Good King to the Rescue
Opening Prayer
Father God, I’m so grateful that, though everything changes, Your love remains constant. All praise to You.
Read Psalm 78:40-72
[40]
Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
What is God’s response when we mess up–fall out of love with him and into pride, greed, sexual sin, self-sufficiency? Imagine him writing to you. What does he say?
Think Further
This psalm must have been written during the reign of one of the good kings of Judah–probably Hezekiah–after the destruction of the northern kingdom (Israel) by the Assyrians in 722 BC (2 Kings 17:1-6). The key to true spiritual life, and therefore to safety in a dangerous world, is memory, this psalmist believes. It’s vital to remember well, so as not to fall under the sins and judgments of earlier generations. The wilderness generation simply forgot what God did to Egypt when he delivered them (42-51), and how he guided them through the desert and into the Promised Land (52-55). Much more recently, Israel forgot again, and God “rejected Israel completely” (59).
These are terrible words–reflecting, for this psalmist, the end of the covenant with Israel, the ten northern tribes. They provoked the anger of the Lord by their disloyalty and faithlessness (57), and now they’re gone. How wonderful that he has not rejected Judah, the southern kingdom, where Mount Zion is (68), and the Temple (69), and where the faithful Davidic king still reigns, shepherding his people skillfully (70-72)! The trouble is–as we now know–it all went wrong in the south, too, when, 135 years after the disaster in the north, the same happened to Mount Zion. Next Sunday’s psalm arises from that experience.
For us, memory includes the disappointment of the hopes expressed at the end of this psalm. Israel’s human kings failed to shepherd well–but, praise God, there is another Son of David who is the ultimate Good Shepherd for us, and who promises eternal security to his sheep (John 10:14,27-30)! We must remember him!
Apply
Think about how memory can sustain the spiritual life of individuals and churches. What memories sustain you, good and bad? Turn them into thankful prayer.
Closing prayer
Shepherd God, thank You for Your patience with me. I would never have prevailed if it wasn’t for Your grace.
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