Psalm 78:9-16
The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,
turned back on the day of battle;
10 they did not keep God’s covenant
and refused to live by his law.
11 They forgot what he had done,
the wonders he had shown them.
12 He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors
in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea and led them through;
he made the water stand up like a wall.
14 He guided them with the cloud by day
and with light from the fire all night.
15 He split the rocks in the wilderness
and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
16 he brought streams out of a rocky crag
and made water flow down like rivers.
The "men of Ephraim" are the northern tribes of Israel that fell into idolatry (1 Kings 12) and were deported and lost to history (2 Kings 17). The root of their problem was spiritual forgetting. Christians too can stagnate because they "forget that they have been cleansed from their past sins" (2 Peter 1:0). The key is to have a heart constantly vitalized by deliberate remembering of the costly sacrifice of Jesus. We must remember that for our sins Jesus was, as it were, forgotten (Matthew 27:46) so that God can now no more forget us than a mother nursing her infant (Isaiah 49:14-16). Remembering that will make you a great heart.
--Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,