Memory Check

Background

This Psalm is a troubling one to fully understand

To start, it’s to the choirmaster, so it’s meant to be sung

It’s a Maskil—a term not fully understood

Something to do with insightful teaching (staining) having an impact, making a mark on lives

…of the sons of Korah, as are some others

Most scholarship leans into this having been the Korah of the rebellion in Numbers 16—it didn’t end well for him and his followers

Thes sons—many generations removed--were placed into leadership roles for worship by King David

This is considered a Psalm of lament—corporate lament, though it doesn’t seem to start out that way.

Different scholars break it up differently, I like the chiastic approach

A1 (vs 1–3) The God of the past

>B1 (vs 4–8) Testimony: true faith

>>C (vs 9–16) Lament: the distressing present

>B2 (vs 17–22) Testimony: correct conduct

A2 (vs 23–26) The God of the future

Our focus this morning will be on the God of the past

Remembering

…the history

V.1

They remember because they’ve been told

…our fathers have told us...

Theirs had been, and continued to be, a trans-generational telling of the history of the nation, how they had become a people; how they had been delivered from slavery; how they’d become a nation established where they were

Fall back to Sean’s point—there is NO GOOD REASON for Jerusalem to exist at all…yet it was, at times, a THRIVING city as the capital of thriving nation

There is some latent understanding that the telling of the history of their people had helped them learn the lessons taught in the events of that history…some of them anyway

Diligent Jews taught their faith

As Moses was about to turn over the command of the nation to Joshua, he gave the 2nd telling of the law

Deut 6 6-8 “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.”

Recounting

…the events

V.2, 3a

Appears to relate to the conquest of the Promised Land under Joshua, so related to the passage just mentioned

A mere snapshot of the total history of the nation

Catch the contrasts—one of the literary devices that makes Hebrew poetry Hebrew poetry

If we understand that , it helps us to see how the repeated telling of the story lodges the facts into the memory

Why do we teach kids Scripture songs? So that they remember!

By God’s own hand he drove out the hostile nations

…but planted His own people in their place

By His hand, …afflicted the peoples residing there

…but set His people free within the land

The people didn’t win the land under their own devices or power

…or by their own strength

BUT by God’s right hand and arm

…and the the light of His face

Reasoning

…behind it all

V.3b

…for you delighted in them

That should be a Selah Moment, pause and ponder that a moment

God delighted in His people Israel; What was He thinking!?!?!?

Israel got off to a pretty rocky start

Abraham didn’t believe…fully....the promise of God, took his wife’s advice and “helped God out a bit—thus Hagar and Ishmael

Fast forward to Jacob---the deceiver...a fine example of honor

Once they were a nation, ran back to idolatry, grumbled against God’s chosen leader

After arriving in the promised land, descended into a virtual free-for-all

Despite being pulled together by David—not without his own problem—went through more highs and lows until the time of this writing, probably sometime before the exile, which came because of their disobedience

We can look again at Deut 9 6-7 ““Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord.”

This Matters to me Because???

Drawing the Parallels

This Psalm is decidedly Old Testament; we are post-cross, in the church age

The Nation of Israel was most assuredly God’s own people

That does NOT mean that every member of the nation—then or now—was automatically saved

Some walked with God, some did not

Those who walked with God did so on the matter of faith, their actions proved their faith

We can look at the Hall of Faith in Hebrews....

The Matter of Memory

Memory degrades…quickly;

The older we get the faster it goes

Some things we just have to practice (Commentary on perishable skills)

You may be able to always get back on a bicycle—but you’re going to wobble a bit for a while

Culture has a short memory

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

This from our declaration of independence

In the paragraph before this, God is referenced, pre-supposing Him to be the grantor of all nature’s goodness!

Everyone wants to talk about rights…but they forget the source of those rights: The Creator

The Creator is now pretty much written out of politics

Christians have a short memory—often take things for granted

GUILTY!

We fail to recite the goodness of God

We do in in abstract terms

God is so good, God is so good, God is so good; He’s so good to me

That’s wonderful

Do we recite the specifics?

Do we praise Him, publically or even in private for the specific good things He has done?

Result of a Short Memory

There is a generational loss

Stretching this just a bit...

Not only do people not know the spiritual history, they’re now absolutely ignorant of God

Isaiah’s experience with VBS at the High-Rise

Pushing a bit more

Parents are uncomfortable letting their kids attend the backyard club @ David and Emily’s!

We are 2, 3, maybe even 4 generations removed from any religious influence on our culture

The Fix

Returning to the words of Deut 6 6-8

Deuteronomy 6:6–8 ESV

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

The Matter of Delight

Does God delight in us…getting personal here does He delight in you? in me?

Let’s deal with the reality of this

Do we get the feeling sometimes: “Isn’t God lucky to have me on His team?!?!?!”

If we feel that way…we need to get over it…fast

We did nothing to earn God’s favor!

On our best day, we’re sinners

When John wrote 1 John 1 8

1 John 1:8 ESV

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

He wrote it into that day…today…and all following generations

The only good in us is that Christ died for us Ro 5 8

Romans 5:8 (ESV)

...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

When He showed His love for us in this way, you might say, He delights Himself in us

The Problem

When we get into this mode of “isn’t God lucky....” we become absolutely worthless to the cause of the Kingdom

It becomes all about us…what we do/have done; not about our Lord…what HE is doing/has done

The Fix

We look to a common piece of wisdom, Prov 3 5-6

Proverbs 3:5–6 ESV

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

If we get it right

Looking to the God of History…looking to Him as who He is…we’ll get the it right, and be His delight.