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Day 155

Psalm 78:58a "Their high places..."

Day 155 – Psalm 78

“Their high places…” Psalm 78:58a

BLATANT DISREGARD

One of the worst sins that the children of God could have committed may well be found in the following text.

“For they provoked Him to anger with their high places,
And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.”
Psalm 78:58

1. “For they provoked Him to anger with their high places”

a) What is a “high place”?
b) It is a reference to an idolatrous practice.
i) Deities of Canaan were always placed at “a high place”.
ii) This is to symbolize their superiority to their worshippers.
iii) They would thus be likened to “The Most High God”.
iv) Israel followed this idolatrous practice of the Canaanites.
c) Implications:-
i) The Lord God was being set aside in favour of the Canaanite deities.
ii) The local deities were being worshipped instead.
d) God’s anger:-
i) This is perfectly understandable.
ii) God’s expressions of anger were soon forgotten.

2. “And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images”

a) The word “jealousy” was used to help Israel understand how God felt.
b) Carved images.
i) These were expressly forbidden as encoded in the second Commandment (Exodus 20:4).
ii) Israel blatantly flouted this commandment.
iii) The nation became very idolatrous with the passing of time.