Dissatisfaction With God Leads to Disaster

Topic: Dissatisfaction
Passage: Psalms 78:1–16

December 1, 2022

Commentary

Maybe it is just me, but it seems that people today tend to be dissatisfied with life in general. They may be dissatisfied about the way they look, their weight, their job, their church, their financial situation, their spouse, or the way their children behave. This dissatisfaction usually flows over into our relationship with God. The psalmist shares with us six reasons we become dissatisfied with our relationship with God (vv. 1-22). Below you will find four of these reasons:

  1. We become dissatisfied with God when we try to hide the wonderful works of the Lord. We are to “tell the generation to come the praises of the Lord and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath done” (v. 4). The Psalmist is saying that God has done no wrong. Then the problem must lie within me.
  2. We become dissatisfied with God when He pushes us further than we want to go. “The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle” (v. 9). They were saying, “God you are pushing us further than we want to go spiritually. I don’t mind praying for you, but fighting a battle for you is a different thing.”
  3. We become dissatisfied with God when our life becomes a disaster through our own disobedience. “They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in His law” (v. 10). We want to blame God for our mess when the fact is we were not living like we should be living and that is what caused our mess.
  4. We become dissatisfied with God when it seems that we are not getting any assistance from Him. “And they forgot His works, and His wonders that He had shown them” (v. 11). There are times when I have to remember the things God has brought me through because right now I am in a mess and God doesn’t seem to be around. If I cannot remember what He has done I will become dissatisfied with Him when things get rough.

Application

God is telling you and me that He desires a satisfying relationship between Him and us. If I don’t have that type of relationship it is my problem. Will I allow the Holy Spirit to work in my life?

Psalms 78:1– 16 (NET)

1 Pay attention, my people, to my instruction. Listen to the words I speak.

2 I will sing a song that imparts wisdom; I will make insightful observations about the past.

3 What we have heard and learned — that which our ancestors have told us—

4 we will not hide from their descendants. We will tell the next generation about the Lord’s praiseworthy acts, about his strength and the amazing things he has done.

5 He established a rule in Jacob; he set up a law in Israel. He commanded our ancestors to make his deeds known to their descendants,

6 so that the next generation, children yet to be born, might know about them. They will grow up and tell their descendants about them.

7 Then they will place their confidence in God. They will not forget the works of God, and they will obey his commands.

8 Then they will not be like their ancestors, who were a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that was not committed and faithful to God.

9 The Ephraimites were armed with bows, but they retreated in the day of battle.

10 They did not keep their covenant with God, and they refused to obey his law.

11 They forgot what he had done, the amazing things he had shown them.

12 He did amazing things in the sight of their ancestors, in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.

13 He divided the sea and led them across it; he made the water stand in a heap.

14 He led them with a cloud by day, and with the light of a fire all night long.

15 He broke open rocks in the wilderness, and gave them enough water to fill the depths of the sea.

16 He caused streams to flow from the rock, and made the water flow like rivers.