Devotion's by Deborah

Devotion 3-9-24, Psalms 78:35- "And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer." Psalm 78 recounts Israel's experiences with God. It is a rollercoaster ride of God's faithfulness and Israel's disobedience. The author of Psalm 78, Asaph, relates the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of the people God chose. We must learn to turn to the good and refuse the bad. We must learn from their inexcusable behavior in light of a new covenant relationship with Christ Jesus. Verse 1 tells us to, "Listen, O My people, to My instructions; incline your ears to the words of My mouth." Verse 4 instructs us to, "tell the generations to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength and His wondrous works that He has done." Have we turned our attention to know God, His commandments, His precepts, His ways? Have we failed our next generation, our children and grandchildren? Do they know and love God or have they followed Israel and learned to rebel against all that is good and right and holy? Verse 10 says, "They did not keep the covenant of God and refused to walk in His law; they forgot his deeds..." Further we see they routinely "put God to the test"(verse18), "spoke against God"(verse 19), "did not believe in God and did not trust in his salvation." (verse 22) They "pained the Holy One of Israel."(verse 41) On His part, God rescued, fed, nurtured, disciplined, and chose godly leaders. We are now at a crossroads. Will we love and obey God, or will we rebel against and reject Him? Each one must choose. But how can we when even those who "know" God have failed to teach others about God. Our lives, our words, our actions must reflect our God, or we are denying Him and failing to teach our children. Whom will we emulate, copy, God or the world?