angela hormberg

Tag: Remember

  • Proverbs 10:7

    Proverbs 10:7

    Reputation and the Name We Leave Behind

    Commonplace –

    “The memory of the just is blessed; but the name of the wicked shall rot” (Proverbs 10:7).

    Proverbs 10:7 begins with saying “the memory of the just is blessed”. Does this mean the just person is remembering and has a blessed memory, because he was a just person and acted correctly? Or does this mean those who recall the just person do so with good thoughts, because he acted in righteous ways. In Proverbs 10:7, the word “memory” is rooted in the Hebrew word ‘zakar’, which is a verb. Therefore, the word memory in verse 10:7 means the act of remembering, recalling to mind.

    When we read the second part of verse 10:7, “but the name of the wicked shall rot”, the meaning of the word ‘memory’ is further clarified. In both parts of verse 10:7, Solomon speaks of the act of recalling people to mind. When people remember the just, they recall the memories with blessings; the memories people have of the righteous are good memories. By contrast, people do not recall the name of the wicked. Their reputation fades, and their name dies with them. (Unless of course, they were so evil and their acts so incredibly wicked that their name is referenced as a warning.)

    In his summary of Proverbs 10:7, Matthew Henry states,

    “Both the just and the wicked, when their days are fulfilled, must die. Between their bodies in the grave there is no visible difference; between the souls of the one and the other, in the world of spirits, there is a vast difference, and so there is, or ought to be, between their memories, which survive them” (691).

    Henry goes on to mention “blessed men leave behind them blessed memories”, which is a gift to their heirs. According to Henry, these future generations have a duty to the dead.

    “It is part of the duty of the survivors: Let the memory of the just be blessed, so the Jews read it, and observe it as a precept, not naming an eminently just man that is dead without adding, Let his memory be blessed. We must delight in making an honourable mention of good men that are gone, bless God for them, and for his gifts and graces that appeared in them, and especially be followers of them in that which is good“.

    The highest tribute to the dead is to recall their good deeds and follow their example. When the person was truly a good person, this is easily done, often without thinking about it. Whenever I recall my grandmothers (no disrespect to my grandfathers, but they died when I was young), it is always with good memories. I don’t have to search for good memories, those are the only memories I have of them. They were just such fantastic women: loving, kind, thoughtful, and the list goes on. Do you have someone in your life that you recall with great memories? What was it about them that make their memories so good?

    Works Cited

    “H2142 – Zakar”. BlueLetterBible.com, https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h2142/wlc/wlc/0-1/. Accessed 17 Dec 2025.

    “Proverbs 10:7”. Biblehub.com. https://biblehub.com/proverbs/10-.htm#google_vignette. Accessed 17 Dec 2025.

    Henry, Matthew. “Proverbs 10:7.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    The Interlinear Bible, I Volume Edition. Jay P. Green, Sr. Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 2020.

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    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Psalm 11

    Psalm 11

    Commonplace –

    “For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright” (Psalm 11:7).

    From the beginning, David announces, “In the Lord put I my trust” (v.1a). He chooses to trust God. He makes a formal declaration of his trust. In a like manner, every new Christian makes this same declaration, when they choose to follow Christ. What happens when trouble comes and our faith is tested? This will be the subject of the psalm.

    Circumstances

    “For lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart” (v.2.). The wicked are ready to strike.

    Questioning

    “How say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?” (v.1b.) and “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (v.3.). Whether it was David’s friends, who were counseling him to flee, or his own fear, in a desperate situation, causing him to consider taking flight, he was in a situation where circumstances were dire. The first question is in response to a desire to run away from the present situation. Should I just leave? The second question is a follow up to the first and is about doing the right thing in a difficult situation. The enemy is powerful and they are going to succeed in their destruction, so what good would it do if I stay and fight, only to die in a losing situation?

    Considering

    In situations where circumstances are difficult, there is always a choice: trust God or not. This precedes all other questions, because it directs our choices, decisions, and actions to whatever questions follow. Even before the 1st question, when we are faced with decisions about stay or go or the 2nd question of whether this is the battle we should choose to fight or not, we must decide if we will be obedient to God and trust him first.

    Remembering

    The first step in trusting God is to remember everything we know about him, which is exactly what David does in verse 4:

    1. He is in his holy temple.
      • God is righteous.
    2. His throne is in heaven.
      • God is judge.
    3. His eyes behold the children of men.
      • God is present.
    4. He hates the wicked and all those that love violence.
      • The wicked will receive their judgment and portion: snares, fire and brimstone, and tempests.
    5. He loves righteousness.
      • He is on the side of the righteous.
    6. His countenance beholds the upright.
      • God sees the doers of good.

    Reaffirm

    After walking through this process of remembering, David is justified in his choice to trust God and not let present circumstances shake him from his faith.

    Answer

    This psalm does not supply us with answers. What it does do is teach us that in every circumstance we must pause and go through this exercise of recommitting ourselves to our original declaration of faith. Confirming our trust in God in desperate times enables us to encourage our soul to do the right thing, even when it’s hard. And that’s the next step, we must determine what step is the obedient step in the circumstance we are in at the moment. Then, we must take that step, because it is the step that brings us closer to God.

    Matthew Henry had some very good insight into this psalm.

    “If you destroy the foundations, if you take good people off from their hope in God, if you can persuade them that their religion is a cheat and a jest and can banter them out of that, your ruin them, and break their hearts indeed, and make them of all the men the most miserable.” The principles of religion are the foundations on which the faith and hope of the righteous are built. These we are concerned in interest as well as duty, to hold fast against all temptations to infidelity; for, if these be destroyed, if we let these go, What can the righteous do? Good people would be undone if they had not a God to go to, a God to trust to, and a future bliss to hope for” (226).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 11.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Psalm 126

    Psalm 126

    Commonplace –

    “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

    He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him” (Psalm 126:5-6).

    In reading these songs of ascent, it is important to put oneself in the place of one of the pilgrims, who was traveling to Jerusalem. Walking towards the city, the group recites in unison aloud this entire group of psalms. So, here we are traveling the path in the company of our fellow believers. Hopefully, the sun is shining. Depending on the festival and time of year, the air might be crisp (we are, after all, slowly moving up the mountain). The song leader calls out Psalm 126, and we begin to recite.

    In this psalm, the writer begins by reminding the reader about the time when the Jews were freed from captivity; it was a joy filled time, almost as if they were in a dream. The captives were laughing and crying and saying to anyone that would listen, “The Lord has done great things for us” (Psalm 126:2). As a pilgrim, we would be imagining the joy filled scene of our ancestors. What a moment that must have been to be freed from captivity. The Lord acted on the captives behalf, and they were glad.

    Then, the writer of the psalm returns to the present and addresses God with the plea, “Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south” (Psalm 126:4). He is praying that God would accomplish the same for the present day pilgrims, which He had done for the forefathers.

    Finally, the writer ends with this encouragement, which is the commonplace for today, “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him” (Psalm 126:6). The flow of the psalm is remember, pray, believe; God has done it before and will do it again.

    These pilgrims were people just like us. Together, they were the church, which has its present problems to solve, but they were also individual people with everyday life challenges. The psalmist was giving these pilgrims a map of how to live life in times of trouble:

    1. Remember a time when God did something that had seemed impossible. Recall the joy felt in that moment.
    2. Pray for God to come into whatever current situation is disturbing.
    3. Believe that God, who was faithful in the past to answer prayer, is faithful in the present to do the same.

    As Matthew Henry notes,

    “It will be easy, in singing this psalm, to apply it either to any particular deliverance wrought for the church or our own land or to the great work of our salvation by Christ” (600).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 126.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg