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As I started to read Psalm 78 I thought I would not have much to say about the chapter because it was mostly a recounting of the history of the Israelites through David’s reign. However, as I read and noticed how many times the people rebelled and God forgave them, it reminded me of my life. No matter how bad things I do, God always forgives me when I repent and ask Him for His forgiveness. As we fast-forward to Christ, He solidified grace and forgiveness through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. It humbles and sometimes shames me to think how many times God has to forgive me. I need to be reminded daily that I need the Holy Spirit to help me and guide me through my life to stay away from my potentially sinful ways. God is merciful and full of grace, which makes me love Him all the more.
Daily Devotion 
Psalm 78:20 made me…laugh (?): “True, he struck the rock, and water gushed out, streams flowed abundantly, but can he also give us bread? Can he supply meat for this people?” They’re basically saying, “Well…yeah…I mean…you did THAT. But, can you do THIS?” The Lord made water GUSH out of a rock, and they still aren’t satisfied. Are you kidding me? I just had to laugh a little. I’d like to think that if I saw the Lord hit a rock and cause a stream to begin flowing that I’d be satisfied!
Chapter 77 is so beautiful to me because it is a glorious example of how we all are. We worry. We wring our hands. We wonder where God is in the midst of our pain, in the midst of our confusion. We want to shake our fists at him. We question him. Asaph is doing all of these things. At the core of our worry, anxiety and anger is actually a deep questioning of God’s character. Is he truly good? Is he truly love? Is he truly just? And Asaph’s approach is to remember all that God has done. He has to remind himself of God’s character. It’s beautiful. Sometimes we really don’t feel that God is truly good. I know I questioned it for a long time for a myriad of reasons. Some of us have never believed it. Sure, we may know it in our heads but to truly internalize it and live in such a way that reflects that belief? That is something else entirely. And this passage is a beautiful example to us of how Asaph dealt with this questioning. He goes through the wringing of hands, sleepless nights etc…and he expresses those emotions. I think that’s important. We have to acknowledge how we feel. We have to be honest abouts where we are. Sure, it may seem immature or childish, but its necessary. And then it’s like Asaph puts on his big boy pants and actively begins to remember all the good, loving and just things God has done.
And chapter 78 is an admonition to the people of Israel to not forget all that God had done. To remember how their forefathers continuously forgot. He’s trying to change their mindset. We tend to give the Israelites a really hard time for their disobedience but we forget that they were surrounded by cultures that believed in angry, violent gods that weren’t good and loving. Every influence outside of their own culture said that all gods were awful. I mean, all the gods around them asked for child and virgin sacrifice. This whole animal sacrifice was extremely humane comparitavely speaking. They were really swimming upstream with this God they worshipped. It was very easy for them to forget and question because they were the only ones who believed this way. Makes it easier for me to cut them some slack…and then reexamine my own heart.