Certainly you’ve heard the expression that “those who don’t learn from history are destined to repeat its mistakes”. Most would rather “forgive and forget”.
Well, it’s not necessarily bad to forgive yourself for acting inappropriately, but you certainly don’t want to forget! The wisdom of not forgetting is laid-open for all to see in Psalm 78.
The psalmist admonishes the reader to share acquired knowledge with others—especially their offspring—that they may know that the parents they so greatly look up to are utterly fallible!
Asaph encourages us to honor the wisdom of God when man’s wisdom looks better than God’s. Tragically, man defines his own wisdom as better when the results he seeks are more enjoyable than those that God would provide.
The Lord did great things for the Israelites, but the sand on their side of the desert wasn’t brown enough! They failed to believe God knew better than they did concerning their needs and thought their wants were necessarily their needs (not terribly unlike us)!
Over time, disenchanted with not getting things the way they wanted them, the Israelites rebelled in idol worship—which really got God ticked. Yes, God did eventually rescue the desert dwellers, and took the enemies He used to accomplish His purposes to the woodshed in the process, but this does beg a question:
Wouldn’t it have just been easier for the Children of Israel to trust God from the beginning—especially in light of His many miracles?
The answer, of course, is a resounding ‘yes’, but then we wouldn’t have the Israelites as our example. As it is written in I Cor 10:
11These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 12So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 14Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. (NIV)
Herein lies our peace. Thank you, Israelites!
b(Les)sings
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