Psalms 78
78
A contemplation by Asaph.
1Hear my teaching, my people.
Turn your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable.
I will utter dark sayings of old,
3 which we have heard and known,
and our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children,
telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
his strength, and his wondrous deeds that he has done.
5 For he established a covenant in Jacob,
and appointed a teaching in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers,
that they should make them known to their children;
6 that the generation to come might know, even the children who should be born;
who should arise and tell their children,
7 that they might set their hope in God,
and not forget God’s deeds,
but keep his commandments,
8 and might not be as their fathers—
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation that didn’t make their hearts loyal,
whose spirit was not steadfast with God.
9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,
turned back in the day of battle.
10 They didn’t keep God’s covenant,
and refused to walk by his Torah.
11 They forgot his doings,
his wondrous deeds that he had shown them.
12 He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers,
in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13 He split the sea, and caused them to pass through.
He made the waters stand as a heap.
14 In the daytime he also led them with a cloud,
and all night with a light of fire.
15 He split rocks in the wilderness,
and gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.
16 He brought streams also out of the rock,
and caused waters to run down like rivers.
17 Yet they still went on to sin against him,
to rebel against the Most High in the desert.
18 They tempted God in their heart
by asking food according to their desire.
19Yes, they spoke against God.
They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20 Behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out,
and streams overflowed.
Can he give bread also?
Will he provide meat for his people?”
21 Therefore the LORD heard, and was angry.
A fire was kindled against Jacob,
anger also went up against Israel,
22 because they didn’t believe in God,
and didn’t trust in his salvation [yeshuat].
23Yet he commanded the skies above,
and opened the doors of heaven.
24 He rained down manna on them to eat,
and gave them food from the sky.
25Man ate the bread of angels.
He sent them food to the full.
26 He caused the east wind to blow in the sky.
By his power he guided the south wind.
27 He also rained meat on them as the dust,
winged birds as the sand of the seas.
28 He let them fall in the middle of their camp,
around their habitations.
29 So they ate, and were well filled.
He gave them their own desire.
30 They didn’t turn from their cravings.
Their food was yet in their mouths,
31 when the anger of God went up against them,
killed some of their strongest,
and struck down the young men of Israel.
32 For all this they still sinned,
and didn’t believe in his wondrous works.
33Therefore he consumed their days in vanity,
and their years in terror.
34 When he killed them, then they inquired after him.
They returned and sought God earnestly.
35 They remembered that God was their rock,
the Most High God, their redeemer.
36But they flattered him with their mouth,
and lied to him with their tongue.
37 For their heart was not right with him,
neither were they faithful in his covenant.
38 But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn’t destroy them.
Yes, many times he turned his anger away,
and didn’t stir up all his wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh,
a wind that passes away, and doesn’t come again.
40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness,
and grieved him in the desert!
41 They turned again and tempted God,
and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42 They didn’t remember his hand,
nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary;
43how he set his signs in Egypt,
his wonders in the field of Zoan,
44 he turned their rivers into blood,
and their streams, so that they could not drink.
45 He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them;
and frogs, which destroyed them.
46 He also gave their increase to the caterpillar,
and their labor to the locust.
47He destroyed their vines with hail,
their sycamore fig trees with frost.
48He also gave over their livestock to the hail,
and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
49 He threw on them the fierceness of his anger,
wrath, indignation, and trouble,
and a band of angels of evil.
50 He made a path for his anger.
He didn’t spare their soul from death,
but gave their life over to the pestilence,
51 and struck all the firstborn in Egypt,
the chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52 But he led out his own people like sheep,
and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 He led them safely, so that they weren’t afraid,
but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 He brought them to the border of his sanctuary,
to this mountain, which his right hand had taken.
55 He also drove out the nations before them,
allotted them for an inheritance by line,
and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
56 Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God,
and didn’t keep his testimonies,
57but turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers.
They were twisted like a deceitful bow.
58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places,
and moved him to jealousy with their engraved images.
59 When God heard this, he was angry,
and greatly abhorred Israel,
60so that he abandoned the tent of Shiloh,
the tent which he placed among men,
61 and delivered his strength into captivity,
his glory into the adversary’s hand.
62 He also gave his people over to the sword,
and was angry with his inheritance.
63Fire devoured their young men.
Their virgins had no wedding song.
64 Their priests fell by the sword,
and their widows couldn’t weep.
65Then the Lord awakened as one out of sleep,
like a mighty man who shouts by reason of wine.
66 He struck his adversaries backward.
He put them to a perpetual reproach.
67Moreover he rejected the tent of Joseph,
and didn’t choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68But chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion which he loved.
69 He built his sanctuary like the heights,
like the earth which he has established forever.
70 He also chose David his servant,
and took him from the sheepfolds;
71 from following the ewes that have their young,
he brought him to be the shepherd of Jacob, his people,
and Israel, his inheritance.
