Message Notes

SSS 4 28 May 2023
Book 3
Psalms 73-89

Text: Psalm 78   I

A Contemplation of Asaph.
1 Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,

3 Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.

4 We will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.

5 For He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That they should make them known to their children;

6 That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,

7 That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;

8 And may not be like their fathers,
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that did not [c]set its heart aright,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,
Turned back in the day of battle.

10 They did not keep the covenant of God;
They refused to walk in His law,

11 And forgot His works
And His wonders that He had shown them.
12 Marvellous things He did in the sight of their fathers,
In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

Psalm 78:1-12

1. An Explanation of Asaph’s Contemplation and Teaching

1 Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,

3 Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.

Psalm 78:1-3

a) He described his teaching as “law”

b) He urged the people to incline their ears to the words of his mouth

c) His teachings are like:

i) Parables

ii) Proverbial sayings (called “dark sayings”)
They are deep thoughts

d) The source of his teachings

i) The oral traditions of the fathers

ii) These had been passed down for many generations

2. His commitment as a teacher/ prophet of the LORD

4 We will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.

5 For He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That they should make them known to their children;
6 That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children

Psalm 78: 4-6

a) Focus was to teach people about the LORD

i) His praises

ii) His strength

iii) His wonderful works

b) God’s commandment borne in mind

i) A testimony was established in Jacob

ii) A law appointed in Israel

iii) A commandment given to the fathers

iv) God’s teachings were to be made known to the children

c) Deuteronomy 6 is probably in mind

1“Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess,
2 that you may fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.
3 Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the LORD God of your fathers has promised you—‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’
4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!
5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

3. A Candid appraisal of the people

7 That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;

8 And may not be like their fathers,
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that did not set its heart aright,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Psalm 78:7-8

a) The Goals of teaching

i) To set their hope in God

ii) To remember (and not forget) the works of God

iii) To keep the commandments of God

b) Realistic understanding of the past generations

i) A stubborn and rebellious generation

ii) A generation that did not set its heart aright

iii) A generation whose spirit is not right with God