| God's History Lesson
The knowledge and understanding of history is a treasure chest of wisdom to be drawn from. The writer of this psalm is convinced that without passing on this wisdom to each successive generation, we create a dangerous spiritual handicap for those who will soon take the reins that we pass them. This painful history of God's people, if not understood, is sure to be repeated. No nation before or since has ever been given so much by God and yet so fully squandered it. As a nation, they had been promised by God to one day become a blessing to all the nations of the earth. They were a nation that was miraculously delivered from slavery in Egypt. They saw miracles at a scale the world had never seen. They were miraculously sustained for 40 years in the desert. Their food was the food of angels. God kept them to bring them to a land that flowed with milk and honey. Yet the more God blessed them, the more complacent and hardened in heart toward Him they became. They "sinned even more against Him" (v. 17) and in spite of all He did, "they did not believe" (v. 22). The result was "their days He [God] consumed in futility, and their years in fear" (v. 33). They "flattered Him with their mouth and lied to Him with their tongue" (v. 36). The lesson from Israel's history should not be too hard to learn from: Forsake God and we forsake the source of every good and perfect thing we were given by God. Fortunately, their history doesn't end in the loss of everything. It ends in the hope of grace. If we will return to God, we find the most wonderful miracle of all. We find a God full of compassion who is ready to forgive, a God who remembers that we are but flesh (v. 38-39). The psalmist ends his history lesson with the greatest hope of all. God has promised a shepherd, the Messiah, from the line of David, who will come and lead wayward and weak souls to salvation, transformation, and eternal life. We all surely see within ourselves some of Israel's history. If so, may we be sure our history lesson includes the promised Shepherd of our souls, Jesus Christ. | |||
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| Psalm 78:1-72 1 Give ear, O my people, to my law; 2 I will open my mouth in a parable; 3 Which we have heard and known, 4 We will not hide them from their children, 5 For He established a testimony in Jacob, 6 That the generation to come might know them, 7 That they may set their hope in God, 8 And may not be like their fathers, 9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, 10 They did not keep the covenant of God; 11 And forgot His works 12 Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers, 13 He divided the sea and caused them to pass through; 14 In the daytime also He led them with the cloud, 15 He split the rocks in the wilderness, 16 He also brought streams out of the rock, 17 But they sinned even more against Him 18 And they tested God in their heart 19 Yes, they spoke against God: 20 Behold, He struck the rock, 21 Therefore the LORD heard this and was furious; 22 Because they did not believe in God, 23 Yet He had commanded the clouds above, 24 Had rained down manna on them to eat, 25 Men ate angels' food; 26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens; 27 He also rained meat on them like the dust, 28 And He let them fall in the midst of their camp, 29 So they ate and were well filled, 30 They were not deprived of their craving; 31 The wrath of God came against them, 32 In spite of this they still sinned, 33 Therefore their days He consumed in futility, 34 When He slew them, then they sought Him; 35 Then they remembered that God was their rock, 36 Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, 37 For their heart was not steadfast with Him, 38 But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, 39 For He remembered that they were but flesh, 40 How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, 41 Yes, again and again they tempted God, 42 They did not remember His power: 43 When He worked His signs in Egypt, 44 Turned their rivers into blood, 45 He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them, 46 He also gave their crops to the caterpillar, 47 He destroyed their vines with hail, 48 He also gave up their cattle to the hail, 49 He cast on them the fierceness of His anger, 50 He made a path for His anger; 51 And destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt, 52 But He made His own people go forth like sheep, 53 And He led them on safely, so that they did not fear; 54 And He brought them to His holy border, 55 He also drove out the nations before them, 56 Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God, 57 But turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers; 58 For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, 59 When God heard this, He was furious, 60 So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, 61 And delivered His strength into captivity, 62 He also gave His people over to the sword, 63 The fire consumed their young men, 64 Their priests fell by the sword, 65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, 66 And He beat back His enemies; 67 Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph, 68 But chose the tribe of Judah, 69 And He built His sanctuary like the heights, 70 He also chose David His servant, 71 From following the ewes that had young He brought him, 72 So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, | |||
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| Psalm 78:1-72 Title: a contemplation – maskil (Heb.) probably a poem meant for instruction. Asaph – The chief Levite musician under King David. "Psalms of Asaph" later came to refer to a type of song. The poet introduces the theme of this psalm in verses 1-8, then reviews how it played out in Israel's history. The final conclusion comes at the end in verses 68-72. The stories of Israel's journey in the wilderness and of God's deliverance of His people out of Egypt show the same pattern: God acts in grace for His people; they end up rebelling against Him; He judges and punishes them; but He is ready to forgive and renew their relationship to Him if they will but repent. v. 1 Give ear – In the Bible, an action such as "listen" was often linked with the part of the body that was used to do it. English uses the same tool. We say, for instance, "Can you lend me a hand?" O my people – The psalmist is addressing his poem to the nation of Israel, the entire people of God. incline your ears – Literally, "stretch out" your ears. law – torah (Heb.) my law…the words of my mouth – The poet is speaking for God; it is His law that is involved. Hebrew poetry uses parallels to express a point and then illuminate another aspect of it. Thus, the idea of "my law" is expanded with the phrase "the words of my mouth." v. 2 open my mouth…utter – note the parallelism again: "open / utter." parable – A story with a deeper meaning. Matthew 13:35 refers to this verse to describe Jesus' practice of teaching in parables. dark sayings – Not "dark" in the sense of evil, but "dense, compact, or opaque. Sayings that you have to apply your mind to in order to get the point. of old – alerted the listener that this song was going to be about the past; in this case, about Israel's history v. 3 which we have heard – shamah (Heb.) For a Jewish listener, the word shamah would immediately call to mind the key confession of faith from Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear O Israel [shamah yisrael], the Lord our God is one." our fathers have told us – the source of this knowledge was the previous generations; v. 4 we will not hide them – Truth can be passed on or hidden as something very valuable can be concealed by darkness. telling – enumerating, recounting. For the story to go on, each new generation must first hear, then accept and retell it. the generation to come – The poet wants to recount his story so that the coming generation will not miss what the previous generation told him. the praises of the Lord – that which GOD did wonderful works – marvelous, miraculous works. v. 5 testimony in Jacob…law [torah] in Israel – Again, note the parallelism of Hebrew poetry: testimony/Jacob to law/Israel. that they should make them known to their children – The little word "that" expresses the purpose the psalmist has in recounting his story. He wants to see God's pattern fulfilled of passing on the Word from parent to child to grandchild. This is the primary responsibility of a godly father and mother (Deut. 6:1-9). v. 6 the generation to come – the next generation that they may arise and declare them – the next generation in turn is to stand up for God's Word and recount His deeds. to their children – to the generation after them v. 7 that they may set – Again, the poet's purpose comes out here. hope – the place where one puts one's confidence in life and in death and not forget – The first negative note: retelling the stories of God's actions ("works") for His people helps us not to grow forgetful of His mercy and perhaps stop following His way. keep His commandments – Keeping God's commandments means more than just "obeying" them. To keep them has the tone of watching over and guarding, much like one carefully keeps a valuable piece of jewelry. commandments – His instructions for living life v. 8 and not be like their fathers – This is the second negative note and the heart of the problem as the poet saw it: the poet's generation did not walk with God. stubborn and rebellious – The terms "stubborn" and "rebellious" are often found together in the Bible (Jer. 5:23; Deut. 21:18). a generation – not just individuals are in view but an entire social group of people growing up and living at the same time that did not set its heart – When the "heart" (personal core) is not aligned correctly toward God, the total direction of life is false. This can be the case not only for individuals but also for a generation. whose spirit was not faithful to God – oriented steadfastly toward God. With verse 9 the poet begins to spell out the consequences of his and previous generations' lack of faithfulness to God. children of Ephraim – The largest tribe to settle in the northern area of the Promised Land; after the division of the nation into "Israel" and "Judah." It came to mean the entire northern kingdom. in the day of battle – day of summons (Heb.) when the tribal militias were called out to defend their nation v. 10 they did not keep the covenant of God – God's covenant is His agreement of grace with His people. Israel lived under several covenants God had made with them: through Abraham, Moses, and, later, David. In this case, it is the Mosaic covenant that is in view ("they refused to walk in His