72So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart,
and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.
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Psalm 78
78
Tell the Coming Generation
A Maskil#78:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term of #Ps. 50, title Asaph.
1 # [Isa. 51:4]; See Ps. 49:1; 50:7 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2 # Cited Matt. 13:35; See Ps. 49:4 I will open my mouth #[Num. 21:27]in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3things that we have heard and known,
that our #See Ps. 44:1fathers have told us.
4We will not #Job 15:18 hide them from their children,
but #[Ex. 12:26, 27; 13:8, 14; Deut. 11:19; Josh. 4:6, 7; Joel 1:3] tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and #ver. 11, 32the wonders that he has done.
5He established #Ps. 19:7; [Ps. 81:5] a testimony in #Ps. 147:19Jacob
and appointed a law in #Ps. 147:19Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
6that #ver. 4; Ps. 102:18the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
7so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget #Ps. 77:12 the works of God,
but #Ps. 105:45keep his commandments;
8and that they should not be #2 Kgs. 17:14; 2 Chr. 30:7; Ezek. 20:18 like their fathers,
#
Ex. 32:9; 33:3; Deut. 9:7, 24; 31:27; Jer. 5:23 a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation #ver. 37; Job 11:13whose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9The Ephraimites, armed with#78:9 Hebrew armed and shooting the bow,
# ver. 57 turned back on the day of battle.
10They #[2 Kgs. 17:15]did not keep God’s covenant,
but refused to walk according to his law.
11They #See Ps. 106:13 forgot his works
and #ver. 4the wonders that he had shown them.
12In the sight of their fathers #ver. 43; See Ex. 7-12; Ps. 72:18 he performed wonders
in the land of Egypt, in #ver. 43; Num. 13:22; Isa. 19:11, 13; Ezek. 30:14the fields of Zoan.
13He #Ps. 136:13; Ex. 14:21 divided the sea and let them pass through it,
and made the waters #Ex. 15:8stand like a heap.
14 # See Ps. 105:39 In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
and all the night with a fiery light.
15He #ver. 20; Ps. 105:41; 114:8; Ex. 17:6; Isa. 48:21split rocks in the wilderness
and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
16He made streams come out of #Num. 20:8, 10, 11the rock
and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
17Yet they sinned still more against him,
# ver. 40, 56; Deut. 9:22; Isa. 63:10 rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18They #ver. 41, 56; Ps. 95:9; 106:14; Deut. 6:16; 1 Cor. 10:9tested God in their heart
by demanding the food they craved.
19They spoke against God, saying,
# [Ex. 16:3; Num. 11:4; 20:3; 21:5] “Can God #See Ps. 23:5spread a table in the wilderness?
20 # ver. 15, 16 He struck the rock so that water gushed out
and streams overflowed.
Can he also give bread
or provide meat for his people?”
21Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath;
#
Num. 11:1
a fire was kindled against Jacob;
his anger rose against Israel,
22because they #ver. 8, 32, 37did not believe in God
and did not trust his saving power.
23Yet he commanded the skies above
and #Gen. 7:11; [Mal. 3:10]opened the doors of heaven,
24and he #Ex. 16:4 rained down on them manna to eat
and gave them #Ps. 105:40; [John 6:31]the grain of heaven.
25Man ate of the bread of #Ps. 103:20 the angels;
he sent them food #[ver. 29]in abundance.
26He #Num. 11:31caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
and by his power he led out the south wind;
27he rained meat on them like #[Gen. 13:16] dust,
winged birds like #[Gen. 22:17]the sand of the seas;
28he #Ex. 16:13; Num. 11:31let them fall in the midst of their camp,
all around their dwellings.
29And they #Num. 11:19, 20 ate and were well filled,
for he gave them what they #Num. 11:4, 34craved.
30But before they had satisfied their craving,
#
Num. 11:33; [Job 20:23] while the food was still in their mouths,
31the anger of God rose against them,
and he killed #Isa. 10:16 the strongest of them
and laid low #ver. 63the young men of Israel.
32In spite of all this, they #See Num. 14; 16; 17 still sinned;
# ver. 22; Num. 14:11 despite his wonders, they did not believe.
33So he made #Num. 14:29, 35; 26:64, 65 their days #Ps. 39:5vanish like#78:33 Hebrew in a breath,#78:33 Or vapor
and their years in terror.
34When he killed them, they #Hos. 5:15sought him;
they repented and sought God earnestly.
35They remembered that God was their #Deut. 32:4, 15, 31 rock,
the Most High God their #Ex. 15:13; See Ps. 74:2redeemer.
36But they #Isa. 29:13; Ezek. 33:31 flattered him with their mouths;
they #Isa. 57:11lied to him with their tongues.
