Friends, if you have a Bible, please open with me to Psalm 78. Psalm 78. Psalm 78. This summer. And one more week, next summer, we are in the Psalms. Every summer at Trinity we go through the Psalms. This summer we're in the 60s and the 70s of the Psalms, and we'll continue to go through until we cover all 150.

It's something we've done since 2015, and we think the Psalms are incredibly important for your own spiritual formation. The Psalms were a fixed part. Of education for many centuries. If you went to a Latin grammar school, you undoubtedly found the Psalms integrated into your Latin education. Many great men have quoted the Psalms in the 5th century, St.

Augustine quoted the Psalms as he passed away, and of course in the 1st century we know that our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ. Quoted the Psalms on the cross as well. Today we're in Psalm 78, as I mentioned earlier, it's the second longest Psalm except for Psalm one 19 in the Salter, and so that's why we have read through it so that when we read today, we will begin to pick up at verse 32.

I wanna say one thing about the subscription that is just below the title, Psalm 78. It says A mass school. of Asaph. Asaph, as you know by now, is the choir director of ancient Israel. He penned and wrote most of the psalms in book three of the Psalter. And a maskul, it's a word that's difficult to interpret in Hebrew, but the scholars think that the word means at its best.

to make you wise or prudent or to give you some skill that you need as we walk the Christian life together. And this is indeed a Psalm that sounds very much like the Proverbs. And so if you're willing and able, would you stand with me and we'll read from verse 32 to the end of Psalm 78. This is the word of the Lord.

It's given to you in love. Please give your attention to it. In spite of all this. They still sinned. Despite his wonders, they did not believe. So he made their days vanish like a breath in their years in terror. When he killed them, they sought him. They repented and sought God earnestly. They remembered that God was their rock, the most high God, their redeemer.

But they flattered him at their mouths. They lied to him with their tongues. Their heart was not steadfast toward him. They were not faithful to his covenant. Yet he being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them. He restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again.

How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert. They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember His power or the day when He redeemed them from the foe, when He performed His signs in Egypt, in His marvels in the fields of Zon.

He turned their rivers to blood so that they could not drink of their streams, and He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them, and frogs which destroyed them. He gave their crops to them. To the destroying locusts and the fruit of their labor to the locusts. He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamores with frost.

He gave over their cattle to the hail and their flocks to the thunderbolts. He let loose on them his burning anger, wrath, indignation and distress. A company of destroying angels. He made a path for his anger and he did not spare them from death, but he gave their lives over to the plague. He struck down every firstborn in Egypt, the first fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.

He led out his people like sheep and he guided them in the wilderness like a flock. He led them in safety so that they were not afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies and he brought them to his holy land, to the mountain, which his right hand had won. He drove out the nations before them, He apportioned them for a possession and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God and did not keep His testimonies, but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers. They twisted like a deceitful bow, for they provoked Him to anger with their high places. They moved Him to jealousy with their idols. When God heard, He was full of wrath, and He utterly rejected Israel.

He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among mankind and delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe. He gave his people over to the sword and vented his wrath on his heritage. Fire devoured their young men and their young women had no marriage song. Their priests fell by the sword and their widows made no lamentation.

And then the Lord awoke from sleep. Like a strong man shouting because of wine, and he put his adversaries to rout. He put them to everlasting shame. He rejected the tent of Joseph. He did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, but he chose the tribe of Judah. Mount Zion, which he loves. He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which has founded forever.

He chose David, his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds. From following the nursing ewes, he brought them to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance. With upright heart, he shepherded them, and guided them with his skillful. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but God's word stands forever.

And this is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated, please. Lord, take this, your word in these few minutes we have together, and would you massage them into our hearts, we ask in Jesus name. Amen.

Steve Jobs, Jennifer Tega, Antoine Fisher, Saru Brierley, Sarah Culbertson. Their stories went further back and deeper than they knew. Steve Jobs said in an interview for much of my life, I knew I was adopted, but I didn't know my full story. And later in life, he discovered that he had a biological sister.

