Remembering God's Faithful Acts
Psalm 78:1-8
You can listen to a full recording of this message at http://www.nec.org.au/listen-to-a-sermon-series/responding-to-god-psalms/
Introduction to Reading
We have been making our way through a series of sermons on the Psalms. We have discovered that the best way to understand what the Psalms are all about is to focus on the genre. A genre is a group or a type or a family. In the Psalms there are seven genres of Psalms.
Hymns
Confidence
Remembrance
Kingship
Lament
Thanksgiving
Wisdom
This morning we are going to focus on the Remembrance Psalms
The main feature of a Remembrance Psalms is that to call to mind the actions of God in the past, especially the way God acted to save His people. We do that because we understand that all history is God’s History. When means everything that happens is not a series of unconnected events – but that there is a plan and we are included in that plan.
Some of the Remembrance Psalms include:-
Psalm 78
Psalm 105
Psalm 106
Psalm 135
Psalm 136
The key to understanding these types of Psalms is to recognise that God is at work and He will include us in His plans. Psalm 78 is a great example of this.
Series: Responding to God
Remembering God’s Faithful Acts
A sermon on Psalm 78:1-8
Read straight away.
The Psalm then continues on for another 64 verses. Mainly talking about events which happened in the days of Moses.
The plagues.
Going through the Red Sea.
The rebellion of the people through the whole trip.
God’s continued faithfulness.
Remembering. Remembering the way the people of God acted. Remembering the way God responded at that time. Because it is through remembering these things that faith in God is passed on from one generation to the next. God wants to see the next generation in His family. This Psalm makes it so clear.
He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our forefathers
to teach their children,
so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.
Psalm 78:5-6
Altogether there are five generation mentioned here:-
1) Forefathers.
2) Their children
3) Next generation
4) Children yet to be born
5) Their children
Five generations.
• 5 generations who hear about the acts of God.
• 5 generations who are told the amazing stories of the scriptures.
• 5 generations who can recite the Torah – the first five books of the Bible.
• 5 generations being encouraged over the times when God’s people were faithful.
• 5 generation being challenged over the times when God’s people were unfaithful.
It was a formula to have 5 generations remain in the faith. All you need to do is
- get them to listen to the words of your mouth (vs.1).
- and tell them of the old story things hidden from old (vs.2).
- and pass on the testimony of faith things our fathers have taught us (vs.3).
- and speak about the deeds of the Lord, His power and the wonders He has done (vs.4).
Once you do this the result takes place.
Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands. They would not be like their forefathers—a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.
Psalm 78:7-8
That is the formula for five generations coming to faith. If it is such a good formula why hasn’t it worked?
I look at my own family heritage. I’ll start from my grandfather.
(Tell your own family history).
Or I look around the churches in our local area.
(Describe what has happened to churches in the loacl area in the last 40 years)
In both of those situations the story was told. Generations heard about the acts of God and the amazing stories of the Scriptures. Generations were encouraged to be faithful, and challenged when they were unfaithful. We all have the stories. People close to us who grew up in faithful households, yet who are no longer in the faith. Let’s face it. As we look to the future ... let’s say 50 years from now ... how many of us expect the next two generations of our descendants to be in the faith? Or 100 years from now … do we expect the next four generations to be in the faith?
And it is not as if we won’t put in the effort. We will do what the Psalmist says:-
We get them to listen to the words of your mouth. We will sit with our children and talk with them about the Lord. Sometimes we will do it even when they do not want to listen because we know it is what they need to hear.
We will tell the Bible story the things hidden from old ... the things our fathers have taught us. We will tell them our testimony. Saying what the Lord has done. Telling how He has worked in our lives in special ways.
Some years back I used to lead a Bible study of about 20 people – the youngest of them was 65, a few of the older ones were over 90. These were people who had lost loved ones, who had been through World War II and the great depression. They knew the hardships of life. I asked them one day what caused them the most grief in their life. All of them said it was the wrestling which came with watching to see if their family members would come to faith – and the heartache which was there because many of the family had not.
