Psalm 78:56

Psalm 78:56

They put God to the test

The consequences of a life of comfort and peaceful coexistence with their neighbours spelled disaster for the Israelites. Instead of their faith in the Lord being strengthened, it was diminished. Instead of grateful acknowledgement of His ways, they turned to idolatry. Instead of diligent attention to God’s Law, they became lazy and careless, and their religion was banished to the side lines. The full story is the theme of the Book of Judges, and it is sad reading.

So, how did God feel about this? Today’s verse highlights three effects of such behaviour and these are important for us to remember. The first is that the Lord God was put to the test! They tested His patience, His mercy, His promises, His faithfulness, in fact all that the Lord had revealed about His character was severely tested by these ungrateful people who, having got what was promised, abandoned their relationship with the Provider! This was not just forgetfulness, God called it rebellion.

We all slip and slide our way through relationships, and we treat the Lord abominably at times. After all that He has done for me, how could I live as if He did not exist, not even finding time to pray or spend a few moments alone with Him each day? Such behaviour is not called forgetfulness in the Scripture or even ingratitude, it is described as rebellion.

This verse reminds us that it is our obligation to walk closely with our Father and to seek to obey His laws and to behave in a way that expresses our faith in Him. We are not bound by His statutes, nor are we penalised for having broken them, Christ has borne the penalty. However, surely we have cause, more than even the Israelites, to live by faith and in accordance with God’s Word? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 4:1 Smear campaigns

Psalm 4:1    Smear campaigns   The background to this Psalm is so familiar; David is being slandered and maligned by his detractors.  It seems that some calamity has befallen the nation and the king is getting the blame! Lies are being told, a smear campaign has begun, and the reputation of the Sovereign is under threat.  As usual, if something goes wrong, culpability is laid at the feet of the one in charge.  David, quite rightly, turns to the Lord his God and prays for relief and for mercy. The Satan is a master of such campaigns and his emissaries gleefully turn on Christians in leadership positions although the whispering campaign can affect all of us. The whispering starts in our own heads, but it can also come from the lips of our detractors. It goes something like this: - You’re the reason it went wrong You messed up again You should have seen it coming Surely you know better You are not worthy You don’t know what you’re doing Someone else ought to be in c
Read more
Psalm4:8        I will lie down and sleep                Th ere are times, in the life of all believers, when we no longer have control of situations. We can do nothing more. We have given our all, we have tried every possible solution and now it is out of our hands. As someone has wisely said, “It is time to let go and let God.” If we truly trust Him, if our faith will allow us, we can turn our backs on our enemies. We can block our ears to the threats. We can ignore the lies and the deceit and say,  “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone Lord, make me dwell in safety.” I should imagine that the devil, having sent a hurricane our way is not amused, when we settle in our beds in the midst of it all and drift off into a peaceful sleep! But that is our right and privilege once we let the Lord God Almighty take control. These spiritual attacks are like whirlwinds, they blow with terrifying intensity and threaten to turn us upside down; the disciples witnessed one of thes
Read more

Psalm 74:16

Psalm 74:16 God established the sun and the moon “ In  the beginning   God created   the heavens   and the earth.   2  Now the earth was formless   and empty,   darkness was over the surface of the deep,   and the Spirit of God   was hovering over the waters. 3  And God said,   “Let there be light,” and there was light.   4  God saw that the light was good,   and he separated the light from the darkness.   5  God called   the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”   And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” These, so familiar, words from Genesis 1 remind us of who is in charge! There would be no light without God. There would be no day or night without God. There would be no earth without God. And there would have been no living things unless God had created order out of chaos. The sun, moon and stars would not be fixed in their orbits without God and you and I would not exist unless He ordered our conception. It is because we see God as glorious, righteous
Read more