When the Old, Old, Story becomes a Nice Little Fairy Tale

Opening text: Psalm 78:1-11; 60-64

Open by showing a collection of fairy tales and nursery stories. Ask the congregation if
they can give bits of the stories. Then ask…
“Isn’t it amazing, how that young and old alike can tell these stories? Whether age 7 or
70, most of us know them by heart because our parents read them to us from the time we
were old enough to understand speech.”
Now, open your Bibles to Psalm 78. Begin with verses 1-8 then say…
Asaph says, “Listen to me, O’ children of Israel, for I want to tell you a story; a story that
is almost as ancient as this land beneath our feet. I will tell you the story that our fathers
told us. I will tell you a story so that you might know, and in turn tell your children after
you.”
Then Asaph tells of three things that his story will reveal… (Verse 4) - “We will not hide
them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.”

From there, Asaph gives a very compelling reason for telling the story… (Verse 5) “For
He, (GOD) established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he
commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:”
He was obeying the commands of God found in the Law.
 Deuteronomy 17:19 – “And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the
days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of
this law and these statutes, to do them:”
 Deuteronomy 31:12-13 – “Gather the people together, men, and women, and
children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they
may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this
law: And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn
to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan
to possess it.”
Next, He gives three reasons why the next generation needed to hear the story… (Verses
6-7) “That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be
born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope
in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:”
From the writings of Asaph we learn by example that we too need to be engaged in the
process of storytelling. Why? Because the history of Israel, and the teachings of this book
record God’s dealings with mankind. God charged the Hebrew fathers to tell their children,
and He has charged us to do the same!
  1 Corinthians 10:11 – “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and
they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”
 2 Timothy 3:16 – “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
 Romans 15:4 - “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our
learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”
As Asaph did, so must we – we must teach our children the Word of God. We cannot
leave it to the ungodly culture in which we live. We cannot trust the media or the public
education system to get it right. Neither can we entrust this task to the most worthy of
organizations such as the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts. And we cannot leave it to the Church
in the sense that we give it over to them and disconnect ourselves.
No. We must take responsibility for teaching our own children (like Asaph did) so that they
will know God’s testimony and Law; and so that they will be as familiar with His praises,
His strength, and His wonderful works, as they are with Little Red Riding Hood or
Goldilocks and the Three Bears!

And what will be the result of our teaching? Notice again what Asaph says in verse 7 –
“That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his
commandments:”
Did you know that depression is the #1 cause of death among teens? When was the last
time you stopped on your way out of Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club and looked into the eyes of
those precious missing children, whose faces dot the wall by the dozens? Many of them
are missing because they ran away from hopeless homes and now they’re hooked on drugs
and prostitution.

There is an utter hopelessness spreading through our culture like the black plague of the
12th century. It is seeping into homes of every kind, poor or rich – doesn’t matter. Ignorant
or education – makes no difference. Our children are hopeless because our culture has
abandoned the Old, Old Story!
Oh, but Asaph cries to us today to tell the story! Tell it so that our kids will set their hope
in Jesus Christ and remember His power to save, and then, in faith, become His disciples
and walk in obedience!
But what if we don’t? What if we ignore the urgent call of Asaph? What would happen?
What will become of our children if we capitulate to the call by many to abandon the
preaching and the teaching of God’s word and embrace instead the culture of
entertainment and “Me first” in which we live?
To answer this question we only need to read a bit further as Asaph tells the rest of the
story. Look at verses 8-11 and then verses 56-64…
“…And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation
that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God. The children of
Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. They kept
not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law; And forgat his works, and his
wonders that he had shewed them.”
Verses -55-64…
“He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and
made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. Yet they tempted and provoked the most
high God, and kept not his testimonies: But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their
fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with
their graven images. When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: So
that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men; And
delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand.
He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance. The fire
consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage. Their priests
fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation.
There are about as many opinions as to what this story refers to as there are Bible
commentators. But the one that makes the most sense to me is to story that unfolds in
reading 1 Samuel chapter 4.
Now before we read this chapter, I want to ask you … “What happens when a people who
have been to the top with God and seen His glory and tasted His wonderful works, and felt
His strength, and sang His praises, turn away and depart from Him?
Let’s read and see…
How could it have ended this way? These were God’s people – Israel! Even the pagan
Philistines recognized that! How could they have suffered such defeat and humiliation and
loss of life and hope?
Look at what they had!
 The word of the Lord through Samuel the prophet (notice chapter 3:21)

 Top grade weapons for battle. Psalm 78:9 says that they were armed and carrying
bows. They had close range weapons including swords, spears, knives, etc… and
they even had long range weapons with their bows.
 The Ark of the Covenant of God – No other nation had such a thing – it was a record
– a testimony of God’s presence and power with Israel.
  Shiloh – the place of God’s presence and worship

 Enthusiasm – listen how they shouted when the ark arrived – (they had as much
enthusiasm as the Ohio State stadium when the Buckeyes roll out against Michigan!
 They had a psychological military advantage - because the Philistines were afraid!

