Hlengiwe Mhlaba - When I Remember What The Lord Has Done Lyrics
Lyrics
When I remember what the Lord has done I will never go back anymore When I remember what the Lord has done I will never go back anymore When I remember what the Lord has done I will never go back anymore When I remember what the Lord has done I will never go back anymore When I remember what the Lord has done I will never go back anymore When I remember what the Lord has done I will never go back anymore
No,no,no,no I will never go back anymore I say no,no,no, no I will never go back anymore I say no,no,no, no I will never go back anymore No,no,no, no I say no,no, no, no I will never go back anymore
Uma ngikhumbula engakwenzwela yinkosi Angisoze ngabuyela emuva Uma ngikhumbula engakwenzwela yinkosi Angisoze ngabuyela emuva Uma ngikhumbula engakwenzwela yinkosi Angisoze ngabuyela emuva
Ngithi angeke, ngeke Mina angeke, ngeke Mina angeke ngabuyela emuva Ngithi mina angeke Ngeke,ngeke.
- Hlengiwe Mhlaba
Video
When I Remember
Meaning & Inspiration
I’ve been sitting here thinking about those lines, just repeating them over and over. "When I remember what the Lord has done." It’s so simple, but it hits hard because it’s really all about memory, isn't it? Like how the Israelites were always told to build stones of remembrance or keep the Passover so they wouldn't forget how they were brought out of Egypt. That’s what’s happening here. It’s that same posture of looking back at the deliverance, not to dwell in the past, but to anchor yourself against the temptation to turn around. It brings to mind Lot’s wife, you know? The danger of looking back, but in this case, the remembering is actually what keeps you moving forward.
It feels honest because it’s not saying "I’m strong enough on my own." It’s saying that when the memory of what He’s done breaks into my mind, it changes my trajectory. I keep asking myself if that’s enough, though. Is remembering enough to keep someone from going back to their old ways? Maybe. The Bible talks about how faith comes by hearing, and sometimes that hearing is just listening to your own history with God. I’m wrestling with that "I will never go back anymore" part because, honestly, I know my own heart. I drift. I get distracted. Does the song assume a level of certainty that I don’t always feel? Or is the "no, no, no" more of a desperate prayer than a confident declaration?
Maybe it’s both. Maybe it’s a way of claiming the truth even when the struggle is still real. It’s like when Paul talks about forgetting what lies behind and straining toward what is ahead. You don't strain toward the future if you don't have a clear reason to leave the past, and that reason is the Lord’s intervention. It’s heavy, thinking about the weight of what He’s done, and whether that’s actually enough to hold me when I’m tempted to run back to the things I’ve left behind. I don't know if I can truly say "never," but the song makes me want to believe I can.