Psalm 78 - Part 1 — Art Katz

Thought that comes to me in conjunction with our reading from Psalm 78 today, that these things are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the age have come. Israel is our textbook. Israel is the expositor of the human condition.

The Jew is man writ large. Their history, their failing, their apostasy, is such an open textbook and revelation not only of the Jewish condition but of the human condition. So it behooves us to be instructed and to see that we are they, that we are capable of and exhibit even some of the same sins for which Israel was guilty.

That's why it's in the book. These things are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the age have come. The things that refer to Israel are not just for antiquarian interest. They're not just little historical asides.

They are the most pointed and profound instruction for us upon whom the ends of the age have come. Israel herself is a sacrifice for the church. Her failings and her agonizing and her judgments are for our benefit.

Reading Psalm 78 as Instruction for the Church

So let's read the psalm with that kind of understanding. The subtitle in my edition here is God's Goodness and Israel's Ingratitude. And then it says a maskill of Asaph. A maskill is something designed for the instruction of others.

Something like wisdom. Whether he himself is the author or was given this by David and then transposed it, we're not told. But some of the deepest psalms are given with the name Asaph, whoever he was.

But the remarkable thing is you can't tell where David leaves off and Asaph begins. There's such a congruence and a harmony of mind and thought and heart in both men that we're still reading the psalms of David.

It's Davidic. So give ear, O my people, to my teaching. Here it's not the psalmist speaking, God himself directly. And often we see in the psalms the Lord will insert himself after a statement by the psalmist, a lament, a cry.

Then all of a sudden, bang, God himself is speaking. This psalm begins with God, which is unusual. Give ear, O my people, to my teaching. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable.

I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known. That our ancestors have told us. So it looks like verse 3 now is no longer the Lord speaking, but the psalmist in behalf of Israel hearing him and acknowledging.

We will not hide them from their children. We will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might and the wonders that he has done. He established a decree in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children.

That the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and rise up and tell them to their children. So that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God. And that they should not be like their ancestors, a stubborn and rebellious generation.

A generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God. Any comment thus far? About the means by which successive generations are instructed by those who have preceded them. And can bring the testimony of God out of the reality of their known experience.

So that it fits the next generation to tell theirs. And in that kind of continuum, Israel grows up in the environment of its own history as it reflects upon the deeds of God. And if that fails, if that communication fails, if fathers are not faithful to communicate to sons, then the whole heritage is lost.

And the new generation grows up in a spiritual vacuum in which their history is lost to them and its value. And therefore they will find themselves repeating the sins of their fathers. For they had not been instructed of the consequence of past sin by the failure to transmit it mouth to mouth, generation to generation.

You get a sense of the economy of God. This is before electronics and tapes and everything is personal. Communication is the soul of the matter. So that the reality of what Israel has passed through, which is unique.

No other nation has been subject to such dealings as this people. No other nation has had a God appear to them, wreathed in fire at Sinai. And gave them his law by the writing of his own finger. And has carried them through 40 years in the wilderness as we will read on.

And provided for them manna every day and sustained them. Gave them a Moses and an Aaron. I mean Israel's history, what shall we say? Do we sufficiently appreciate it? And do we see it not just as another people with whom we have some kind of faint connection, but as being one with ourselves?

This is our Israel. We who are far off have been brought nigh into the commonwealth of Israel. This is our history. And that's why Paul in 1 Corinthians, as I mentioned so many times, speaking to Greeks.

About the episode of Israel passing through the Red Sea. He says, even as our fathers were baptized unto Moses, both in the sea and in the cloud. How can you say to Greeks, our fathers? Because Paul sees perfectly that they have been made sons of Abraham by faith in Christ Jesus.

And that this is their inheritance. And that it's perfectly legitimate to allude to the fathers of Israel as being their fathers. Maybe we would not be suffering identity loss if we were grounded in this reality.

That we have an ancestry. We have a history. We have the patriarchs. We have the prophets. We have the psalmist. And we're not even Jewish. You don't have to be Jewish to have it. You have earned to be sons of Abraham through faith.

But you need to have it. You need to have an ancestry. You need to have a history. Or else how shall your future be made clear? It's an unbroken continuum. And we're caught up in the very gist of it. And being called to participate in bringing it to its climax.

It's the history of Israel. Which is redemptive history. Which is the, what's the German word? The Weltanschauung. The world history. The world revelation of the redemptive work of God. We don't have a word for it in English.

