Home Library Donate

Psalms 76-78

Thursday Evening Bible Study

October 13, 2016

Introduction

Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid to die? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved? Target 3300 words Video = 75 wpm

Next week we will have new classes: (Oct. 20 – Nov. 17)

David Cathers – using Chuck Smith’s book “Calvary Chapel Distinctives” – this is what Calvary Chapel is all about.

Dave Ritner – using Warren Wiersbe’s book “50 People Every Christian Should Know: Learning from Spiritual Giants of the Faith”. It’s about significant people in church history.

Video: Psalms Intro

The English word psalm comes from a Greek word that means “a poem sung to musical accompaniment”, or in particular, “stringed instruments”.

The Hebrew name is tehillim, which means “praises.”

The book of Psalms is the hymnbook of God’s people.

It’s also the “Him” book as well. It’s all about Jesus.

The writer of Hebrews quotes from Psalm 40:8 when he writes,

(Hebrews 10:7 NKJV) Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come— In the volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God.’ ”

The author was talking about Jesus.

We’re going to see a lot of Jesus in the Psalms.

Soul Music

Music touches the soul. It’s “soulish” in nature. It touches the emotions.

We’re going to find every kind of emotion possible expressed in the Psalms.

For every sigh there is a Psalm.

For most of us, this is what makes the Psalms so wonderful. We can identify. We can relate.

If we were honest, even darkest most depressing Psalms describe the very things we go through day by day.

It is my prayer that as we continue on this journey through the Psalms, we won’t just look at these songs academically, with our mind, but that we may also grow as worshippers.

For most of us, this is what makes the Psalms so wonderful. We can identify. We can relate.

If we were honest, even darkest most depressing Psalms describe the very things we go through day by day.

It is my prayer that as we continue on this journey through the Psalms, we won’t just look at these songs academically, with our mind, but that we may also grow as worshippers.

Psalm 76 – Our Powerful God

: To the Chief Musician. On Stringed Instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

A Psalm of Asaph

Asaph was one of the three chief worship leaders appointed by King David. He and his descendants continued to lead the worship in the Temple.

This song was probably written by one of Asaph’s descendants.

We think this might have been written around 700 BC, after an amazing event took place in the days of King Hezekiah.

Hezekiah saw the difficult times ahead, it was not hard to miss.

Every year the might Assyrian army advanced closer and closer to the city of Jerusalem until one day they were on his doorstep delivering their “surrender or die” speech

(Isaiah 36:1–10 NKJV) —1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 2 Then the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And he stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field. 3 And Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him. 4 Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: “What confidence is this in which you trust? 5 I say you speak of having plans and power for war; but they are mere words. Now in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? 6 Look! You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 7 “But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’?” ’ 8 Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses—if you are able on your part to put riders on them! 9 How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 10 Have I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’ ”

The mighty Assyrian army had conquered much of the world.

They have already conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, and now have conquered all the other cities of Judah except Jerusalem.

And now they are at Hezekiah’s doorstep, threatening Jerusalem, and they have the audacity of claiming that God has sent them.

King Hezekiah responded to this threat with prayer.

There was a brief reprieve as the Assyrians are temporarily distracted with other military campaigns.

And then they come back.

(Isaiah 37:14–20 NKJV) —14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. 15 Then Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying: 16 “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 17 Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. 18 Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, 19 and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. 20 Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord, You alone.”

God responds to Hezekiah’s prayer and sends word through the prophet Isaiah…

(Isaiah 37:35–36 NKJV) —35 ‘For I will defend this city, to save it For My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’ ” 36 Then the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead.

God sends one angel, and the next morning 185,000 Assyrians are dead.

:1 In Judah God is known; His name is great in Israel.

:2 In Salem also is His tabernacle, And His dwelling place in Zion.

:2 In Salem also is His tabernacle

Salem (“peace”) is another name for Jerusalem.

Salem – Shalem – “peace”

You see an example of Hebrew poetic parallelism here – the second line is simply an elaboration of the first.

:3 There He broke the arrows of the bow, The shield and sword of battle. Selah

185,000 Assyrians died in a single night.

:4 You are more glorious and excellent Than the mountains of prey.

:4 the mountains of prey

God is more glorious than all the treasure that the Assyrians could have taken from Jerusalem.

People might look at our “stuff” and think that this is what’s so valuable in life – but in reality it’s God in us that’s the greatest treasure.

:5 The stouthearted were plundered; They have sunk into their sleep; And none of the mighty men have found the use of their hands.

:6 At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob, Both the chariot and horse were cast into a dead sleep.

