PSALMS LESSON 78

     We will continue Chapter 78 in this lesson. Psalms 78:20 "Behold,
he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams
overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his
people?"

     Jesus is the Rock, He is the Water that flowed from the Rock, and
He is the Bread. What a foolish question to ask. The God, that created
this world and all that is in it, can easily furnish meat. This is
really blasphemy, to say that God was incapable to do this small
thing. It is a denial of Who He is.

     Psalms 78:21 "Therefore the LORD heard [this], and was wroth: so
a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against
Israel;" Psalms 78:22 "Because they believed not in God, and trusted
not in his salvation:"

     This fire that came up was the wrath of God, or the fury of God,
coming up in His face. They did not believe who He was, or that He was
their deliverer. Psalms 95:10 "Forty years long was I grieved with
[this] generation, and said, It [is] a people that do err in their
heart, and they have not known my ways:" I see this same problem
today. Our nation is leaning toward not believing in God. There are
those who have actually denied Jesus as Saviour. There is only one way
to get to heaven, and that is through belief in the Lord Jesus Christ.

     Psalms 78:23 "Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and
opened the doors of heaven," Psalms 78:24 "And had rained down manna
upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven."

     The door of heaven was opened for the believers in Christ on
Calvary. To the world, miracles of God and even the miracle of
salvation seem like foolishness. To those of us who believe, it is the
power unto salvation. The manna that fell from heaven was miracle
Bread. Look, with me, at what Jesus said about manna. John 6:58 "This
is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat
manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for
ever."

     Psalms 78:25 "Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the
full."

     Bread from heaven fell on common man. This was food fit for
angels. The manna fell every day of the week to feed the approximately
3 million people. The only day it did not fall was on sabbath. The day
before sabbath 2 day's food fell. They had all they needed to keep
them going.

     Psalms 78:26 "He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and
by his power he brought in the south wind."

     God is the ruler of the wind, the same as He is the ruler of all
of the elements. We hear people say that Satan is the ruler of the
air. He is prince of the air. Jesus is King. God told the wind to blow
the fowl over the camp, and the wind obeyed.

     Psalms 78:27 "He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and
feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea:"  Psalms 78:28 "And he
let [it] fall in the midst of their camp, round about their
habitations."  Psalms 78:29 "So they did eat, and were well filled:
for he gave them their own desire;"

     I imagine they wished they had never asked for the fowl to eat.
The quail rained on them 3 feet deep. A person has to be very careful
what you ask for. God might give you what you want, rather than what
you need, like He did here. This is a very good example of asking
amiss.

     Psalms 78:30 "They were not estranged from their lust. But while
their meat [was] yet in their mouths,"  Psalms 78:31 "The wrath of God
came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the
chosen [men] of Israel."

     They were still chewing these birds when the judgement of God
fell upon them. Their greed would cost them their lives. Just like
many other sins, their pleasure was short lived. Their sin cost them
their lives. Many a drunk driver has wrecked and not lived to become
sober.  Be sure your sin will find you out. Sometimes the sin and the
judgement for the sin seem as if they happen at the same time.

     Psalms 78:32 "For all this they sinned still, and believed not
for his wondrous works."

     Even this mighty show of the judgement of God did not affect some
of them. Sin has not changed in all these years. It is still the same
today. Those caught up in sin are blinded and do not see the
consequences of their sin.

     Psalms 78:33 "Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and
their years in trouble."

     These people that He could not make understand, died in the
wilderness and the next generation went into the promised land.

     Psalms 78:34 "When he slew them, then they sought him: and they
returned and inquired early after God."

     It is such a shame that it takes drastic measures to frighten
people into the knowledge of God. I do not like to have to threaten
people out of hell to get them saved. I enjoy telling them of the love
of God, more than of the judgement of God. It seems they do not
respond as well to the love, as they do to the judgement.

     Psalms 78:35 "And they remembered that God [was] their rock, and
the high God their redeemer."

     What does it take to stir some people. Sometimes I believe that
is why we have wars, and famines, and earthquakes, and other natural
disasters, is to get people to think about how fragile life really is.
Some people never think of God, until they are in some terrible
problem. It makes you wonder if they really love God, or perhaps, they
are just believing long enough for Him to get them out of the mess
they are in.

     Psalms 78:36 "Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth,
and they lied unto him with their tongues." Psalms 78:37 "For their
heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his
covenant."

     The heart of man is what he really is. This verse above reminds
me of those in Matthew that Jesus tells about. Matthew 7:22 Many will
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?
and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many
wonderful works? Matthew 7:23  "And then will I profess unto them, I
never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Just as these
people above thought they could fool God by flattering Him with their
mouth, but God knows what is in their heart. They had no intention of
keeping covenant with God.

