Psalm 78 A Historical Review of Man's Rebellion vs. God's Compassion

Daily Bible Study for Friday October 14, 2016

By: Hanny Lynn Stearns

Fish N Loaves Ministries, Inc.

“Multiplying God’s Word Around The Globe”

Chapter Reading for Today: Please read in your Bible before proceeding. Note that most translations are considered paraphrases. The Young’s Literal Translation provides a more accurate translation since he is the one who authored a concordance. Others are helpful for seeing a different perspective, but we cannot always depend on their wording. I hope this is helpful to you. If you are studying in another version, that is fine. I am studying from the KJV, but for the purpose of this study, I will keep it with the New King James Version.

One final note: I will put the scripture in italics to differentiate from my own writing. I am adding red to the letters when it is Jesus talking – just like the Bible. Thank you.

Bible Gateway Verse of the Day

Romans 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Psalm 78

A Historical View of Man’s Rebellion vs. God’s Compassion

As I read this Psalm I was deeply saddened and quickly reminded of how rebellious we are toward the Lord – even after all the wonderful things He has done for us. I certainly could throw no stone because I have sinned grievously against Him myself in the past. In spite of the rebellion we see in history, what we are reminded of about our great God and Savior is the deep compassion He has for the people He created. Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father:

Your love for us is truly amazing. After all You have done for us, we fleshy humans have turned against You time after time. Yet, in the midst of all that, You have had compassion on our infirmities (weaknesses) and shown us the greatest form of love in all time and eternity – the precious Son You gave once and for all. His blood is what washes us clean of the sin that so easily entangles those who walk after the flesh. Thank You, thank You, thank You Lord for all You have done for us. Father, I ask You for the anointing and utterance to speak Your message to Your people today. Lord, I am nothing more than a natural human myself with a supernatural God and King living inside of me. Use me to touch deep down into the hearts of those You will bring to read this message. Cause our hearts to be turned from stone into hearts of flesh – that are soft and pliable toward You at all times. Make this lesson reach out across the globe. May it go forth unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or my flesh. Thank You for bringing in Pakistan and India this past week! Hallelujah! Keep them coming Lord – keep them coming! Father, we will purpose to be doers of Your word and not forgetful hearers only. Thank You for watching over Your word to perform it in our lives when we obey it. You are so faithful. You never go back on Your word. Help us to teach the younger generation about the word and wonders of all You have done and continue to do for us. Bring glory to Yourself as You work changes in us. We believe we receive the answers to this prayer and thank You for it all in the mighty, wonderful name of Jesus! Amen.

Can’t you just hear Jesus talking in the first three verses? It jumped out at me instantly! These are the words of the Master. Hallelujah. Let’s bullet out the main thoughts and then go where the Lord lead us, shall we?

We must tell the next generations about God; His ways and what He has done in the past

The people turned back when the heat was on – they didn’t keep God’s word or remember what He had done for them previously

The Lord has done many marvelous things for His people

The people sinned against God, tempted Him, and spoke against Him

The people’s rebellion sparked the fire of God’s righteous anger

The Lord gave the people more than enough to eat; opening the doors of heaven

God’s wrath came against His people

The people still sinned, they didn’t believe in His works and lived out their days in trouble

After God slew the people they suddenly remembered who the Lord is

Their repentance was only lip service - they flattered the Lord and lied to Him (Their hearts were still not right)

After all this, God’s compassion prevailed; He remembered their weak flesh

In all God had done for them, their response was to provoke Him, grieve Him, tempt and limit Him

The people had forgotten how God dealt with their enemies in Egypt

God had led His people, guided and protected them so they had nothing to fear, and He brought them to the border of His sanctuary and gave them a rich inheritance, giving them safe dwelling places

Still the people tempted God and did not obey His word; they were unfaithful, turning aside to idols

God reached the point of abhorring His own people (hating/despising them)

The Lord gave His people over to the hands of the enemy

Certain tribes of the Israelites were refused – but Judah He loved (a remnant)

David was a chosen leader for God’s people – someone who loved the Lord to feed His people (Just like he looked after his father’s sheep as a young boy – a sign of things to come)

Looking at this is not a pretty picture is it? At least not on our side of the fence. The Lord had gone out of His way to provide for these selfish and stiff necked people, and still they did not get their hearts right with God. Sound familiar to anyone out there? I for one will be the first to raise my hand! I can look back just in the past 11 years since I surrendered to the Lord and see numerous times that I willingly and knowingly did something that I clearly knew He did not want me to do. We will keep this on me here. So why did I do that?