Redemptive history. But they have a word for it in German. Weltanschauung. Is redemptive history. The history of God through his people from its inception to its climax. We don't have that sense as the church.

That's why we're a bunch of rolling stones and drifters and atoms and individualists who don't have a connection. There's no coherence because we've not seen ourselves as being integral to that past and connected to that future.

Because we've not read the Psalms. Or we've read it at a distance so to speak. As not pertaining to us. You know that when they have the Passover they have the four sons. The foolish son, the wise son, the wicked son.

So what's the wise son? The wise son says, this happened to us in Egypt. We put the blood on the door or something like that. What is the wicked son? The wicked son, well the foolish son says, I don't know and no one ever told me.

Okay, you're forgiven. But the wicked son knows and says, this has nothing to do with me. I'm not related to that. That's what makes him wicked. He will not acknowledge his connectedness to the past of his own people.

And God calls that wicked. So this has given us in scripture, not just for a passing curiosity. But to remind us again of how integral our own present life is with Israel's past. And that we need to benefit from that past.

Because we're just as prone to succumbing to the same error and sins as they. And they have suffered severe judgment. And they are yet to suffer severe judgment. But when we say they, we're not speaking about some distant people with whom we have but scant interest.

But our own. These are our brethren. What does Jesus say in Matthew 24, is it? The least of these my brethren. They're still his brethren. Even though they have been reduced in the world through persecution.

They've been made least. But their identification has not changed. They're still his brethren. And Psalm 102, which I've spoken from time to time over the years. You need to get the tape of that. It's a sublime psalm showing that the set time to favor Zion has come.

For the deliverer to come out of Zion and to take their transgression from them. Even independent of their repentance. When my servants have pity upon their stones and compassion upon their dust. God waits for something.

Not from Israel. Israel is a dead duck, a gone goose. Israel's over the edge. Israel's lost in apostasy. They're incapable of response. They're dry bones. What is he waiting for? Something from a mysterious entity alluded to in Psalm 102 as my servants.

Certainly it's not Israel. If Israel were the servants, they would not be suffering these calamities. Who are the servants? What distinguishes them? They have compassion on Israel's stones and pity upon her dust.

That's more than just interest in antiquity. That's identification with Israel in her most abject fallenness and judgment. When indeed Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and all of the cities of Israel will be reduced to stone and stubble.

And the world will be gloating over that. Because of that Gentile hatred and resentment of God's chosen people. And relishing the fact that they're now catching it and they deserve it. Finishing the job that Hitler started.

The only thing wrong with Hitler, he didn't finish it. But there'll be a small presence in the earth that rather than gloat and delight in Israel's distress, will be compassionately identified with her in her stones and in her dust.

How do we come to a place like that? That kind of identification is what God is waiting for, for the set time to favor Zion. The issue is not Israel, the issue is the church. That comes to a place of identification that cannot be naturally explained.

Why should any Gentile have this identification with a fallen apostate sinful nation, now rightfully experiencing its judgment? Only because they're identified and in union with a God, who while we were yet sinners, died for us.

That's exactly the same. There's a certain remarkable parallel. That just as the world is sifted by the devastation that came upon Jesus, what do you make of him? Who do you say that he is? This mangled man.

You can't pass this by in neutrality. You can't make this a matter of indifference. It's too stark. It requires something from us, either an acceptance or a rejection. The same thing will be true of Israel when it will be battered into that condition.

Isaiah 53 is as perfect a picture of Israel's future condition as it was of Jesus at the cross. And therefore the nations will have an opportunity to see the cross reiterated in Israel's own suffering before their very eyes.

God says I'll not do this in a corner, but before the face of all nations. Because it will judge them. What do you do with the least of these people? How do you respond to them? What does Paul say in Romans 11?

What's the capstone of the church? What's its high water mark? That it can extend mercy. That they will receive mercy. And they will need it in that last hour. But to extend it in that last hour will require everything from him who gives it.

Because he's putting his own head on the block. And putting his own life and that of his family at risk. To extend mercy to a people who are being pursued the world over. Got the idea? So this is a whole very great subject.

Remembering God’s Wonders and Israel’s Ingratitude

But reading this psalm and considering it will help to fit us. So look at the grace that has come to Israel. The glorious deeds of the Lord in verse 4. And his might and the wonders that he has done. How shall we know God as God?

If we have not understood nor seen him. In the wonders that he has done for Israel. And the might that he has displayed. Where else since that time has God turned a red sea to dry land? Part of the seas.

