“Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did,” wrote the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:6. He wrote that having just spoken of the Israelites having been delivered from Egypt, provided for in the wilderness, and (a number of them) killed in the wilderness because of their disobedience. Paul wanted the Corinthians to know that their disobedience and God’s judgment was written down for us so that we might not desire the evil they desired. These things were written so that we might chase after sin as we are often tempted to do.

If Paul writes that about the narratives themselves, then he would definitely affirm that about Psalm 78. For Psalm 78 is not simply a psalm that recounts Israel’s history, including their sin; it is a psalm in which Asaph recounts Israel’s history for the purpose of teaching his readers about sin, grace, and obedience. Asaph wants his readers not to think Israel’s sin is just a story to fill the pages of Scripture but is there so that we might learn from it.

He opens the psalm writing, “Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark saying from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done” (vv. 1-4). He says he’s about to open his mouth in a parable and utter “dark sayings” from old. That is, he’s about to speak in poetic form and speak of hidden things, that we may not have seen. However, he follow that up saying that he is going to utter things “that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us.” So, which is it? Is he going to write about hidden things or things we have heard and known? Well, it seems that the answer is both. He’s going to write about events that we are all aware of and have heard before. However, his intention is not merely to repeat the stories but to teach us from them. He wants us to see the lessons that these stories were written to communicate. Asaph wants to reveal the very truth that Paul would write of years later, namely, that these narratives are included for our instruction.

So what then is it that we are to learn from Israel’s history? Let’s look at the psalm and find out. The first thing Asaph reminds us is the responsibility each generation has to teach the Word of God to the next generation and to model obedience before that generation.

Each generation is to hear of God’s Word and see obedience to it from the prior generation

We see this in verses 5-8 as Asaph writes, “He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose hearts was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God” (vv. 5-8).

God has ensured the writing of his redemptive work throughout history so that we might tell the next generation of that work so that they might hope in God, not forget his works, keep his commandments, and not walk in the ways of those who rebelled against God.

Now, yes, I think Asaph writes this because he is showing us that this is the task that he is about to embark upon, but I think it should serve to remind us that we have the same task. Some questions I find myself asking most every day as I pause to pray for my children are: “Am I making it my aim to instruct them as to the ways and works of God, and am I modeling for them what it looks like to love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength? Am I living before them a life that I would be delighted for them to follow? Are they being instructed in the faith just as they hear my instruction and observe my life before them?”

This is our task so that they might hope in God. Reading texts like Psalm 78:5-8 and asking myself these questions bring to mind the sobering responsibility that God has given to us and the need to live holy lives. Therefore, with that reminder the psalmist launches into Israel’s history to teach us. So, we will do the same. What is it that we learn from Israel’s history?

Sin is much more disgusting than we like to admit

The first lesson we learn from Israel’s sin is that sin is much more disgusting than we like to admit. Throughout Psalm 78 Israel’s sin is laid out before us for what it is. As we see it, I believe we’ll be reminded that sin is more disgusting than we like to admit.

It’s easy for us to think less about the seriousness of sin than we should. After all, we know that everyone sins. The Scripture tells us no less. And we probably know specifically that people sin in the same ways that we do. Therefore, it’s easy for us to think, “Everyone sins, and I know people who struggle with the same sins I do (who seem to love God and want to obey him), so my sin can’t be too terrible.” But sin is terrible. Sin cannot be addressed simply with us saying, “Well, nobody’s perfect.” We must come face-to-face with the nature of sin itself. And Psalm 78 helps us do that.

As the psalmist speaks of Israel’s sin, he first speaks of them having forgotten what God did. As he represents all of Israel speaking of Ephraim, he says of them in verses 9-11 that they turned back in battle because they refused to obey God and “They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them.” Later, after mentioning that God did not destroy his people, having pitty on them, the psalmist writes that they sinned against him again, and specifically notes in verses 42-43, “They did not remember his power or the day when he redeemed them from the foe, when he performed his signs in Egypt and his marvels in the field of Zoan.” As Israel sinned, they were forgetting what God had done for them. It’s as if they no longer remembered that they had been slaves and had been freed and redeemed in the most miraculous of ways.

