Psalms 78
78
PSALM 78
Common Meter: 8,6,8,6
Maschil of Asaph.
1Attend, my people, to my law;
thereto give thou an ear;
The words that from my mouth proceed
attentively do hear.
2My mouth shall speak a parable,
and sayings dark of old;
3The same which we have heard and known,
and us our fathers told.
4We also will them not conceal
from their posterity;
Them to the generation
to come declare will we:
The praises of the Lord our God,
and his almighty strength,
The wondrous works that he hath done,
we will shew forth at length.
5His testimony and his law
in Isr'el he did place,
And charg'd our fathers it to show
to their succeeding race;
6That so the race which was to come
might well them learn and know;
And sons unborn, who should arise,
might to their sons them show:
7That they might set their hope in God,
and suffer not to fall
His mighty works out of their mind,
but keep his precepts all:
8And might not, like their fathers, be
a stiff rebellious race;
A race not right in heart; with God
whose sp'rit not stedfast was.
9The sons of Ephraim, who nor bows
nor other arms did lack,
When as the day of battle was,
they faintly turned back.
10They brake God's cov'nant,
and refus'd in his commands to go;
11His works and wonders they forgot,
which he to them did show.
12Things marvellous he brought to pass;
their fathers them beheld
Within the land of Egypt done,
yea, ev'n in Zoan's field.
13By him divided was the sea,
he caus'd them through to pass;
And made the waters so to stand,
as like an heap it was.
14With cloud by day, with light of fire
all night, he did them guide.
15In desert rocks he clave,
and drink, as from great depths, supply'd.
16He from the rock brought streams, like floods
made waters to run down.
17Yet sinning more, in desert they
provok'd the Highest One.
18For in their heart they tempted God,
and, speaking with mistrust,
They greedily did meat require
to satisfy their lust.
19Against the Lord himself they spake,
and, murmuring, said thus,
A table in the wilderness
can God prepare for us?
20Behold, he smote the rock, and thence
came streams and waters great;
But can he give his people bread?
and send them flesh to eat?
21The Lord did hear, and waxed wroth;
so kindled was a flame
'Gainst Jacob, and 'gainst Israel
up indignation came.
22For they believ'd not God, nor trust
in his salvation had;
23Though clouds above he did command,
and heav'n's doors open made,
24And manna rain'd on them,
and gave them corn of heav'n to eat.
25Man angels' food did eat; to them
he to the full sent meat.
26And in the heaven he did cause
an eastern wind to blow;
And by his power he let out
the southern wind to go.
27Then flesh as thick as dust he made
to rain down them among;
And feather'd fowls, like as the sand
which li'th the shore along.
28At his command amidst their camp
these show'rs of flesh down fell,
All round about the tabernacles
and tents where they did dwell.
29So they did eat abundantly,
and had of meat their fill;
For he did give to them what was
their own desire and will.
30They from their lust had not estrang'd
their heart and their desire;
But while the meat was in their mouths,
which they did so require,
31God's wrath upon them came,
and slew the fattest of them all;
So that the choice of Israel,
o'erthrown by death, did fall.
32Yet, notwithstanding of all this,
they sinned still the more;
And though he had great wonders wrought,
believ'd him not therefore:
33Wherefore their days in vanity
he did consume and waste;
And by his wrath their wretched years
away in trouble past.
34But when he slew them, then they did
to seek him shew desire;
Yea, they return'd, and after God
right early did enquire.
35And that the Lord had been their Rock,
they did remember then;
Ev'n that the high almighty God
had their Redeemer been.
36Yet with their mouth they flatter'd him,
and spake but feignedly;
And they unto the God of truth
with their false tongues did lie.
37For though their words were good, their heart
with him was not sincere;
Unstedfast and perfidious
they in his cov'nant were.
38But, full of pity, he forgave
their sin, them did not slay;
Nor stirr'd up all his wrath, but oft
his anger turn'd away.
39For that they were but fading flesh
to mind he did recall;
A wind that passeth soon away,
and not returns at all.
40How often did they him provoke
within the wilderness!
And in the desert did him grieve
with their rebelliousness!
41Yea, turning back, they tempted God,
and limits set upon
Him, who in midst of Isr'el is
the only Holy One.