Where else has he fed multitudes? There is over 2 million people with Moses in the wilderness. Talk about logistics. I trembled with fear when God brought us from Plainfield, New Jersey. Out here and had to within months we had 55 people living in this place.

And makeshift housing and without adequate insulation. And we were living in poverty. We didn't let the world know our need. The Lord forbade it. We had to live by faith and trust. And well I could believe Lord for my own family.

You have shown yourself faithful when I left the teaching profession. And gave up the security of medical insurance. And annual benefits and increments. And all the kinds of things that fall to a teacher.

And left that to become a missionary to the Jews at 100 bucks a week. And wondered how would my family survive on 100 bucks a week. And the Lord was ample in everything. But then to go from that testimony to this place.

Not just my family but 55 souls. Pregnant women. Children. And how are they to be provided for. And we were here for 10 years. And no one ever died for want of nourishment. Although we came close. Inga's frustration was that she could not cook.

In the grand style to which she is disposed. And that if we had guests. She was embarrassed that she couldn't put before them one of her illustrious meals. We couldn't afford it. So she was continually chafed by having to live under those conditions.

And that tension was made manifest throughout the body. As one of the factors with which we had to live. We were tested for 10 years. And the just shall live by their faith. And this was during the prosperity period in the church.

When the glass cathedrals were going up everywhere. And multi-million dollar extravaganzas. Our tongues were hanging out for elementary things like food, shelter, insulation, protection from the weather.

But the Lord was faithful. Then you go on to the next faith and the next requirement. From faith to faith as it is written. The just shall live by their faith. The mistake was leaving Plainfield, New Jersey.

Believing that you heard God at the head of the road. Who said end time teaching sent the community refuge. And you had to give up an entire lifestyle. And its comforts. Jewish charismatic darling that you were.

With two Volvos. Old but still good. And the 17 room house that Inger loved dearly. And come out to Nowheresville. To begin with. For the thing for which you are now receiving the benefit. So where do we have the knowledge of God who can provide?

What is the basis for our confidence when he calls us in tremulous uncertainty to a next step. For which we don't see how he can meet it. It's because we know from the testimony of Israel. That this is a God who is mighty.

In power and in glorious deeds. If we don't know it from here we don't know it. And that church that has just come to church with its new testament. And has relegated the old testament to the dustbin.

As being passe. Has lost an entire inheritance. A legacy about God himself as God. And his most conspicuous givingness of himself to an entire nation. We have to resuscitate. Bring that legacy back to the church.

Or it's not the church. And the Psalms. And the prophets. And the law. And the books of Moses help us. So we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might. And the wonders that he has done.

And in the face of that. To become apostate. Is all the more heinous a sin. And then in verse 5 he established a decree in Jacob. According to the law in Israel. Which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children.

The next generation might know them. Children yet unborn. Rise up and tell them to their children. So that they should set their hope in God. What can we say about present Israel today? Is their hope set in God?

That's a rhetorical question that doesn't even require a reply. Clearly and evidently not. There's no faith. No expectancy. No confidence. No trust. Not even any looking or expectation. That God can be their hope.

When they most desperately need it. Have you ever seen a nation be brought to more excruciating impasse. Where it itself is ousting and compelling its own people out from their homes after 22 years. What an irony.

When men are trying to devise strategies by which they can survive in an untenable condition. Surrounded by enemies. And whose threat everyday is more prominent. And an indefensible nation. No mountain ranges.

Nothing to stop missiles. Nothing to stop things. That would take only minutes to come from any of their neighbors. That could devastate the entire nation. Atomically or gas, vapors, disease. Any way in which they would seek to exterminate.

And they have that intention. To exterminate. So what a pitiful dilemma. For a nation that started out with such expectancy. To show the world what a Jewish nation is. And has not made that demonstration.

Where is their hope in God? Where are they calling upon him even now in their distress? They have turned from their own legacy and don't know it. And don't believe the God who has previously done glorious deeds.

And shown his might and wonders. Because they did not rise up to tell their children. So that they in verse 7 should set their hope in God. And not forget the works of God. Remembrance is precious. And life saving.

But keep his commandments that they should not be like their ancestors. A stubborn and rebellious generation. A generation whose heart was not steadfast. And whose spirit was not faithful to God. That's tragic.

And if the nation who had received the law. And seen these great wonders and deeds could come to that condition. Of being unfaithful. And not maintaining a proper heart. And a right spirit that is faithful to God.