I mean He is the One who spared me from death countless times. He is the One that protected me when I was in deep trouble. He is the One who kept me from starving when I easily could have. He provided a place to stay when I was homeless and put money in my pocket when I had none. He is the One who carried me along and directed my steps so I could finally get involved in church and start to learn more about Him. He gave me beautiful daughters. He gave me an education through a hand-picked career that He dropped right in my lap because I never completed a school year after 8^th grade!

He gave me comfort. He healed my wounds down deep in my heart and healed my sick body. If I could list all the things the Lord has done for me, I would run out of paper, computer space and even the sky could not contain all the words to describe how good God has been to me. Yet I still sinned. Why, why, why would I break His heart like that? Let’s look in the book of Romans for the answer to this question…

Romans 9:15-29

¹⁵ For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” ¹⁸ Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” ²⁰ But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” ²¹ Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

²² What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, ²³ and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, ²⁴ even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

²⁵ As He says also in Hosea:

“I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved.”
²⁶ “And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’
There they shall be called sons of the living God.”

²⁷ Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel:

“Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved.
²⁸ For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth.”

²⁹ And as Isaiah said before:

“Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah.”

Over time I rebelled against the Lord’s requests for me. Just yesterday He asked me to remove yet another item from my daily diet. I am on a 1200 calorie limit right now, and it just got reduced to 1100 calories, give or take a few calories depending on the choices of my allowances. In the past I have taken up to a full year to stop doing what He had clearly asked me not to do. But yesterday when He asked me to eliminate the item from my food – for a time, I replied, “Yes, Lord. Whatever You say – I will do it.” 

How did I come this far? Only by His mercy on my life. Praise His name forever. We of our own selves cannot make our hearts to be right before the Lord. He has to do the work on the inside of us once we are born again by accepting Jesus as our Savior. Once that happens, His Spirit is then living in us, and the Holy Spirit of God, the third person of the God-Head wants to do God’s will because He is God. Look at this…

Philippians 2:13

 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

It is only His Spirit that can cause us fleshy humans to even desire to walk according to the Spirit and not after the desires of the flesh. In our scriptures noted above in Romans, we can see that God will have mercy on those whom He chooses while others He will harden. We know that this makes absolutely no sense to the human mind whatsoever. It leaves us scratching our heads, wondering, “So what’s the point of even trying then?” Friends, there are deep things of God that we will never understand on this earth. And there are deep things about each human that we can’t possibly know. If we catch verse 20 in the Romans verses, we get our answer. Who are we to question God?

As we think of these things and ponder them in our hearts, do not forget for one moment to think of how good, how loving and compassionate the Lord really is. He has a good and justifiable reason for everything He does, and we little humans best not be questioning His power or authority – amen. He makes each of us with a specific calling and purpose. So what happened at lunch today was truly amazing. 

After the food reduction yesterday, today I asked the Lord if I should add in a portion of fat to my calories. No answer came. While I made my lunch, I heard in my mind, “It’s no problem – just add in 1 tablespoon of olive oil.” I wrote it down in my fitness plan app and proceeded to make lunch. But as I did I thought about the things the Lord has shown me in the past. I remembered how Jesus has told me to “go the extra mile.”

I thought about how I would feel if I had listened to that voice – whoever that voice was; my flesh or the enemy. It could have been either. I didn’t believe it was the voice of the Lord. I finished making my lunch and I refrained from adding the extra oil. Why? Because I wanted to please God. I thought of all the great things He is doing in my life in a flash and I did not want to hurt Him by having to repent again for the (I don’t know how many) time. 

