April 9, 2026 - Exodus 35 & Psalm 78:32-55

We read Exodus 35 and Psalm 78:32-55 and trace a single thread through both passages: God is not satisfied with outward worship when our hearts refuse to trust Him. We connect Israel’s drifting faith to our own sin patterns and ask the Lord to reshape our desires into willing, cheerful worship. 

For more information about Compass Bible Church South Valley, visit compassbiblesv.org. Keep reading. Keep growing. God’s Word is a lamp to your feet, and a light to your path. 

Transcript

Welcome And Reading Plan Setup

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Welcome to the Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan, where we are seeking to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength with God's word lighting away. I'm Josiah Smith joined by Tyler Sanborn. Today is Thursday, April 9th, 2026. Here's a quick summary of Exodus 35. After reiterating the Sabbath regulations in verses 1 through 3, the rest of the chapter talks about the contributions that the individual people of Israel are to make for the construction of the tabernacle. So they are to give gold, silver, bronze, blue, and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twin linen, goat's hair, tanned ramskins, and goatskins, acacia wood, oil for the lamps, and on it goes. And so we have some details of these Israelites who do this. And then at the end, verses 30 through the end of the chapter, talk about how Holyab and Bezalel have a unique role in the construction of the tabernacle. Talks about the even the women who are spooling the twine and the yarn and how everyone's working together to begin the process of constructing the tabernacle, the dwelling place of the Lord.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Listen intently to God's written word. Psalm 78, verses thirty-two through fifty-five. In spite of all this, they still sinned. Despite his wonders, they did not believe. So he made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror. When he killed them, they sought him. They repented and sought God earnestly. They remembered that God was their rock, the most high God, their redeemer. But they flattered him with their mouths, they lied to him with their tongues. Their heart was not steadfast toward him. They were not faithful to his covenant. Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them. He restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again, how often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert. They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember his power, or the day when he redeemed them from the foe, when he performed his signs in Egypt, and his marvels in the fields of Zoan. He turned their rivers to blood so that they could not drink of their streams. He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them and frogs which destroyed them. He gave their crops to this destroying locusts, and the fruit of their labor to the locusts. He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamores with frost. He gave over their cattle to the hail and their flocks to thunderbolts. He let loose on them his burning anger, wrath, indignation, and distress, a company of destroying angels. He made a path for his anger. He did not spare them from death, but gave their lives over to the plague. He struck down every firstborn in Egypt, the first fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham. Then he led out his people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies, and he brought them to his holy land, to the mountain which his right hand had won. He drove out nations before them, he appointed them for a possession, and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

Unbelief As The Root Of Sin

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Now, as we look at these two readings today from Psalm 78 and Exodus 35, I want you to see the theme that God wants your heart. But they flattered him with their mouths, they lied to him with their tongues, their heart was not steadfast toward him. They were not faithful to his covenant. And so we see the nation of Israel, their hearts are prone to wander. They love things other than the God that rescued them. And Psalm 78 details uh just all of the great things that God did through the Exodus event that, of course, we've been reading of in the book of Exodus, and it is a reminder to the nation of Israel of all that God has done, and it's in a sense a stinging rebuke that their hearts are still yet cold towards their God. Even in verse 35, it says that they remembered that God was their rock, the most high God, their redeemer. But their worship of him, their pursuit of him, verse 36 says, They flattered him with their mouths, they lied to him with their tongues. Now, this is something that we kind of talked about with the triumphal entry with fruitless praise, the crowds that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem. They flattered Jesus with their lips, they honored him with their lips, but their hearts were far from him. We see that kind of language and the idea here for the nation of Israel as a whole. And God is not satisfied with mere external offerings or praises. God is not satisfied with just a mere recognition that he truly is God. He wants all of us, he wants our heart. He wanted the hearts of the Israelites, and it says they flattered him with their mouths, they lied to him with their tongues, and their heart was not steadfast toward him. They were not faithful to his covenant. If we read the Old Testament and continue reading through the Old Testament, we will see just how idolatrous the nation of Israel will be, even the commands in Exodus to not marry outside of their nation, certainly not to adopt the pagan practices, to not make a covenant with foreign false gods. And they do all of that. They violate all of those things. Um continue, it seems, to honor God with their lips, uh, but their heart is often far from him. Now, one thing to note of just the why behind this, the why behind the breaking of the covenant, the why behind why they continue to honor God with their lips, and yet their heart is far from him. Uh, in verse 32, uh it says, in spite of all this, they still sinned in spite of the great wonders that God had shown him. Despite his wonders, in fact, it says they did not believe. So in yesterday's reading, uh, it says in verse 22, they did this because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power. Again, today in verse 32, in spite of all this, they still sinned. Despite his wonders, they did not believe. So uh this psalm is kind of pointing our attention to the reality of unbelief and a lack of trust in God, leading the Israelites to sin. And so often in our life, when we're trying to pinpoint where sin might be coming from and the motivation behind it, I don't think we're we're quick enough to realize that lack of trust in God and lack of belief in who he is and in his promises oftentimes can be the root of our sin and rebellion.