Of what then are we capable? If you're not asking that question, you're not reading the Psalms rightly. If they could come to a condition like this. After seeing the mighty wonders and the great deeds of God.

And the giving of the law. And his great salvation. That they could come to a heart condition like this. That is rebellious. Of what are we capable? This should humble us. And I believe that's the essential reason.

Why God is having us consider this text. We're still too proud. We're still too haughty. We're still too bumptious. In our own attitudes and self-congratulation. About our spirituality. Because we've not seen what we're capable of.

In the failings of Israel. We need to identify with these failings. This is not Jewish failing. This is human failing. This is man. God could be lavish in his demonstration. As he was with this nation.

And still be rejected. If they were capable. To what degree then are we? So we ought to be in a repentant frame. Not waiting to prove that we're just as capable. But acknowledging. That there but for the grace of God go we.

We're human all too human. God could be gracious. I see it here. How shall I say this? Has there been a Sunday. Since my return from New York. Or overseas. In which the Lord has not conspicuously spoken.

Sunday by Sunday by Sunday by Sunday. In appropriateness that only he. In his own authority and power could convey. Yet who remembers it? Who remembers even last Sunday? Let alone the Sunday before the Sunday before the Sunday before.

It's forgotten. It's dismissed from memory. And as if it had not taken place. We're not a people who remember. And acknowledge the glorious deeds of God. And if you'll not do that. You're making yourself by such a process a candidate.

For having a wicked heart. That lacks gratitude. And has not remained steadfast. And whose spirit is not faithful to God. Same phenomenon. I'm not saying that my Sunday messages. Are equal to what God showed through Moses at Sinai.

But they were appropriate and given of the same God. But are we acknowledging that? Are we grateful for that? Do we see that? Are we quick to forget or never have acknowledged? If so then we're moving toward this kind of condition.

So what do you think it means? They did not prepare their hearts? What does that mean? We mustn't let that pass. Because we need that instruction for ourselves. What does it mean to prepare your heart?

I've never quite heard a phrase like that. They didn't prepare their hearts. Or maybe to put it the cat's edition. They were not careful to keep their hearts. Or watch over their heart. Or their heart attitudes.

Because it's a process of erosion. You don't become apostate in a day. It begins with a faint disposition. That is not observed or acknowledged. And allowed as if it's legitimate. Already you're critical.

Already you're haughty. And then it hardens and becomes deeper and deeper. Until finally you are in a place in which you're outside the faith. Sin is not just a thing. It's conceived in a moment. But it needs to be identified in that moment.

And dealt with at its inception. So I think what the Lord is saying. They didn't watch their hearts. They weren't aware that you can lose something. However precious it was and is being received as given.

If you don't keep it. If you don't rehearse it. If you're not jealous over it. If you're not grateful. If you don't bring it to remembrance. Then something will harden. Step by step until you find yourself in this condition.

Where you've become rebellious and disloyal. And oppose the God who demonstrated his love so remarkably. We talked about the scandal of the cross. The absurdity and the foolishness of the gospel. But to praise an invisible God.

And to give him homage. And recognition and honor. To worship a God who is invisible. Must appear to the world as sheer insanity. That how do you come to this? You must be hyped up and freaky. To sing choruses and hymns.

And raise your hands in praise. And have tears trickle down your face. An acknowledgement of who? See that very praise and worship. Is the statement of God. This is his demonstration. Though invisible to an unbelieving world.

So our praise and worship. Is not just something euphoric. For our own good feeling. It's the testimony of God himself. So not to praise him sincerely. But just to come into a musical environment. In which we sing mindlessly.

Is the very opposite of what God is desiring. We praise him on the basis of his benefits. We know him for his faithfulness. And his mercy. So all the guys like me. Have a greater advantage. We have a longer history.

41 years. I'm still alive and kicking. And the Lord has kept me through so much. And the whole community. To this day. How has he done it? It's been remarkable. So the longer your history. The greater the volume.

Of the things that need to be acknowledged. That God has done. The more vigorous and sincere. And authentic your praise. I don't know of any literature. That uses the phrase. Set yourself. It's totally biblical.

David set himself to seek the Lord. Boy that speaks volumes. That requires taking a deep breath. Clearing the decks. Earnestly preparing yourself. For the seeking of the invisible God. The issues and how to speak.

