Psalms 78
78
PSALM 78
An instruction. Of Asaph.
1Give ear, O my people, to my law; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 2I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter riddles from of old, 3Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us: 4We will not hide them from their sons, shewing forth to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah, and his strength, and his marvellous works which he hath done. 5For he 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; 6That the generation to come might know them, the children that should be born; that they might rise up and tell them to their children, 7And that they might set their hope in God#GodHebrew: Elohim and not forget the works of ·God#GodHebrew: El but observe his commandments; 8And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that prepared not their heart, and whose spirit was not stedfast with ·God#GodHebrew: El
9The sons of Ephraim, armed bowmen, turned back in the day of battle. 10They kept not the covenant of God#GodHebrew: Elohim and refused to walk in his law; 11And forgot his doings, and his marvellous works which he had shewn them. 12In the sight of their fathers had he done wonders, in the land of Egypt, the field of Zoan. 13He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through; and made the waters to stand as a heap; 14And he led them with a cloud in the daytime, and all the night with the light of fire. 15He clave rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the depths, abundantly; 16And he brought streams out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers. 17Yet they still went on sinning against him, provoking the Most High in the desert; 18And they tempted ·God#GodHebrew: El in their heart, by asking meat for their lust; 19And they spoke against God#GodHebrew: Elohim they said, Is ·God#GodHebrew: El able to prepare a table in the wilderness? 20Behold, he smote the rock, and waters gushed out, and streams overflowed; is he able to give bread also, or provide flesh for his people? 21Therefore Jehovah heard, and was wroth; and fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also went up against Israel: 22Because they believed not in God#GodHebrew: Elohim and confided not in his salvation; 23Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and had opened the doors of the heavens, 24And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them the corn of the heavens. 25Man did eat the bread of the mighty; he sent them provision to the full. 26He caused the east wind to rise in the heavens, and by his strength he brought the south wind; 27And he rained flesh upon them as dust, and feathered fowl as the sand of the seas, 28And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations: 29And they did eat, and were well filled; for that they lusted after, he brought to them. 30They were not alienated from their lust, their meat was yet in their mouths, 31When the anger of God#GodHebrew: Elohim went up against them; and he slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel. 32For all this, they sinned still, and believed not in his marvellous works; 33And he consumed their days in vanity, and their years in terror. 34When he slew them, then they sought him, and returned and sought early after ·God#GodHebrew: El 35And they remembered that God#GodHebrew: Elohim was their rock, and ·God#GodHebrew: El the Most High, their redeemer. 36But they flattered him with their mouth, and lied unto him with their tongue; 37For their heart was not firm toward him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant. 38But he was merciful: he forgave the iniquity, and destroyed them not; but many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his fury: 39And he remembered that they were flesh, a breath that passeth away and cometh not again.
40How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! 41And they turned again and tempted ·God#GodHebrew: El and grieved the Holy One of Israel. 42They remembered not his hand, the day when he delivered them from the oppressor, 43How he set his signs in Egypt, and his miracles in the field of Zoan; 44And turned their rivers into blood, and their streams, that they could not drink; 45He sent dog-flies among them, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them; 46And he gave their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labour unto the locust; 47He killed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with hail-stones; 48And he delivered up their cattle to the hail, and their flocks to thunderbolts. 49He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and distress, — a mission of angels of woes. 50He made a way for his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence; 51And he smote all the firstborn in Egypt, the first-fruits of their vigour in the tents of Ham. 52And he made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock; 53And he led them safely, so that they were without fear; and the sea covered their enemies. 54And he brought them to his holy border, this mountain, which his right hand purchased; 55And he drove out the nations before them, and allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. 56But they tempted and provoked God#GodHebrew: Elohim the Most High, and kept not his testimonies, 57And they drew back and dealt treacherously like their fathers: they turned like a deceitful bow. 58And they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. 59God heard, and was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: 60And he forsook the tabernacle at Shiloh, the tent where he had dwelt among men, 61And gave his strength into captivity, and his glory into the hand of the oppressor; 62And delivered up his people unto the sword, and was very wroth with his inheritance: 63The fire consumed their young men, and their maidens were not praised in nuptial song; 64Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation. 65Then the Lord awoke as one out of sleep, like a mighty man that shouteth aloud by reason of wine; 66And he smote his adversaries in the hinder part, and put them to everlasting reproach. 67And he rejected the tent of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim, 68But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved; 69And he built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which he hath founded for ever. 70And he chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: 71From following the suckling-ewes, he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. 72And he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and led them by the skilfulness of his hands.
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Psalms 78: DARBY
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
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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