Bible in one year 9/6/ 2022 Book III Psalm 77- 78
By Rev. Katherine
Liu Bruce
Christian Arts
Ministries : Biblical precepts & Gospel music; Pastoral ministry &
Counseling
Psalm 77 A psalm of Asaph. In
this lament, we see the psalmist’s call for help(vv.1-10) and the comfort of
history(vv.11-20).
Psalm 77:1-20
I cried out to God for
help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;
at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted. I
remember you, O God, and I groaned; I mused, and my spirit grew faint. You kep
my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak. I thought about the former
days, the years of long ago; I remembered my songs in the night. My heart mused
and my spirit inquired: “Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his
favor again? Has his unfailing love canished forever? Has his promise failed
for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has God forgotten to be
merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?” The I thought, “ To this I will appeal: the years of the right hand of the Most
High.” (vv.1-10).
I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.
Psalm 78 A maskil of Asaph.
Asaph recites the early history of the nation in order to warn future
generations against a repetition of unfaithfulness. He invites (vv.1-11) the
people to recall their provocation of God in the wilderness experience
(vv.12-39), their ingratitude during the Exodus (vv.40-55), and their
unfaithfulness during the period of the judge (vv.56-72). Verse 2 “I will open my
mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old.” This verse is
quoted in Matt.13:35 to describe Jesus’ way of teaching. Verses 68-72 described
the hope of the nation rested on God’s new choices of Judah (replacing
Ephraim), Zion(then in enemy hands), and David (a shepherd lad).
Psalm 78:1-72
What we have heard and
known, what our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their
children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
his power, and the wonders he has done. (vv.3-4).
He decreed statutes for
Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to
teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children
yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put
their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.
(vv.5-7).
They would not be like
their forefathers a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not
loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him. The men of Ephraim,
though armed with bows, turned back on the day of battle; they did not keep
God’s covenant and refused to live by his law. They forgot what he had done,
the wonders he had shown them. He did
miracles in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the region of
Zoan. (vv.8-12).
He divided the sea and
led them through; he made the water stand firm like a wall. He guided them with
the cloud by day and with light form the fire all night. He split the rocks in
the desert and gave them water as abundant as the seas; he brought streams out
of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers. (vv.13-16).
But they continued to
sin against him, rebellion in the desert against the Most High. They willfully
put God to the test by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God,
saying, “Can God spread a table in the desert? When he struck the rock, water
gushed out, and streams flowed abundantly. But can he also give us food? Can he
supply meat for his people? When the Lord heard them, he was very angry; his
fire broke out against Jacob, and his wrath rose against Jacob, and his wrath
rose against Israel, for they did not believe in God or trust in his
deliverance. Yet he gave a command to the skies above and opened the doors of
the heavens; he rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain
of heaven. Men ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could
eat.(vv.17-25).
He let loose the east
wind from the heavens and led forth the south wind by his power. He rained meat
down on them like dust, flying birds like sand on the seashore. He made them
come down inside their camp, all around their tents. They ate till they had more
than enough, for he had given them what they craved. But before they turned
form the food they craved. But before they turned form the food they carved,
even while it was till in their mouths, God’s anger rose against them; he put
to death the sturdiest among them, cutting down the young men of Israel.
(vv.26-31).
In spite of all this,
they kept on sinning; in spite of his wonders, they did not believe. So he
ended their days in futility and their years in terror. Whenever God slew them,
they would seek him; they eagerly turned to him again. They remembered that God
was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer. But then they would
flatter him with their mouths, lying to him with their tongues; their hearts
were not loyal to him, they were not faithful to his covenant. Yet he was
merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time
he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath. He remembered that
they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.(vv.32-39).
How often they rebelled
against him in the desert and grieved him in the wasteland! Again and again
they put God to the test; they vexed the Holy One of Israel. They did not
remember his power – the day he redeemed them from the oppressor, the day he
displayed his miraculous signs in Egypt, his wonders in the region of Zoan. He
turned their rivers to blood; they could not drink form their streams. He sent
swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them. He gave
their crops to the grasshopper, their produce to the locust. He destroyed their
vines with hail and their cycamore –figs with sleet. He gave over their cattle
to the hail, their livestock to bolts of lightning. He unleashed against them
hi hot anger, his wrath, indignation and hostility--- a band of destroying
angels.(vv.40-49).
He prepared a path for
his anger; he did not spare them from death but gave them over to the plague.
He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, the first fruits of manhood in the
tents of Ham. But he brought his people out like a flock; he led them like
sheep through the desert. He guided them safely, so they were unafraid; but the
sea engulfed their enemies. Thus he brought them to the border of his holy
land, to the hill country his right hand had taken. He drove out nations before
them and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance; he settled the tribes
of Israel in their homes. (vv.50-55).
But they put God to the
test and rebelled against the Most High; they did not keep his statutes. Like
their fathers they were disloyal and faithless, as unreliable as a faulty bow.
They angered him with their high places; they aroused his jealousy with their
idols. When God heard them, he was very angry; he rejected Israel completely.
He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent he had set up among men. He
sent the ark of his might into captivity, his splendor into the hands of the
enemy. He gave his people over to the sword; he was very angry with his
inheritance. Fire consumed their young men, and their maidens had no wedding
songs; their priests were put to the swords, and their widows could not weep.
Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, as a man wakes from the stupor of wine. He
beat back his enemies; he put them to everlasting shame. (vv.56-66).
Then he rejected the tents
of Joseph, he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim; but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loved. He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the
earth that he established forever. He chose David his servant and took him from
the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his
people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. And David shepherded them with
integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them. (vv.67-72).
Bibliography,
Ryrie,
Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV). Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible
Institute, 1986.
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