:7 You, Yourself, are to be feared; And who may stand in Your presence When once You are angry?

:8 You caused judgment to be heard from heaven; The earth feared and was still,

:9 When God arose to judgment, To deliver all the oppressed of the earth. Selah

:10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise You; With the remainder of wrath You shall gird Yourself.

:10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise You

This is a difficult verse to understand.

Some take the “wrath of man” to be God’s wrath against men.

(Psalm 76:10 NIV) Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise, and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.

I like the way the New Living Translation puts it best:

(Psalm 76:10 NLT) Human defiance only enhances your glory, for you use it as a weapon.

If we look at the Assyrian invasion, their defiance against God was pretty great, yet when they were defeated in a single night by a single angel, God was the one who got the praise.

Sometimes God can even use people who oppose Him for His glory.

Illustration

When the atheist Robert G. Ingersoll was delivering his lectures against Christ and the Bible, his oratorical ability usually assured him of a large crowd. One night after an inflammatory speech in which he severely attacked man’s faith in the Savior, he dramatically took out his watch and said, “I’ll give God a chance to prove that He exists and is almighty. I challenge Him to strike me dead within 5 minutes!” First there was silence, then people became uneasy. Some left the hall, unable to take the nervous strain of the occasion, and one woman fainted. At the end of the allocated time, the atheist exclaimed derisively, “See! There is no God. I am still very much alive!”

After the lecture a young fellow said to a Christian lady, “Well, Ingersoll certainly proved something tonight!” Her reply was memorable. “Yes, he did,” she said. “He demonstrated that even the most defiant sinner cannot exhaust the patience of the Lord in just 5 minutes!”

:11 Make vows to the Lord your God, and pay them; Let all who are around Him bring presents to Him who ought to be feared.

:11 Make vows …and pay

Lesson

Keep your word

(Ecclesiastes 5:4–6 NKJV) —4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed— 5 Better not to vow than to vow and not pay. 6 Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands?

Sometimes when we are in trouble we make promises to God, things we will do if God gets us out of trouble.

And then when the trouble is over, we just blow off our promise to God.

Do you believe in and trust in God as just when things are easy as when they are difficult?

(Matthew 5:33–37 NKJV) —33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.

:12 He shall cut off the spirit of princes; He is awesome to the kings of the earth.

(Psalm 76:12 NLT) For he breaks the pride of princes, and the kings of the earth fear him.

:12 He is awesome to the kings of the earth

Lesson

We serve a Great God

There is nothing too difficult for Him.

(Jeremiah 32:27 NKJV) “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?

It’s not wrong to do whatever physical things we can when we are faced with a difficulty.

Hezekiah didn’t just pray, he also prepared the city for war.

One of his most famous projects was to cut off any available water outside the city so the invading Assyrians wouldn’t have water available.

He had an amazing 1500 foot tunnel cut through solid rock that brought water from the Gihon spring into the city, securing their own water supply.

But the one thing that the Bible records as the key to victory in their difficulty was prayer.

Hezekiah prayed. God says…

(Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV) ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

Psalm 77 – Remember Correctly

: To the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.

To Jeduthun

Jeduthun, like Asaph, was one of the three worship leaders designated by King David.

Like Asaph, his family continued on as worship leaders.

A Psalm of Asaph

Written by a descendant of Asaph, one of David’s worship leading families, for Jeduthun’s family.

This Psalm belongs during the time of the Babylonian captivity, after 586 BC, when the nation of Judah was defeated and hauled off to Babylon for seventy years.

:1 I cried out to God with my voice—To God with my voice; And He gave ear to me.

:2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; My soul refused to be comforted.

The writer is going to talk about facing great difficulties in his life.

:3 I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah

:3 I remembered God, and was troubled

As the Psalmist first looks into the past, all he can think of are times when God didn’t come through as he thought He should.

:4 You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

:5 I have considered the days of old, The years of ancient times.

:6 I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, And my spirit makes diligent search.

:7 Will the Lord cast off forever? And will He be favorable no more?

:8 Has His mercy ceased forever? Has His promise failed forevermore?

:9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah

:9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?

This is the kind of pit of despair we can fall into at times.

Sometimes we get ourselves into a pit of despair, like this sheep:

Video: Man Pulls Sheep out of tiny hole

It seems as if God no longer cares for us. Until of course He pulls us out of the hole.

:9 Selah

Lesson

The right pause

“Selah” means to stop and think about it. The Psalm takes a big turn here.

What do you think about when you stop to think?

