Asaph continues sharing his heart regarding Israel, life, worship, sharing the works of the Lord with the next generation and the struggles of waiting for the Lord in prayer.
Psalms 76: Who Can Stand Before You? To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.
1 In Judah God is known; his name is great in Israel.
2 His abode has been established in Salem, his dwelling place in Zion.
3 There he broke the flashing arrows, the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah
4 Glorious are you, more majestic than the mountains of prey.
5 The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil; they sank into sleep; all the men of war were unable to use their hands.
6 At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both rider and horse lay stunned.
7 But you, you are to be feared! Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused?
8 From the heavens you uttered judgment; the earth feared and was still,
9 when God arose to establish judgment, to save all the humble of the earth. Selah
10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise you; the remnant of wrath you will put on like a belt.
11 Make your vows to the LORD your God and perform them; let all around him bring gifts to him who is to be feared,
12 who cuts off the spirit of princes, who is to be feared by the kings of the earth.
Psalms 77: In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.
1 I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.
2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted.
3 When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah
4 You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I consider the days of old, the years long ago.
6 I said, "Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart." Then my spirit made a diligent search:
7 "Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?
8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?" Selah
10 Then I said, "I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High."
11 I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
12 I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples.
15 You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
16 When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; your arrows flashed on every side.
18 The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen.
20 You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Psalms 78: Tell the Coming Generation A Maskil of Asaph.
1 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3 things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
5 He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children,
6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children,
7 so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;
8 and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9 The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle.
10 They did not keep God's covenant, but refused to walk according to his law.
11 They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them.
12 In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap.
14 In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light.
15 He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
16 He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
17 Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18 They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved.
19 They spoke against God, saying, "Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
20 He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?"
21 Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath; a fire was kindled against Jacob; his anger rose against Israel,
22 because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power.
23 Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven,
24 and he rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven.
25 Man ate of the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance.
26 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he led out the south wind;
27 he rained meat on them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas;
28 he let them fall in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings.
29 And they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved.
30 But before they had satisfied their craving, while the food was still in their mouths,
31 the anger of God rose against them, and he killed the strongest of them and laid low the young men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe.
33 So he made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror.
34 When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly.
35 They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer.
36 But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues.
37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant.
38 Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again.
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 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.
54 And he brought them to his holy land, to the mountain which his right hand had won.
55 He drove out nations before them; he apportioned them for a possession and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
56 Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God and did not keep his testimonies,
57 but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers; they twisted like a deceitful bow.
58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols.
59 When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel.
60 He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among mankind,
61 and delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe.
62 He gave his people over to the sword and vented his wrath on his heritage.
63 Fire devoured their young men, and their young women had no marriage song.
64 Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a strong man shouting because of wine.
66 And he put his adversaries to rout; he put them to everlasting shame.
67 He rejected the tent of Joseph; he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loves.
69 He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which he has founded forever.
70 He chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds;
71 from following the nursing ewes he brought him to shepherd Jacob his people, Israel his inheritance.
72 With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand.
Psalms 79: How Long, O LORD? A Psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the heavens for food, the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.
4 We have become a taunt to our neighbors, mocked and derided by those around us.
5 How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name!
7 For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation.
8 Do not remember against us our former iniquities; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name's sake!
10 Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants be known among the nations before our eyes!
11 Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die!
12 Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
13 But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
Things to think about…
1. Twelve Psalms are attributed to Asaph, Psalms 50, Psalms 73-83. Asaph shares his heart openly and the struggles he has in life and what he observes around him. He is an example of integrity to all those who desire to be honest with their hopes, fears and failures in their faith. In Psalm 76 Asaph exalts the God who gave Salam (the ancient name of Jerusalem) to the tribe of Judah. Israel initially took Salem from the Jebusites at the time of Joshua. But it was reclaimed by them, and it was not until the time of David where Joab went up the water shaft to recapture the city that it was returned to the people of Israel. Even when man’s anger is aroused, that will praise the Lord because His will is ultimately the One which prevails as kings submit to Him, Ps 76:12.