He has been too good to me. He has been patient with me while He helped me to leave my training pants behind and start wearing the big girl pants He had for me. It is time to leave foolish and childish ways behind. It is time to stand up and be a grown up Christian who walks with a strong and powerful, faithful and loving God. It is time to stop giving place to the devil in my life.

Rebellion is of the devil. I do not want to be like the devil. Every time I rebel I am acting like him rather than my Master – Jesus. I could be sitting in the fiery pit of hell this very moment rather than sitting here telling you about how good God is and all He has done for me. I could be tasting the stench of death and everlasting torment instead of living the blessed, abundant life that Jesus suffered to give me with Him. Yes, that’s where I could be right this very moment. If it had not been for the Lord, we would have perished away…

Psalm 119:92

Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction.

The Lord is patient friends. He will go all the way to the end with us. Jesus did with Judas. He never stopped calling him friend. The problem is, we all still have a free choice. If we don’t do something about asking Jesus to be our Lord and Savior before we die, that’s it. There is no changing our destination at that point. God knows which people will accept Him and which will not. He didn’t create anyone to perish – we must understand this. He is longsuffering…

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

No matter how a person reads the Romans verses, we cannot think that God wants to create a human being and then send them to hell! Nothing could be further from the truth in this matter! He loves people. That’s why He created us. And He wants us all to be saved. The Lord never sends anyone to hell – they choose to go there all on their own by rejecting their salvation which has already been provided for them. And God knows all things – the end from the beginning…

Isaiah 46:9-10

Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’

Because God loves people so much, He brought them in from every nation and tribe to be a part of His family. In our Psalm today, we see that He rejected two tribes and accepted another? Why? Because those were the ones who loved God. Out of all the tribes He created to be His own special people, there would only come forth a remnant – or, in other words, here is what Webster’s 1828 Dictionary says;

Remnant is: “Residue; that which is left after the separation, removal or destruction of a part.”

That doesn’t sound very good, does it? Who wants to be the part that is destroyed? Not me! And I believe you don’t either. That’s why you are reading the word of God right now. It is why you are joining me today to remember all the good things that the Lord has done for you, right? If your heart is right with the Lord, you, (and me) will be quick to repent when we do miss it. We will not keep on sinning like we see so much in this chapter.

When the people rebelled, judgment had to be passed against them, leaving them as a wide open door for the enemy to come in to steal, kill and bring destruction to their lives. God is not the destroyer. When it says He hands them over to the enemy, it is the people’s choice to be handed over – God does not do it.

In His righteous judgment, when we sin, we immediately open the door for the enemy. And he is right there waiting at our door for an opportunity; just like we read the other day in a previous study concerning Esau and his desire to give up his birthright for a lousy bowl of stew. Once the protection of God lifts from His people, the enemy gets to have free reign over them; not because the Lord wanted it to happen, but because they asked for it.

In my lunchtime example today, I did not want to lose my blessings and invite in the enemy by disobeying God over one tablespoon of olive oil! I mean really! How crazy would that be? Many folks will come to church and hear a message that brings conviction to their hearts (they are convinced by Holy Spirit that they have done wrong) and then they will go up to the alter and cry and cry, feeling bad that they did the wrong thing. They will ask God to forgive them and tell Him they are sorry. Then they go back home and keep right on doing what they were doing before – lip service, nothing but lip service. That does nothing for God, we can be certain.

True repentance isn’t just saying, “Oh God - I repent!” It is going away with a change of mind and heart determined to do the right thing. God’s people had seen amazing miracles, signs and wonders as the Lord was busy familiarizing them with Him. He wanted them to see how strong and mighty He is. He wanted them to learn to walk by faith in Him because faith is what pleases Him the most. Yet, after all the wondrous things He did and the supernatural ways that He protected them and provided for them, they still rebelled against Him and treated Him as if He were a cheap stranger to them rather than the Almighty God and Father that He is.

