Give Ear, O My People, To My Teaching
Devotional
Companion to the Psalter
A Devotional Guide to the Psalms
Object:
He established a decree in Jacob,
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
to teach to their children;
that the next generation might know them ...
so that they should set their hope in God,
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments.
How often they rebelled against him ...
and grieved him.
-- Psalm 78:5-6a, 7, 40a
Theme: God's goodness and Israel's recurring ingratitude
Outline
1-16 -- Do not be like our ancestors -- stubborn, rebellious, and forgetful of God's mercies.
17-18 -- Refrain: They sinned and they tested God.
19-31 -- Even when God provided for them, they had to be punished.
32-39 -- They remembered God, but only briefly despite his mercies.
40-41 -- Refrain: Again they tested God.
42-55 -- God brought them into the promised land.
56-57 -- Refrain: They turned away faithless.
58-64 -- God deserted his dwelling at Shiloh and left them to their enemies.
65-72 -- He chose Judah and Mount Zion with David's line to shepherd his people.
Notes
• History -- Salvation
• Maskil = parabolic pictures, teaching one can visualize and remember.
• For the "decree" of God or "testimony God established in Israel" (v. 5). (See Exodus 12:26-27; 13:8 ff; Deuteronomy 4:9; and 2 Timothy 2:2.)
• Two other psalms recite Israel's history: 105; 106.
• Israel's self-criticism is in stark contrast to the typical self-glorifying histories of nations. Israel's story is an account of human sin and failure and of God's undeserved but steadfast favor (grace).
• In his Bible, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote beside verses 8-9, "November 11, 1938 -- Crystal Night," recalling the beginning of Nazi persecution of the Jews and the imprisoning of Christian pastors who protested.
For Reflection
• The psalm is full of theology. Jewish and Christian theology comes through stories of God's activity, revealing his character and purposes. God commands that his story be told and retold to the coming generation. (Doctrines or dogmas of faith are merely the synopsis of the great drama of God seeking and redeeming a lost humanity.)
• What light do verses 1-8 throw on the need for a family's reading the Bible (especially Bible stories)? If you make a list of God's mighty works, Israel's sins, and God's judgments, it can throw light on our sins and failures, and enable us to prize the wonderful covenant of grace and the gospel of Christ.
Prayer
Lord God, we will give ear to your teachings. Through the trials and testing of our journey, may your Spirit so strengthen us in your word, so that we and our children will anticipate joyfully the culminating revelation of your power, grace, and purpose for us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
to teach to their children;
that the next generation might know them ...
so that they should set their hope in God,
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments.
How often they rebelled against him ...
and grieved him.
-- Psalm 78:5-6a, 7, 40a
Theme: God's goodness and Israel's recurring ingratitude
Outline
1-16 -- Do not be like our ancestors -- stubborn, rebellious, and forgetful of God's mercies.
17-18 -- Refrain: They sinned and they tested God.
19-31 -- Even when God provided for them, they had to be punished.
32-39 -- They remembered God, but only briefly despite his mercies.
40-41 -- Refrain: Again they tested God.
42-55 -- God brought them into the promised land.
56-57 -- Refrain: They turned away faithless.
58-64 -- God deserted his dwelling at Shiloh and left them to their enemies.
65-72 -- He chose Judah and Mount Zion with David's line to shepherd his people.
Notes
• History -- Salvation
• Maskil = parabolic pictures, teaching one can visualize and remember.
• For the "decree" of God or "testimony God established in Israel" (v. 5). (See Exodus 12:26-27; 13:8 ff; Deuteronomy 4:9; and 2 Timothy 2:2.)
• Two other psalms recite Israel's history: 105; 106.
• Israel's self-criticism is in stark contrast to the typical self-glorifying histories of nations. Israel's story is an account of human sin and failure and of God's undeserved but steadfast favor (grace).
• In his Bible, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote beside verses 8-9, "November 11, 1938 -- Crystal Night," recalling the beginning of Nazi persecution of the Jews and the imprisoning of Christian pastors who protested.
For Reflection
• The psalm is full of theology. Jewish and Christian theology comes through stories of God's activity, revealing his character and purposes. God commands that his story be told and retold to the coming generation. (Doctrines or dogmas of faith are merely the synopsis of the great drama of God seeking and redeeming a lost humanity.)
• What light do verses 1-8 throw on the need for a family's reading the Bible (especially Bible stories)? If you make a list of God's mighty works, Israel's sins, and God's judgments, it can throw light on our sins and failures, and enable us to prize the wonderful covenant of grace and the gospel of Christ.
Prayer
Lord God, we will give ear to your teachings. Through the trials and testing of our journey, may your Spirit so strengthen us in your word, so that we and our children will anticipate joyfully the culminating revelation of your power, grace, and purpose for us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
