PSALMS LESSON 77
 

     We will begin the verse by verse study of the 78th Psalm now.
Psalms 78:1 "{Maschil of Asaph.} Give ear, O my people, [to] my law:
incline your ears to the words of my mouth."

     This Psalm is to instruct all people who believe in God on how to
please God. Even though the penman of this Psalm is probably Asaph,
these instructions are from God. God, throughout all ages, has put the
words into the mouth of those He would have to speak to His people for
Him. This is saying, open that inner ear of your understanding to my
law. Incline thine ear, means that they are leaning toward the message
and want to hear what it is saying.

     Psalms 78:2 "I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark
sayings of old:"

     I have said, over and over, that the Bible, besides being actual
happenings, is a parable itsself.  God did this to keep people from
reading the Bible and believing with their mind. God wants us to
believe, because we have faith, not because of facts. Hebrews 11:1
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen." If you can see something with your natural eye, it
takes no faith to believe. God is a Spirit. Since God was the author
of the Bible, it is written from a spiritual standpoint. Natural man
cannot understand what it is saying. Even the parables that Jesus
told, had to be explained to Jesus' disciples. The Holy Spirit of God
is our Teacher now. The Spirit reveals to the believers what the Bible
is saying. These dark sayings, are just things that have not been
revealed by the Light.

     Psalms 78:3 "Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have
told us."

     As to no other people in the world, God had given His law and His
covenant to the Israelites. The main way of learning had been for the
father to tell the children.

     Psalms 78:4 "We will not hide [them] from their children, shewing
to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength,
and his wonderful works that he hath done."

     This is explaining how, from generation to generation, the
message was handed down. We must always look at these Scriptures and
see if there is a lesson for us in them. We see, that not only then,
but even now, we should instruct the children coming up in the ways of
God. Now we are blessed to have Bibles, but we must teach our children
how to study and get the most out of these teachings. Christians
should be in the process of building Christian leaders of tomorrow.
This is one of the purposes of these Bible studies. We should
constantly tell of the wonders of God, to even the very small babies.

     Psalms 78:5 "For he established a testimony in Jacob, and
appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they
should make them known to their children:"

     The name Jacob is used in the first part of this verse to show
that a family went into Egypt {Jacob's}, and a nation came out
{Israel}. Jacob is Israel. The testimony was of God miraculously
delivering them out of Egypt. The law was given to them at mount Sinai
on the way to the promised land. These were a separated people for
God. One of the things that made them separate from all the other
people, was the fact that God had given His law to them. The very
oracles of God were given to this people that God had chosen for His
own. They were to live by God's law themselves and teach God's law to
their children and grandchildren.

     Psalms 78:6 "That the generation to come might know [them, even]
the children [which] should be born; [who] should arise and declare
[them] to their children:"

     They were not to live like the rest of the world. They were to
live a life separated to God. The Word of God is fresh and new every
day and should be taught to every generation.  The Bible is like a
road map to lead us through life victoriously. Without following the
teachings in the Bible, we will be a failure of life. When we study
the Word of God and live by the teachings in it, we are victorious and
have eternal life at the end of this life to look forward to.

     Psalms 78:7 "That they might set their hope in God, and not
forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:"

     The world, without God, has no hope. Those who live by the
instructions in the Bible and believe in Jesus, have hope of the
resurrection. Romans 10:17 "So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God." Romans chapter 10 verses 9 and 10 tell us
what we must do to be saved. The very first statement is believe.

     Psalms 78:8 "And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and
rebellious generation; a generation [that] set not their heart aright,
and whose spirit was not stedfast with God."

     This is speaking of the murmuring generation that turned against
the teachings of God over and over. They were stubborn and rebellious.
God forgave them over and over and gave them another chance. Some of
them finally had so little faith in God, that God let them wander in
the wilderness 40 years, until that generation died off. That
generation played the spiritual harlot. They did not place their trust
and hope in God.

     Psalms 78:9 "The children of Ephraim, [being] armed, [and]
carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle."

     They were actually to lead the battle and they fled. I have said
so many times that we must see a message in this for us. Christians,
we are God's army. We have the most powerful weapon known to man, the
Bible.
Are we going to stand and fight for God, or are we going to retreat in
fear? The world is headed for total destruction. Are we trying to pull
as many as we can from the fires of hell? Why aren't we? Are we going
to be like Ephraim above? Will you run, when the trials get seemingly
too big to handle, or will you stand up for Jesus? The battle is all
the same, it is just different circumstances.

     Psalms 78:10 "They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to
walk in his law;"

     These covenant people were God's people, as long as they kept His
law. The covenant was conditional. They must live separate from the
world. They were not to intermarry, or  worship false gods. They
turned away from God and wanted to be like all the countries around
them. They insisted on having an earthly king, when God wanted to be
their only King. They broke His law, as if it were nothing at all.
They promised to keep the law of God, but they soon forgot and lived
just as all the other people around them in idolatry. Christians, God
has separated us out to be His people. We must live exactly the way it
pleases Him for us to live. We must not compromise with the world. He
has taken us out of the world, don't go back into the world.
Christians are in this world, but we should not be of this world.