     Psalms 78:38 "But he, [being] full of compassion, forgave [their]
iniquity, and destroyed [them] not: yea, many a time turned he his
anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath."

     God is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish. He
forgave them over and over. They deserved to die, but God forgave
them. It reminds us that we deserved to die also, but while we were
yet in sin, God sent us a Saviour, Jesus Christ the Righteous.

     Psalms 78:39 "For he remembered that they [were but] flesh; a
wind that passeth away, and cometh not again."

     God had made them of the dust of the earth, and He knew that they
were flesh with all the weakness of the flesh. Man is like a vapor,
here today and gone tomorrow. The only life that amounts to anything
is the everlasting life after we have vacated this old sinful flesh.

     Psalms 78:40 "How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness,
[and] grieve him in the desert!"

     If this is a question, the answer is over and over and over. They
would not repent of one sin and be forgiven of God, until another sin
was right on the heels of the first.

     Psalms 78:41 "Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited
the Holy One of Israel."

     God was limited in what He could do for them, because of their
disobedience. They were always comparing the things in Egypt with
their situation out in the desert. They soon forgot they had been
slaves in Egypt.

     Psalms 78:42 "They remembered not his hand, [nor] the day when he
delivered them from the enemy."

     The ten plagues that God brought on Egypt to defame the Egyptian
gods, and to get the release of them had been of such fantastic
nature, it is hard to believe that they could forget, but they did.
They act as if God had nothing to do with getting their release.

     Psalms 78:43 "How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his
wonders in the field of Zoan:"

     The sign that got them released was the tenth plague, when all
the firstborn of Egypt died. The signs were not just for the
Israelites, but for the Egyptians, as well. Those who saw, had to know
that God was the real God. The idols {nothings} in Egypt had no power
at all against God.

     In the next few verses the plagues are listed. Psalms 78:44 "And
had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could
not drink."

     This particular plague destroyed belief in the false god of the
Nile river.

     Psalms 78:45 "He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which
devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them."

     All sorts of animal life and insects were objects of worship in
Egypt.

     Psalms 78:46 "He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar,
and their labour unto the locust." Psalms 78:47 "He destroyed their
vines with hail, and their sycomore trees with frost." Psalms 78:48
" He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot
thunderbolts."

     All of these, as we said, were part of the ten plagues that came
upon Egypt. They were sent by God to cause the Pharaoh to allow the
children of Israel to go to their homeland. The number ten has to do
with world government. Cattle were specifically mentioned as one of
the animals worshipped. The plague on the cattle proved they were not
gods.

     Psalms 78:49 "He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger,
wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels [among
them]."

     This speaks of evil angels, but they were only evil to the
Egyptians. They were acting upon direct orders from God. it was on the
orders of God that the firstborn of every Egyptian family died in the
tenth plague. This was the climax of God's anger against Pharaoh.
We will continue with this in the next lesson.


                             Questions 78

1.  He smote the Rock, and the _____ gushed out.
2.  Who is the Water and the Bread?
3.  To say that God can not do something is really _________.
4.  What is the fire in verse 21?
5.  Why are the names Jacob and Israel both mentioned?
6.  How many years did they have to live in the wilderness?
7.  What is the only way to heaven?
8.  What does salvation by the cross seem like to the world?
9.  Quote John chapter 6 verse 58.
10. Verse 25 calls the manna ________ food.
11. How often did the manna fall from heaven?
12. Who is the ruler of the wind?
13. Verse 27 says the flesh that rained was as _____.
14. Verse 29 says, He gave them their own _______.
15. How deep were the quail?
16. Why must a person be very careful what they ask for?
17. When did the wrath of God fall on them?
18. What happened to these people that God could not make understand?
19. What is the only way to get some people to respond to God?
20. Who was their Rock?
21. Why does the author believe we have wars and earthquakes?
22. The _______ of a man is what he really is?
23. What is Matthew chapter 7 verses 22 and 23 saying about those who
    are fakes?
24. God is ________ not willing that any should perish.
25. When did God send us a Saviour?
26. What does verse 39 say that He remembered about man?
27. How often did they provoke Him?
28. What does it mean that God was limited in verse 41?
29. It is almost unbelievable to us that the Israelites forgot what?
30. Which sign in Egypt got them released?
31. What does idols mean?
32. What were their rivers turned into?
33. What god of the Egyptians did this discredit?
34. What does the number ten mean?
35. Who were these angels thought to be evil to?