God's Word for You (Monday, Jan 4, 2010)
A Daily Devotion by Pastor Tim Smith
Psalm 78:9-16
Psalms Of Faith And Doubt In Ancient Times
9 The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,
turned back on the day of battle;
10 they did not keep God’s covenant
and refused to live by his law.
Later in this Psalm, the people of Ephraim will be criticized for abandoning God altogether. Here they are used as a sort of type or example of Israelite who doubted God and who did not trust in him. Although some people try to use this singling-out of Ephraim to date the Psalm (to after the divided kingdom, for example), it could still date from David’s time, when the people of Ephraim and Benjamin rose up against David’s kingship. More importantly for us is the warning that there is no such thing as “irresistible grace.” A person who is saved can fall from faith. We have been armed with the word of God: How will we use it? How will we thank God with our lives for the rescue he has already accomplished? We didn’t contribute to being saved, but now that we have been rescued from the grip of death, we should keep ourselves daily in the word of God, to learn more about him and to remember what he has done for us.
11 They forgot what he had done,
the wonders he had shown them.
12 He did miracles in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt,
in the region of Zoan.
In the far northeast of the Nile Delta, the part of Egypt closest to Canaan, was this city called Zoan. Fans of the Indiana Jones movies might recognize its other name: Tanis. It was the capital city for at least one Egyptian Pharaoh, and an important center of business. Later on it was called or renamed Rameses after Pharaoh Rameses II. This was the place where God sent Moses and Aaron to perform miracles, in his name; this was where God began to show his power to his people and to the enemies of his people.
13 He divided the sea and led them through;
he made the water stand firm like a wall.
The psalm writer rapidly transports us through the events of the exodus in the same way the Passover service or Seder does, by recounting the various miracles in a poetic way and then applying them to the present day. Here in the Psalm, however, the miracle of the Red Sea is brought forward as a reminder of the conclusion of the other miracles: The ten plagues would have merely been a bad time for everyone if Israel had not finally been brought out of Egypt by God. Our God keeps all of his promises, and the road through the Red Sea was the path out of Egypt for all Israel.
14 He guided them with the cloud by day
and with light from the fire all night.
Here we are reminded of the great Glory of the Lord, the bright and shining presence of God among his people which is also veiled in cloud, smoke or darkness so that God himself cannot be truly seen (no sinful human being can see God’s face and live, Exodus 33:20). The Glory of the Lord gave the people a constant reminder of God’s presence and providence; it also gave them light, and protection from the Egyptians. It also served as their guide, leading the people to where God wanted them to go.
15 He split the rocks in the desert
and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
16 he brought streams out of a rocky crag
and made water flow down like rivers. (NIV)
While they were on their way through their long journey, God also made sure that the people had water to drink. Rocks in the desert were broken apart at the Lord’s command and springs of water gushed out for the people. God made certain that they had everything that they needed. In the very first Psalm, believers are called trees planted by streams of water (Psalm 1:3), but the word there for “stream” is a man-made stream, a canal or creek for irrigation: God doesn’t just put us here or there in the world, he provides for us wherever we are. We aren’t where and when we are by chance: God has placed us here to serve him at this time and in this place.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul's Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. His wife, Kathryn, attended Chapel from 1987-1990 while studying Secondary Education (Theater and Math) at UW-Madison. Kathryn's father, John Meyer, was also the first man to serve as a Vicar at Chapel.
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