And to address. That's a certain posture. To set yourself. I remember still lashing out. At Ariel. When he came home. He had to do a homework assignment. And he took out a crumpled piece of. Loose leaf paper.

What do you call that? Three hole. And it was crumpled. And he flattened it out. And around his workplace. Were books. The disks. Video games. I don't forget. Junk. I said set yourself. Sweep that crud away.

Get a decent piece of paper. Sharpen your pencil. Go to the bathroom. Drink some water. Be rested. Set yourself. He didn't know what I was talking about. Because to set yourself. Is totally biblical. And antithetical to the spirit of this age.

Where you slouch your way through. And get by. In whatever condition. In any makeshift manner. Setting yourself. Is totally biblical. And we have learned it from Israel. In their failure to set themselves.

So what ought we to do. For whom these admonitions have come. Who are being fitted for the end of the age. Set yourself. That's a real posture. You know in so doing. You are inserting. Asserting your personhood.

You are a dum-dum. You're a non-entity. You're a piece of protoplasm. Floating about in space that requires. So many meals and your clothing to be washed. And space to occupy. You don't become an entity.

Until this. It's because of this privileged relationship with God. That requires a setting ourselves. And asserting of ourselves. To seek him. That our personhood is initiated. And developed. This is not a vain God.

Who's egoistic. And wants this kind of acknowledgement. It's for our sake. That he hides himself. Do us abscond us. The hidden God. So that to see if we will seek him. Because in the seeking. There's an assertion of ourselves.

That establish ourselves. As entities. We obtain personhood. In the seeking of God. And if we will not obtain it there. How else should we obtain it? By how much we eat? That's the world. Wear this. Do this.

Obtain that. Buy that. Drive this. Live here. So that it's external. Your identity is what you possess. What you consume. Your only value is for consumption. Which is totally opposite. To the basis. For individuality.

And true personhood in God. Seek me. Because I'm the only object. Worthy of your consideration. And in the seeking of me. Some benefit accrues to you. It's salutary. It's healthy. It serves your benefit to seek me.

Or else you'll give yourself to other objects. That are less and are degrading. That's called idolatry. But set yourself. So here's a guy that's sending me messages. On my internet. A brother says. Tell me.

How do I seek God? Tell me. You seek God by seeking brother. What do you think it is? You want another method? You Americans. Everything can be reduced to methods. Start seeking. And you know what? It's utter foolishness.

Have you ever tried? Lately? To call on the invisible God. Who's totally silent. And has hidden himself. To see how soon you'll be discouraged. And that if you don't get a palpable return. On your investment.

In this utilitarian age. You'll stop. If you don't get a nice feeling. Or a comforting sense of God's presence. You'll quit. How quick we are to quit. If there's not an immediate payoff. This is the now generation.

Who will persist in seeking the Lord. Even as he withholds himself. Because he's God. Because he doesn't have to immediately give us a payoff. This is not a utilitarian transaction. That would be commerce.

This is not commerce. This is worship. He deserves that acknowledgement that they're seeking. For what he is in himself. Whether or not you experience any immediate benefit. You will experience ultimate benefit more than you know.

Of course we've often quoted now in recent days. The creation itself is groaning. Waiting for the manifestation of the sense of God. Their very appearing releases them. But also their appearing as sons.

Maintains the creation. Because it picks up where Adam left off. Namely to have dominion over creation. So creation is rejoicing. Not only for the freedom from bondage. But that it will now be rightly attended by sons.

Who will take the dominion mandate seriously. And cultivate and nurture the precious soil that God has given. So we need to think of that. Sons not only by their appearance. But also by their activity.

Over the soil. Over their heart for God's creation. And to transform it from a wasteland into a flowering garden. That it was at the first. Sons will have this mentality. They'll take back again the dominion mandate and perform it.

And to the degree that we're able even now. We want to do this for the little plot of land that is ours. And even if you've got a little balcony. What do you call it? The plant. Tend to it. Already prefigure the kingdom that's coming.

Already take first steps. Toward this eschatological climax. Where you're already tending something with a dominion spirit. Because it's the Lord's. And it beautifies and glorifies him. But even organic nature.

Dumb innate nature. Is responsive to love. Okay. So verse 9. The Ephraimites armed with the bow. Turned back on the day of battle. What a disgrace. They did not keep God's covenant. But refused to walk according to his law.

They forgot what he had done in verse 11. And the miracles that he had shown them. Which in the sight of their ancestors. He worked marvels in the land of Egypt. The fields of Zoan. Which is Egypt. He divided the sea and let them pass through it.