These people are expressing exactly what the Psalmist is talking about. That’s all we want for our children isn’t it. It is all we want for the younger generation. We want to do what is necessary – whatever it takes – to see the next generation in the faith.
That is what this Psalm is all about. It is a Remembrance Psalm which is designed to call to mind the actions of God in the past, especially the way God acted to save His people.
Now I have deliberately not read the rest of the Psalm beyond verse 8. Without looking ahead what do you expect is going to be the focus of this Psalm? If you were going to tell about things that would be of interest to 5 generations I suspect you would have a natural tendency to focus on the high points and good things. So you might be surprised to discover that the Psalm doesn’t do this.
Let me give you a few examples.
The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows, turned back on the day of battle; they did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by his law.
Psalm 78:9-10
These were the people who saw with their own eyes the Red Sea parting. They saw the fire on the mountain when Moses was given the 10 commandments. They watched as God provided food and water in miraculous ways. But despite seeing all these wonders they continued to sin against him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High (Psalm 78:17).
Another example
They spoke against God, saying, Can God spread a table in the desert? When he struck the rock, water gushed out, and streams flowed abundantly. But can he also give us food? Can he supply meat for his people?”
God gave a command to the skies above and opened the doors of the heavens; he rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven. Men ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat.
Psalm 78:19-20; 23-25
The people of Israel wondered in the desert for 40 years. God fed them every day with manna and quail. Enough food for 2 million people, everyday.
In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; in spite of his wonders, they did not believe.
Psalm 78:32
What has all this got to do with faith? And passing on faith to the next generation?
Sometimes we can fall into the trap of thinking that it is our example – or lack of example – which has been the determining factor as to whether faith is passed onto the next generation.
The problem with being a parent is that, at some point, the real you comes out. You can hide it in public and put on a mask, but when you get home reality will show. Children will see you at your worst. It might be deliberate – often it will be inadvertent.
The saddest story I heard came from the children of a Pastor. This man was always there for the families of the congregation – no matter what the time or the need. One day the 10 year old was overheard speaking to the 12 year old, “It is a pity we are not in another family in the congregation ... Dad would treat us so much better”.
If I was to get the older generation to make a list of all the things that they did which they thought were a hindrance to passing on the faith – it would be a long list full of grief.
There is so much guilt. So much sadness. If only I was a better witness the faith of the next generation would be so different. WOULD IT?
Look at this Psalm. This generation which is being spoken about have seen the acts of God first hand.
The 10 plagues, including the Passover.
The parting of the Red Sea.
Food from heaven.
Protection from armies.
The pillar of fire which move with them constantly.
What more does God have to do? How much more example does God have to give? Yet even with all that example faith does not automatically spring.
So this is where the rubber hits the road.
No parent can give their child faith through their actions and examples ... nor can one generation give faith to the next generation.
No parent can take faith away from their child through their actions and examples ... nor can one generation take faith away from the next generation.
This is a Remembrance Psalm. And what is remembered is how God continued to be merciful and faithful; despite the actions of His people.
We have to remember. And to remember we need to be honest. The key issue here is not trying to be an example. The key issue is honestly telling what happened. And how faith really works.
We cannot hide the fact ... ever ... from any generation ... that we are a group of people who keep messing up again and again.
We don’t have it all together.
We do have fears and doubts.
There are deep dark secrets in our lives.
Our thoughts are at times wicked and perverse.
We have shame, guilt every reason to be described as unholy.
BUT ... BUT.
We have a Saviour. He works despite all this.
Forgiveness ... Hope.
Redemption ... Security.
Compassion ... Acceptance.
The story is not about us. It never was. It’s about God.
A God who saves in spite of whatever example we have seen.
That’s what we tell ... that is what we remember ... and we watch as God does the rest.
Prayer