Do you choose to continually think about the problem you’re facing?

Or do you exercise the mental discipline to think about something that’s more helpful?

How you stop and “pause” or “punctuate” makes a difference.

God is nowhere. (looks hopeless)

God is now here. (sounds much better)

Putting a “pause” or space makes a difference.

How would you punctuate the following?

Woman without her man is nothing.

Men: Woman, without her man, is nothing.

Women: Woman, without her, man is nothing.

:10 And I said, “This is my anguish; But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”

:11 I will remember the works of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.

:12 I will also meditate on all Your work, And talk of Your deeds.

:12 I will also meditate on all Your work

Lesson

Learn God’s History

Up to this point, all the Psalmist can think about is how God has let him down.

At this point he turns to think of all of history – how God has worked in the world.

Sometimes we will go through difficulties and it doesn’t seem like they are going to end.

The Psalmist is possibly sitting in Babylon wondering what happened to their nation.

Learn to read and study ALL the Bible.

You will see that though God’s people go through difficult times, God knows what He’s doing.

You can trust Him.

Don’t let your difficult time define God’s faithfulness to you.

You don’t yet see the bigger picture.

Lesson

Talk it up

Sometimes we need to take time to just talk about God’s goodness.

It reminds us of who God is like.

Talking to others helps as well.

One of the ways out of depression involves reaching out to others.

Sometimes what we need is to stop focusing on our own problems for a while and help others.

:13 Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; Who is so great a God as our God?

:13 Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary

We learn about God’s ways at church.

As we’re learning the Scriptures, we’re trying to learn the principles of how to live.

:14 You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your strength among the peoples.

:15 You have with Your arm redeemed Your people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

:14 You are the God who does wonders

The Psalmist is going to take a minute and think back to God bringing Israel out of Egypt by taking them through the Red Sea.

Video: Ten Commandments – Moses Parts Red Sea

:16 The waters saw You, O God; The waters saw You, they were afraid; The depths also trembled.

:17 The clouds poured out water; The skies sent out a sound; Your arrows also flashed about.

:17 The clouds poured out water

When Israel came through the Red Sea, they not only had a wall of water on either side, but there were clouds overhead, there was water on top of them as well.

Paul saw this as a picture of being “baptized”.

(1 Corinthians 10:1–2 NKJV) —1 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,

:18 The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lit up the world; The earth trembled and shook.

:19 Your way was in the sea, Your path in the great waters, And Your footsteps were not known.

:20 You led Your people like a flock By the hand of Moses and Aaron.

:19 Your way was in the sea

Lesson

Knowing Him in Trials

In verse 13, God’s way was “in the sanctuary”. Here God’s way is in the sea.

We learn about God’s ways in the sea – as God takes us through difficult times and the Red Sea is parted.

It’s not just about learning principles at church.

It’s about putting these lessons into life and living them while we go through difficult times.

It’s staying close to Him and learning His help.

The disciples found themselves in the middle of a storm one night, rowing their boat across the Sea of Galilee. In the middle of the storm, Jesus approaches them, walking on water.

(Matthew 14:27–33 NKJV) —27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” 28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”

It’s in the storm that we find out just how big our faith really is. Or isn’t.

It’s in the storm that we learn that Jesus is the One we can call out to for help.

Jesus is the “way” in the sea.

Jesus told a parable:

(Matthew 7:24–27 NKJV) —24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

It’s when we put the “lessons” into practice in our lives that allow us to withstand the storms that come into our lives.

Illustration

Those who would be in health do not sit still in their houses to breathe such air as may come to them, but they walk abroad and seek out rural and elevated spots that they may inhale the invigorating breezes. Thus those godly souls who would be in a vigorous spiritual state do not merely think on whatever holy doctrines might come into their minds in the ordinary course of thought, but they give time to meditation, they walk abroad in the fields of truth, and endeavor to climb the heights of gospel promises. It is said that Enoch walked with God. Here is not an idle but an active communion. The road to bodily health is said to be a footpath, and the way to spiritual health is to exercise one’s self in holy contemplation.

-- Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Psalm 78 Remember to Believe

: A Contemplation Of Asaph.

:1 Give ear, O my people, to my law; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

:2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old,

:3 Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us.

:4 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.

:5 For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children;

:6 That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children,

:7 That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments;

:8 And may not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not set its heart aright, And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

:4 We will not hide them from their children

One of the purposes of this Psalm is to act as a reminder to the next generation of who God is, what He’s done, and how the nation has acted towards God.

