George Santayana was a Spanish philosopher and writer who made a very famous, often quoted statement: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
God believes in the substance of that sentiment. God believes that man should and must learn from the past. Frequently God rehearses the past for the benefit of a new generation and He tells His children to learn from the past so they will not repeat those mistakes.
One of the longest psalms in the book of psalms, 78, is just such a summation of Israelite history and I would like for us to study this psalm together and learn from it so that we will not be condemned to repeating the mistakes of our spiritual forefathers. This is Rachel’s favorite psalm.
STANZA 1 – THE IMPORTANCE OF HISTORY (78:1-4):
Just like we want our children to know our history, our family history, so it is important for our children to know their spiritual history: the history recorded both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. It is important for our Bible classes, VBS, even sermons to review events in the Bible so that our children can know their spiritual heritage.
STANZA 2 MOUNT SINAI (78:5-8):
All of this shows that salvation is a matter of our personal choice. Do we, in our hearts, want to be saved, or not? If so, we need to decide in our spirits to be faithful to God, to trust God, and to obey His commandments.
STANZA 3 RED SEA (78:9-16):
STANZA 4 A LACK OF FAITH (78:17-20):
Can we not learn from previous generations’ mistakes? Do we have to reinvent the wheel, the hard way? Do we have to make the same mistakes that previous generations did? Why can’t we learn from previous generations and not follow their same footsteps?
STANZA 5 MANNA & QUAIL (78:21-33):
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You cannot manipulate God. Before Israel had satisfied their self-centered desires, while the food was still in their mouths, the anger of God rose against them and He killed some of their strongest men and subdued some of their choicest men. God punished them for thinking that they could get out of God what they wanted simply by grumbling and complaining.
STANZA 6 GOD’S NATURE (78:34-39):
In contrast to Israel, God is stable, compassionate. God is forgiving. God did not completely destroy the nation of Israel even when, largely, they deserved it. He “often” restrained His anger and did not arouse His wrath against them.
STANZA 7 THE PLAGUES ON EGYPT (78:40-53):
STANZA 8 ABANDONMENT (78:54-64):
He delivered His people to the sword and God was filled with wrath at His inheritance, the nation of Israel. God’s fire devoured the young men and there was no happiness, no wedding songs for the virgins. The priests were killed by the sword and the widows wept until they could weep no more.
STANZA 9 AN EXAMPLE OF FAITHFULNESS (78:65-72):
Why does Asaph mention David here at the end of this psalm? Because everyone knew of David’s sins. Everyone knew of the rebellion that David, himself, had committed against the God of heaven. But David had the right heart. David had the heart that repented and returned to God in humility.
David is an example of what one should do when he has been rebellious, disobedient, unfaithful to God in his heart and spirit. Repent. Return to God. When you refuse to study the past, you are running from the past and you cannot learn from the past. But if we study the past, and learn from it, we can avoid making some of the same costly mistakes!
A brief review of Israel’s history reminds us how important it is to humble our hearts to God, submit to His commands, and live faithfully.
–Paul Holland