law"). God had intended for the nation to be a kingdom of priests, a holy people (Exodus 19:6) and a witness to the other nations of the world, but Israel failed to follow God's path for her. v. 11 they forgot His works and His wonders that He had shown them – to not remember because of ignoring and neglect v. 12 marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers – the miracles of judgment that He performed against Pharaoh field of Zoan – the region of Egypt where God's miracles took place v. 13 He divided the sea – Later, on the journey to the Promised Land, this pattern of forgetting was often repeated. The people almost immediately forgot what they had clearly seen God do for them by parting the Red Sea and they began complaining as soon as they encountered difficulties in the desert (Ex. 14-15). like a heap – Or, like a wall. In ancient Israel, stones from the fields were heaped together to form walls. v. 14 cloud…fire – The cloud protected the travelers from the blazing sun; the fire, from wild animals and the cold of the desert night. v. 15 gave them drink in abundance – Providing water would be one of the key challenges of leading a huge group of people through the desert. Two incidents when God commanded Moses to get water from a rock formation are recorded in the account of the wilderness wanderings (Ex. 17:6; Num. 20:2). v. 15 depths – a poetic comparison to the primeval sea or "deep" of Genesis 1:2. v. 17 they sinned even more…in the wilderness – The people continued to repeatedly do the same things that had offended God in Egypt even more frequently in the desert. v. 18 they tested God in their heart – Their attitude was the opposite of faith, which places its confidence in God's wisdom to give us what we truly need. asking – in the sense of demanding; like the IRS "asks" you to pay more when they audit your income tax. fancy – cravings v. 19 they spoke against God – The murmuring and criticism spread through the camp until almost everyone was caught up in repeating the negative evaluation of God. can God prepare a table? – Or, is God able to set up a feast like the people desired? v. 20 the streams overflowed – The wadis or dry creek beds in the desert flooded with water. v. 20 Can He – Once again, the doubt that God is able to give real foo . When life's circumstances don't develop the way we think they should, does an attitude of distrust in God creep in? v. 21 the Lord heard and was furious – The children of Israel were challenged to "listen" to God (v. 1, 3); now, in the wilderness God is listening to the people's evil complaints against Him. He was rightly infuriated with them. so a fire was kindled against Jacob – (Num. 11:1-3). Fire provided by God had protected the camp at night (v. 14), now another kind of fire becomes the instrument of His judgment. v. 22 they did not believe in God – not in the sense that they were atheists, but rather they did not truly have living faith in His willingness and ability to care and provide for them. and did not trust in His salvation – They refused to place their confidence in His ability and His willingness to deliver them. v. 23-24 Yet He had commanded the clouds…rained down manna on them to eat – The poet deliberately shows the parallel between God's gift of rain (His provision for the earth) and the gift of manna in the wilderness (provision for His people). v. 24 bread of heaven – Just as God's gift of grain during harvest has to be gathered, so His gift of manna had to be collected each day. The reality of God's provision for us does not imply that we don't have work to do! v. 25 angel's food – There is no indication in the Bible that angels "eat" like we do; so it's best to understand this as poetic: manna came from heaven like "angelfood." He sent them food to the full – They ate enough to be completely satisfied. v. 26 He caused – In verses 26-28, the event the poet refers to is recorded in Numbers 11:31-34. God used the wind to drive a huge flock of quail into the area of the Israelite camp, flying about 3 to 4 feet above the ground, an easy catch for the travelers. v. 29 He gave them their own desire – The Bible does not see "desires" and "appetites" (modern psychology calls them "drives") as something wrong in themselves (1 Cor. 6:12, 10:23). The problem comes when they take over our behavior and are lived out in self-love without reference to God's will and the needs of others. v. 31 the wrath of God came against them – The psalmist reemphasizes the theme of God's judgment (v. 21-22) and shows why God's anger was upon Israel. v. 32 In spite of all this – In Hebrew, emphasis is made in a sentence by, among other things, word order. The word order here is: "All this! In spite of it…" they still sinned – "they kept repeatedly sinning" (v. 17) And did not believe in His wondrous works – and in spite of His wondrous works, they did not believe (Heb.) v. 33 Therefore their days He consumed in futility – Parallel to the "All this!" of verse 32, the poet now says: "All in futility consumed - their days! And in terror, their years!" v. 34 When He slew them – God's purpose in judgment is to lead us beyond destruction to true repentance ("turning") and serious seeking after Him. v. 35 Then they remembered – The psalmist wove the theme of forgetting and remembering into the entire psalm (v. 7, 11, 35, 39, 42). God…their