Wednesday
Evening Bible Study
January 14, 2004
Psalm 78
:1-8 Lessons for the next generation
:8 And might not be as their fathers
God has given parents the responsibility of raising their children to know
and follow God.
Illustration
The late J. Edgar Hoover was once asked, “Should I make my child go to
Sunday school and church?” His reply was both Scriptural and practical. “Yes,”
said the former head of the FBI, “you certainly should, and with no further
discussion about the matter. You may be startled by my answer, but what do you
say to Junior when he comes to breakfast on Monday morning and announces he isn’t
going to school anymore? You know! He goes! How do you answer him when he comes
home covered with mud and says, ‘I’m not going to take a bath.’ Junior bathes,
doesn’t he? Why all this timidity, then, in the realm of spiritual guidance and
growth? You say you’re going to let him wait and decide what church he wants to
go to when he is old enough? Quit your kidding! You wouldn’t wait until he’s
grown up to choose whether he wishes to be clean or dirty, would you? Do you
let him decide for himself whether to take medicine when he’s sick? Do you? How
shall we respond, then, when Junior says he doesn’t want to go to Sunday school
and church? That’s easy! Just be consistent. Tell him, ‘Son, in our house we
ALL go to Sunday school and church, and that includes you!’ Your firmness and
example will furnish a bridge over which youthful rebellion will then travel
into many rich and satisfying spiritual experiences.”
God gave a command in the Law (vs. 5) for parents, and that command is
found in Deuteronomy 6.
Lesson
You need God’s Word.
(Deu 6:4-7 KJV) Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: {5}
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy might. {6} And these words, which I command thee this
day, shall be in thine heart: {7}
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them
when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when
thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
There are a lots of good books and other materials on parenting, but the
most important thing that you can be reading for the sake of your children is
God’s Word. And more than just reading it, it needs to get into your heart.
Your kids need you to be having a daily time in God’s Word. They need to
see you as a mom or dad who reads their Bible. They need to see you living it
out.
Lesson
Teach your children God’s Word
(Deu 6:4-7 KJV) Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: {5}
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy might. {6} And these
words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: {7} And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy
children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when
thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
If God has been teaching you His Word, then you’re qualified to teach
others, including your children.
We can only give out to others what we ourselves received.
(1 Cor 15:3 KJV) For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how
that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
For some of us, this can sound kind of threatening. But you don’t have to
be a pastor to read your Bible to your kids. Or get a Children’s Bible story
book. An easy place to start is in the gospels. Or the book of Acts. Try
reading to them at bedtime. Make a game out of asking questions from the
passage to see if the kids are paying attention.
Lesson
Teaching takes time.
It’s hard for parents to teach their kids if they aren’t around. Sometimes
we get so sidetracked with our careers, and sometimes it’s all because we want
to be good “providers” for our children. But the very best thing you can
provide for your children is a good example. And that’s hard when they’re your
not there “in thine house” or “by the way”.
(Deu 6:7 KJV) And thou shalt
teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and
when thou walkest by the way, and
when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Illustration
Speaker and author Carol Kent was on the fast track to being an absentee
parent--until her young son, Jason, made a simple observation. She recalls:
"We were eating breakfast together, and I had on an old pair of slacks and
a fuzzy old sweater. He flashed his baby blues at me over his cereal bowl and
said, 'Mommy, you look so pretty today.' I didn't even have makeup on! So I
said, 'Honey, why would you say I look pretty today? Normally I'm dressed in a
suit and high heels.' And he said, 'When you look like that, I know you're
going some place; but when you look like this, I know you're mine.' "His
words were like an arrow piercing my heart. I realized I might fail at being a
godly Christian mother because I was saying yes to so many speaking
engagements. I got on my knees with my precious appointment book and offered it
to God."
-- Jan L. Senn in Today's
Christian Woman. Christian Reader, Vol. 33, no. 4.
Illustration
A pastor was concerned when two of his three sons began to stutter. He made
an appointment for them to see a speech therapist (who was also a
psychologist), and later had a conference himself. “That psychologist literally
cursed me,” the pastor said. “He told me I was responsible for that speech
defect, and that I was ruining my boys' lives. 'When did you last take your
family on a vacation?' he asked me. "Well, it had been a long, long time.
I was too busy to take time with my family. I remember I used to say that the
Devil never takes a vacation, so why should I?--And I never stopped to think
that the Devil wasn't to be my example."
-- Joe Bayly in Out
of My Mind. Christianity Today, Vol. 39, no. 7.
Lesson
Teach by example
Billy Graham wrote, “Children will invariably talk, eat, walk, think,
respond, and act like their parents. Give them a target to shoot at. Give them
a goal to work toward. Give them a pattern that they can see clearly, and you
give them something that gold and silver cannot buy.”
Good parenting is not just about teaching kids facts, it’s showing them a
life they can follow.
In the Old Testament, each new king that came along was often measured by
whether he followed in the good example of his fathers:
Jehoshaphat – (2 Chr
20:32 KJV) And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from
it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD.
Uzziah – (2 Chr
26:4 KJV) And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according
to all that his father Amaziah did.
