Reflections on Psalm 78: Why Do We Keep Doing That?

Nothing New Under the Sun

Which is a pretty-much direct quote from the book of Ecclesiastes.

And that is certainly true of our human behavior.

Three millennia past, a song writer and worship leader in Israel, by the name of Asaph, who appointed to that role by King David, wrote a hymn to remind Israel of their unfaithfulness.

I mentioned to someone in conversation yesterday that the devil doesn’t need any new tricks. The same old stuff still works way to well.

3,000 years after the psalmist Asaph wrote this hymn about how the people of Israel responded to the amazing His-Story of God, nothing has changed in terms of God’s faithfulness. And we also discover that nothing has really changed in the way humanity responds to the amazing grace of God.

Lets take a walk through the middle part of Psalm 78.

We left off with a verse that remind us that

God Gives Better Than We Ask

Psalm 78:25 ESV

25 Man ate of the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance.

You would think that people would know that God is doing for them way more than they do for him, because this gift of Manna, the bread of angels, was given to them after they almost berated the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,

When they had worried that God couldn’t care for them in the desert.

Psalm 78:19–20 ESV

19 They spoke against God, saying, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness? 20 He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?”

God had responded with Manna, the heavenly food, but the people complained that this sweet, melt-in-you-mouth sustenance did not give them a satisfying chew. It was like ambrosia is to us, that fruit cocktail with coconut and marshmallow all stirred together with Cool Whip that has been called a salad to justify it on our summer buffets. It’s good, it’s sweet, but it isn’t barbeque.

That is why, since they complained,

They Got What They Asked For:

God Sent the Quail For Meat

Psalm 78:26–28 ESV

26 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he led out the south wind; 27 he rained meat on them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas; 28 he let them fall in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings.

So they were knee-deep in meat, made up their barbeque, and. . .

Psalm 78:29 ESV

29 And they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved.

It turns out having more meat than they could eat was a bad thing:

God Let Them Have What They Begged for, and

They Died Because Their Demands Were Met

Psalm 78:30–31 ESV

30 But before they had satisfied their craving, while the food was still in their mouths, 31 the anger of God rose against them, and he killed the strongest of them and laid low the young men of Israel.

Their Hearts Were Unchanged

Psalm 78:32 ESV

32 In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe.

They still did not beleive!

They could have enjoyed life, but instead,

God Sent Them Death

Psalm 78:33–34 ESV

33 So he made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror. 34 When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly.

Because they acted like slavery in Egypt was better than having a miracle-working God who gave them heavenly food.

Now, it seems,

They Remembered God is Faithful

Psalm 78:35 ESV

35 They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer.

But it didn’t stick.

If you have read ahead in the Psalm, you find the roller-coaster ride of faith that is still common with us, 3,000 years later: as a whole,

Humanity Doesn’t Understand Faithfulness

And so, thinking they believed in God, they really only believed in themselves. and

Flattery Will Get You Nowhere

Psalm 78:36–37 ESV

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.

God doesn’t want our lies, he wants our hearts.

No matter how we sin

God Loves This World

Psalm 78:38–39 ESV

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.

God Atones for Our Sin

God Restrains His Anger

God Remembers We Are Helpless

and sends help.

God Sends Hope

to our Hopelessness

AND STILL WE SIN AGAINST GOD

Why Do We Keep Doing That?

Psalm 78:40–41 ESV

40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert! 41 They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel.

God will put up with us for a while,

But even God’s patience runs thin after a while.

Our Hearts Must Change Toward God