need This Week?

The same thing David needed. To speak truth instead of listening to discouragement. To rehearse God’s goodness. To list the benefits: forgiveness, healing, redemption, steadfast love, and satisfaction. To remember what God has done personally and corporately. To rest again in His character. To return to worship. And ultimately, to come to the Lord’s Table in remembrance—Christ’s body broken, His blood poured out, the gospel displayed. Bless the Lord, O my soul.

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