「不行，妳不可以去湖邊。」我一邊埋頭在水槽下修理壞掉的水管，一邊對女兒說。「爸爸，你答應過我做完家務就可以去的。」她提醒我。我只想著如何修好水管，早就忘了曾答應她的事，眼前的難題使我忘了自己的承諾。

正如女兒提醒了我一樣，詩人也提醒上帝祂的應許。他寫道：「求祢記念向祢僕人所應許的話，叫我有盼望」（詩篇119篇49節）。幸好我們的天父不會分心和健忘。我們不但能帶著傷痛、困難和失望來到上帝的面前，也能相信祂的應許必成就，因確知祂是一位好父親。正如詩人所說：「祢的應許使我存活；這就是我在困苦中的安慰。」（50節，新譯本）

上帝要我們默想經文，好讓我們能提醒上帝祂曾應許的事。這並不是因為祂會忘記，而是因祂渴望我們能更認識祂，這就是為何詩人會如此說：「耶和華啊，我思念祢在古時賜下的典章，我就得了安慰。⋯⋯祢的律例成了我的詩歌。」（52、54節，同上）

我因忙於解決難題而分心，忘了曾答應的事，所以女兒需要提醒我。有了女兒的提醒，我欣然同意她去湖邊。你我可以感恩的是，我們的天父從不會太過忙碌或因難題而分心，祂總是樂意聽見我們按祂的應許向祂祈求。

“No, you can’t go to the lake,” I said to my daughter with my head tucked under the sink as I fixed a broken pipe. “Dad, you promised that after I had finished my chores, I could go,” she reminded me. I’d forgotten what I had said because I was preoccupied. My problem blinded me to my promise. 

As my daughter did with me, the psalmist reminded God of His promises. “Remember your word to your servant,” he wrote, “for you have given me hope” (119:49). Thankfully we don’t have a heavenly Father who’s distracted and forgetful. We can come to Him not only with our hurts, problems, and disappointments but also in confidence knowing He’s a good Father: “My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life” (v. 50).  

God invites us to meditate on the Scriptures so we can remind Him of His promises—not because He forgets but because He desires that we know Him well. That’s why the psalmist says, “I remember, Lord, your ancient laws, and I find comfort in them. . . . Your decrees are the theme of my song” (vv. 52, 54).

Because of my distractions, my daughter needed to remind me of my promise. When she did, I gladly let her go to the lake. We can be thankful that our heavenly Father is never preoccupied or too busy. He loves to hear us pray His words back to Him.