- Seeking Scripture - https://seekingscripture.com -

Psalms 78-79 Deep Diving Bible Study

 

GOOD MORNING, SIBLINGS!
Buckle up, today’s readings are going to shake you!
Psalm 78-79…got your seatbelts on? Here we go!

Click here to read today’s passages on BibleGateway.

Rabbit Trails

Let me begin by saying I LOVE PSALM 78!

Psalm 78 – This was a hymn, most likely taught to children to help them learn of their heritage and to keep them steadfast and strong in their obedience to YHWH by showing examples of His greatness and what happens when people turn from Him. Although one group is held up as better than the other at some points (Judah and Ephraim, that is still an ongoing rivalry to this day), the favor shown to anyone was still an act of mercy from the father as both sides clearly walked in disobedience and turned from His commandments more than once. Umm, raise your hand if that could describe you. ~raises hand~

It is worth noting that turning away from YHWH, worshipping other “gods” (whether they be idols of fame, acclaim, money, or the ever popular self) is considered by YHWH to be adultery towards Him. When we turn from His ways and embrace the ways of the world, that is exactly what it is on a spiritual level. When we choose to live as we want instead of following His instructions, and when we worship Him as other “gods” are worshipped. He even considers it adultery when the names of other “gods” are heard on our lips. (Exodus 23:13)

Psalm 78 is a powerful call to action for all Believers that can be applied to individuals, leaders, groups, nations, and the world as a whole – and that is a call to return to reverence, faithfulness, and obedience to the Father.

In this Psalm we see that our willful sin of turning away from the commandments of YHWH is something that deeply grieves our Father’s heart. His mighty hand has led us, cared for us, guided us, parted seas for us, rained down plagues on those who would harm us, and brought forth water from rocks. He is a father who loves His children unlike any father ever has or ever will, and when we turn from Him, it grieves Him.

As this Psalm teaches and as YHWH has commanded, it is not enough for us just to remember His deeds. We must tell them to our children. We must write His words on our doorposts. We must speak of them when we rise up and when we go to sleep.

“We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of YHWH, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.”
Psalm 78:4

What happens when we don’t do this? We end up where we are now – in a time in which:

“They forgot His works and the wonders that He had shown them.”
Psalm 78:11

Deuteronomy is my favorite book in the Bible and I cannot talk about this psalm without quoting parts of it that are so applicable and that seem to be referenced here.

“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.
For if you will be careful to do all this commandment that I command you to do, loving the Lord your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him, then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours. Your territory shall be from the wilderness to the Lebanon and from the River, the river Euphrates, to the western sea. No one shall be able to stand against you. The Lord your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you shall tread, as he promised you.
“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known.
From Deut 11:18-28
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him..~Deut 30:19

Psalm 79
This is another psalm believed to have been written at the time of psalm 74, where the temple was destroyed and Jerusalem was taken. Again, we see the pain and anguish of YHWH’s people that His Holy places would be destroyed combined with the confusion of why the Father did not intervene. However, it ends with gratitude, praise, and thanks.
Amen!

Something to think on today:

Each year when we celebrate Passover the the Feast of Unleavened Bread we remove the leavening from our homes. Getting the leaven out of our homes is the easy part. Getting it out of us is where the real work begins.


 It is an honor and overwhelming blessing to be able to read through YHWH’s word with you!

Test everything, hold tight to what is good.~ 1 Thess 5:21

We are saved by Grace alone: Obedience is not the root of our salvation, it is the fruit!

May YHWH bless the reading of His Word!