Psalm 78 (finalmente)

"The the Lord rose up as though waking from sleep, like a warrior aroused from a drunked stupor. He routed His enemies and sent them to eternal shame. But He rejected Joseph's descendants; He did not choose the tribe of Ephraim. He chose instead the tribe of Judah, and Mount Zion, which He loved. There He built His sanctuary as high as the heavens, as solid and enduring as the earth. He chose His servant David, calling him from the sheep pens. He took David from tending the ewes and lambs and made him the shepherd of Jacob's descendants - God's own people, Israel. He cared fro them with a true heart and led them with skillful hands." - Psalm 78:65-72

So, ironically today is the last day of my Psalm 78 blog series, and the first day of school. Except, let me be philosophical. I didn't actually have class this morning, so was it really the beginning of school? Is this really the end of Psalm 78? Yes. To both. I have class at 11. This is really the last verse of Psalm 78. But how can I leave a residual message with you? How can I make you really remember Psalm 78? Not just the fact that we've been through 72 verses. Maybe just one little thing that you'll take with you and remember? Because honestly, I'm ready to be done with this chapter. It's repetitive. It's convicting. But it applies to my life today and my life these past few months. And will probably apply to the rest of my life too.

I wonder if this is how Asaph felt. I wonder if when he was under inspiration to write this if he was just ready to be done writing. I wonder how this convicted him and how this made his life different. I mean, he was under the divine inspiration of God. God breathed these words to Asaph and he wrote them. That's amazing to me. So I wonder if when he was finished writing down God's words if he was left in amazement or if he was just like..."Great. Thanks God. Can you repeat that word? Spell 'shepherd' for me." I think some of the time, I get apathetic. Not just about writing blogs, but about doing my quiet time or going to church. I think that by writing blogs, maybe I'm forcing myself out of my comfort zone. Maybe I'm not even writing for you guys. Maybe I'm writing for myself. Hopefully, what I'm writing pleases God. So, without further adieu, the last seven verses of Psalm 78.

The first few verses of this imply that the Lord hasn't been involved in any of what is happening to His people. It seemed like God hadn't been there. Through all of His peoples' suffering. In reality, He was there. He was taking care of them the whole way - God's power could've killed them in an instant, but He withheld that power from us. I guess that doesn't really sound like something God would do at first. But do you remember in the last few verses how it grieved Him? He had to punish them for their sin. They were in need of a spiritual wake up call. Sometimes, when God can't get our attention, He has to use methods that may seem cruel to us. But He's God. He knows what He's doing. He knows what will make us pay attention to Him. He knows the right punishment for every sin that we have. He forgives us when we truly repent. After He had punished the people for their sin, He rose up and saved them. He gave them a new leader. A shepherd! A man after His own heart.

And the last verse says, "He cared for them with a true heart and led them with skillful hands." So after everything seemed to go wrong, David was a picture of Jesus. Someone none of us would've picked to rule. He led them with a true heart. David was after God's heart, so how could he NOT care for God's people the same way our Lord did(does)? When we're truly after what God wants for us, He'll make us care about what He cares about. He'll show us what's truly important. He'll bless us and bring us to a point where all we can do is praise Him for what He's done for us.

So that's Psalm 78. I hope that you guys were able to learn as much as I did from this passage. Join me on our next journey...The Names of Jesus. Starting next week. (:

Rina(: