Chapter 78
2023 - A very long Psalm.
Asaph encourages the people to remember the things their fathers taught them about God, to teach these things to their own children, in the hope that the children won't be as stubborn and rebellious as the fathers.
He talks specifically about a failure of the Ephraimites. How they turned back, despite all they had seen God do in the desert.
God works miracle after miracle - manna and quail - yet still they do not really believe.
2022 - These verses:
35 They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer. 36 But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. 37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant. 38 Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath. [Psa 78:35-38 ESV]. When enough bad things happened to Israel in the desert, they figured out that God was in charge, and that all good things came from him. Even so, they tried to deceive him and convince him that they had repented and would become good little Israelites. They said their prayers, they went to church, they sang the songs. What they did not do was submit to God. What Israel wanted was to renegotiate the Covenant of Moses. They were offering to keep all the rote and ritual the Law required if God would just leave them alone to do their own thing when church was over. And for their trouble, they wanted all the same blessings of God , without submission to God. God knew the truth, and God is not about compromise, nor about renegotiating covenants after the fact. He saw through their deceit and their lies, yet he kept his hand extended so that they might take it at any time. Imagine the patience required to forgive such arrogance! The lesson for us is that God has not changed. He still does not compromise, He still requires submission to ALL of his commands. We don't get to question His ways any more than Israel did. We should never believe that our hearts are hidden from God, nor believe that anything less than faith in His Son will be accepted at the gate into heaven. We have to stop lying to God, and stop lying to ourselves about how smart we are!
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38 Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath. 39 He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again. [Psa 78:38-39 ESV]
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It's a good thing too, else there'd be no hope for any of us.
The plagues on Egypt are recounted.
This reads as if God's original dwelling place in Canaan was in Shiloh, where the tent of meeting was set up. That would have been in Ephraim. But because those people were so rebellious, God lets them be taken in captivity, and moves his dwelling to Judah, to Mount Zion. David is instrumental in this. I haven't read this part of the narrative yet, but I will be looking for it.
2024 - We see again that when God is hard to find today, we should turn our thoughts to his miracles, his answered prayers, his help and strength in the past. This is how we maintain faith in the face of great adversity. Look at the history of the works of God toward Israel! He did all those things. When they rebelled, he was often silent, even letting the Ark be stolen by the Philistines as Israel was defeated in battle. He left them to themselves. And then he brought forth a leader of HIS CHOOSING, to lead them from such a dark hour into praise, worship, and obedience to him, through David. Perhaps this is where we are today in the US. Perhaps God has left us to ourselves, so we learn firsthand and for an extended time what it is like when he is not taking care for us. And when we have learned, then, perhaps, he will send us the leader we really need. Here are the verses I would use:
59 When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel. 60 He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among mankind, 61 and delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe. [Psa 78:59-61 ESV].
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