Most of us, while growing up, can remember hearing tales from our parents and grandparents, about the family’s past, how great-grandpa did this or that, and how the family traveled from here to there, and especially during a very difficult time, etc. We might even hear some of the tales of certain mistakes or rotten things they did. It’s very important to keep the family history alive, passing these accounts down to the next generation. Our psalm for this week is in agreement with that, especially when it comes to the family’s faith in God. Let’s take a quick look into Psalm 78
Psalm 78 was written by Asaph, who was the son of Berechiah. He wrote twelve of the psalms in the Bible. He was from the tribe of Levi, and was a singer, religious leader, and prominent leader of a guild of musicians in the Temple in Jerusalem.
Psalm 78 is a long one, and it gives a recitation of the nation of Israel’s history. Today, if we want to preserve our family history, we can have it recorded for our descendants in a variety of ways. Some of us might have old photo albums of our grandparents or great-grandparents. In a Christian family, hopefully there are accounts of how the Lord worked in various, mighty ways, and not just tales of dad’s sports records, or mom’s recipes.
Asaph knew how important it was that the people of Israel know, not only past events of bravery and valor from national heroes, but even more importantly the accounts of all that the Lord had done for them. Without computers, video recordings, or books, with only a limited number of handwritten scrolls, and not everyone even knowing how to read or write, it was important that the record of God’s mighty deeds be passed down from generation to generation. It was important that future generations knew what God had done for them in the past, and what He could do for them now and in the future. It was also important that they knew how their ancestors responded to God, either in obedience or disobedience, and learn from their ancestors' mistakes.
In addition to recording some of Israel’s history in Psalm 78, Asaph gave a warning to future generations not to follow their ancestors in unfaithful ways. Despite all that the Lord had done for them, the nation had taken God’s provisions for granted, and forgotten His mighty works. They had lived for themselves, and did not prepare their hearts to be faithful to the Lord.
We might wonder what the nation of Israel’s history has to do with us, today. The majority of us reading this can’t trace our physical bloodline back to them, so why would their history be important to us? This is recorded in God’s Word so that we can avoid the same errors. Israel’s unfaithfulness to God in their past was recorded to warn the Church, Christian’s today, to be faithful to God (I Corinthians 10:5-12). Just as we can learn from our parents and grandparents mistakes, we can learn from Israel’s mistakes in their relationship with the Lord.
Throughout their history, from the day they crossed the Red Sea with Moses, on through to the day Asaph wrote this psalm, God brought miracles for the people, but they refused to believe in His sufficiency. When we look at what God has done for us today, do we believe, and are we faithful to Him? Do our children and grandchildren know what God has done for us? It is important for parents to recount the works of God to their children (vs. 4-5).
If the children are not properly taught, the faith of future generations may be lost (vs. 8). The tribe of Ephraim (the most important tribe from the days of Joshua to Saul) failed in the day of battle because of their forgetfulness of God’s Word and works (vs 9-11). Their sin was the sin of unbelief (vs. 22) They rebelled, and were not faithful to God. That is a reason for lack of victory, both then and now.
Do we want our children to make the same mistakes we made, or our parents or grandparents? Do we want them to know all about how God took care of our needs during this or that difficult time, and how He blessed us? To avoid our mistakes, and to learn of God’s blessings, we need to teach them how gracious God has been in the past, even in spite of our sins. That way, just as verse 7, the key verse and main point in our Scripture today, says, “That they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God.”
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