2. Psalm 77 is a cry for help form the God of Israel. Asaph asks the Lord to look on him and remember him. He asks “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable? Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?" , vss7-9. He says no “I will appeal this”, vs 10. Sometimes we have to speak against negative thoughts. To appeal them as it were. It is not in the character of God. He will do right. But you say ‘it doesn’t feel like it at the moment’. No. But this is only the moment and not the measure. He will do right when all things, even the moment of discomfort will be completed, and the measure of Christ’s grace will work all things for your good. His way is holy, vs 9. He works wonders, vs 10. Asaph recalls the work of the Lord in delivering Israel through the hand of Moses and Aaron. Though the Lord’s footprints were not seen, vs 19 His deliverance was abundantly obvious.
3. Asaph in Ps 78 wants the next generation that come after him to know the works and the character of the God of Israel. He reminds them of what he did for Israel in delivering them from Egypt, how He looked after them, provided for them. Even after they rebelled against His promises, He still gave them the food of angels. He sent plagues upon Egypt and brought them into Canaan, the land of promise. Even there Israel rejected their Lord and Asaph says he rejected Joseph and remembered the tribe of Judah. David then led them. Asaph says it was as if God woke like a drunken man shouting from the drink, Ps 78:65. Like David, the Lord will shepherd and guide His people. All generations need to learn war. The generation after us need to understand the battle against sin. Some unfortunately need to experience the wages of sin before they cry out for deliverance. This is why family worship and reading the bible together as a family is vital. When trial eventually comers upon the generation behind us, if they have been instructed in the scriptures they will remember what they have learned. “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Dt 6:5-7. “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it” Prov 22:6. This is the promise for many a praying parent that wants their child to finally turn back towards the Lord after years in the spiritual wilderness.
4. Psalm 79 Asaph prays for deliverance from the nations that surround Israel and especially the city of Jerusalem. Israel was constantly fighting wars during the reign of David. In fact we know that the Lord would not allow David to build the temple because he was a man iof blood. The same today, there are enemies that surround Israel. We are called to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We know one day they will be again persecuted to the point where they will be let down by following a false messiah. It is onl;t at this point that they will cry out for their true Messiah Yeshua and be saved. Aspah says “But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation, we will recount your praise”, vs 13.This can only happen in Christ. Pray the eyes of the Jewish people would be opened to who is their true Deliverer, Is 59:20, Rom 11:26
Vision Point for cell groups
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Sermon title was ““All Israel will be saved”” - from Rom 11:25-36
1. What has been your understanding of the Jewish people in the past? Have you always thought that the Lord had plans for the nation, or did you think that all the OT promises to Israel are really for the church? Discuss
2. Israel became a nation again in May 14th 1948. The dry bones that Ezekiel spoke about in Ezek 37 were indeed living. Israel is a modern day miracle. The Hebrew language was dead and now has been revived to be taught as the national language. Jews are also returning to the land in record numbers. Almost hal;f of the world’s Jewish population resides in Israel. The Lord quoted to Abraham regarding His descendants that “Those who bless you I will bless”. How has Australia blessed Israel and how should we bless Israel as a church?
3. Praise the Lord that He never breaks His promise. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ. We may have broken promises or others have broken promises to us, but the Lord will never break His covenant promise to His people. This is the good news. Discuss what this means for you.
Prayer Points
1. The Lord blessed again with our Sunday service. New people, as well as being blessed by the word and worship. Pray they will feel connected into the church.
2. Our Elders confirmed with an open call. Pray the Lord continues to teach and bless them
3. Christmas season – joy and unity promoted in Christ.
4. Growth in our kids and youth ministries
5. Pray for testimonies that people will be giving. Please consider when you would like to give yours.
6. Pray for other building projects – café roof, the repair of the house roof.
7. Witness over the Christmas season.
8. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
Praise Points
1. Wonderful celebration of the life of Zac’s dad, Mark Torrington yesterday. The gospel was given and the service was a wonderful tribute to the faith of the man. Zac honoured his dad by playing guitar as a “going home” was sung.
2. New folk to church.
3. Word and worship blessed. Elders Doug and Graham confirmed with an open call.
4. Churches have been recognised as essential services and will be allowed to operate without restriction after new vaccination restrictions come in.
Announcements
1. Country Carols, monster trucks, fire works – Sat 11th Dec. Must book online to get tickets. Go to the Tivoli drive in website. Feel free to park at CBC if required.
2. Kids@church back. Please check your rosters
3. Recharge Youth – back on Friday 6:30pm at church all high schoolers.
4. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