rock, the Most High God their redeemer – Note again the parallelism of Hebrew poetry: God/Rock to Most High God/Redeemer. The "redeemer" (goel, Heb.) was a very important social office in Israel. He was a kinsman who had the right to "save" someone from poverty or buy their freedom if they had been sold into slavery. The role of the goel is key, for example, to understanding the book of Ruth; Boaz was a kinsman who had the right to "redeem" Ruth from her widowhood by marrying her (Ruth 3:12). God is not a far away deity: He "came near" to Israel by redeeming His people from the slavery of Egypt. Most poignantly, He became our near kinsman by becoming a human being in Jesus, in order to redeem us from our slavery to sin. v. 36 Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, and they lied to Him with their tongue – Flattery is complimenting someone to gain something from them, while hiding the real purpose behind the compliment; the "simpleton" of the book of Proverbs constantly falls for flattery and ends up wandering into sin and destruction (Prov. 9:13-18; esp. v. 16). v. 37 heart was not steadfast – The people of Israel were trying to flatter God by mouthing religious platitudes to gain His help, but their hearts were far from Him and they were unfaithful to their covenant agreement. v. 38 But He – This is wonder of God's mercy: our sin is great and deserves nothing but judgment, "but He" is compassionate. forgave their iniquity – Literally, atoned for their iniquity (Heb.). Sin has consequences in time and eternity. Forgiveness means more than just God saying, "Oh, that's okay. Let's just forget it!" It costs God something to release us from the consequences of our guilt. He turned His anger away – or, God restrained His anger and wrath v. 39 For He remembered – Israel was constantly forgetting, but God remembered. a breath that…does not come again – Literally, a breeze that does not return, (Heb.) like a brief breeze in the desert. Israel sometimes "returned" to God in repentance, but He knew that once they died in their sin, they would never "return" again. v. 40 provoked Him – rebelled against Him. and grieved Him – Israel provoked God and caused Him vexation and displeasure. v. 41 Again and again – The psalmist winds up his summary of the wilderness wanderings and the way the people repeatedly provoked God during that time. He will turn his attention now to what preceded the wilderness wanderings: God's miracles leading up to the Exodus. tempted God – Not in the sense of tempting someone to do evil, but tested with the idea that He could fail their test (v. 18). limited the Holy One of Israel – God revealed Himself to Israel as the One God, who was completely above and apart from His creation—in His person, His character and His wisdom. Isaiah experienced a vision of God's holiness and describes the overwhelming impact of that experience in Isaiah 6. v. 42 They did not remember His power – Once again, the theme of Israel's forgetfulness and their need to remember takes center stage for the poet. The Hebrew language usually associates abstract concepts with concrete things. In this case, power is pictured by the strength of one's hand. the day when he redeemed them from the enemy – when God delivered His people from Egypt, from "the house of bondage" (Deut. 7:7-8). v. 43 signs in Egypt – The next few verses review God's miraculous acts of judgment against Egypt, as He forced Pharaoh to let Israel leave the country. The psalmist has the freedom of a poet to choose which plagues he wants to mention and in what order. v. 44 – water to blood (Ex. 7:14-25) v. 45 – flies (Ex. 8:20-24) and frogs (Ex. 8:1-15) v. 46 – locusts (Ex. 10:1) v. 47 – hail (Ex. 8:13) v. 48 – and lightning (Ex. 8:23-24) v. 49 cast on them – sent out upon them the fierceness of His anger, wrath, indignation, and trouble – Again, an example of how Hebrew uses a concrete word to describe a more abstract concept. Hebrew poetry also emphasizes a point by piling up synonyms: "anger…wrath…indignation" (God's side of the "equation") and "trouble" (the result for the Egyptians). by sending angels of destruction – The image is of a band of angels, bringing with them not blessing, but misery. v. 50 He made a path for His anger – God's anger is not, like ours, mixed with injustice. It follows a clear and righteous path. gave their life over to the plague – Plague is a terrifying thing even after the discovery of bacteria and viruses. For ancient societies, it was often the death-knoll. Whole cities and regions could be depopulated. Israel was punished for disobedience several times with plagues during the wilderness journey (Num.). v. 51 And destroyed all the first-born in Egypt – Firstborn sons were considered the best expression of the strength and perfection of the father. the first of their strength – the firstfruits of their manliness in the tents of Ham – Ham was one of the three sons of Noah; ancestor of the Egyptians. v. 52 like sheep…like a flock – The image of God as the Shepherd of His people is a key Biblical metaphor for understanding His love and consistent care for us (Ps. 23 John 10:11, Eze. 34:1-31) v. 53 He led them on safely, so that they did not fear – The answer to fear for a sheep is not to act bravely, but have assurance that the Shepherd is leading. v. 54 He brought them to His holy border – The land of