Psalm 78 Devotional

Mercy That Outlasts Forgetting

“And yet He was compassionate; He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. He often restrained His anger and did not unleash His full wrath.”Psalm 78:38 (BSB)

Psalm 78 is a history lesson with a purpose. Asaph opens his mouth in parables, and Matthew says Jesus fulfilled this verse when he taught the crowds in parables (78:2; Matthew 13:35). The goal is that each generation will tell the next about God's works, so that their children will trust God and not be stubborn like their ancestors (78:4-8).

Then the story unfolds. God split the sea, led his people with cloud and fire, and brought water out of rock (78:13-16). Yet they kept sinning and testing him, doubting that he could feed them in the desert (78:17-19). When judgment came, they turned to him, but only with their lips (78:34-37). Again and again they forgot. And yet God was full of compassion. He forgave their guilt, held back his anger, and remembered that they were only flesh, a breeze that passes (78:38-39). The psalm ends with God choosing David to shepherd his people (78:70-72). The story is honest about human forgetfulness, and even more honest about God's patient mercy.

To think about: What has God done for you that you are prone to forget, and how could you remember it and pass it on this week?