SPEAKER_00 8:05

And doesn't that often happen when we are tempted to worry? When we're tempted to worry, the life that we live and the circumstances in it, uh, things are are looking dark and they can be intense, overwhelming at times uh for us. And uh where we choose to look next is a great indicator of where our faith and hope lies. And I think as we we think about the the life of uh of Israel and and and the offspring that in the the Exodus, remember what God has done. Uh remember what the Lord has done in the miracles. They they forgot the wonders, they forgot the miracles that that God provided, and and in Jesus' time too, like the signs that he gave, the wonders that he performed uh right before the eyes of the thousands, providing food, uh multiplying the fish and the bread. And um these two are things that people in the Old Testament times and the New Testament times wrestle with. And where do you place your faith? That is one of the biggest questions that we need to answer in our lives.

Generous Giving As True Worship

Prayers For A Steadfast Heart

SPEAKER_01 9:09

Well, that's what it says exactly there in verse 42. They did not remember his power or the day when he redeemed them from the foe, when he performed his signs in Egypt and his marvels in the fields of Zoan. So they they did not remember, they did not believe, they did not trust in the Lord. That's again what verse 22 says, they did not believe in God, they did not trust his saving power. Verse 32, despite his wonders, they did not believe, they did not remember. And so we just need to evaluate and uh perhaps really sift through just the sin struggles that we have in our lives. Could they be tethered to, much like the Israelites, unbelief and a lack of trust in God? We see that that is one of the driving factors here for their sin, for their rebellion, and ultimately what led them to honor God with their lips, but their heart be far from him. And again, God desired the hearts of the nation of Israel. And we see that here, even in Exodus 35, with the contributions for the tabernacle. If you read through this, you'll notice the continued repeated phrase of this idea of whoever is of a generous heart, this is verse five. Let him bring the Lord's contribution, those who are willful. Verse 22. So they came, both men and women, all who were of a willing heart, brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, those who were willing, those who were um generous. And even in verse 29, all the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded to by Moses to be done, brought it as a free will offering to the Lord. So we see that God has has always been after the heart. Man looks on the outward appearance, the Lord looks at the heart. In Exodus 35, these uh contributions that were necessary for all the precious materials for the construction of the tabernacle. God did not force the Israelites to give to that. He did not simply just command them uh to provide for that. He he basically wanted those who had a generous heart. And we see that mirrored in the New Testament as well. What Paul talks about in Corinthians that God loves a cheerful giver. And why is that? Well, because God is has has always been concerned with the heart. Even Jesus in Matthew 5, we talked about this on Sunday. Um, he says, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Uh, what happens upon our regeneration in Christ? We are given a new heart. And what does Jesus say? It defiles a person. It's not what goes into them, but what comes out of them, out of the heart, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So God has always targeted the heart. And even here in Exodus 35, God wanted those who were generous, those who were moved in their heart, those who had willing hearts as a free will offering, as an act of worship to the Lord. He wanted his people uh to willingly and gladly bring their precious metals and materials uh to uh Aaron and to Moses for the construction of the tabernacle as an act of worship. And I think that does kind of dovetail well with what Paul talks about in Romans 12, uh, to present our bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God, which is our reasonable act of worship, our reasonable act of service, as it's also translated. So God cares about the heart, he cares about how we worship him, he desires a heart that longs to please the Lord, that is generous in nature. God loves a cheerful giver. We see that in Exodus and the contribution of the tabernacle. We see that in the New Testament as it pertains to giving in the context of a local church for the good of that church and even the good of other local churches, as there's an offering being taken up for the church in Jerusalem. Um, God wants those who have a willing heart to willingly offer sacrificially their giving or their sac their time, their and their talents, whatever, uh sacrificially giving those things for worship of him and ultimately to glorify him. So in Psalm 78 and in Exodus 35, we see this idea of God's after the heart.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

And what a great prayer request to the Lord individually and collectively as a church. Uh, if if we're if we're wise, if we're if we're Christians that are leaning in, I think it would be wise for us to ask the Lord, continue, uh continue to stir up my heart to please you, continue, continue to keep me close, help me to uh obey you. God, help me to uh desire the things that that you approve of. Help me to uh to pursue good works that would be pleasing and honorable to you because I want to be where you are. I I want to do the things that that you approve of. I I want to be a faithful, um, I want to be a faithful Christian and I want to desire the things that are good. I want to yes, avoid and and resist temptation. I I want to not be led into temptation. I want to turn and run from that, but I also want to run to you, God. So help me to um help me to desire what you approve of. God help me to uh have a heart that genuinely seeks to please you with the ways that I think, uh, the ways that I speak and the things that I choose to do in my day-to-day life.

Wrap Up And Church Info

SPEAKER_01 14:48

Yeah, so as you read Exodus 35 and Psalm 78 today, remember God is after the heart. He wants a people who love him with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love their neighbor as their self, and see, even in Exodus 35, with the contribution of something as important as the tabernacle, his dwelling place with his people, uh, he wanted those who were of a generous heart, who were of a willing heart, who out of a free will offering, just as an act of worship to God, uh, were willing to give sacrificially as a way to honor the Lord. Well, thank you so much for joining us today on the Lamp and Light Bible Reading Podcast. For more information about Compass Bible Church South Valley, visit compass Bible SV.org. Keep reading, keep growing. God's word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path.