Psalm 78:1-72

Remembering is one of the greatest gifts that God has given to us and it is one of the most important gifts that we exercise if we want to live our lives in a way that will please the Lord.  Of course there are some things that we should strive to forget like the sins of others against us and the impure thoughts that plague our memories.  However, we are to do all within our power to remember the commandments of God as well as the works of God on our behalf.  The consequences of failing to remember are almost always disobedience, ingratitude and eventually idolatry that leads to God’s judgment.  In this Psalm Asaph takes us through the history of Israel from the time God freed her from Egypt up until the time that David became king.  Unfortunately we see a constant theme repeating itself over and over again because Israel refused to remember.

THEY REFUSED TO REMEMBER GOD’S PRECEPTS: When God set the children of Israel free from Egypt, the first thing He did was to give them the Law by which they were expected to live.  God gave them the precepts that He expected His people to follow and that He wanted them to pass on from generation to generation.  God expects faithfulness to His Word and that His people will obey His commandments and teach their children to be obedient to the Law of the Lord.  Unfortunately, they did not do that.  Instead, they refused to walk according to the Law and forgot the commandments of God.  Not only did they neglect to teach the principles of God’s Law to their children; they refused to obey them themselves.  God wants us to have a steadfast heart before Him that remembers God’s Word, practices God’s Word and then passes God’s Word on to the generations that follow us.  Ignoring God’s Word, failing to teach God’s Word to our children or simply neglecting to study and memorize God’s Word will always lead to disobedience and rebellion against God’s Word.  We must do all that we can to prevent that in our lives.

THEY REFUSED TO REMEMBER GOD’S PROVISIONS: A big part of the problem for the children of Israel was simply ingratitude for the provisions of God in their lives.  They lusted after food and water and complained when it did not come at the time that they wanted or in the variety that they preferred.  God miraculously fed them with manna that fell from the sky and birds that would blow into the camp every day.  God have them fresh water to drink from steams that bust forth from rocks in the middle of the desert.  All of these provisions were quickly forgotten or simply unappreciated because the people longed to eat the onions and garlic that were available in Israel.  When we doubt God’s ability to provide or are ungrateful for that which He does provide we are provoking the Lord to wrath.  Just as the Lord’s wrath came down on Israel for their constant complaining about God’s provisions; we risk the discipline of the Lord when we demonstrate an ungrateful spirit for the provisions of God in our lives.  We must not forget or take for granted the numerous and abundant provision of the Lord in our lives needs to constantly be remembered so that our hearts will be filled with gratitude and not complaining.

THEY REFUSED TO REMEMBER GOD’S POWER: When the children of Israel were set free from Egypt, God did so with a mighty and powerful hand.  The entire nation that was today’s equivalent of a super power was completely devastated by God.  He judged every aspect of their culture and religion.  Time after time God’s power was on display for the children of Israel.  They clearly saw the consequences of rebelling against the Lord, but they conveniently forgot.  Now that they were in the land and suffering the consequences of disobedience the faked a type of repentance that was not genuine.  They were playing with their relationship with God and were not being genuine before Him.  They had the courage to do this because they refused to remember the power of God that was displayed in judging Egypt.  We often have the same tendency to forget about God’s coming judgment when He will come in great glory and power and judge all of mankind.  We must never ignore the power of God.