He made the water stand like a heap. In the daytime he led them with a cloud. And all night long with a fiery light. He split rocks open in the wilderness. He gave them drink. Abundantly from the deep.

He made streams come out of the rock. And caused waters to flow like rivers. To water 2 million people. And their livestock. That's no trickle. That's a gush of a kind. That would water the greatest cities.

Of our present civilization. He did in the wilderness. Out of a rock that was split. You believe that? Or is that mythology? Are these quaint myths of the past? Or is this literal history? Hey if he can do that then.

What can he do now? Can he take like a 76 year old crock. And out of it bring forth something of the same waters of life? If he can do it with a rock. Can he do it with a crusty character? You know. Why can we believe in the one and not believe for the other?

Same God. And we need the same waters. And they are waters of life. And they can gush out at his grace. So we mustn't limit the Holy One of Israel as Israel of old. That was one of their greatest sins.

And reduce the great streams to a trickle. Or in fact they will dry up. If we don't acknowledge the source. And be grateful for it. Got that? Hey. This is my continual propensity. Always to translate.

A statement about God in the past to the present implication. Which I don't think in any way. Is offensive to God. I believe that's the definitive way. In which scripture should be read and considered.

If we are to obtain its value. Got that? So very important that we believe this. Can we in our Holy Ghost imaginations. Picture ourselves with Israel. In the blazing heat of that wilderness. Destitute and barren.

And listening to the mowing of their animals. The groaning for water. With their parched tongues sticking out. Their children tugging the hem of their garments. I'm thirsty mom dad. And there's no water.

And then you watch this figure whom God has called. To address the rock. And boom. One tap and the thing breaks. And out flows water in such a gush. That sustains the life of millions. What a God. What a phenomenal.

Forty years of this. You would think that they would be so schooled. In the reality of God. They would be impervious to sin. They would be an ultimate and enduring testimony. To all nations. Throughout their entire history.

But no sooner do they get into the land. In fact many don't even get into the land. They're already murmuring in the wilderness. And their cadavers lie there. That they again become apostate. And that testimony to the nations.

Does not go forth. And they've yet to repent for it. So when a rabbi came to Phoenix. When Isaiah was talking about the prophets. And the questions and answers were so. Purile and shallow. I said tell me.

When have we as a nation. Ever acknowledged the lament of God. The indictment of God. Against us as a nation. And have repented. When in our history. Have we ever acknowledged. God's indictment of us.

And repented. We have not. We're still under the judgment. And have not even seen it. There's not a Jew. In a hundred thousand. That has conversed with what we're. Reviewing today. Or has taken this to heart.

But in fact the best that they can say. Is that this is just. A particular culture. This is the way in which men. Expressed themselves in that generation. They saw God vividly. As if he himself. Was actually doing these things.

But we know better. It's a confluence of tides. That the Red Sea was opened up. That they could pass over. We're rational. We're empirical. We have to have natural explanation. And that this is just the stylistic device.

Common to that generation. But not to be taken literally. That's the present. Condition of Jews. Which is to say the condition of the modern world. And the condition. More of the church than we know. Okay.

Look that over. They turned back in the day of battle. What a disgrace. Though God is with them. They saw the enemy. And they calculated the possibilities. And on the basis of logic rather than faith.

They turned back. They refused to walk. They didn't keep God's covenant. But refused to walk. Terrible. Conscious. Willful. Refusal. Can there be anything more stubborn. More vain. More a statement of the human condition.

Than man willfully. Rejecting God's commandments. Can you picture it? Are you capable of it? If they were. Refusal. It's one thing to be forgetful. Or mindless. Or indifferent. But conscious willful refusal.

Against God. Who is the creator. Who has sustained you. Through this remarkable trial in the wilderness. And then to defy him by refusing. We want to define sin. There it is. That man is capable of that.

After such demonstration of God's grace. Is the remarkable truth. Of the depravity of mankind. This is it. This is the heart of it. Conscious. Willful. Refusal. I will not. They forgot what he had done.

In verse 11. And the miracles that he had showed them. In the sight of their ancestors. He had worked marvels. And then it goes through the whole. Litany of God's great events. From Egypt right through the wilderness.

Dividing the sea. Making the waters to stand like a heap. Leading them by fire by a cloud. Waters in the wilderness out of a rock. Yet in verse 17. They sinned still more. Against him. Rebelling against the most high in the desert.