Psalm 78:40-55 / God’s Power to Redeem
📖 Scripture
40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the wasteland!
41 Again and again they put God to the test; they vexed the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember his power— the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,
43 the day he displayed his signs in Egypt, his wonders in the region of Zoan.
44 He turned their river into blood; they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them.
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper, their produce to the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
48 He gave over their cattle to the hail, their livestock to bolts of lightning.
49 He unleashed against them his hot anger, his wrath, indignation and hostility— a band of destroying angels.
50 He prepared a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death but gave them over to the plague.
51 He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.
52 But he brought his people out like a flock; he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
53 He guided them safely, so they were unafraid; but the sea engulfed their enemies.
54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land, to the hill country his right hand had taken.
55 He drove out nations before them and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance; he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.
✅ Scripture Summary
✅ Memory verse
– Psalm 82:3
✅ Reflection
How Can We Forget? (78:40–51)
The psalmist is shocked that the Israelites continue to disobey God, especially considering how He repeatedly displayed His power with the ten plagues of Egypt. The psalmist lists the plagues to remind the people of all they should have remembered and all they should value in their response to the Lord. Likewise, when we ponder the Lord’s redemptive power in the stories of the Bible, in our own lives, and in the world today, our response should be to treasure Him. Most of all, we should meditate on the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, who was struck down for us so that we may live. When we remember what He has done, our faith is refueled to respond with even greater obedience and worship.
Confess to God what you tend to forget about His character and His works. In what ways have you witnessed God’s redemptive power recently?
Secure with the Shepherd (78:52–55)
After recounting the demonstrations of God’s power in Egypt, the psalmist uses the imagery of a shepherd guiding his sheep to demonstrate the protection and care that God displays toward His people. God rescued the Israelites and guided them safely through the wilderness. He drove out nations and settled His people into their inheritance. They never had to be afraid because they knew that they were safe with Him. What a wonderful picture of our God! He continues to shepherd us today, guiding and protecting us with the help of the Holy Spirit. We can be at peace because we are secure in Him. Let us live fearlessly, knowing that He is with us.
Pause and picture how God shepherded the Israelites and how He does the same for you. How is He leading and guiding you today?
✅ Prayer
“We don’t know how close we may be to the next catastrophe. But we do know this: God upholds all things. He restrains evil more than we can fathom. He continues to give us breaths, each one undeserved.”
– Trevin Wax
✅ Essay
Protection on Route 80
It was a cold and foggy night as our family drove the many hours from New Jersey to Ohio to visit my sister-in-law’s family. Because of the fog, I could not see that a truck had stopped in front of me until it was too late. I was afraid to brake because I thought the slippery road would send the car skidding into the truck, so I veered left, having no idea what would be there. The car slided along a snow-covered bank, striking several tree branches, and eventually landed in a ditch.
That moment could have gone many different ways. There could have been a hard boundary on the left, or we could have skidded straight into the trunk of a tree instead of its branches. When the tow truck driver came, my family stayed in his vehicle to keep warm, but I stepped out into the biting wind and freezing rain because I wanted to see my car being lifted out of the pit. As I watched, I thought of how the Lord had lifted me out of the mire once for all, through Jesus’ death and resurrection.
We could have easily died or suffered severe injury, but the car was in driving condition after the incident, and we even made it to Ohio that night! When I reflect on that situation, I am reminded not only of God’s protection that night, but also of God’s protection each day. Indeed, His sovereignty gives us assurance that He is ever watching over us, guiding and protecting us.
Written by Bob Koo