在美國作家毛瑞祺（Richard Mouw）的一本書中，講述一位南非黑人神學家，一直被種族隔離時期的痛苦記憶所困擾。這位黑人神學家講了一個故事說：「有一位老師問一個非洲小女孩，什麼是『記憶』，女孩想了想之後，說：『記憶是能幫助我忘記我想要忘記的事。』」這個小女孩所說的話，真是發人深省！由此可見，她過去有太多傷痛，不堪回首，因此她只想記住那些美好的事物。

許多人都背負著可怕、看似無法忘卻的創傷記憶。但那小女孩的智慧之言卻帶來亮光。如果我們學會記住那些美好的事，這樣的記憶能賦予我們力量，走出過去的傷痛。在詩篇42篇，詩人覺得自己就像一隻忙於逃命的鹿，但是他也說：「我緬懷往事，甚是難過。那時，我走在敬拜的人群中，帶領浩蕩的隊伍前往上帝的殿，在盛大的慶典中感恩歡唱！」（4節，新普及譯本）

當詩人回憶過去敬拜上帝的美好時光，這記憶讓他即便在患難中也能發出讚美：「我的心哪，你為何憂悶？為何在我裡面煩躁？應當仰望上帝，因祂笑臉幫助我；我還要稱讚祂」（5節）。讓我們謹記上帝是誰，也記得我們是屬祂的子民，這樣的記憶能幫助我們走出過去無法忘懷的傷痛。

Author Richard Mouw tells of a Black theologian from South Africa who struggled with dark memories of life under apartheid. Mouw wrote, “He told a story about an African child whose teacher asked her to define ‘memory.’ After thinking about it, the child said, ‘Memory is that thing that helps me to forget.’ ” Out of the mouths of babes! Her past held much she didn’t want to recall, so she wanted to remember the good things.

Many carry the scars of terrible, seemingly unforgettable things. But that child’s wisdom offers hope. If we learn to remember better things, those memories can strengthen us to move forward from our painful past. In Psalm 42, the psalmist feels like a deer running for its life. However, he also says, “These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng” (v. 4).

The singer’s memories of worshiping God encouraged him to praise, even in the midst of pain. “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (v. 5). Remembering who our God is—and that we are His—can help us move beyond the painful past we can’t forget.