Psalms 77-79
I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
Psalm 77:11-14
yes, I will remember Your wonders of old.
I will ponder all Your work,
and meditate on Your mighty deeds.
Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is great like our God?
You are the God Who works wonders;
You have made known Your might among the peoples.
We are odd creatures when it comes to memory. There are things I can remember clearly from my childhood, but I have a hard time recalling what I did last week. I can remember all sorts of facts and figures — lots of mostly useless information — but I apparently forget some big life lessons and need to learn them again and again. The LORD God Almighty is all around me, yet I forget all about Him a great deal of the time.
Like the psalmist, I must deliberately remember the deeds of the LORD, and so I am grateful for the opportunity to walk this journey through the Scriptures with you. Together we remember [His] wonders of old. Together we ponder all [His]work. Together we meditate on all [His] mighty deeds. And the psalmist helps us to do so.
But I am easily distracted. The cares and concerns of this life draw my attention. Yesterday I celebrated Christ’s Resurrection. How soon before I forget?
See also:
- July 28 (2022) / Psalm 77
- July 29 (2022) / Psalm 78:1-31
- July 30 (2022) / Psalm 78:32-55
- July 31 (2022) / Psalm 78:56-72
- August 1 (2022) / Psalm 79
One more thing…
I am a little surprised at the chronological placement of some of these psalms. Presumably, the rationale for placing these psalms here is that the Chronicler just mentioned Asaph (I Ch. 16:5,7) so we are covering psalms where the header says something like “Of Asaph”. The problem, though, is that some lines in these psalms do not yet make much sense in the context of the history that we’ve covered. For example:
He rejected the tent of Joseph;
Psalm 78:67-68
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
but he chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which he loves.
We have not yet seen any rejection of Ephraim so if you are puzzled by these lines, hold on. These lines will make very good sense after Israel splits into two kingdoms, the Northern Kingdom (called “Israel” and led mainly by Ephraim), and the Southern Kingdom (called Judah). And they will make even more sense when Israel is destroyed by Assyria — but before the Babylonians conquer Judah. But now? Not so much.
Similarly, Psalm 79 would make much more sense after the Babylonians destroy Jerusalem and the temple (which we haven’t seen built yet).
It is possible, of course, that Asaph is indeed the author of these psalms and that he writes these lines prophetically. But a simpler explanation would be that “Of Asaph” refers not just to Asaph himself, but to his descendants, the entire clan of musicians extending for generations — just as “Aaron” could refer to the man himself or to the priesthood, depending on context. So, if I were editing The Chronological Study Bible, I think I’d push these psalms a few hundred years into the historical context future…
As to your “One more thing…”… Yes, I agree!! I also would have moved some of these psalms many centuries forward! It is untimely to place them during David’s early reign.
Also, I can remember the challenges that John and I had commenting on the Psalms last year. We did not have any kind of “home field advantage” in that poetic environment. Still, as I look back at comments that he and I made last year over these Psalms, I do see some really good comments. It’s difficult to comment on 100+ verses of Psalms in this year’s readings, to pick out only a few amongst the many. So I would encourage you all to click on the links that John provides to these shorter sections of the Psalms from last year. There’s good material there.