The Rev. Chad E. JarnaginPsalm 78:1-71 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in a parable;I will utter dark sayings from of old,3 things that we have heard and known,that our ancestors have told us.4 We will not hide them from their children;we will tell to the coming generationthe glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,and the wonders that he has done. 5 He established a decree in Jacob,and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestorsto teach to their children;6 that the next generation might know them,the children yet unborn,and rise up and tell them to their children, 7 so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God,but keep his commandments;When we look at the Psalms, we are engaging in a text that is before Christ... this is 10th century B.C. This one is an instruction of Asaph... a parable setting about ancient praise to the Creator of all things.This praise is to God, past, present, and future. For all God has done, is doing, and will do. The future tense even hints at the goodness and hope of the gospel. The prophesy of the Christ coming for all humankind.I will open my mouth in a parable;I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our ancestors have told us.This is what we are doing right now... and do every Sunday. We know we have a temptation to disconnect from our past, especially when it doesn’t hint of hope and beauty... We will not hide them from their children; we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.We share it with our children so they can hear and know of the realities of our faith... and at some point, they will decide what they do with it.Verse 5: He established a decree in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel,which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children;He made it a law of the land that these testimonies should be preserved and faithfully transmitted to future times. See Deuteronomy 4:9; Deuteronomy 6:7; Deuteronomy 11:19. They were not given for themselves only, but for the benefit of distant generations also.Verse 7: says that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God... but keep his commandments.You only keep commandments out of trust, belief, and connection... really. Just to keep them out of fear (not even holy fear, just fear)... that doesn’t work over time. But, to set hope in God remembering God’s work... activity... through connection / communion is an entirely deeper way of living.This passage is a continuing thought of All Saints’ Day. Ancestors / believers through time and space giving endless praise to God... past, present, future.In their song “Walk On”, U2’s lyric mentions "a place that has to be believed to be seen...” this can apply to Jesus as well...we view a Psalm like this... Jesus forms the lens in which we can see deeper in this text. It brings to light things that are unseen...Jesus is the greatest of the wonders of God. We can see through time and space. The hope and Great Light of the world.
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