But God, who is rich in mercy, kept coming back around giving His people another chance, over and over. Can I get a hallelujah on this saints? Amen! Still they turned to idols – things that are just things. They are “false gods” with no heart, no eyes, and no ears. A false god in our lives can be anything that we love more than the Lord. Do we love football more than the Lord? How about shopping and spending time with friends? Or what about food? That is the number one addiction in our world today – and most consider that OK! It is sad but true. People are eating themselves into an early grave because they are desperate for comfort, but refuse to turn to the ONLY One who can really give them the love and comfort that their souls are crying out for.

In His mercy, He gave us a seed, planted in this earth to bring forth a mighty harvest of salvation. And that seed is Jesus – Lord of lords and King of kings – hallelujah! For those who would accept Him, eternal life would be theirs. But to those who deny Him and run after false gods, like other people, places, things or money, etc. – their end will be destruction. Friends, this is why children have to be taught about God from birth! If they aren’t, they will grow up and become a godless generation. We have exactly that on our hands right now. Kids are now extremely rebellious – most, not all. They hate their parents and show no respect for authority. Why? Because we have taken God out of the government and out of the schools and market place, and most importantly, out of the home, leaving people to the destruction of the enemy.

If it had not been for Jesus, we would all be like the destruction seen in Sodom and Gomorrah. That was a terrible thing. That place was so full of wickedness that God rained down fire from heaven and destroyed them. He had His fill of their rebellion and away they went. Our God is a consuming fire. Sin cannot coexist with Him. Not a good thing at all. But we are a new generation of people who love God with all our hearts, aren’t we? We are the remnant of those who will be saved. The word of God shows us that he who endures…

Matthew 24:13

But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

Let’s look at a woman who probably spent an enormous amount of time meditating on the good things the Lord has done. Her name is Mary…

Luke 1:46-55

The Song of Mary

⁴⁶ And Mary said:

“My soul magnifies the Lord, ⁴⁷ and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
⁴⁸ For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
⁴⁹ For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.
⁵⁰ And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
⁵² He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly.
⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, ⁵⁵ as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.”

How about you my friends? Are you singing a song like Mary did about the wonderful things He has done in your life? Are your overwhelmed by His love and grace? Is your heart overflowing with gratitude because of the many terrible things He has spared you from? If so, you can understand why Mary sang these precious words magnifying her God and Savior. You can understand why I write these studies each day - deeply desiring to glorify God while asking Him to help you and bring you higher than where you are right now.

My response to the Lord is one of such gratitude that I truly want Him to use me, my testimony, and above all – His word to draw people closer to Him than they have ever been. I don’t care what kind of clothes you’re wearing, the color of your hair or skin. All I am concerned about for you dear friends is that you really know and love Jesus.

If you asked me what was on TV – I honestly could not tell you. If you wanted to know who the latest movie stars are, I don’t know. What’s on the news? For the most part – other than Christian news occasionally, again, I don’t know much about all that. But what I do know is this – God is good! He is so great and greatly to be praised. When Jesus said to come follow Him, He was asking people to come – do things my way. If we do, we will live so far above the things of this earth it will seem like we are almost to heaven already, even in this life. We will not be able to stop singing and shouting and dancing. Praise His name forever!

                        Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father:

Thank You Lord for all You’ve done for me. Father, I am asking You to use Your word in my life along with my testimony to be used to reach others who need to know You better or even for the first time. Bring me the people who I can be used to touch. Bring the ones that You want to set free from bondage and bring them into the spacious place that You have prepared for them. Make my life a song of praise – just like Mary. And as You do that for me, I will make myself available for You to touch as many as You will through my life. Thank You in advance for the answers to this prayer Father. I believe I already received them – in Jesus precious name. Amen.

There are three main points to consider from today’s study…

God has always been good and fair to His people

Rebellion brings judgment against the Lord’s chosen ones

It’s never too late to turn back to God – even now is the day of salvation

Questions:

What did you relate to the most in this study?

In what way did this change your thinking?

What will you do differently going forward?

Take some time to make a list of the things the Lord has done for you.  

Who can you share this study with?

What are the lyrics to your song of praise?

And God Said… You fill in the blanks.

Romans 8:35-39

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”³⁷ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.