Psalm 77:11–12 (NIV)
I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.
Names the habit of recalling what God has done as a source of strength.
Remembering God’s Good Deeds
These passages invite you to recall what God has done—his rescue, provision, wonders, and faithful character. Meditating on his past faithfulness strengthens gratitude and hope today.
All quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version® (NIV®).
The Hebrew Word Zakar — How God Remembers His Promises
In the Hebrew Bible the word zakar doesn't just mean to recall a fact—it means to act on what is remembered. When God remembers his covenant, he moves on behalf of his people.
Psalm 103:2–5 (NIV)
Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Calls the soul not to forget the stack of kindnesses God has already shown.
Psalm 105:1–5 (NIV)
Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced.
Worship flows from rehearsing God’s story in front of others.
Deuteronomy 8:10–18 (NIV)
When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
Warns against forgetting the rescue and provision that came only from God.
Joshua 4:21–24 (NIV)
He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.”
Physical reminders are a common pattern we see throughout the Bible as a way to remember God’s deeds.
1 Chronicles 16:8–12 (NIV)
Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced.
An exhortation linking joy to recounting God’s wonders and judgments.
Lamentations 3:21–24 (NIV)
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”
Even in grief, deliberately recalling God’s faithfulness revives hope.
Isaiah 46:9 (NIV)
Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.
God invites his people to look back at what only he could accomplish.
Luke 22:19 (NIV)
And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
The Lord’s Supper centers ongoing remembrance of Christ’s finished work.