Psalm 78:40-57

It is entirely possible that one of the reasons that Israel had the difficulty that they had was because they were bystanders, looking on at what was going on in the lives of those hapless Egyptians that God—whose power He was breaking and the pride that He was destroying—was doing. They did not have to do very much at that time but stand aside and watch God work.

In what we are involved, we find that God is putting us through drills, if I can put it that way, and that we have to go over things very frequently. We can also add to this that mankind is "thick" where God is concerned. Does not Romans 8:7 say that "the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be"?

There is a natural resistance to the things of God and that is largely because we are so self-centered. Our world usually consists of that which is going on around us and so that is what our mind is focused on. Those are the kind of things that we remember and most of those things are what we are caught up in the everyday rush of events. And so events like the Holy Days, and their traditions and practices must be commanded by God to be repeated over and over for many years so they will motivate us to good and positive things in relation to Him.

Psalm 78:40-42

David is drawing here on Numbers 21:4-6 and what they did is they disbelieved in God's mercy and goodness by presuming to tell Him what He should do and what He should give them. It was not, "Thy will be done." It was not humble and yielded, but they became impatient (like a child nagging his parents) by requiring unreasonable proofs from Him.

If you read through Psalm 78, over and over again He shows the proofs He gave these people that He loved them, that He cared for them, that He was providing for them, that He protected them, but they always wanted more. It was never enough. So they wanted unreasonable proofs of His presence, of His help, of His goodness, and all the while they really failed to try Him to supply their needs. What did they do? They took things into their own hands. That was always the end and they ended up sinning.