Judg 8:34, Thus the sons of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side… 
	We are at a point in our reading of the history of the Children of Israel that needs especial care on our part. It is so easy for us to simply read through the details of the lives of these historic people and just count it all as a story that is being relayed to us. We often do this without seeking after the Holy Spirit to open it in a vibrant way to cause our hearts and minds to make a steady and ever increasing change in our lives. What we read, we tend to file away as interesting but unimportant in the scope of today. 
	This is far from the reality of why we are given this account, and in fact, every account in the Scriptures, the Holy Word of God. It is never just a good story. Neither is it a matter of judging the course of the history of Israel with modern understanding which relegates it to the dustbin of what used to be as opposed to what is in place right here and now. We are so adept at simply disregarding that which we do not want to consider in any greater depth. The other issue is that we fail to grasp the full implication for us in what was in place then in their lives. 
	We can judge Gideon with the veiled conceit that he was a good man who obeyed the Lord to the point of receiving the payment of gold from the men of Israel. We see that he turned down the offer of kingship, yet succumbed to the lustful attraction of the wealth that was put before him in the earrings of gold. Then he melted and molded that gold into an ephod which became his idol and the downfall of his heritage unto the Lord God Almighty. This man, so fully used by the Lord to relieve the suffering and plight of the people, then fell into disgrace through the lustful heart that infests all mankind. 
	In this sense, Gideon is indicative of each one of us, whether we choose to believe it or not. We each have those times when we are close to the Lord and obey the Lord and serve the Lord to the utmost of our core heart and soul. Then, when the Lord saves us, from whatever circumstance or dilemma, or trial, or tribulation, we tend to turn our backs on Him and seek some kind of solace in our self abilities and self-understanding. We slink away in our miserable hearts of betrayal unto the Lord. Much like Gideon, much like the entire nation of Israel, as we have before us this morning, we do not remember the Lord Our God, and turn into ourselves and our desires and our corruptness.
	We need to spend time in the course of coming to some understanding of what God has to do in order to remove this proclivity of human animosity. Why are we so adept at the abject denial of His work by our forgetfulness of mind and thought and dedication unto the One in Whom we have our very salvation for all of eternity? 
As a start, we will turn to the Psalmist and read together the 78th Psalm. Here, we have the facts set before us by another, who was viewing the course of the history of the people of God from a later perspective. The tribes of the Children of Israel and the stories of their deliverance and their wanderings and their conquest of the Promised Land was old news to the Psalmist. 
It was history that had taken place centuries earlier. Therefore, he was recounting it all with the same aplomb that might characterize our understanding of the events. 
Yet, the Psalmist saw how the Lord worked through the means of the deliverance of the people from their suffering. God used those foreordained nations of wrath to cause His people to continually turn from their wicked and adulterous ways to call out to the Lord again and again because of the pain of their affliction.
	The Psalmist saw this pattern for what it was and how it could be avoided if the people would only learn and understand. This instruction was to build in the readers, in us, the desire to seek to have the Lord work in our hearts that steadfastness of being and dedication to the Lord God Almighty. He is instructing the readers, you and me, why it is so important not to forget the Lord and to hold to Him especially when things are going smoothly, when there is no need for His Hand of deliverance. 
This dedication and consecration unto God needs to be taught to all the peoples, young and old alike in order to not follow those patterns of human behavior which have always preceded the need for The Lord to intervene with His Hand of correction and admonition. There should be a growing up within the true church which no longer requires the rod, but ever seeks after the glory and the majesty of knowing The Lord in the intimacy of Jesus Christ as mature men and women of God. 