Jotham – (2 Chr
27:2 KJV) And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according
to all that his father Uzziah did: howbeit he entered not
into the temple of the LORD. And the people did yet corruptly.
Note that it was “all that his father Uzziah did”. It wasn’t a matter of what he was
told, but what he had seen.
As we mentioned on Sunday, Paul, in his life, set an example for others to
follow. He didn't just tell people what to do, he lived it out in front of
them.
(2 Th 3:6-9 KJV) Now we
command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw
yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the
tradition which he received of us. {7} For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved
not ourselves disorderly among you; {8} Neither did we eat any man's bread for
nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be
chargeable to any of you: {9} Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you
to follow us.
:9-39 Learn to trust God
The Psalmist is going to teach one of the lessons that we need to learn. Lessons
we also need to pass on to our children.
:9 The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in
the day of battle.
Ephraim was one of the major tribes of Israel
to the north of Judah.
For awhile, Ephraim was a tribe that was considered a leader of the entire
nation. Joshua was from the tribe of Ephraim. The city of Shiloh,
which functioned as a sort of capital for awhile was in Ephraim. For a period
of time the Tabernacle and the Ark
were located in Shiloh. This was the city where Samuel
was raised by the high priest Eli at the Tabernacle.
:17 And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the
wilderness.
Despite all God did, the people still sinned.
:25 Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full.
Angels’ food cake. He’s talking about the manna in the wilderness.
:27 He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the
sand of the sea:
In Numbers 11, the people wanted more than manna, and God sent them quail
to eat. They blew in on the wind.
:30 They were not estranged from their lust …
:30-31 The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and
smote down the chosen men of Israel.
estranged from their lust …???
(Psa 78:30-31 NLT) But before they finished eating this food they
had craved, while the meat was yet in their mouths, {31} the anger of God rose
against them, and he killed their strongest men; he struck down the finest of Israel's
young men.
This came from the incident with the quail.
(Num 11:33-34 KJV) And while the flesh was yet between their teeth,
ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and
the LORD smote the people with a very great plague. {34} And he called the name
of that place Kibrothhattaavah: because there they buried the people that
lusted.
Kibrothhattaavah – “graves of craving” or, “graves of lust”
:32 For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous
works.
They had seen God do some wonderful things for them.
Their sin wasn’t in asking for food. It was the attitude behind it, a sort
of “daring” God.
:34 When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and inquired
early after God.
inquired early – shachar –
(Piel) to seek, seek early
(NAS) Ps 78:34 And returned and searched diligently for God;
:37 For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in
his covenant.
Lesson
Heart not lips
They said the right things, but their hearts weren’t right.
Jesus said of the Pharisees,
(Mark 7:5-9 KJV) Then the Pharisees and scribes
asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders,
but eat bread with unwashen hands? {6} He answered and said unto them, Well
hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me. {7} Howbeit in vain do they worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. {8} For laying aside the
commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and
cups: and many other such like things ye do. {9} And he said unto them, Full
well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
If we’re not careful, we too can become Pharisees. We too
can be more concerned about “traditions” or “the way we’ve always done it”
instead of being concerned about the heart of God and our own hearts.
:39 For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away,
and cometh not again.
God’s grace and patience with us. Isn’t it amazing?
:40-72 From Shiloh to Jerusalem
:44 And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they
could not drink.
This is talking about the plagues in Egypt.
The people had forgotten how God had demonstrated His power in delivering them.
:53 but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
Going through the Red Sea.
:55 He cast out the heathen also before them
The conquering of the Promised Land by Joshua was another whole set of
miracles.
:60 So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the
tent which he placed among men;
The people had been unfaithful to the Lord, and the Lord sent the Philistines
to battle against Israel.
Israel
responded by sending for the Ark,
located at Shiloh. They wanted the Ark
to be in battle with them, sort of as a “good luck” charm.
(1 Sam 4:3 KJV) And when the people were come into the camp, the
elders of Israel
said, Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us
fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us,
it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.
God doesn’t think too highly of being considered anybody’s good luck charm.
He let Israel
lose.
God doesn’t want us to think of Him as some big genie who is only good for
getting us out of trouble.
He is God Almighty. We are to follow
Him. He doesn’t follow us.
This was when the Philistines took the ark into their cities and began
having problems like plagues of mice and tumors, possibly hemorrhoids (1Sam. 5)
The place of the Tabernacle and Ark
was “forsaken”.
:68 But chose the tribe of Judah,
the mount Zion
which he loved.
The leadership of the nation went through a transition.
For awhile the prophet Samuel was a “judge” over Israel.
Then the people asked for a king, and God gave them Saul, from the tribe of
Benjamin.
Then David became king, from the tribe of Judah.
The capital of the nation moved from having been in Shiloh,
to Jerusalem.
:72 So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them
by the skilfulness of his hands.
Remember that this Psalm was written as a way of passing on the lessons of
the past on to the next generation. So what’s the big lesson?
Lesson
Believe God
The overall lesson in the Psalm is the lesson of learning to trust in Him.
