THE LESSONS OF HISTORY

Psalm 78: 1-35

A PRESBYTERIAN PSALTER - by Pastor Max A Forsythe

Whenever I am asked why we should study history in the public school, I always respond with a quote that has been attributed to different politicians, poets and historians. So many people have said or thought this idea that it is difficult to know who said it first. The quote is simply this: "those who do not read history, repeat it!" As we compare the mistakes of the Hebrew people here in this psalm, we can just as well look in a mirror and see our own fair land described as well. This psalm uses the history of Israel, and especially the Exodus and wilderness wanderings, for purposes of edification, rebuke, and encouragement. The past is held up to the psalmist's own generation. This history is not a celebration of heathen myths but an historic record interpreted to show the people the state of their own souls and the necessity to not ignore so great a salvation as that given and worked out by our God who moves His story along to work out His own particular plans. The psalmist describes the history of Israel as one long succession of miracles of mercy met by equally continuous ingratitude on the part of God's own people. Would the people of Asaph's time hear and repent any better than those of our own?

For our purposes today, we will divide the first thirty-five verses into four parts. Verses one to eight constitute a sermon from history. Verses nine through sixteen describe the miracles forgotten. Verses seventeen through thirty-one record continuing unrest. Finally, in the last four verses we see recorded a minimal repentance, which we shall explore further next week. The psalmist is not a chronicler of history, but a religious teacher, his purpose is to give us the spirit of the nation's history. Sometimes I do not agree with the means and methods of teaching history that are currently popular. Our national history standards are an embarrassment even to anyone who has ever flunked a difficult course of historical study. Currently history courses are being adapted and subverted to the vocational interests without any regard for the real lessons of the past. Wherever possible the study of history is being trivialized so that the real lessons of history may be unlearned as the dawning new age attempts to establish its own pagan mythos instead.

We see none of that in our lesson for today, instead our psalmist retells and applies the lessons of the past so that his own generation may live in the light of God's grace and word. We begin with our first division of eight verses. The key verse here is verse two: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old -". It is in this sense that the poet describes the reality of Israel's history so that vital lessons may be imparted. The inspired poet calls on his countrymen to listen to God's law. In the Hebrew the emphasis here is on bowing stiff necks, leaning forward to catch every syllable, and giving earnest attention! There is also here in this passage a prophecy of how God will teach when He comes in the Person of Christ. We find reference to this in the Gospel of Matthew: (Matthew 13: 34-35) "Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world."

Whereas the first verse had called for attention, the second justifies the demand by hinting that the outer sense conceals an inner and hidden meaning, which only the thoughtful will be able to perceive. In verse three the psalmist assures his audience that the stories and traditions are secure and known from their fathers. Therefore he reasons his hearers are obligated to pass on the same truths to their own children. Certainly we are blessed with the final revelation of Jesus Christ, and many centuries of publication and planning to facilitate our handing on the faith once given to the saints. Yet, as more and more reasonable people consider the problems of our time, we would do well to consider the plea of Asaph. One evangelical author recently grieved that the evangelical faith is not consistently being transmitted forward to the next generation.

This statement is from within our own evangelical camp! What more could be said about what has happened to the faith in this century. In my own rural county, the true faith is in grave danger of being dying out with an older generation. Surely there are a handful of three faithful churches out of a hundred, but their impact upon the county has been declining for years on end. The point I need to make is that we have a grave responsibility to pass on to our children the precious truths of God's revelation. Asaph exhorts us in verse five of this responsibility.

And the purpose is set forth in verses six and seven. Succeeding generations are waiting to hear God's Word, they will need teachers and loving godly parents. We know that faith comes by hearing the very Word of God. The Scottish Kirk took this responsibility to heart and invented a public institution called school to make it possible for every child in their neighborhood to know and understand the truth and meaning of God's Holy Word. Their hope was that in hearing and reading all that God intended that their generations might become godly and know the salvation that comes freely from His hand.

Somehow we have lost the precision of that early goal of education. All institutions must have some purpose beyond the mere political collecting and spending the taxpayer's hard earned money. Ours, like those of Israel have lost their proper vision. In verse eight is Asaph's hope that his audience might learn the proper lessons and avoid the mistakes of their fathers. Certainly in Asaph's time as well as our own there was and is much room for improvement. And there is an incentive here in this psalm as well! The balance of this psalm traces the sad history of Israel. The poet relates the sad history of Ephraim which led downhill to the sordid golden calf of the post-Davidic era. Here is a sad dirge of the decline in the fortunes of the leading light of Israel. Eventually Ephraim's leadership was transferred to the tribe of Judah. Eventually the holy ground at Shiloh was abandoned in favor of Mount Zion. All of this was within the will of God. All of this happened as part of God's plan for the coming of David's greater Son Jesus Christ. Ephraim's refusal to remember the covenant results in their being passed by in favor of those who might better remember the Lord.

In verse seventeen, the they is more general than just Ephriam. All of those who traveled through the desert refused to appreciate the loving hand of the Lord in the miraculous provision of bread and meat. One only has to read modern commentators to get a contemptuous feeling for the miraculous in this matter. Oh, various plants and insects are carefully considered as the "manna" source. And the flight patterns of migrating quail are carefully considered as the viability of the biblical record is argued. Just as assuredly as Ephriam, modern scholars and Christians stand in judgment for refusing to listen to the lessons that the Creator God would teach through the sacred record. Look at verses thirty-two and thirty-three for the damning evidence of where mankind's heart is really focused! Ah, but eventually God turns against those who He would have and becomes their enemy.

And now in the midst of the assorted troubles described in verse thirty-four, we see that the people would seek refuge from those same troubles and bow on bended knee seeking His favor. "They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer." While it is certainly true that in the midst of famine, war, plague and natural disasters, some people will be saved; the general population may only go through a partial repentance. That repentance is only religious in nature. Now let me explain my words carefully. A religious repentance may be nothing more than what members of any religion will go through to persuade their pagan deity to look more favorably upon them. In this regard, politicians once respected the church because the church made the population easier to rule. Not believing in the Lord of the church, the majority of politicians today believe more in their own abilities to bless us with prosperity, peace and security. Terrible troubles may cause them to momentarily proclaim a solemn day of prayer, but their hearts are truthfully not in their public appearance in church. And further, their empty words only mock the God of heaven and magnify their own spiritual emptiness.

The sacred lessons of history more often than not will fall on deaf ears. What is the state of your hearing today? Do you hear the word of the Lord in this matter, that He is sovereign, that He is moving His story along the path that He has ordained? Or would you rather consider His story as just another trivial pursuit? May you be challenged by this psalm portion to consider not only the lessons of history but the God of His story as well. Amen.

	Resources Used:
Kidner, Derek.	Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Psalms.
Maclaren, Alexander.	Psalms.
Spurgeon, C.H.	The Treasury of David.
IBS: The Holy Bible, New International Version (1984)
Psm 078b	16 April 89 & 08 June 97

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