Her name was Mona Simpson. She was a novelist. And Jobs said that This revelation, this news of Mona added a new dimension to my personal story and to my identity. Jennifer Tega was adopted when she was seven. She's a German Nigerian woman who learned of her biological mother's identity and found out to her shock that her grandfather on her mother's side was a mom guff.

The notorious Nazi war criminal. And she wrote a book called My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me that explores her own identity as she rediscovers a story that goes further back and deeper than she knew. Many of you know the movie Antoine Fisher, you know, the story of This boy who grows up in foster care becomes a Navy sailor and then discovers his birth family.

It's been well documented for us, even so, so has the story of Saru Brierley in the movie Lion. Anybody seen that movie? Saru Brierley goes when he's five years old with his older brother to find work at the train yard. His brother leaves and Saru ends up on a train that travels for two days into Calcutta, lost from his family.

He's adopted and brought in by an Australian family, and he is raised in Tasmania. And years later, when Saru is in his 20s, he uses Google Earth to trace back that train ride to find his birth family in his original Indian village. Or the story of Sarah Culbertson. She was adopted by a family in West Virginia, and after she graduated from the University of West Virginia, she began to become curious about her own biological journey.

And she discovered that, in fact, Sarah Culbertson was a Mindy princess from a tribal royal family in Sierra Leone. Now, these stories went further back and deeper than they ever knew. And I wonder this morning if you know your story. Not the story of who your parents were, or where you grew up, or how you got to where you are right now, but I wonder if you know the story that's beneath that story.

The story that you picked to define your life. The story that's beneath the story of your biological ancestry. The biological truth of these people discovering who they really are radically reoriented their life. How much more so does your own spiritual biography radically reshape yours? Do you know your story?

Each of us tell a story about ourself. What we must do to measure up. What we must do to be accepted. And the beauty of Psalm 78 is that it is a proverbial psalm that is given to help us understand our true spiritual story. The psalmist Asaph knows that stories shape our lives and he writes Psalm 78 to show Israel's story that it reveals our patterns of self destruction and it points us to the provision for our complete acceptance in Jesus.

Isn't that good news? I wonder if you know that story.

Psalm 78 is an overview of the destructive tendencies of Israel. And it begins, notice it begins in verse 1, like a proverb. Give ear, O my people, to my teaching. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. This sounds very much like what you would read in Proverbs 4, 10 27. I will utter dark sayings from of old.

In other words, I will utter truth so profound that if you have ears to hear, it'll radically reshape your life. And down in verse seven, he gives the purpose of these psalms. He says in verse seven that there are three purposes. He says so that they should set their hope in God purpose, number one, so that they will deepen their personal trust.

He goes on, look at the parallelism of the Hebrew in 7b, second line of verse 7. And not forget the works of God, not only to deepen their personal trust, but to develop informed and humble thinking. He wants them to use their minds and know. Don't forget the works of God. And thirdly, he wants them to have strengthened, obedient wills.

to keep his commandments. So, O Trinity, would you set your hope in God? Would you not forget the works of God? And would you keep his commandments? And if that's the purpose of the psalm, then he shows us that there are patterns of self destruction. And those patterns of self destruction often come in one of three ways.

Have you ever noticed that when people do surveys, they will ask, what religious orientation are you? And people will say they're Christians. People say that they're Christians either because they believe the doctrine of Christianity, even though they may have no association with the church, and not behave like a Christian at all, but they believe it.

They'll say they're Christians. Or others will belong to a church, really not believe the doctrines of the church, and have very little to do about reorienting their life. They're not going to sacrifice for the sake of others. They just go to church because it's still the culturally appropriate thing to do.

They say they're Christians. It's because they belong. Then there are people who simply behave. They don't really believe. They don't really belong to a local church, but they are, they're nice people. And so often in surveys, they will say, yes, I'm a Christian. And what Psalm 78 does is it comes after all three of these apexes.