Israel was to be a holy place, where God was honored and worshiped and the nations could come to learn His ways. acquired – by His power and strength v. 55 He also drove out the nations before them – The other side of God's gift of the land of Canaan to Israel was His judgment of the Canaanites. By the time of Israel's entrance into the Holy Land, these nations had become horribly perverted and corrupt. God had held off His judgment of them for hundreds of years while He kept Israel in Egypt (Gen. 15:16), but they were polluting the entire Mediterranean world with their evil. God's patience with nations and societies can run out. allotted them an inheritance by survey – Eleazar the priest, Joshua, and the heads of the tribal clans were together responsible for dividing the Promised Land between the tribes; the original boundaries are described in detail in Joshua 14-21. tents – homes v. 56 Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God – This is the third time that the psalmist emphasizes the evil of testing God to see if He passes muster and one "approves" of Him (v. 18, 41). This is an act of rebellion against Him because it does not acknowledge His position as "God Most High." He has the right to judge us, not the other way round. did not keep His testimonies – The laws of Israel were a testimony to God's true character. v. 57 They turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers – It is one thing to begin walking with God, it is another to continue on when temptation and trials come. The Bible emphasizes the importance of keeping on in our walk with God. Like their fathers – The psalmist returns to the theme of his poem: the heritage of faithfulness or unfaithfulness to God that each generation passes on to the next. they were turned aside like a deceitful bow – A bow that is warped may appear to be true, but in reality it is completely undependable. v. 58 high places – The worship platforms for foreign deities. They were usually erected on hills near the towns and villages. and moved Him to jealousy with their carved images – Jealousy is a completely fitting emotion when it is toward inappropriate and wrongly directed love, attention and devotion. carved images – idols of false deities v. 59 When God heard He was furious – Israel was to listen to God. The great confession of Israel's faith (Deut. 6) was Shamah Israel (Hear, O Israel), but the poet says literally, Shamah Elohim (God hears). Things are completely opposite of what they were supposed to be. No wonder that God was angry with His people. and greatly abhorred Israel – He rejected Israel, her lifestyle, and her religious charade. v. 60 the tabernacle of Shiloh…the tent He had placed among men – During the invasion of the Promised Land, Israel's main base camp was at Shiloh (Josh. 18). The portable tent sanctuary or "tabernacle" built during the wilderness wanderings was set up there. It remained in Shiloh for many years until it was destroyed by enemies. v. 61 and delivered His strength into captivity, His glory into the enemy's hand – "His strength...His glory" refers to the ark of the covenant, or covenant box. It was made of wood and overlaid with gold. The most sacred objects of Israel were kept in it; among them, the stone tablets with the 10 commandments. When the tabernacle was set up and not being transported, the ark rested in the innermost part of the tabernacle, the Holy of Holies. First Samuel 4-6 describes the capture of the ark by the Philistines because of the evil of Israel and its eventual return. v. 62 His people…His inheritance – In ancient Israel, the land one received as an "inheritance" was one's most precious possession. The startling statement of scripture is that His people are "God's inheritance" (Deut. 32:9). v. 63 fire – The results of warfare against the cities of Israel. v. 64 their widows made no lamentation – they were carried off into slavery or killed during the invasion. How one was mourned after death was very important in Israel, since it reflected the impact of one's life on others. v. 65 Lord awoke – In His mercy, God did not let Israel die in her sins, but acted as a "mighty warrior" on behalf of His people and saved them from their enemies. v. 67 He rejected the tent of Joseph, and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim – the wealthiest and most influential tribe, located in the north and owning the greatest territory v. 68-69 But chose…Judah, Mt. Zion…and He built His sanctuary – Jerusalem, in the territory of Judah, became the location for the Temple. v. 70-72 He also chose David His servant… – The psalmist focuses on his conclusion: God has appointed a servant-king; the people of God will prosper when they accept this king and the king has integrity of heart and skill. Both are essential qualities in the leader of a nation, a business or a family. Jesus, as the "greater Son of David" (Mark 12:35-37) is the quintessential Servant-King. | |||
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| We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. –Psalm 78:4 Let us seek to share of ourselves and the amazing gifts of grace and mercy that You have given us, God. May we not hide Your wonder from anyone in our lives, including ourselves. | |||
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78:4 
A Contemplation of Asaph
Junior High Ministry