Ps 78, Listen, O my people, to my instruction; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. We will not conceal them from their children, But tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done. For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should teach them to their children, That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, That they may arise and tell them to their children, That they should put their confidence in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments, And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart, And whose spirit was not faithful to God. The sons of Ephraim were archers equipped with bows, Yet they turned back in the day of battle. They did not keep the covenant of God, And refused to walk in His law; And they forgot His deeds, And His miracles that He had shown them. He wrought wonders before their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; And He made the waters stand up like a heap. Then He led them with the cloud by day, And all the night with a light of fire. He split the rocks in the wilderness, And gave them abundant drink like the ocean depths. He brought forth streams also from the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers. Yet they still continued to sin against Him, To rebel against the Most High in the desert. And in their heart they put God to the test By asking food according to their desire. Then they spoke against God; They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? "Behold, He struck the rock, so that waters gushed out, And streams were overflowing; Can He give bread also? Will He provide meat for His people?" Therefore the Lord heard and was full of wrath, And a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also mounted against Israel; Because they did not believe in God, And did not trust in His salvation. Yet He commanded the clouds above, And opened the doors of heaven; And He rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven. Man did eat the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance. He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens; And by His power He directed the south wind. When He rained meat upon them like the dust, Even winged fowl like the sand of the seas, Then He let them fall in the midst of their camp, Round about their dwellings. So they ate and were well filled; And their desire He gave to them. Before they had satisfied their desire, While their food was in their mouths, The anger of God rose against them, And killed some of their stoutest ones, And subdued the choice men of Israel. In spite of all this they still sinned, And did not believe in His wonderful works. So He brought their days to an end in futility, And their years in sudden terror. When He killed them, then they sought Him, And returned and searched diligently for God; And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. But they deceived Him with their mouth, And lied to Him with their tongue. For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant. But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them; And often He restrained His anger, And did not arouse all His wrath. Thus He remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passes and does not return. How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert! And again and again they tempted God, And pained the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember His power, The day when He redeemed them from the adversary, When He performed His signs in Egypt, And His marvels in the field of Zoan, And turned their rivers to blood, And their streams, they could not drink. He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them, And frogs which destroyed them. He gave also their crops to the grasshopper, And the product of their labor to the locust. He destroyed their vines with hailstones, And their sycamore trees with frost. He gave over their cattle also to the hailstones, And their herds to bolts of lightning. He sent upon them His burning anger, Fury, and indignation, and trouble, A band of destroying angels. He leveled a path for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death, But gave over their life to the plague, And smote all the first-born in Egypt, The first issue of their virility in the tents of Ham. But He led forth His own people like sheep, And guided them in the wilderness like a flock; And He led them safely, so that they did not fear; But the sea engulfed their enemies. So He brought them to His holy land, To this hill country which His right hand had gained. He also drove out the nations before them, And He apportioned them for an inheritance by measurement, And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents. Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God, And did not keep His testimonies, But turned back and acted treacherously like their fathers; They turned aside like a treacherous bow. For they provoked Him with their high places, And aroused His jealousy with their graven images. When God heard, He was filled with wrath, And greatly abhorred Israel; So that He abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh, The tent which He had pitched among men, And gave up His strength to captivity, And His glory into the hand of the adversary. He also delivered His people to the sword, And was filled with wrath at His inheritance. Fire devoured His young men; And His virgins had no wedding songs. His priests fell by the sword; And His widows could not weep. Then the Lord awoke as if from sleep, Like a warrior overcome by wine. And He drove His adversaries backward; He put on them an everlasting reproach. He also rejected the tent of Joseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved. And He built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has founded forever. He also chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds; From the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them with his skillful hands.
    	We have, in this Psalm, the history of the nation of Israel outlined, not with glossed over images of fidelity and politically correct representation. They are seen for what they were, a false and selfishly oriented people who stubbornly clung to the desires of their flesh over and against the desire to cling to the Lord. They only called to God when they needed deliverance and salvation. Then, once that was accomplished, they turned their backs on the One Who had saved them, and they engrossed themselves in the futility of their idols, their self-made gods who could never help them. They enslaved themselves to the Baals of the nations surrounding them because they did not want to be different! They did not want to be distinct as holy. They did not want to be seen as anything other than what the other nations of the world were.
	Over and over again, the Lord would work in their midst, causing them to see that they needed God. Yet, again and again, once delivered from their oppression, they returned to their habits of seeking anything other than the Lord in which to invest their time, their worship, their obedience, their energy, their resources, their beliefs, and their hearts! It got to the point at which the Lord simply removed His evident presence from their midst. It seemed that He had abandoned them, but He never truly did.
	The Psalmist describes God in terms that many of us would never know except for the fact that He has delivered us, over and over again, despite our stubborn refusal to submit wholeheartedly unto Him. But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them; And often He restrained His anger, And did not arouse all His wrath. Thus He remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passes and does not return.
	Thank You Lord, that You know that we are but flesh, and that You are at work from within us, by Your Indwelling Holy Spirit, through the truth of Your Word, to make us more than a people who are defiantly at odds with Your plan and Your Purposes. You make us a people who desire Your will and Your will alone!
As the Psalmist continues, And He built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has founded forever. He also chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds; From the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them with his skillful hands. 
	The Lord deals with us in all His faithfulness and truth to bring forth a people after His own heart. He desires and will have a people Holy and without any stain or blemish. 
Accordingly, He shepherds us as a flock which needs constant supervision and care and keeping and guidance with all patience and skill and lovingkindness! He holds us close in His Omnipotent Hands. He is ever faithful and always seeks after us, even when we may stubbornly stray from the green pastures of His Saving grace and mercy. He works, by His Great Love, to cause us to desire to honor and obey and trust Him and hold to Him, no matter what! So be it.
Thus the sons of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side… Amen. 

	

This morning’s benediction is Isa 12:2. "Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the Lord God is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation." Amen.