And it says, if you are going to understand your true spiritual story, oh yes, there is something to believe. And there is a place to which you should belong. It's called His covenant community, the church. And there is a way that your life is to reflect that truth. It is to be reshaped around His law, His moral law that is meant to be given for you and obeyed for your good.

There are patterns of self destruction here. Notice in verses 9 to 16, we read it earlier. There is a radical obstinance by Israel. They ignored His law. When the Ephraimites armed with the bow, they turned their back on the day of battle. That is, they are going to take the promised land, and Ephraim, and not just Ephraim, but you can read in Judges, and in Joshua, all the others who turned their back and did not follow through with God's command.

They became cowardly. They were obstinate. They did not obey what He commanded them to do. And nevertheless, they forgot His works and the wonders that He had shown them. And still, Even amidst that, what did God do in the sight of their fathers? He performed wonders. He performed miracles so that they would know that He's God.

In verse 17, Yet they still sinned against Him even more. Why? Because their hearts were obstinate.

Do you know your spiritual story? Do you know the patterns of self deception that you are so prone to? One of Israel's was that they had an obstinate heart. Do you? Are you able to obey when the Lord reveals in his word truths of something that you find difficult? How ready are you to walk in obedience, even if you don't fully understand it?

Because he is good.

Second thing that you see is that Israel had a spirit of discontentment. Begins at verse 17, goes down through verse 39.

They spoke against God saying, can God spread a table for us in the wilderness? He tested God in their heart. Verse 18. He demanded, they demanded the food they craved. Do you remember the story in John, when Jesus feeds the 5, 000? After he feeds the 5, 000 what did Israel do? What did those who saw Jesus feed the 5, 000 do?

They grumbled. He just fed 5, 000 people. And Jesus says to them, Oh friends, I am the bread of life. What more do you want me to do for you? In A. M. Discipleship, I heard Mark telling the story of the rich man of Lazarus, and when the rich man dies, he says, If you'll just go and you'll send news to my brothers, then they'll believe.

No they won't, because you have all the news you need. Even after Lazarus was raised from the dead, Israel didn't say, Oh, we believe. Thank you, Jesus. They were shocked, and they wanted to kill Jesus.

This is your story. The point of Psalm 78 is it's pointing to your story. You have a unique biological story, yes, but we all have a very common spiritual story, and that is that we run with obstinate hearts away from God's law. And He provides signs and miracles and wonders to point us back to it. And we also are so tempted to be discontent with what he's provided to us, which leads to distrust, which leads to utter disaster.

You can read Psalm 78, 17 through 39 slowly, and you can see step by step how Israel slowly unraveled. And then at the end of the Psalm in verse 40, they have a radical ingratitude for the community that the Lord has provided them. Notice what it says at verse 40. It says How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness.

They grieved him in the desert. He's just recounting story after story after story all the way from Exodus, all the way through Numbers, into Joshua and Judges, even into 1 Samuel. He's recounting the story of Israel, the repeated patterns of self destruction. They were ungrateful for the community. They were ungrateful for the Exodus.

He delivered them on dry land across the Red Sea. And the thing that they said was, Where are you now?

They grumbled about being in the promised land because it was not as they expected. Listen, let me just say a word to the students here just for a second. Guys, you're entering into these amazing years in college. And they are amazing. And you get to pick your story in ways that will radically shape the rest of your life.

But just know that whatever career you choose, whatever major you decide to change four or five times, your spiritual story is the most important one. And you may not know the people in this room, but I want you to look at them. These people are your spiritual family, maybe even at other churches that you choose to join.

But Jesus has placed them in your life to help you walk through these four years because your community matters, and you should be grateful for these people the Lord has given you. in your place of college to shepherd you and to guide you and to encourage you. And yes, to even help you do your laundry when it's late at night.

But I wonder if you have a tender heart to Jesus, or if you'd be willing to pray that you might. I wonder if you will learn from Israel and you won't be discontent. Don't compare yourself to other students. Live into who you are. Don't pretend to be somebody or not, or pretend not to be the person you are.

