Psalm 078

Introduction

I think this is the first of the long psalms. When I started to preach on the psalms I wondered what I would do when I reached the long ones. One approach is to divide a long psalm into different parts and to study the parts over several weeks. The problem with that approach is that each psalm is a whole. Each psalm is one thing; and ideally they shouldn’t be divided.

And so, for this psalm, I’ve decided to divide it up into parts, but to deal with each part briefly tonight. So, we’ll not go verse by verse, but part by part. And I’ll read each part before commenting on it. And whether it works or not will determine whether I do this again.

Verses 1 to 8

The psalmist says in verse 2 that he’s going to open his mouth in parables and utter hidden things from of old. Matthew applies those words to the Lord Jesus in Matthew 13. However, here in the psalm, the psalmist means that he has wise things to tell the people and he wants them to listen to him. In particular he wants to tell the next generation of God’s people about the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord and the wonders God did for his people in the past. And the point of recounting these things is so that the next generation of God’s people will know what God has done and will trust him and keep his commandments. His aim, according to verse 8, is to keep the next generation from being like previous generations, who forgot the Lord and were stubborn and rebellious and unfaithful.

Verses 9 to 16

In verses 9 and 10 he mentions the men of the tribe of Ephraim. Later in the psalm he’ll mention Shiloh, which was a town in the land allotted to Ephraim and it was the place of worship when Samuel was born. You’ll remember that Eli was the High Priest at that time and his two sons were wicked. In 1 Samuel 4 we read that the Israelites and Philistines fought against each other and the Israelites were defeated. The Israelites then took the ark of the covenant with them when they went out to fight against the Philistines again. And they were once again defeated and the ark was captured and Eli’s two wicked sons were killed.

According to the psalm, the Israelites were defeated at that time because they did not keep God’s covenant. In other words, they refused to live by his law. And therefore the Lord handed them over to their enemies. And why did they refuse to live by God’s law? Because — according to verse 11 — they forgot what God had done and the wonders he had shown them in the past. If they had remembered what God had done for them in the past, they would have been prepared to serve him in the present.

So, what did he do in the past? From verse 12 onwards, the psalmist says that God performed miracles on behalf of his people when they were slaves in Egypt; and he divided the Red Sea and brought his people through it; and then he guided them through the wilderness with the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. And he brought water from the rock for them to drink.

So, what had God done for them? He rescued them and he provided for them. He took care of them. And so, out of gratitude to him, they should have obeyed him. But they didn’t. And that takes us to the next part.

Verses 17 to 31

God brought them out of Egypt and he led them through the wilderness. But instead of committing themselves to the Lord and obeying him, the people who had been rescued from Egypt continued to sin against the Lord. They sinned against the Lord by testing him. Yes, the Lord gave us water, but can he also give us food? Can he also give us meat?

The psalmist has Numbers 11 in mind where it says the people complained about their hardships and they began to crave the food they used to eat in Egypt. And they made clear that they were sick of the manna which God had provided them. And in Numbers 11 we read how the Lord provided them with manna from heaven; and then it tells us that the Lord caused a wind to blow which drove quail in from the sea; and the quail came down on the ground near their camp and covered the ground. And the people went out and gathered the quail. But while the meat was still between their teeth, the anger of the Lord burned against them and many of them died of a plague.

That’s what we read in Numbers 11 and the psalmist refers to that in verses 17 to 31. They tested God by asking for meat. He opened the doors of the heavens and rained down manna on them. He then rained down meat on them. They ate till they had more than enough. But while the meat was still in their mouths, God’s anger rose again them.

If only they had remembered with gratitude what God had done for them in Egypt, they wouldn’t have put him to the test and they wouldn’t have suffered his wrath. But because they forgot him, they did not obey him. And so, he became angry with them.

Verses 32 to 39

In these verses we discover that God’s chastisement was remedial. That is to say, it was intended to cure them of their rebellion. So, they kept on sinning throughout their time in the wilderness. And they ended their days in futility. After all, most of them died in the wilderness without having reached the Promised Land. However, when God slew them, or when he chastised them, those who survived would seek him. They would turn to him and rediscover all over again that he was their Rock and Redeemer. So, think of the time when God sent the poisonous snakes into the camp. And in the distress, they cried to the Lord. And the Lord healed them so that they did not perish. He was trying to cure them of their rebellion.

But, according to verse 36, their repentance was not sincere. They would flatter the Lord — and flattery is never sincere. Though they honoured the Lord with their mouths, their hearts were still not loyal to the Lord and they were not faithful to the covenant.

