May 28, 2020, Psalms 78, John 6
Psalms 78
A Maskil of Asaph
My people, hear my teachings;
listen to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth with a parable;
I will utter hidden things, things from of old--
things we have heard and known.
things our ancestors have told us.
We will not hide them from their descendants;
we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
his power, and the wonders he has done.
He decreed statutes for Jacob
and established the Law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
to teach their children.
so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.
Then they would put their trust in God
and would not forget his deeds
but would keep his commandments.
they would be like their ancestors-
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God,
whose spirits were not faithful to him.
The men of Ephraim, through armed with bows,
turned back on the day of battle;
they did not keep God's covenant and refuse to live by his law.
they forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them.
He did miracles int he sight of their ancestors
in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
he divided the sea and led them through; he made the water stand up like a wall.
he guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night.
he divided the sea and led them through; he made the water stand up like a wall.
he guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night.
He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
he brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers.
But they continued to sin against him, rebelling in the wilderness against
the most high.
They willfully put God to the test
by demanding the food they craved.
They spoke against God; they said, Can God really spread a table in the wilderness?
True, he struck the rock,
and water gushed out, streams flowed abundantly,
but can he also give us bread?
Can he supply meat for his people?
When the Lord heard them, he was furious?
his fire broke out against Jacob,
and his wrath rose against Israel,
for they did not believe in God or trust in his deliverance.
Yet he gave a command to the skies above
and opened the doors of the heavens;
he rained down manna for the people to eat,
He gave them the grain of heaven.
Human beings ate the bread of angels;
he sent them all the food they could eat.
He let loose the east wind from the heavens
and by his power made the south wind blow.
He rained meat down on them like dust,
He rained meat down on them like dust,
birds like sand on the seashore.
He made them come down inside their camp,
all around their tents.
they ate till they were gorged-
they ate till they were gorged-
he had given them what they craved.
But before they turned from what they craved.
even while the food was still in their mouths,
God's anger rose against them;
he put to death the sturdiest among them, cutting down the young
men of Israel.
In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;
in spite of his wonders, they did not believe.
So he ended their days in futility and their years in terror.
Whenever God slew them, they would seek him;
they eagerly turned to him again.
They remembered that God was their Rock,
that God Most High was their redeemer.
But then they would flatter him with their mouths,
lying to him with their tongues;
their hearts were not loyal to him,
they were not faithful to his covenant.
Yet he was merciful;
he forgave their iniquities and did not destroyed them.
Time after time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath.
He remember that they were but flesh,
He remember that they were but flesh,
a passing breeze that does not return.
How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
and grieved him in the wasteland!
Again and again they put God to the test;
they vexed the Holy One of Israel
They did not remember his power-
the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,
the day he displayed his signs in Egypt.
his wonders in the region of Zoan.
He turned their river into blood;
He turned their river into blood;
they could not drink from their streams. He sent
swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them.
He gave their crops to the grasshopper,
He gave their crops to the grasshopper,
their produce to the locust. He destroyed their vines with hail
and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
He gave over their cattle to the hail, their livestock to bolts of lighting.
He unleashed against them his anger,
He unleashed against them his anger,
his wrath, indignation and hostility-a band of destroying angels.
He prepared a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death
He prepared a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death
but gave them over to the plague. He struck down all the firstborn of
Egypt, the first fruits of manhood in the tents of Ham. But he
brought his people out like a flock; he led them like sheep through
the wilderness. He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
but the sea engulfed their enemies.
And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
to the hill country to his right hand had taken.
He drove out nations before them and allotted their
lands to them as an inheritance; he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.
But they put God to the test and rebelled against the Most high;
they did not keep his statues.
Like their ancestors they were disloyal and faithless,
Like their ancestors they were disloyal and faithless,
as unreliable as a faulty bow.
They angered him with their high places;
They angered him with their high places;
they aroused his jealousy with their idols.
When God heard them, he was furious,
When God heard them, he was furious,
he rejected Israel completely.
He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,
He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,
the tent he set up among humans.
He sent the ark of his might into captivity,
He sent the ark of his might into captivity,
his splendor into the hands of the enemy.
He gave his people over to the sword;
he was furious with his inheritance.
Fire consumed their young men, and their young women had no wedding songs,
their priest were put to the sword, and their widows could not weep.
Then the Lord awoke as from sleep as a warrior wakes
Then the Lord awoke as from sleep as a warrior wakes
from the stupor of wine. He beat back his enemies;
he put them to everlasting shame. Then he rejected the tents of
Joseph. He did not choose the tribe of Ephraim; but he chose
the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loved.
He built his sanctuary like the
heights like the earth that he established forever.
He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep
pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people
Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. And David shepherded them with integrity
of heart; with skillful hands he led them.
Memories & Memorials
Remembering the trials and seeing God defeat the enemy before your eyes!
Remember those long prayers!
Remember the answers you received!
Remember the victories!
It would be a tragedy to forget God!
John 6
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand
Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the sea of Tiberias). and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside, and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Festival was near. When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "It would take more than half a year's wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!
Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many? Jesus said, Have the people sit down. There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." So they gather them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world. Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him King by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
What an awesome deed!
This passage really supports the word-Do not worry about how you will eat; God always makes a way!
| The Lord uniquely deals with us according to all of our various needs. Or God knows what we want before we show up? What do you think?
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