I remember a day well when I had gotten so sick of my sin and conviction was heavy on me. I remember feeling that I should be judged in hell, that I didn’t deserve any blessings in life, and that I deserved for my guilt to be laid out before all. I remember getting down on my face that day and crying before God because I knew my guilt so well. Then, all of the sudden, I was reminded of my forgiveness in Christ, that God was justly forgiving me because of him, and that I was going to be able to go on in life. I remember wondering that day how I could ever want anything more to do with sin ever because God’s mercy seemed so rich to me. At the same time I can easily recall days before that one and since when I have sinned against God, knowing what I was about to do was wrong and not caring.

When we sin, though, we don’t ponder our forgiveness do we. As am battling temptation it is rare that I think of that day when tears were rolling down my face because I was overwhelmed by God’s mercy. That’s because when we sin we forget what God has done for us. We forget something far more amazing that splitting the Red Sea; we forget that his Son has redeemed us from our sin and God’s wrath. Sin is a horrible and disgusting thing because it shows we have forgotten the weight of our forgiveness in Christ.

Yet the psalmist gives us a fuller picture of sin. He notes that sin is rebellion against God in which we do not believe, show the lack of steadfast love in our hearts, test God, and provoke him to jealousy. After having written of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, Asaph writes, “Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert. They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God, saying, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness? He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?” (vv. 17-20). Then again after writing of God’s provision for them in the wilderness, Asaph writes, “In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe” (v. 32). Even their repentance was sometimes merely surface, just to avoid consequences. Again, Asaph writes, “They flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant” (vv. 36-37). Finally, he writes, “How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert! They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember his power or the day when he redeemed them from the foe, when he performed his signs in Egypt and his marvels in the field of Zoan. … Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God and did not keep his testimonies, but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers; they twisted like a deceitful bow. For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols” (vv. 40-43 … 56-58).

When we sin we rebel against God’s commands and test and provoke him. We no doubt are astonished at the Israelites complaining about food when God provided for them water from a rock and manna from the sky. But how many times do we feel comfortable complaining against God because of our present circumstances, doubting his love and care, after he has done wonder after wonder in our lives? How many times do we have little faith when he’s given us water and bread and blessing after blessing? There sin is a picture to us of what our sin looks like.

I have a great wife. I do not think I could be more blessed. Were I to tell you what a blessing she is to me, we would need days. She serves me, cares for me, puts up with me, invests herself in me, dreams for me, and wants more for me than I want for myself. If a wife is God’s gift to a husband, then God has shown me how much help I needed by giving me a wife that is amazing.

Now, could you imagine the hatred you might have if you heard that after Lili living that way as a precious wife to me for years that I left her to be with another woman, provoking her to jealousy, after she has loved me so deeply? When I hear of people doing that, I hate it. I should hate it, and so should you. It is horrible. And yet Asaph tells us that that’s exactly what sin is. It is a lack of steadfastness toward God, being unfaithful to him, and provoking him to jealousy.

This is what sin is. It’s nothing to laugh about. It’s nothing to confess in a light fashion. It’s something to grieve over. It’s something to hate as much as you would hate hearing of unfaithfulness from a husband to his loving and precious wife. It’s forgetting God’s gracious work and testing him, refusing to believe he will do what he has promised.

Therefore, take a good look at Israel’s sin. Let it sink in. Look at it long and hard until you hate it. For our sin is no different, and their sin was written about, Paul says, so that we might not desire evil as they did. So, look long and hard until this text has its effect and meditate on it often so that we might learn to hate our sin as God hates it.

And after you have done that until sin weighs heavily on you, look again at Psalm 78 as Asaph reminds us that God’s grace is more amazing than we can imagine.

God’s grace is more amazing than we imagine

Psalm 78 speaks very powerfully about sin, but it speaks even more powerfully of God’s grace. First it shows us again and again how God restrained his anger and wrath against Israel. They deserved his punishment, just as we do outside of Christ. And we read in verses 21-22, after Asaph mentions the people testing God in the desert, “Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath; a fire was kindled against Jacob; his anger rose against Israel, because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power” (vv. 21-22). Just when you think God is about to blow them off the face of the earth, we read in verses 23-24, “Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven, and he rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven.” He should have destroyed them all for even suggesting that God ought to give them more, and yet he didn’t – and he did give them more.

And even as he killed the strongest of the Israelites to display that sin is seriousness and to reveal his judgment against sin, we read in verses 38-39, “Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again.”

