SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
4/25/2012 9:41:24 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
Understanding
the Past
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Psalm 78:9-39
Message
of the verses: In yesterday’s SD we
began to look at the first section in Psalm 78, a psalm that is longer than
others that we have looked at so far.
Dr. Wiersbe in his closing comments from his introduction writes the
following: “Since Israel is a covenant
nation, she has the responsibility of obeying and honoring the Lord, and this
psalm presents three responsibilities God expected His people to fulfill.”
Understanding
the Past (vv. 9-64): We will begin
to look at the different ways that Israel, in the past had disobeyed the Lord.
I have been listening to the
sixth chapter of Mark for the last week or so and there is a story in that
chapter that reminds me of what Israel missed, or better why Israel missed
understanding the miracles that the Lord had done for them when He took them
out of Egypt. It was because they had
missed the meaning of the Exodus that caused them to fall at the different
times in their history that Asaph will write about in this section. The incident from the book of Mark is like a
condensed version of what happened to Israel that Asaph describes in verses
9-64. “49 But when they saw Him walking
on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; 50 for they all
saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and said to
them, "Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid." 51 Then He got into
the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, 52 for they had not gained any
insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart were hardened.”
The
apostasy of Ephraim (vv. 9-11): “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.”
You can see from verse 11 the
similarities with Mark 6:52.
I was a bit confused why Asaph would
begin this section of Psalm 78 with a more recent story than he will then get
into, but Dr. Wiersbe points out that the reason he begins with this story is
so that Judah would not follow in the rebellious past of the ten tribes who
broke off from Judah.
Ephraim was an adopted son of Jacob,
as he was actually the son of Joseph but on Jacob’s death bed he adopted he and
his brother Manasseh as his sons. You
can read this story in Genesis 48:8-20.
Ephraim replaced Jacob’s first born son and I believe that is because
his first born son had slept with one of Jacob’s wives.
Joshua was from Ephraim and that
tribe gave problems to him as seen in Joshua 17:14 along with Hosea 7:16. Another thing to remember about Ephraim is
that the tabernacle was first placed in Ephraim at Shiloh and then it was later
moved to Jerusalem by David.
The
nation’s sins in the wilderness (vv. 12-39):
“12 He
wrought wonders before their fathers In the land of Egypt, in the field of
Zoan. 13 He divided the sea and caused them to pass through, And He made the
waters stand up like a heap. 14 Then He led them with the cloud by day And all
the night with a light of fire. 15 He split the rocks in the wilderness And
gave them abundant drink like the ocean depths. 16 He brought forth streams
also from the rock And caused waters to run down like rivers. 17 Yet they still
continued to sin against Him, To rebel against the Most High in the desert. 18
And in their heart they put God to the test By asking food according to their
desire. 19 Then they spoke against God; They said, "Can God prepare a
table in the wilderness? 20 “Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed
out, And streams were overflowing; Can He give bread also? Will He provide meat
for His people?" 21 Therefore the LORD heard and was full of wrath; And a fire was kindled
against Jacob And anger also mounted against Israel, 22 Because they did not believe in God
And did not trust in His
salvation. 23 Yet He commanded the clouds above And opened the doors of
heaven; 24 He rained down manna upon them to eat And gave them food from
heaven. 25 Man did eat the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance. 26 He caused the
east wind to blow in the heavens And by His power He directed the south wind. 27
When He rained meat upon
them like the dust, Even winged fowl like the sand of the seas, 28 Then
He let them fall in the midst of their camp, Round about their dwellings. 29 So
they ate and were well filled, And their desire He gave to them. 30 Before they
had satisfied their desire, While their food was in their mouths, 31 The anger
of God rose against them And killed some of their stoutest ones, And subdued
the choice men of Israel. 32 In spite of all this they still sinned And did not believe in His
wonderful works. 33 So He brought their days to an end in futility And
their years in sudden terror. 34 When He killed them, then they sought Him, And
returned and searched diligently for God; 35 And they remembered that God was
their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. 36 But they deceived Him with
their mouth And lied to Him with their tongue. 37 For their heart was not steadfast toward Him,
Nor were they faithful in His covenant. 38 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. 39 Thus He
remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passes and does not
return.”
Dr. Wiersbe quotes George Santayana
in his commentary which gives us insight into understanding this section of
Scripture from verse 9-64, and it will also help all of us in our lives: “Those who cannot remember the past are
condemned to repeat it.” How true this
statement is.
The section above is a very long
section, but after reading it one can remember from the stories that are found
in the books of Exodus through Deuteronomy where Asaph read about what He wrote.
I have often wondered how I would
have acted when God brought all the children of Israel out of Egypt by
performing ten great miracles and then in the wilderness the children of Israel
began to rebel against the Lord. Would I
have been like Joshua and Caleb? I hope
that would be the case and that I would not be like those who constantly
rebelled against the Lord. While
studying the book of Exodus I remember that in his commentary on that book, Dr.
Wiersbe mentioned that there were a certain people who were not Jewish, but
came along with Israel, who started most of the rebellions, but surely not all
of them for I am sure that Israel was a large part of the rebellion too.
When the children of Israel asked
the Lord for meat he gave them so much meat that he told them that it would
come out of their noses. I think, at
times, the worst kind of discipline from God can be giving us what we ask for,
for when we get what we want it is often times something selfish. When we trust the Lord to give us what He
wants us to have we will surely draw closer to the Lord.
In an effort not to make my
Spiritual Diaries to long I will conclude with this section and begin to pick
up in the next SD.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: Paul
writes to the Corinthians that the reason for having all of the stories in the
NT was for us to learn from them so we do not repeat their sins, and I am glad
that this great history is found in my Bible so I can learn from it. I can learn to trust the Lord more by reading
about the great saints of the OT, like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, along with
Moses and David and also Daniel. There
is Job who, although I don’t truly understand all of what his friends said to
him, I can learn that having trouble come my way does not mean that I am living
a sinful lifestyle, but perhaps I am being tested like Job so that I can come
out like gold.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
Continue to trust the Lord and continue to strive to learn contentment.
4/25/2012
9:41:24 AM
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