Psalm 78 is the record of God's overtures of love toward his people and His people reciprocating those overtures with continual rejection and rebellion.
Verse 8 is God's epithet for the first generation of Israelites whom God characterizes as "stubborn and rebellious." And the source of this stubborn rebellion is heart failure: "who set not their hearts aright."
What were their hearts set on which warranted God's anger toward them?
Heart Failure
Psalm 78:8
July 24, 2022 • Pastor Paul Edwards
More from
Summer Psalms 2022
A Shepherd Leader for God's Wandering Sheep
September 4, 2022 • Pastor Paul Edwards
In the 78th Psalm, the psalmist Asaph has taken us through the history of Israel beginning with the exodus of God's people from Egypt to the anointing of David as King over God's people (Exodus 3 through 1 Samuel 16). The final three verses of this psalm give insight to how God choses His leadership, giving them His own heart to feed and lead His people.
God's Wrath Roused and Restrained
August 14, 2022 • Pastor Paul Edwards
Why does God cast all of his wrath upon the Egyptians in the ten plaques and allow his own people who have provoked him and tempted him and spoke against him to escape his wrath? What accounts for God's own people receiving mercy in response to their sin and the Egyptians receiving wrath in response to theirs? And what is it exactly that make the children of Israel "his own people"?
The Pattern of Spiritual Declension
August 7, 2022 • Pastor Paul Edwards
In an otherwise dark Psalm which details the rebellion of God's people against his law, statutes, and covenant, verses 34 through 42 are an island of hope. These verses reveal the pattern of spiritual decline which is true of all of God's chosen: In the midst of their sinful rebellion, God's people remember God and return to him, God remembers them and turns away his wrath, and God's people turn back from God and do not remember him. The hope comes when the Psalmist reveals that God is not surprised by this pattern of behavior and gives grace upon grace in response.