What is the meaning of Psalm 78:36? But they deceived Him with their mouths Psalm 78 recounts Israel’s history of half–hearted religion. Just after the Lord struck them and “they turned back and sought God” (v. 34), we read that their pursuit was only skin–deep. • They offered words of contrition, but their hearts stayed stubborn (v. 37). • Isaiah 29:13 echoes the same pattern: “This people draw near with their mouths… yet their hearts are far from Me.” Jesus quotes it in Matthew 15:8–9 to expose empty worship. • Ezekiel 33:31 pictures crowds who “sit before you to hear your words, but they will not do them.” • God can never actually be fooled (Galatians 6:7), yet Israel went through the motions as if He could be. Practical takeaway: verbal piety without inner loyalty is self–deception. James 1:26 warns that a person who “does not bridle his tongue deceives his heart, and his religion is worthless.” and lied to Him with their tongues Their false promises amounted to lies against the very covenant they claimed to honor. • At Sinai they cried, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do” (Exodus 19:8), yet quickly violated those vows (Exodus 32). • Joshua confronted the same duplicity in Joshua 24:19–22: “You are witnesses against yourselves… You have chosen to serve the LORD.” • Psalm 51:6 reminds us that God “desires truth in the inmost being,” while Proverbs 12:22 states, “Lying lips are detestable to the LORD.” • Ananias and Sapphira’s fate (Acts 5:1–11) shows the ongoing seriousness of lying to God. Forms this lying can take: – Making promises of obedience to gain relief in a crisis, then forgetting them. – Singing praise while harboring rebellion (Amos 5:23–24). – Confessing sin with no intent to forsake it (Proverbs 28:13). Faithfulness, not flattery, is what the covenant requires (1 Samuel 15:22). Revelation 21:8 places “all liars” with the unrepentant, underscoring that God’s people must be people of truth. summary Psalm 78:36 exposes the tragedy of worship that stops at the lips. Israel mouthed devotion to escape discipline, but their hearts stayed false. God, who sees through every façade, calls His people to sincerity—words that match actions, tongues that tell the truth, and hearts that cling to Him in loyal love. |
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