In the wilderness, the people had problems because they wouldn’t trust God.
In the Promised Land, the people had problems because they wouldn’t trust
God.
How many times does God have to prove Himself to you?
In one of the lessons, God was trying to teach the people to trust Him:
(Num 21:4-9 KJV) And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of
the Red sea,
to compass the land of Edom:
and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. {5} And the
people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up
out of Egypt
to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and
our soul loatheth this light bread. {6} And the LORD sent fiery serpents among
the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel
died. {7} Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we
have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he
take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. {8} And the
LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it
shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it,
shall live. {9} And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and
it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the
serpent of brass, he lived.
Jesus said,
(John 3:14-18 KJV) And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: {15} That whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. {16} For God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. {17} For God sent not his
Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might
be saved. {18} He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth
not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God.
Learn to trust God.
We can think that “believing” is a New Testament thing. It’s
a Bible thing. God’s standard has always been to trust Him.
Psalm 79
A Psalm of Asaph.
It’s likely that this Psalm was written after the destruction of Jerusalem
in 586 BC.
:1-5 Jerusalem
in ruins
:4 We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them
that are round about us.
The neighboring nations around Judah
were laughing at the destruction of Jerusalem.
Among those laughing were the Edomites. God would rebuke the Edomites in the
book of Obadiah:
(Oba 1:12
KJV) But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day
that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the
children of Judah
in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in
the day of distress.
:5 How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn
like fire?
The Psalmist is hoping that God would bring deliverance immediately.
It would not come for seventy years.
:6-13 Help us
:8 O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies
speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low.
(Psa 79:8 NLT) Oh, do not hold us guilty for our former sins! Let
your tenderhearted mercies quickly meet our needs, for we are brought low to
the dust.
The Psalmist realizes that their current condition is a result of their
sin.
Sin brings consequences
Lesson
Mercy and deliverance
Our cries for help in our situations that are caused by our sin are not
necessarily going to get us out of trouble.
When we ask God for forgiveness, when we ask Him for a new life, He will
indeed to that.
But He may not change some of our circumstances.
Examples: An inmate on death-row
for murdering someone may still be put to death. A drug user may still have to
go through withdrawals. A person engaging in sexual sin may still have a
disease.
Psalm 80
To the chief Musician upon Shoshannimeduth, A Psalm of Asaph.
Shoshannimeduth – “lilies”
One thought is that this Psalm was also written after the destruction of Jerusalem.
I think it’s possible it was written earlier, when the northern kingdom had
been wiped out by the Assyrians in 722 BC, and the people of Judah,
including the singers of Asaph saw the destruction.
Keep in mind, Asaph was the family of singers that served in the Temple. They were in the southern kingdom.
:1-7 Help us
:1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the
cherubims, shine forth.
Joseph was one of the sons of Jacob, but wasn’t usually thought of
as a tribe since his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh were both given status as
equal tribes among the other tribes. Joseph was the dominant tribe of the north,
Ephraim the most dominant of Joseph.
that dwellest between the cherubims –
This is a reference to God on His throne, both at the model of the throne
on the Ark, as well as in heaven.
(Exo 25:22 KJV) And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune
with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are
upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in
commandment unto the children of Israel.
:3 Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be
saved.
cause thy face to shine – Look on us with favor. Smile on us.
(Num 6:23-27 KJV) Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On
this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, {24} The
LORD bless thee, and keep thee: {25} The LORD make his face shine upon thee,
and be gracious unto thee: {26} The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and
give thee peace. {27} And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel;
and I will bless them.
:4 O LORD God of hosts
hosts – armies
:8-19 Help your people
:8 Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt
Israel was
taken out of Egypt
and spread through Canaan.
:11 She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.
sea – the Mediterranean
river – the Euphrates
:17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man
whom thou madest strong for thyself.
(Psa 80:17 NLT) Strengthen the man you love, the son of your
choice.
Some have suggested that the writer is talking about Israel
as the “man of thy right hand”.
I think it sounds as if the writer is talking about the king.
More specifically, I think he’s talking about the “deliverer”, the
“Messiah”. Jesus.
:19 Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we
shall be saved.
Lesson
Learn from others
If this was indeed written during the Assyrian invasion, then this Psalm is
about watching the judgment that fell on the north, and the stirring up of
revival in the south.
Illustration
Winter House
“We purchased an old home in Northern
New York State
from two elderly sisters. Winter was fast approaching and I was concerned about
the house’s lack of insulation. “If they could live here all those years, so
can we!” my husband confidently declared. One November night the temperature
plunged to below zero, and we woke up to find interior walls covered with
frost. My husband called the sisters to ask how they had kept the house warm. After
a rather brief conversation, he hung up. “For the past 30 years,” he muttered, “they’ve
gone to Florida for the winter.””
This family needed to learn from those before them.
How do we respond when we see others experience a type of judgment because
of their sin?
It ought to “quicken” us, wake us up.
When I hear stories of pastors who fall into immorality, it scares me to
death.
Kobe Bryant – it ought to make
you want to be faithful to your wife.