Lesson

Pass it on

It is important that one generation passes their faith in God to the next.

(Deuteronomy 6:4–7 NKJV) —4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise 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.

The history lesson begins…

:9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle.

:10 They did not keep the covenant of God; They refused to walk in His law,

:11 And forgot His works And His wonders that He had shown them.

:9 The children of Ephraim

Ephraim was one of the major tribes of Israel to the north of Judah.

Often the entire northern kingdom of Israel, the ten northern tribes, were referred to as “Ephraim”.

For a while, 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 a while was in Ephraim.

For a long 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.

Yet the northern kingdom, Ephraim, would forgot about God.

:12 Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

:12 Egypt … Zoan

The Psalmist is going to go back to the time when Israel was enslaved in Egypt.

“Zoan” was the capital city in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived in Egypt.

:13 He divided the sea and caused them to pass through; And He made the waters stand up like a heap.

:13 He divided the sea

When the slaves called out, God sent Moses.

Moses brought Israel out of Egypt, and through the Red Sea.

:14 In the daytime also He led them with the cloud, And all the night with a light of fire.

This was during the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. God led them with a pillar of cloud by day, fire by night.

:15 He split the rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink in abundance like the depths.

:16 He also brought streams out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers.

At the waters of Rephidim, Moses struck the Rock and water came out.

:17 But they sinned even more against Him By rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.

In spite of God doing great things, the people still rebelled against God.

:18 And they tested God in their heart By asking for the food of their fancy.

:19 Yes, they spoke against God: They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?

:20 Behold, He struck the rock, So that the waters gushed out, And the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Can He provide meat for His people?”

:21 Therefore the Lord heard this and was furious; So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also came up against Israel,

:22 Because they did not believe in God, And did not trust in His salvation.

:22 Because they did not believe in God

Despite the miracles coming out of Egypt, the people didn’t trust that God could take care of them.

That’s why God got angry.

The writer of Hebrew clearly says,

(Hebrews 3:19 NKJV) So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

:23 Yet He had commanded the clouds above, And opened the doors of heaven,

:24 Had rained down manna on them to eat, And given them of the bread of heaven.

:25 Men ate angels’ food; He sent them food to the full.

:25 Men ate angels’ food

They called the food that God provided “manna”. We might have called it “Angel’s Food Cake”.

:26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens; And by His power He brought in the south wind.

:27 He also rained meat on them like the dust, Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas;

:27 He also rained meat

In Numbers 11, the people wanted more than just manna, and God sent them quail to eat. They blew in on the wind.

:28 And He let them fall in the midst of their camp, All around their dwellings.

:29 So they ate and were well filled, For He gave them their own desire.

:29 For He gave them their own desire

Lesson

Careful what you ask for

Sometimes we are like spoiled children in what we are asking God to do…

Video: Tantrum

Sometimes when we keep demanding that God give us some certain thing, God will give us what we ask.

That’s not a good thing.

It’s good that we always pray like Jesus,

(Luke 22:42 NKJV) saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”

Asking God for the things that are right is always best.

Getting what “you” want may not always be a good thing.

:30 They were not deprived of their craving; But while their food was still in their mouths,

:31 The wrath of God came against them, And slew the stoutest of them, And struck down the choice men of Israel.

:31 The wrath of God came against them

Ever have that feeling of being “too full”?

In the story of the quail, a great many died (Num. 11:33-34).

They called that place “graves of lust”.

God gave them what they wanted.

(Numbers 11:33–34 NKJV) —33 But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was aroused against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague. 34 So he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving.

Kibroth Hattaavah – “graves of craving” or, “graves of lust”

:32 In spite of this they still sinned, And did not believe in His wondrous works.

:32 In spite of this they still sinned

They still didn’t believe.

:33 Therefore their days He consumed in futility, And their years in fear.

:34 When He slew them, then they sought Him; And they returned and sought earnestly for God.

:34 When He slew them, then they sought Him

Sometimes it’s not until we go through the horrible consequences of disobedience that we finally return to God.

Job wrote,

(Job 13:15a NKJV) Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.

:35 Then they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer.

:36 Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, And they lied to Him with their tongue;

:37 For their heart was not steadfast with Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.

:37 their heart was not steadfast with Him

Lesson

Heart not words

They said the right thing, “flattering” God with their lips.

But their hearts were not right. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees…

(Mark 7:6 NKJV) …“Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.

God isn’t looking for you to “say” the right thing, He’s looking for your heart to be right with Him.

:38 But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, And did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, And did not stir up all His wrath;

:39 For He remembered that they were but flesh, A breath that passes away and does not come again.

