Psalm 78

Psalm 78 Commentary

by Brad Boyles

Coming off the heels of Psalm 77 where we are to remember God’s faithfulness, we now move into the action steps behind those memories. At the end of Psalm 77, I wrote that we must not just remember God’s faithfulness, but treasure it. Treasured memories were meant to be shared.

I remember many hilarious and inspiring stories from my childhood. I will never forget watching Ryne Sandberg (my favorite baseball player) crank out a home run in my first ever visit to Wrigley Field. I will never forget when my mom encouraged me to step outside my comfort zone to engage in a random act of kindness outside our local grocery store.

I will forever cherish the memories of playing basketball with my dad in the driveway after he came home from work. These are stories that have shaped who I am as well as who my children will become. In the same way that I fondly reminisce on these stories, the psalmist encourages God’s people to remember the miraculous acts of God. However, it is not just a call to remember them, but to share them.

We will not keep them from our children; we will tell the next generation about the LORD’s power and his great deeds and the wonderful things he has done.

Psalms 78:4 GNB

If you read through the entire psalm, you realize that these teachings were not enough to keep the human heart from the corruption of sin.

In spite of all this the people kept sinning; in spite of his miracles they did not trust him.

Psalms 78:32 GNB

Let’s just think on this point for a moment as New Covenant followers. Israel’s ancestors were powerless to defeat sin. So, in His unending grace, God sent Jesus to defeat sin and death and free us from the bondage of sin. Yet, even today, there are Christians who currently are “continuing to sin in spite of His miracles.” What does this mean? The text clearly tells us, we do not trust Him. Trusting the sacrifice of Christ means obedience! This can only come out of the joy of being rescued from our hopelessness!

A person standing on the train tracks who is pushed out of the way at the last moment to save his life is both joyful and grateful for the one who rescued him. A person whose heart stops beating is both jubilant and indebted to the one who provides CPR until the ambulance can arrive. A person who is dead in their sin and facing the gruesome penalty of eternal separation from God is filled with abundant joy and ceaseless admiration for the sacrifice made by Jesus in order to stop the heinous cycle of sin! Does this describe you currently? Why not?

The retelling of God’s faithful works should be shared. We call them testimonies. However, our testimony is not what provides the power to defeat sin in our life. Only the blood of Jesus can do that. However, something powerful happens when we dedicate our lives to both of these ideas. Just read the power that’s found in the blood of Jesus and the words of our testimony!

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been thrown down. [11] They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; for they did not love their lives to the point of death.

Revelation 12:10-11 CSB

The promised defeat of Satan is fueled by the blood of the Lamb, the verbal witness of believers, and finally, the martyrdom of committed followers of Christ. Let us tell of the mighty works of God while remembering that the true power is only made available through the blood of our King Jesus!