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6 Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.

7 Remember not the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you are good, O Lord.


We've all done this at one point or another in our lives. Whether the conversation is with a parent, a spouse, a boss, a teacher, or some other significant person, everyone's been guilty of pulling this little stunt.

You've done something wrong, stupid, or irresponsible. You know you're going to have to confess this act of personal stupidity, but you are a little concerned about the reaction you're going to get. So what's the ploy? You start out by saying something really nice about the other person -

- "You know, dear, you are the sweetest woman on the face of the earth."
- "Honey, I'm so glad I married a man with a cool head."
- "Sweetheart, I'm really thankful that you're not a jealous person."
- "Boss, have I ever told you what a great job you are doing with the staff?"
- "Professor, you are one of the best teachers I've ever had!"

And then you break the news. You messed up. Failed. Did something stupid. Something irresponsible. And you're hoping that the reminder of the graciousness and goodness of that significant other will offset their reaction to your foolishness. You feel like you are living your own episode of "I Love Lucy". (Do you kids have any idea how funny she was?)

Don't you get the feeling that this is precisely what David is doing in these verses? After all, God doesn't need to be reminded of his love and mercy. He's God. Can you imagine telling God that He needs to remember something? David's statement is not for God's benefit; it's for David's benefit. David is the one who needs God to recall his love and mercy - why? Because in the very next breath David is going to mention his own foolishness, rebelliousness, and sinfulness. I also find it interesting that he refers to sin both past and present. David knows he is a sinner. He knows that God knows. But he also understands the mercy of God.

At first David suggests something to remember; then he suggests something to forget; and again something to remember. The second half of verse 7 ties it together - binding God's love to a faulty, needy and sinful man. And in God remembering us according to His love rather than our sin we very simply have what we call GRACE. That is why God is GOOD. He looks at us with love even though we are a sinful, rebellious child undeserving of any measure of kindness.

When David speaks of God's love being from "of old" he is referring to a historical record of God's grace and mercy being demonstrated to man. We have that record, that proof, that irrefutable evidence that God is good to His Word.

At the end of the show, it always worked out. Ricky was always the loving, kind, patient and longsuffering husband. Lucy would be back in his graces until the next episode, when she would invariably get into a bunch more mischief. Sound familiar? That's why the Christian life is just like "I Love Lucy".