1 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 fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.Psalm 78:1-4
There is great value in remembering, line by line and moment by moment, what God has done. This was common practice among His people in the past, just as it is today. It is in remembering that our hearts are brought into attention, and in sharing what God has done, that our spirits are brought to life. Testimony is one of the most powerful forms of the expression of our faith, and when we are testifying about the redemptive work of God over time, the sheer volume of lives, accounts, and moments of grace-filled miracle are enough to stir the hearts of the faithful to even deeper adoration.
This is why Asaph writes this Maskil, this psalm of remembrance and praise. He knew that is was a work of praise to recall and recount what God had done in Israel. And he also knew that it was essential to share their own deep need for Him, and to be honest about their lack of obedience in the face of God’s faithfulness. Where God’s provision, protection and love are uplifting to our hearts, humanity’s abject depravity stands in stark contrast. His holiness is the standard, and our sin is our great detriment. It only goes to show His mercy all the more as Asaph recalls His wonders and their collective guilt.
10 They did not keep God’s covenant,
but refused to walk according to his law.
11 They forgot his works
and the wonders that he had shown them.vv: 10-11
And how do we forget? When we cease to recall and recount. When we get wrapped up in our own lives, our own goals, our own “vision” for the future. When our hearts are more focused on self, and our sin, than on His righteousness, we inevitably fall into the same trap as those who have come before us. It is the prideful fall of those who do not look back and remember how they got to be where they were at their best.
And so, in our sin, Asaph directs us, to see what it is we deserve, what is good, and right and just…that God’s anger should rise up against us. When humanity begins to believe in themselves rather than believing in God, we fall into the oldest sin, and the deepest pit of death. When we forget what God has done, this is the danger that awaits us.
21 Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath;
a fire was kindled against Jacob;
his anger rose against Israel,
22 because they did not believe in God
and did not trust his saving power.vv: 21-22
But as with every psalm of this kind, there is always a reminder of God’s continued faithfulness to a faithless people. We see the heart of the psalmist brought back, in worship and awe, of the One who chooses, in His mercy, to remember His people who have forgotten Him. This is for His glory, that we would be drawn into forgiveness and reconciliation with the One to whom all men must give an account. Where we fall short, God stands tall. Where we collapse into ourselves, God remains strong. We are utterly dependent upon Him, and Asaph wants us to remember this, to dwell in this understanding.
54 And he brought them to his holy land,
to the mountain which his right hand had won.
55 He drove out nations before them;
he apportioned them for a possession
and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
56 Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God
and did not keep his testimonies,
57 but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers;
they twisted like a deceitful bow.vv: 54-57
Again, God is faithful. He provides, protects and establishes. But in response, we test, rebel, and sin. His grace is too great for understanding. We, as humanity, should have been burned off of the surface of the earth millennia ago, and a cleansing fire should have consumed all of creation that bore the stain of our sin. But God had other plans, plans to meet both His justice, and His love, and we did not deserve it. This is the nature of grace.
67 He rejected the tent of Joseph;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which he loves.
69 He built his sanctuary like the high heavens,
like the earth, which he has founded forever.
70 He chose David his servant
and took him from the sheepfolds;
71 from following the nursing ewes he brought him
to shepherd Jacob his people,
Israel his inheritance.
72 With upright heart he shepherded them
and guided them with his skillful hand.vv: 67-72
And so, a descendent of David would take the throne, a King above all kings, this Jesus who is called Christ. In God’s mercy and faithfulness, He would provide, from himself and from His people, the One who would not only bear their guilt, but who would tear the Temple curtain, and draw them into His presence. Because we failed so often on our own, every time to be precise, He gave us of Himself, and has chosen to indwell all of His people. In doing so, the remembering is all the more sweet, the recall all the more poignant, and the sharing all the more powerful. Asaph wanted his listeners to remember the power and mercy of God to His faithless, and stumbling, people. And for us today, it is good to remember just how much we need Him even still. May we never forget how dead and wretched sinners like us had the breath of life breathed into us, and who, in turn, were commissioned to share this Good News with the whole of mankind who still stumbles in the darkness of sin.
May we be as skillful as Asaph in our recall, and may God’s truth rain down in the remembering.
BenHedgspeth.com 