Learning From the Past
My ISP has been having technical problems, so I was not able to post yesterday. This is Saturday’s post a day late. On Friday night I attended the Family Time Training Fundraiser in Golden. It was a great event, enjoyed by at least 200 friends of this ministry. It was great to see many friends. Among those were Brent and Michelle Moore. Michelle and her family attended the church I served as a pastor when she was a teen. It was great to reconnect with this couple since the last time they say me was in an intensive care unit three years ago.
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…. “I will declare wise sayings; I will speak mysteries from the past— things we have heard and known and that our fathers have passed down to us. We must not hide them from their children, but must tell a future generation the praises of the Lord, His might, and the wonderful works He has performed.” Psalm 78:2-4 HCSB
There is a saying, “those who fail to remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” There are two important aspects of the “past” that God’s people were to remember and to pass on to future generations.
One was that of God’s faithfulness, power and wonderful works that He performed for His people. The other was the failures, disobedience and rebellion of the “exodus generation.”
Remembering who God is and what He had done and is able to do, was key to continuing in the Lord’s favor and following His ways. The end result of being faithful in recounting the lessons of the past was, “so that a future generation—children yet to be born—might know. They were to rise and tell their children so that they might put their confidence in God and not forget God’s works, but keep His commands.” (Psalm 68:6,7 HCSB)
When confidence in God wanes, moral and political decline is not far away. People look to themselves, they seek solutions of their own making to secure their future and security. They look to human sources, trust in wealth, and positions of political power. The present culture supplants the supremacy of God.
When the Lord and His ways are abandoned, fear triumphs over faith. “The Ephraimite archers turned back on the day of battle. They did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by His law.” (Psalm 78:9,10 HCSB)
The psalm lays out the charges of God’s people who “forgot the Lord’s wonders…they continued to sin…” They spoke against God, asking, “Is God able to provide food in the wilderness?” When the Lord provided water from the rock, they asked, “…can He also provide bread or furnish meat for His people?” (Psalm 78:17-20 HCSB)
The psalm recounts a depressing pattern of sin and rebellion and treating the Lord with contempt. But in all of their rebellion Lord continues to show His power and provision and how that His plans are not thwarted by human failures. In the end, “He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;  He brought him from tending ewes to be shepherd over His people Jacob—over Israel, His inheritance.” (Psalm 78:70-71 HCSB)
The Lord finds a “man after his own heart.” God’s ways will prevail. His plans will succeed. The question becomes one of faithfulness of failure; of righteousness or rebellion.
As I conducted a memorial service today, I was reminded that we learn from the lives of those who impact us. That involves both good and bad. What are the traits, character and practices we want to emulate, what are the ones we want to eliminate from our lives?
This psalm lays out in all of its honesty the two paths. The hope is that faith in God’s provision and faithfulness will be passed from generation to generation. That is what brings true peace and stability and secures a future the Lord has prepared for His children.
Prayer for today… Lord may we keep our hearts and minds focused on You. What You promise, You will do. As You show Yourself faithful, allow that to increase our confidence in Your constant provision, whatever the need. Let us be quick to listen and quick to return when we wander. May Your praise be known from generation to generation.