Then, near the end of the psalm as we read in verses 59-64 that God was full of wrath and rejected Israel, allowing the ark to be captured and their army to fall in battle, so that even Eli and his sons were killed, it is in the very next verse that we read of God rising to return the ark in dramatic fashion.

God’s grace is first of all amazing in that he restrains his anger. The very instant Adam sinned in the garden God could have ended humanity then and there. And when we read stories of God killing Herod instantly for not giving him glory or smoting Ananias and Saphira for lying to him, it should be a reminder to us that God could have done that numerous times in our own lives. How many times have we failed to give glory to God? Yet, even as with Israel, God’s grace is first shown to us as he has restrained his anger in our lives. He allowed you to live before your conversion and since. And he has sustained your life because he wants to pour out his grace on you. He has set his affection and delight on you before the foundation of the world and delights in caring for you and blessing you.

That is the only thing that explains his mercy in Psalm 78. Despite all their sin and even false repentance, we read again and again of God blessing them. As verses 12-16 tell us, he delivered them from Egypt through the water, guided them day and night, and made water come from a rock for them to drink. After they complained against him for not feeding them, he gave them the bread of angels and gave them meat from the air (vv. 23-29). He atoned for their iniquity (v. 38). He destroyed every firstborn in Egypt that they might go free (vv. 44-55), and he placed his presence in their midst though they defied him again and again (vv. 65-72).

What do you say about such blessing when you know it is so underserved? You say, “That’s the nature of God’s grace.” It is amazing. He delights in pouring out his mercy, grace, and blessings on us.

Therefore, as we see our sin in all its disgust, let us confess and delight in our forgiveness. Let us delight in God’s mercy. If it’s been a while since your affections have been moved because of God’s grace in saving and forgiving a wretch like you, then ask God to show you your sin and the glory of his grace today. Then meditate on that daily so that we might never lack affection for him. He who has been forgiven much loves much, and whether we realize it or not, all of us have been forgiven much.

But why is he so gracious? Why does he forgive? There really is no answer to why he decided to show his grace to us. We read in verses 65-72 that God decided to reject Ephraim as the place from where he would settle and from where he would bring his king. Instead, he chose Judah. But why choose any tribe at all? Why not just destroy this rebellious people? Judah wasn’t better after all. The only answer to why he is so gracious is in verse 68 as we read, “He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loves.”

He showed his grace to them because he loved them. But we have no answer for why God ever set his love on them. And for us, he has chosen us as his own because he loves us, but we have no answer for why God ever decided to set his love on us, knowing we were so deserving.

God’s grace is founded upon his promises

But in another sense we do know why he chose to bring a king from Judah. We do know why he continues to extend forgiveness to us. It is because he is faithful to his covenant. And years earlier God had promised that the scepter would belong to Judah until the one came to whom it belongs (Gen. 49:10). That’s why he anointed a shepherd from the tribe of Judah, David, as his king. It’s because he was being faithful to his promises. And the reason why we are forgiven as we confess our sins this morning is because God is faithful to a covenant he made with us through his Son Jesus Christ, a covenant sealed with his blood. Therefore, we know forgiveness and are sure of it because Jesus Christ paid for our sin with his own blood and was raised from the dead three days later. We know forgiveness because we have a King who was David’s greatest Son, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, who will one day return to judge the earth and gather his people to himself.

Therefore, how should we respond this picture of sin and grace in the text this morning?

1. Let us delight in God’s mercy. Let us realize the forgiveness we have in Christ as we confess our sins, and let us delight.

2. Let us walk in obedience. Let us realize that we must wage war against sin and walk in holiness.

3. Let us hope in God. Let us not forget what God has done and trust him as we continue to walk in faith.

4. Let us serve God and one another in humility. How can a people who deserve only wrath and hell and who can boast only in the cross of our Lord be proud? Let us be humble, serving our Lord as we serve one another.

5. Let us remember and teach others his works. May we be faithful to tell the next generation of the works and words of our Lord, and let us model obedience thereunto.

One way we remember is by coming to the table. So, even as we come every Sunday, our hope should be that we might never forget but that as the next generation says, “Why do you eat of this bread and drink from this cup?” we may say, “It is because Christ Jesus died for our sins, rose from the dead, and one day is returning.” And may they believe. May his grace be with us. Amen.

SO THAT WE MIGHT TRUST HIM