Day 178

The God of History

Read: Psalms 78-79

Psalm 78 is one of several psalms recounting God’s dealings with his people in the past. It describes the “glorious deeds of the Lord” (v. 4), emphasizing the importance of passing on the story to our children. It tells how God brought the Israelites out of Egypt and cared for them in the wilderness, “yet they sinned still more against him” (v. 17). In response, God provided food for them, but also punished them. “In spite of all this they still sinned” (v. 32). They forgot the plagues which fell on Egypt on their behalf and how God had brought them to Sinai. Later God rejected the northern kingdom but continued to work with Judah, choosing David as king.

How good to know that the story continued. God did even more glorious deeds on behalf of his people. He brought them back from exile. He sent his Son to become one of them, to die on the cross as the atoning sacrifice, to rise from the dead, to ascend to heaven, and to send his Holy Spirit upon his church. When his church became corrupt, he raised up reformers whose spiritual descendants we are to this day. Let us not, like Israel, forget the glorious deeds of our God. Let us not like them rebel against him. Psalm 79 tells what happens when rebellion continues. It is a psalm describing the grief of those who experienced the destruction of Jerusalem.

PRAYER
Father, as we consider your glorious deeds on our behalf, fill us with gratitude. In Jesus’ name. Amen.