And yet, the Lord was faithful to them. He had mercy on them. And he forgave their sins. And he did not destroy them completely. And he restrained his anger again and again. He remembered that they were only flesh. That is, he bore in mind that they were merely mortal. And so, he spared them.

Verses 40 to 55

At the beginning of this part, the psalmist is still thinking about the time in the wilderness when they often rebelled against the Lord. Again and again they put him to the test. Why did they behave like this? According to verse 42 it’s because they did not remember his power and how he had delivered them from their bondage in Egypt. And the psalmist goes on in verses 44 to 48 to mention some of the plagues. And in verses 49 to 51 he refers to the last and worst plague which was the death of the firstborn males. And afterwards, according to verse 52, God brought his people out of Egypt and led them as a shepherd leads his flock. He guided them safely through the Red Sea, which afterwards engulfed their enemies.

And in verses 54 and 55 he jumps forward in time 40 years to when he brought them to the border of Canaan and drove out the nations before them and gave them the land as their inheritance. And so, he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

Verses 56 to 64

So, God brought them out of Egypt and he led them through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. All this he did for them, despite their sin and rebellion. And in verses 56 to 64 he focusses his attention on the history of the Israelites from the time of the conquest until the time when David became king. So, he’s thinking about the time of the judges, when there was no king and everyone did as he saw fit. And he’s also thinking of the time of Samuel. Throughout this whole period, the people put the Lord to the test again and again; and they rebelled against him. Like their fathers in the wilderness, the Israelites were disloyal and faithless. They angered God with their high places and aroused him to jealousy with their idols.

And finally the Lord rejected his people at Shiloh. So, the psalmist is returning to where he started in verse 9 and to the Israelites, represented by the tribe of Ephraim, who were beaten in battle because they did not keep God’s covenant. At that time, the Lord let the Philistines defeat the Israelites; and he abandoned his tabernacle; and he sent the ark of the covenant into captivity. And so, God gave his people over to the sword. Fire consumed their young men. Their maidens had no wedding song. Their priests — Eli’s two sons — were put to the sword.

In other words, the people at that time were just like the people in the wilderness, because they forgot what God had done for them, when he brought them out of Egypt and led them through the wilderness and brought them into the Promised Land where they were able to settle down and make homes for themselves. Again and again God had demonstrated his power and his kindness and his faithfulness. But they kept forgetting what he had done. And when they forgot, they broke the covenant by turning away from him and going after other gods.

Verses 65 to 72

This part begins, ‘Then the Lord awoke as from sleep’. The Lord, of course, was not sleeping. He was the one who sent the Philistines against the Israelites to punish them for their rebellion. However, it was as if he had awaken, because he rose up to beat back his enemies and to put them to everlasting shame. That is to say: he enabled his people to defeat the Philistines.

The psalmist then tells us that the Lord rejected the tents of Joseph and he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim. He mentions Joseph because the tribe of Ephraim came from him. And God rejected them in the sense that he chose Mount Zion in the land of Judah as his new dwelling place. No longer would he dwell in Shiloh in Ephraim, but he would dwell in Jerusalem in Judah. And he chose David to be his king, so that David went from shepherding sheep to shepherding God’s people. And David shepherded them with integrity of heart and with skilful hands. David, of course, was far from perfect. But he loved the Lord and served the Lord faithfully.

Though they people forgot the Lord and turned from him, he did not forget them. He continued to perform mighty deeds for them and he gave them a good king to shepherd them.

Conclusion

At the beginning of the psalm, the psalmist said that he will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord. He will tell this to the next generation so that they would put their trust in God and would keep his commands. And he will tell the next generation so that they will not be like their forefathers who were a stubborn and rebellious generation. And so, in the course of the psalm, he recounted the deeds the Lord did for his people when he rescued them from Egypt and brought them through the Red Sea and led them through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. And he also recounted what happened when their forefathers forgot what God had done. When they forgot the Lord, they turned away from him.

And so, the psalmist is saying to the people: Don’t forget. Don’t be like your forefathers who forgot the Lord. Remember what he has done. And remember to trust him and to obey him.

And this is why we continue to preach the good news of the gospel week by week. Even though most of us are believers, who know the gospel and believe in the Saviour who gave up his life for us, we need to be reminded again and again of what God has done for us by his Son, so that we will not forget and turn away from God. If we take the gospel for granted, or if we think it’s only for those who don’t believe, then we’re liable to forget. And when we forget, then we’ll forget to trust the Lord and to keep his commands. But when we remember what God has done for us by his Son, then we’ll remember why we should always trust and obey.