Psalm 78 is called a “History Psalm” that gives us the story of the failures of the
nation of Israel over many years. Asaph is writing this Psalm during a dark and
dismal time, and he wants the new generations to remember their past, and not
repeat the sins of their forefathers. He begins this history with the apostacy
of Ephraim (vv. 9-11), and then recounts the nation’s sins in the wilderness
(vv. 12-39).
God had told Abraham in Genesis 15:13-14 after he died, his descendants would end
up in Egypt. “Then He said to Abram: "Know certainly that your
descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve
them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom
they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.”
Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, took his twelve sons and their families to Egypt to escape
the famine in Canaan. And just like God told Abraham, they were there 400 years
and Exodus 1 tells us how they later became slaves under a Pharoah that did not
know Joseph. During that time, they grew into a nation of over two to three
million people. It was then that God raised up Moses to lead them out of Egypt
(Exodus 2-3). Then they spent the next 40 years wandering in the wilderness
because of their unbelief and desire to go back to Egypt.
Someone said, it only took God a few days to get them out of Egypt, but it appears that
it took God 40 years to get Egypt out of them. It only takes a moment in time
for God to save us when we are delivered from our slavery to sin and the world
by the blood of Lamb, Jesus Christ, but like Israel, it sure seems like it
takes us a long time to get the “world” out of us as we wander through this
“wilderness of sin” on our Christian journey.
When you read Psalm 78:12-39 about Israel’s journey through the wilderness and how
they experienced God’s miraculous power in giving them food, giving them water,
protecting them from the enemy and yet they still struggled with the desires of
their hearts to go back to Egypt, you can’t help but think that is the story of
so many Christians today. It appears that Israel wanted what God could give them,
and would do for them, more than they wanted a relationship and fellowship with
God Himself!
"He brought their days to an end in futility" (v. 33; Ps. 90:7-12).
It was at Kadesh Barnea that they refused to enter the land because the ten
spies told them about the big giants there (Num. 13-14). They wandered for the
next thirty-eight years until the people twenty years and older all died (Num.
14:28-38). From time to time, God's discipline did bring them to their knees in
temporary repentance, but their confessions were insincere flattery (v. 36) and
they soon rebelled again. In His mercy, God forgave them and held back His
wrath, but they were a generation that grieved His heart.
My friend, as we read these verses, we need to make sure that we learn from their
experience. We need to desire God and His mercy more than what our flesh so
often wants as we journey through this world. We need to thank the Lord for His
patience with us and His willingness to forgive us after we have failed time
and time again.
Today, if you feel like you are being consumed in futility and fear, and have strayed
away from the Lord, please come to Jesus today! He will receive you with open
arms and forgive you!
God bless!