And I wonder if you'll have a heart that's full of gratitude. Look at the architecture of TU. Seeing that you get to go to school there. Enjoy all that it has to offer you because God has given it to you to help you understand your spiritual story that goes even deeper and further back than you could possibly imagine.

And oh Trinity, listen to me. Some of you are so wracked with comparison when you look at other people that it makes you discontent. God loves you. May you walk in repentance in that area of your life. God has provided for you everything that you need for life and godliness. He didn't make a mistake. He didn't go, Oh, I forgot about that.

He knows you. And He's put you where He's put you and He's placed you in this church for you to flourish. Even some of you here are here for the first time. He is here to radically show you the beauty of the good news that we are sinners separated from God our Father. And He extends to us the wonder of wonders, the miracle of miracles, that Jesus Christ came in the incarnation, He took on flesh, and fully God and fully man, He lived a life we could not live, and He died a death, that you and I deserve to die.

And when you place your faith in that truth, You are forgiven of your sin, and the shame that you have so heavily worn, and you are covered with a new righteousness that is not your own. It is the righteousness of Jesus. So when the Father looks at you, He sees and brags about you to His angels because He sees the beauty of His Son, perfect in splendor and majesty.

Do you know your spiritual story? The first century church went out of its way to retell that story again and again and again. In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul writes, For I don't want you to know, to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud and passed through the sea and were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

And they ate the same spiritual food and they drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them. And that rock was, whom? Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them, God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now you want to interpret Psalm 78, 1 Corinthians 10, verse 6.

Now these things took place as examples for us that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters, if some of them were, as it's written. Amen. The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. We must not indulge in sexual immorality, as some of them did, and 23, 000 fell in a single day.

We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did. I mean, where is it that a passage of the Old Testament is so explicitly interpreted for us in the New? Asaph wrote Psalm 78 to remind us that the example is that we are to avoid as we look to the true Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the one who did not have the obstinate heart but was pliable to his father's will and gave himself up for us.

He was not discontent. He yielded his will to whatever the father desired and it led him ultimately to the cross. And Jesus was even grateful at every step of the way without sin because he knew what he knew. That he was purchasing you by his death. In the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets.

And the fathers in various and sundry ways, Hebrews 1 begins. But in these last days, he's spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the world. And today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. For those who heard and yet rebelled, was it not those who left Egypt by Moses, he says in Hebrews chapter 3?

And with whom was he provoked for 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they will not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient, so that we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief? And this morning we invite you.

We invite you to see that the spiritual story underneath your story, the deeper story, is the story that you are welcome to come and find rest at this table. It is a gift for you. And so while Steve Jobs and Jennifer Teiga and Antoine Fisher and Saru Brierley and Sarah Culbertson found their lives radically reordered by new discoveries of who their biological family was, this morning some of you Have the opportunity even now by faith as you place your faith in Jesus.

And you learn from the examples of our forefathers in Israel who have gone before us to see that there is one, the perfect King, the true and better David, who came and he made Israel his inheritance. And with upright heart, he shepherded them and he guided them by his skillful hand. And isn't it amazing and mysterious that he does it even now in his local church.

As he invites you to believe again his wonders and his miracles as you come to this table by faith. Hallelujah. Let's come to this table in joy, knowing that our spiritual biography is fixed in the heavens through the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our redemption and the sacrifice for our sin.

Let's pray together. Father, I do pray that you would help us to learn from the example of our forefathers in a psalm that is beautiful, impossible to preach in the moments we have together. But yet, Lord, I pray that you would beckon us to come to this table now, understanding that the story beneath our story is the story that you have written for us in the blood of Christ.

Jesus, shape us by it. And help us now to give our tithes and offerings with joy because of what you have sacrificed for us and your son. And transform us, we pray, by the power of your word, as we come to this table. And we pray these things in Jesus name, Amen.