Sunday, Psalm 78: 9-16--- The Men of Ephraim Whom God Destroyed and History Forgot

LON SOLOMON SERMON:  RESIST SATAN IN THE POWERFUL NAME OF JESUS

^{READ PSALM 78:9-16
9} The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,
    turned back on the day of battle;
¹⁰ they did not keep God’s covenant
    and refused to live by his law.
¹¹ They forgot what he had done,
    the wonders he had shown them.
¹² He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors
    in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
¹³ He divided the sea and led them through;
    he made the water stand up like a wall.
¹⁴ He guided them with the cloud by day
    and with light from the fire all night.
¹⁵ He split the rocks in the wilderness
    and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
¹⁶ he brought streams out of a rocky crag
    and made water flow down like rivers.

DON'T FORGET GOD'S GRACE 

The 'men of Ephraim' are the northern kingdom tribes of Israel that fell into idolatry and were deported and lost to history.  The root of their problem was spiritual forgetting.  Today's Christians can stagnate because they forget that they have been cleansed from their past sins.'  The key is to have a clean heart constantly revitalized by deliberate remembering of the costly sacrifice of Jesus.  We must remember that for our sins Jesus was, as it were, forgotten, so that God can now no more forget us than a mother nursing her infant.  Remembering that will make you a great heart.

PRAYER  Lord, I worry because I forget your wisdom, I resent because I forget your mercy,  I covet because I forget your beauty,  I sin because I forget your holiness,  I fear because I forget your sovereignty.  You always remember me; help me to always remember you.  Amen.

Tim Keller, The Songs of Jesus
page 184