August 3, 2009
O Captain, my captain
Psalm 78:40-53
Julie Kay Maguire
Central Truth
Psalm 78 was passed on orally from generation to generation in order to remember how powerful God is. Even though we sometimes forget, God is always in charge. He continues to pour out His grace for each of us.
Key Verse | Psalm 78:42
They did not remember what He had done,
how He delivered them from the enemy.
(Psalm 78:42)
Psalm 78:40-53
40
How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
and grieved him in the desert!
41
They tested God again and again
and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42
They did not remember his power
1
78:42
Hebrew hand
or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,
43
when he performed his signs in Egypt
and his marvels in the fields of Zoan.
44
He turned their rivers to blood,
so that they could not drink of their streams.
45
He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them,
and frogs, which destroyed them.
46
He gave their crops to the destroying locust
and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47
He destroyed their vines with hail
and their sycamores with frost.
48
He gave over their cattle to the hail
and their flocks to thunderbolts.
49
He let loose on them his burning anger,
wrath, indignation, and distress,
a company of destroying angels.
50
He made a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death,
but gave their lives over to the plague.
51
He struck down every firstborn in Egypt,
the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52
Then he led out his people like sheep
and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53
He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid,
but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
Dive Deeper | Psalm 78:40-53
Sometimes, the leadership at Watermark uses the analogy of comparing a church to a battleship. Can you imagine the disarray that would happen if the sailors of a battleship forgot who their captain was? Although the people of Israel completely depended on God in the beginning of their journey out of Egypt and even witnessed miracles God performed on their behalf (some terrific visuals I might add; check out Exodus for details on the plagues of blood, frogs, dead livestock, and flies), the people strayed from their relationship with Him. They rebelled in the desert and forgot who their captain was.
Even though I know God is in the control center, I am not steadfast in practicing this belief. I let fear and anxiety play a much larger role in my daily life than God would like. When I am in constant relationship with God by spending time in prayer, reading His Word, and being encouraged by other believers, however, there is a noticeable difference . . . life is sweeter.
God wants us to be totally dependent upon Him. Just like an army will not be victorious without a general or a navy without its admiral, we need to fully rely on God to accomplish His will for our lives. Psalm 78:52 reiterates a common, but powerful, analogy of God leading his people like a flock of sheep through the desert. I'm not an expert on animals, but I can imagine the chaos if a flock is left in the desert without a shepherd. Without someone to care for the sheep, the sheep would be lost without shelter or food and become easy targets for predators.
Just as God expected the people of Israel to rely on Him as their shepherd, so He also calls on us to rely on Him as our shepherd. As sheep, we must become completely dependent upon Him at all times, not just when we are facing adversity (as I so readily seem to do). Be challenged, as I am, to continue to stay on this journey with God as our shepherd.
Discussion Questions
1. What do you do that might be considered rebelling against God? (It could be something small.)
2. How has God shown His power in your life?
3. What can you do daily to remember the awe that God inspires?