WHAT WILL YOU DO IN THE DAY OF BATTLE?

SCRIPTURE TEXT (See Psalms 78:9-11)

Psalm 78:9–11 NASB95

9 The sons of Ephraim were archers equipped with bows, Yet they turned back in the day of battle. 10 They did not keep the covenant of God And refused to walk in His law; 11 They forgot His deeds And His miracles that He had shown them.

THESIS

Now is the day of battle; it is not the time to turn back.

Context of Text

Asaph the Person

The title of the 78th Psalms ascribe authorship to Asaph.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Asaph the Person

First Chronicles 6:39 identifies Asaph as a leader of Levite temple musicians in David’s time (compare vv. 31–32; Neh 12:46). In First Chronicles 15:17, 19, he appears as a worship leader and is responsible for the cymbals, while in 16:5 he is in charge of music when the ark is brought into Jerusalem. Asaph had four sons: Zakkur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah (25:2). First Chronicles 25 indicates that Asaph was involved in leading one of three family musicians’ guilds in the temple. Second Chronicles 5:12 shows Asaph leading a guild of singers when the ark was brought to the temple by Solomon.

Although we are not told in direct words, the text suggests that this psalm was written during the reign of David or Solomon.

Asaph’s Intention

Genre: Psalm, Didactic — (OT) A psalm designed to give guidance or instruction to an individual or group.

The teaching to be heeded is given in the forms of a parable (māšāl) and dark sayings (ḥîdôt, v. 2). A parable is any form of saying that the hearer could see with the mind’s eye. Here it signifies a wise saying, a comparison. The dark sayings suggest a riddle, mystery, something that is puzzling.

James H. Waltner, Psalms, Believers Church Bible Commentary (Scottdale, PA; Waterloo, ON: Herald Press, 2006), 382

The main idea is spelled out in the superscription: “God still guides His people in spite of their unfaithfulness.”

Look at the recurring theme emerging in the passage:

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Psalm 78:17

Yet they still continued to sin against Him,

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (Psalm 78:32)

In spite of all this they still sinned

And did not believe in His wonderful works.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (Psalm 78:38–39)

But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them;

And often He restrained His anger And did not arouse all His wrath.

Thus He remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passes and does not return.

Having just alluded to the unsatisfactory attitude of the fathers, he points up this subject by reference to a specific instance from history: Ephraim, which tribe was a typical example of the infidelity just referred to (vv. 9–11). The initial statement is not a historical allusion to a particular event but a general statement in figurative language, as much as to say: Ephraim furnishes us with such an example of failure when an actual test was imposed upon the tribe. It is in this sense that the expression “day of battle” is used.

It would appear that this is a reference to the over-all leadership of the tribe of Ephraim among the Twelve Tribes in the days of the judges, which had just concluded one major episode in Israel’s history. Judah had not yet come into its own or manifested any particular capacity for leadership as she was to manifest after the days of David. So Ephraim had held the dominant position, at least in so far as such a position was held by any tribe. But her leadership was disastrous though she had all the qualifications and equipment that would have been required for success in shaping the destiny of the nation. This seems to be the force of the statement “though fully equipped with bows.”

The conjunction Yet reveals a complication. The text says that these skilled archers turned back in the day of battle. Turned back is often thought to mean cowardice or desertion. But this is not so it is simply that to turn around and go back.

CENTRAL IDEA

We can stand in the day of battle when...

KEEP THE COVENANT OF GOD

WALK IN HIS LAW

REMEMBER HIS DEEDS

The text says that they forgot. The Hebrew word is sakah and carries a wide rage of meaning: šākaḥ) forget, ignore, wither.

More often man is the subject of šākaḥ, the one who forgets. Forgetting is not simply a psychological act of having a thought pass from one’s consciousness, a temporary or permanent lapse of memory. This is indicated by the frequent identification of the verb with an action. To forget God is to ignore his commandments (Deut 8:11). To forget God is to follow other gods (Deut 8:19); to forget God is to stand in fear of harm and danger, to live fretfully and timidly (Isa 51:13). To forget God is to challenge him (Ps 106:13). The Bible would indicate that satiety is the major factor for forgetting God (Deut 8:12ff.; Hos 13:6 for example).

Look close at v 10 again:

As v. 10 immediately shows, the failure involved was one of “not keeping the covenant of God and refusing to walk in His law.” And that failure was again rooted, as v. 10 indicates, in the forgetting of His works and wonders which He had showed them. There is nothing spiteful about these statements. They are a correct evaluation of the leadership of Ephraim during these days of the theocracy

Victor P. Hamilton, “2383 שָׁכַח,” ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 922.