     Psalms 78:11 "And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had
shewed them."

     Each time a crisis came, they started complaining, instead of
depending on God. They soon forgot the Red sea parting and the bondage
they had been delivered from in Egypt. It was as if they were saying,
what have you done for me today?

     Psalms 78:12 "Marvellous things did he in the sight of their
fathers, in the land of Egypt, [in] the field of Zoan."

     God delivered them out of Egypt with his mighty Hand. He brought
10 plagues on the Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and finally the Pharaoh
let them leave. The Pharaoh was so upset about the last plague {the
death of the first-born}, that he actually insisted on them leaving
Egypt. The field of Zoan is another way of saying Egypt.

     Psalms 78:13 "He divided the sea, and caused them to pass
through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap."

     We can see from the following Scripture the exact detail of how
this came about. Exodus 14:21 "And Moses stretched out his hand over
the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go [back] by a strong east
wind all that night, and made the sea dry [land], and the waters were
divided."  Exodus 14:22 "And the children of Israel went into the
midst of the sea upon the dry [ground]: and the waters [were] a wall
unto them on their right hand, and on their left."

     Psalms 78:14 "'In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and
all the night with a light of fire."

     This was the presence of God that went before them. When it
stopped and stood over the camp, they were to camp until the fire or
cloud moved again.

     Psalms 78:15 "He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave
[them] drink as [out of] the great depths."

     Exodus 17:6 "Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock
in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water
out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of
the elders of Israel."  This Rock is the Lord Jesus Christ. This is
water from God. Jesus told the woman at the well, if she drank of the
water He gave her, she would never thirst again. This miraculous water
is from God.

     Psalms 78:16 "He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused
waters to run down like rivers."

     We must remember that there were nearly 3 million people drinking
this water that God provided. The real miracle of feeding so many
water is, that God fed them miracle water for 40 years in the
wilderness. There is a river that flows from God above that never
shall run dry. Revelation 22:1 "And he shewed me a pure river of water
of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of
the Lamb."

     Psalms 78:17 "And they sinned yet more against him by provoking
the most High in the wilderness."

     Even though God had brought them out of bitter bondage in Egypt,
they sinned against God over and over in the wilderness. One of the
worst things they did, was build the golden calf and worship it.

     Psalms 78:18 "And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat
for their lust."

     They tired of eating the mannah that fell from heaven to feed
them, and they insisted on meat. God rained quail on them and made
them eat. Numbers 11:31  "And there went forth a wind from the LORD,
and brought quails from the sea, and let [them] fall by the camp, as
it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey
on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits
[high] upon the face of the earth."  These quail were 3 feet deep all
over the camp. They ate them as God commanded, and many of them died.

     Psalms 78:19 "Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God
furnish a table in the wilderness?"

     To question the ability of God who brought them out of Egypt and
parted the Red sea. would be blasphemy. This is as if they are saying,
He is not really God. What a foolish rebellious people they really
are. What would God have to do, for them to realize that He is truly
God?

                             Questions 77

1.  What is the purpose of this Psalm?
2.  Who is the penman?
3.  What does it mean to give ear?
4.  What does incline thine ear mean?
5.  In verse 2, he says he will speak in a __________.
6.  Besides being actual happenings, what does the author believe
    about the entire Bible?
7.  Quote Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1.
8.  God is a _______.
9.  Since God was the real author of the Bible, it has to be written
    from what standpoint?
10. Who did Jesus explain the parables He spoke to?
11. How can we understand the Bible?
12. What are the dark sayings really saying?
13. What had been the main way for Israelites to know about God?
14. What lesson can the Christian learn from verse 3 and 4?
15. He established a testimony in _______.
16. He appointed a law in _______.
17. Why were Jacob and Israel mentioned separately in verse 5?
18. What was different about Israel and the rest of the world?
19. Who have hope of the resurrection?
20. The Bible is like a ______ _____ to lead us through life?
21. Where do we find the Scriptures that tell us what we must do to be
    saved?
22. What kind of generation were the Israelites, who came across the
    wilderness, called?
23. Why did they wander in the wilderness 40 years?
24. What did the children of Ephraim do, in verse 9, that disappointed
    God?
25. How long were these people the covenant people of God?
26. The covenant was ____________.
27. Christians are in the ______, but not of the _______.
28. Name some of the marvellous things God did for them.
29. Quote Exodus chapter 14 verses 21 and 22.
30. How did God lead them?
31. What miraculous thing did God do to give them water?
32. What does Revelation chapter 22 verse 1 tell us about where the
    river comes from?
33. What was one of the worst things these Israelites did to provoke
    God?
34. What was the desire for meat called in verse 18?
35. Who asked, can God furnish a table in the wilderness?