37Their #ver. 8 heart was not #Ps. 51:10steadfast toward him;
they were not faithful to his covenant.
38Yet he, being #Ex. 34:6 compassionate,
#
Num. 14:20
atoned for their iniquity
and did not destroy them;
he restrained his anger often
and did not stir up all his wrath.
39He #[Ps. 103:14; Job 10:9] remembered that they were but #Gen. 6:3 flesh,
#
Job 7:7
a wind that passes and comes not again.
40How often they #ver. 17, 56; Ps. 107:11 rebelled against him in the wilderness
and #[Eph. 4:30] grieved him in #Ps. 106:14the desert!
41They #See ver. 18 tested God again and again
and provoked #See Ps. 71:22the Holy One of Israel.
42They #Judg. 8:34did not remember his power#78:42 Hebrew hand
or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,
43 # For ver. 43-51, see Ps. 105:27-36 when he performed his #Ex. 7:3; [Ps. 106:22]; Acts 7:36 signs in Egypt
and his #Ex. 4:21; 11:9, 10 marvels in #See ver. 12the fields of Zoan.
44He #See Ex. 7:17-24turned their rivers to blood,
so that they could not drink of their streams.
45He sent among them swarms of #See Ex. 8:21-24 flies, which devoured them,
and #See Ex. 8:2-14frogs, which destroyed them.
46He gave their crops to #See Ex. 10:12-15the destroying locust
and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47He destroyed their vines with #See Ex. 9:23-25hail
and their sycamores with frost.
48He gave over their #See Ex. 9:19-21cattle to the hail
and their flocks to thunderbolts.
49He let loose on them his burning anger,
wrath, indignation, and distress,
a company of #Ex. 12:13, 23; [2 Sam. 24:16]destroying angels.
50He made a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death,
but gave their lives over to the plague.
51He struck down every #Ex. 12:29; [Ps. 105:36; 135:8; 136:10] firstborn in Egypt,
the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of #Ps. 105:23, 27; 106:22Ham.
52Then he led out his people #See Ps. 77:20like sheep
and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 # [Ex. 14:19, 20] He led them in safety, so that they #[Ex. 14:13] were not afraid,
but #Ex. 14:27, 28; 15:10the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54And he brought them to his #Ex. 15:17 holy land,
#
Isa. 11:9; 57:13; [Ps. 68:16] to the mountain which his right hand had #Ps. 74:2won.
55He #See Ps. 44:2 drove out nations before them;
he #Josh. 23:4; [Ps. 135:12; 136:21, 22; Acts 13:19]apportioned them for a possession
and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
56Yet they #ver. 18; Judg. 2:11, 12 tested and #ver. 40rebelled against the Most High God
and did not keep his testimonies,
57but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers;
they twisted like #Hos. 7:16; [ver. 9]a deceitful bow.
58For they #Deut. 31:29 provoked him to anger with their #Lev. 26:30; Deut. 12:2; 1 Kgs. 11:7; 12:31; Ezek. 20:28 high places;
they #Num. 25:11; Deut. 32:16, 21; Judg. 2:12 moved him to jealousy with their #Deut. 7:5, 25; 12:3idols.
59When God heard, he was full of #ver. 62; Ps. 106:40; Deut. 3:26wrath,
and he utterly rejected Israel.
60He #1 Sam. 4:11; Jer. 7:12, 14; 26:6 forsook his dwelling at #Josh. 18:1Shiloh,
the tent where he dwelt among mankind,
61and delivered his #Ps. 132:8; [Ps. 63:2; 96:6] power to captivity,
his #[1 Sam. 4:21]glory to the hand of the foe.
62He #[1 Sam. 4:10] gave his people over to the sword
and #ver. 59vented his wrath on his heritage.
63 # [Ps. 79:5; 89:46] Fire devoured their young men,
and their young women had no #[Jer. 7:34]marriage song.
64Their #1 Sam. 4:11 priests fell by the sword,
and their #Job 27:15widows made no lamentation.
65Then the Lord #Ps. 73:20; See Ps. 35:23awoke as from sleep,
like a strong man shouting because of wine.
66And he #[Ps. 40:14]put his adversaries to rout;
he put them to everlasting shame.
67He rejected the tent of #Ps. 80:1; 81:5Joseph;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68but he chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which he #Ps. 87:2loves.
69He #See 1 Kgs. 6built his sanctuary like the high heavens,
like the earth, which he has founded forever.
70He #1 Sam. 16:12, 13chose David his servant
and took him from the sheepfolds;
71from #2 Sam. 7:8 following the nursing ewes he brought him
to #2 Sam. 5:2; [Ps. 28:9] shepherd Jacob his people,
Israel his #1 Sam. 10:1inheritance.
72With #Ps. 101:2; 1 Kgs. 9:4 upright heart he shepherded them
and #[Ps. 77:20]guided them with his skillful hand.
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