“Father God” Psalm 78 1-16
1. Father God and His children?
• One comment I found says, “Being a parent is not for the faint of heart. Yes, a newborn child is a “bundle of joy.” But very soon, she’s a handful of aggravation.
• Adam and Eve had issues with their two boys, Cain and Abel. Priest Eli had evil children
• The 12 children of Jacob or Israel conspired to get rid of one of the youngest brothers
2. Spare the Rod, spoil the child
• There is a text has justified many kids to be taken to the wood shed, whipped with sticks, straps hit by belts: “Spare the rod, spoil the child,” This phrase is not in the Bible, but comes from the 17th-century writer, Samuel Butler, in his poem, “Hudibras.” Still, many parents believe the expression comes from the Bible because of Proverbs 13:24: “Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.
• Shepherds always had a rod. The Rod was an instrument of comfort (see Psalm 23). The curved end of a shepherd’s rod was designed to wrap around the neck of an errant sheep and pulls them out trouble.
• The rest of the rod was used primarily as a guide to keep sheep on a path with merely a tap or touch. Rarely would a shepherd beat the sheep.
• Some believe No punishment at all. One writer suggests “all punishments are ineffective, because the vast majority of kids don’t misbehave; they behave. They behave like kids.”
3. So, how does Father God discipline?
• In the Psalm reading for today (only eight of the 72 verses of Psalm 78),
• When we read the entire Psalm , God’s having none of this business of letting kids be kids. God understands that they’re behaving like children — badchildren.
4. Father God treated His children with love, kindness, and incredible blessings.
• “ he worked marvels in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan” (v. 12).
• “He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap” (v. 13).
• “In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all night long with a fiery light” (v. 14).
• “He opened the doors of heaven; he rained down on them manna to eat, water to drink
5. After Father God did all this the response of the children was: “they still sinned;
• Yet they sinned still more, rebelling against the Most High in the desert (v. 17).
• They rebelled against him in and grieved him in the desert! (v. 40).
• They tested God again and again, and provoked the Holy One of Israel (v. 41).
6. We are Gods Children to and this is what we do.
• We test Gods patience, We have an inclination to rebel
• We also wonder far from Gods love and care
7. Father God responds to His children’s disobedience
• God then sent numerous punishments God Lets them have it. And not just once. Again and again.
8. Father God doesn’t discipline with time out but Father God calls us to be Time in Christian
• We’re call to spend: Time in serving others; Time in study and prayer;
• Time in offering our skills and talents; Time in witnessing to the love of Christ;
• Time in obedience to the word of God; Time in fellowship with other believers;
• Time in bearing the burdens of others. Time In gratitude for the blessings in our lives.
• Time in Giving thanks to God for the good things that come our way, things that God probably had nothing to with
