How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!
Psalm 78 is a song recounting Israel's wilderness journey, which the people sang as they marched in step. It sets forth the rich blessings God bestowed on Israel and their poor response to those benefits. How often they provoked Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert shows that repeated provoking and grieving was their answer to His goodness. That provoking and grieving was disobedience by which they constantly worked against a good God. They did it by complaining when trials came and by forgetting Him as the source of their strength.
Their pattern was to repent under rebuke and chastisement, then fall again when temptation came through self-indulgence and self-gratification. That disobedience brought upon them the condition that was the sure result of their own course of action. The psalm is therefore to be used for reproof and correction, calling for harmony rather than division. In contrast, those who have Christ abiding in them and who fully receive truth of heavenly origin stay connected to the source of all wisdom and power, are sanctified through it, keep continually advancing in the divine life, and do not complain and forget God as Israel did.
The verse is worthy of earnest consideration for its teaching on eternal realities in view of the solemn work before God's people. It shows they should be far in advance of where they now stand. They are to be aroused to duty as fishers of men to explain the truths of the Word to those who do not know them. They are to begin earnest, self-sacrificing efforts for those perishing in their sins, sowing seeds of truth that will reap a rich harvest of good no human mind can estimate.
Psalm 78 is a song recounting Israel's wilderness journey, which the people sang as they marched in step. It sets forth the rich blessings God bestowed on Israel and their poor response to those benefits. How often they provoked Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert shows that repeated provoking and grieving was their answer to His goodness. That provoking and grieving was disobedience by which they constantly worked against a good God. They did it by complaining when trials came and by forgetting Him as the source of their strength.
Their pattern was to repent under rebuke and chastisement, then fall again when temptation came through self-indulgence and self-gratification. That disobedience brought upon them the condition that was the sure result of their own course of action. The psalm is therefore to be used for reproof and correction, calling for harmony rather than division. In contrast, those who have Christ abiding in them and who fully receive truth of heavenly origin stay connected to the source of all wisdom and power, are sanctified through it, keep continually advancing in the divine life, and do not complain and forget God as Israel did.
The verse is worthy of earnest consideration for its teaching on eternal realities in view of the solemn work before God's people. It shows they should be far in advance of where they now stand. They are to be aroused to duty as fishers of men to explain the truths of the Word to those who do not know them. They are to begin earnest, self-sacrificing efforts for those perishing in their sins, sowing seeds of truth that will reap a rich harvest of good no human mind can estimate.