It is hard to understand how it could have ended like it did… until you consider what they
did NOT have!
 The memory of God’s praise, strength, and mighty works (The supreme irony is that
the Philistines did!)
 The courage to see the fight through until the last man – they fled when the battle
went against them.
 A connection with Heaven – Notice there is no evidence of faith or prayer. We never
read that they prayed or trusted in God for this battle.

 A rightly placed trust – “Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of
Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our
enemies.” (no different than those that pray to relics or statues or paintings, etc…)
 And, most importantly, they did not have the very presence of God.

They went into the fight against the pagan culture with every appearance of being
prepared, and they lost because they put their trust in the wrong things. Asaph says in
Psalm 78:9 - The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the
day of battle.”
Why did they turn back? Asaph answered this question for us in Psalm 78:8, 10-11 –
(Verse 8) – “And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a
generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.
(Verses 10-11) – “They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law; And
forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them.”
 They followed the bad example of their fathers by being stubborn (lit. meaning
“backsliding”) and rebellious (word means “bitter rebel”).
 Their hearts weren’t built up in God and their spirits were not faithful to the
Almighty – they didn’t trust Him.
 They did not obey Him and they refused His Word (they purposely neglected the
Word)
 They forgot (means “to mislay” – involves negligence) God’s mighty works and
wonders.
This raises a very important question in my mind… “What did they think of themselves?”
The story in 1 Samuel 4 leaves me thinking that they thought everything was O.K. with
God, and were taken by surprise (even shocked) when they lost the first battle!
They were so far from the influence of God’s Word and God’s Holy Spirit conviction
that they didn’t even realize that they were all alone!
They had form and style without substance. They had the appearance of being blessed –
but that was all. Theirs was religious ritual, but not a right relationship with God. Even
their priests were defiled – Eli was the High Priest and we know he was judged a poor
father. His sons, Hophni and Phineas, were associate priests, and they were guilty of
fornication with women attending the worship services and with extortion and violence
towards worshippers.
And they were all slain that day. And Phineas’ wife, who died in childbirth upon hearing
the news, names her cursed son “Ichabod” – for the glory had departed from Israel –
Shiloh was abandoned and the ark was taken. It was the darkest day in Israel’s history to
that moment.
Consider the cost of their “Casual Christianity” (If I might use that term) Consider what
was lost because of their lifestyle apart from God’s Word…
 The ark of God
 The priests of God
 The reputation of God (In the eyes of the pagans)
 The power of God (available for the battle)
 The presence of God (he just wasn’t there)
 The glory of God
When we abandon God and His precious Word as that which guides and directs our life we
lose. We say, “Oh, we wouldn’t abandon the Bible!” No, of course not. But we pay it no
more than lip service when we…
 Leave it lie around and never read it
 Refuse to believe every part of it
 Fail to allow its word to direct our thoughts and actions
 Neglect to teach it to our kids
 Purposely disobey it
It does little good to claim it as our own, or get all upset when a new version comes out, or
it gets taken out of schools, or whatever - when we only let it occupy a small part of our
lives anyway!
We’re like Israel – Oh, bring the ark – bring the ark! But it was to them little more than a
“lucky charm” to ward off the enemy. This is what we are doing when we bring our Bibles
to church, but never let its words into our minds and hearts through the week!
And what’s worse is that the consequences of departing from the story and of not making it
our rule of faith and practice, and not teaching it to our kids will be much worse.

They will grow up with a better knowledge of Hansel and Gretel and Harry Potter than the
WORD of GOD and their “Christianity” will look even less like Biblical Christianity than
ours does today.

Friends, we’ve got to get back to the Bible. Reading it. Loving it. Living it. Teaching it.
That’s our only hope of bringing the Church back to what it should be.

CONCLUSION
Let me read to you an article written by Paul Sloan, a Chicago Tribune staff writer. This
article was reprinted in part in a quarterly newsletter from the Northwest Baptist Church in
Chicago.

(Read it)

Then… here is another from Rick Blaine, which also appeared in the Chicago Tribune -

(Read it)

Then here is a quote from Pastor Frank Peoples of the First Baptist Church of Maywood

Listen, while we conform to our culture in American Christianity and neglect our Holy
Scripture, Muslims around the world are defining their lives and societies by theirs.

In Muslim countries, there is, by one estimate, 40 to 80 thousand “madrassahs”. These are
schools with one curriculum – the Koran. And they enroll thousands of students from
around the world, preparing them mentally for jihad. Many, if not all, of the boys who
graduate from the madrassahs can recite the entire Koran from memory!

The entire way of life for a Muslim is Islam. Government, home, education. Politics –
everything is centered on their faith.

The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:17-19 – “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but
to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made
of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto
us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of
the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”

What happens when the Old, Old Story becomes a nice Fairy Tale… We LOSE!