:38 But He, being full of compassion

God can sound pretty scary when you are a person living in disobedience to Him.

But when you are broken and repentant, you find that He is nothing but compassionate and forgiving.

(Isaiah 57:15 NKJV) For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

:40 How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert!

:41 Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel.

:41 And limited the Holy One of Israel

ESV – “provoked” the Holy One of Israel

They kept giving God a hard time.

:42 They did not remember His power: The day when He redeemed them from the enemy,

:43 When He worked His signs in Egypt, And His wonders in the field of Zoan;

:42 They did not remember His power

Just like the Psalmist in Psalm 77, we need to be careful to remember the right things.

Sometimes we only remember our current trouble.

We need to have a little longer memory and remember the things God has done in the past.

Israel needed to remember what God did in Egypt.

The Psalmist is going to remind the reader of the plagues in Egypt, the things that God used to finally get Pharaoh to let God’s people go.

:44 Turned their rivers into blood, And their streams, that they could not drink.

:45 He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them, And frogs, which destroyed them.

:46 He also gave their crops to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust.

:47 He destroyed their vines with hail, And their sycamore trees with frost.

:48 He also gave up their cattle to the hail, And their flocks to fiery lightning.

:49 He cast on them the fierceness of His anger, Wrath, indignation, and trouble, By sending angels of destruction among them.

:50 He made a path for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death, But gave their life over to the plague,

:51 And destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt, The first of their strength in the tents of Ham.

Ham was one of the sons of Noah, the Egyptians descended from Ham.

All these things in vss. 44-51 refer to the things God did to Egypt to persuade Pharaoh to let the Israelite slaves go free.

:52 But He made His own people go forth like sheep, And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;

:53 And He led them on safely, so that they did not fear; But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

:53 the sea overwhelmed their enemies

Talking about the Red Sea.

For believers, we find God’s “way in the sea” of difficulties (Ps. 77:19), but for the unbelievers, they are destroyed by difficulties.

:54 And He brought them to His holy border, This mountain which His right hand had acquired.

God brought them to the Promised Land of Canaan.

:55 He also drove out the nations before them, Allotted them an inheritance by survey, And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.

The conquering of the Promised Land by Joshua was a whole other set of miracles by God.

:56 Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God, And did not keep His testimonies,

:57 But turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers; They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

:58 For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.

:59 When God heard this, He was furious, And greatly abhorred Israel,

:60 So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent He had placed among men,

:60 He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh

The tabernacle of Moses had been at the city of Shiloh for a couple hundred years.

Excavations in Shiloh have uncovered the place where the Tabernacle was set up.

It wasn’t just a lonely tent, but over time the Israelites had built a stone structure around it.

There came a time when God was fed up with Israel’s constant unbelief.

The Philistines would win a major battle and actually take the Ark of the Covenant from Israel. (1Sam. 4)

Shiloh was no longer the capital of Israel.

:61 And delivered His strength into captivity, And His glory into the enemy’s hand.

:61 delivered His strength into captivity

The Ark was captured by the Philistines.

The Philistines learned they didn’t really want it that much. It gave them hemorrhoids (1Sam. 5).

:62 He also gave His people over to the sword, And was furious with His inheritance.

:63 The fire consumed their young men, And their maidens were not given in marriage.

:64 Their priests fell by the sword, And their widows made no lamentation.

This is talking about the period of time when the Philistines dominated the nation of Israel.

:65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine.

:66 And He beat back His enemies; He put them to a perpetual reproach.

:67 Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,

:68 But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved.

:68 chose the tribe of Judah

The leadership of the nation went through a transition.

Ephraim was no longer the dominant leader of the nation, but when David became king, the nation of Judah took over.

:69 And He built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has established forever.

:70 He also chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds;

:71 From following the ewes that had young He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance.

:72 So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

:72 he shepherded …the integrity of his heart

This is talking about King David.

David wasn’t perfect, but he was a man of integrity.

He was a man who believed in God.

Lesson

Learn and Believe

Remember that this Psalm was written as a way of passing on the lessons of the past on to the next generation.

It was teaching history so the reader would learn.

So what’s the big lesson?

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.

The apostle Paul also gave a similar history lesson, talking about the Israelites and their problems in the wilderness…

(1 Corinthians 10:11–13 NKJV) —11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

Nothing we go through is unique, but is common to men.

You and I will go through difficult times, but we need to remember that God is faithful.

God will provide a way of escape, we just need to take advantage of the exit.