42They did not call to mind his pow'r,
nor yet the day when he
Deliver'd them out of the hand
of their fierce enemy;
43Nor how great signs in Egypt land
he openly had wrought;
What miracles in Zoan's field
his hand to pass had brought.
44How lakes and rivers ev'ry where
he turned into blood;
So that nor man nor beast could drink
of standing lake or flood.
45He brought among them swarms of flies,
which did them sore annoy;
And divers kinds of filthy frogs
he sent them to destroy.
46He to the caterpillar gave
the fruits of all their soil;
Their labours he deliver'd up
unto the locusts' spoil.
47Their vines with hail, their sycamores
he with the frost did blast:
48Their beasts to hail he gave; their flocks
hot thunderbolts did waste.
49Fierce burning wrath he on them cast,
and indignation strong,
And troubles sore, by sending forth
ill angels them among.
50He to his wrath made way; their soul
from death he did not save;
But over to the pestilence
the lives of them he gave.
51In Egypt land the first-born all
he smote down ev'ry where;
Among the tents of Ham, ev'n these
chief of their strength that were.
52But his own people, like to sheep,
thence to go forth he made;
And he, amidst the wilderness,
them, as a flock, did lead.
53And he them safely on did lead,
so that they did not fear;
Whereas their en'mies by the sea
quite overwhelmed were.
54To borders of his sanctuary
the Lord his people led,
Ev'n to the mount which his right hand
for them had purchased.
55The nations of Canaan,
by his almighty hand,
Before their face he did expel
out of their native land;
Which for inheritance to them
by line he did divide,
And made the tribes of Israel
within their tents abide.
56Yet God most high they did provoke,
and tempted ever still;
And to observe his testimonies
did not incline their will:
57But, like their fathers, turned back,
and dealt unfaithfully:
Aside they turned, like a bow
that shoots deceitfully.
58For they to anger did provoke
him with their places high;
And with their graven images
mov'd him to jealousy.
59When God heard this, he waxed wroth,
and much loath'd Isr'el then:
60So Shiloh's tent he left, the tent
which he had plac'd with men.
61And he his strength delivered
into captivity;
He left his glory in the hand
of his proud enemy.
62His people also he gave o'er
unto the sword's fierce rage:
So sore his wrath inflamed was
against his heritage.
63The fire consum'd their choice young men;
their maids no marriage had;
64And when their priests fell by the sword,
their wives no mourning made.
65But then the Lord arose, as one
that doth from sleep awake;
And like a giant that, by wine
refresh'd, a shout doth make:
66Upon his en'mies' hinder parts
he made his stroke to fall;
And so upon them he did put
a shame perpetual.
67Moreover, he the tabernacle
of Joseph did refuse;
The mighty tribe of Ephraim
he would in no wise chuse:
68But he did chuse Jehudah's tribe
to be the rest above;
And of mount Sion he made choice,
which he so much did love.
69And he his sanctuary built
like to a palace high,
Like to the earth which he did found
to perpetuity.
70Of David, that his servant was,
he also choice did make,
And even from the folds of sheep
was pleased him to take:
71From waiting on the ewes with young,
he brought him forth to feed
Israel, his inheritance,
his people, Jacob's seed.
72So after the integrity
he of his heart them fed;
And by the good skill of his hands
them wisely governed.
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Psalms 78
78
Psalm 78
God’s Goodness and Israel’s Ingratitude
A Maskil of Asaph.
1 #
Isa 51.4
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 #
Mt 13.35
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3 #
Ps 44.1
things that we have heard and known,
that our ancestors have told us.
4 #
Ex 12.26; Ps 22.30 We will not hide them from their children;
we will tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might
and the wonders that he has done.
5 #
Deut 4.9
He established a decree in Jacob
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
to teach to their children,
6 #
Ps 102.18
that the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and rise up and tell them to their children,
7 #
Deut 6.12; 27.1 so that they should set their hope in God,
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;
8 #
v 37
; Ex 32.9; Ezek 20.18and that they should not be like their ancestors,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9 #
Judg 20.39; 1 Chr 12.2 The Ephraimites, armed with#78.9 Heb armed with shooting the bow,
turned back on the day of battle.
10 #
2 Kings 18.12; Ps 119.1 They did not keep God’s covenant
and refused to walk according to his law.
11 #
Ps 106.13
They forgot what he had done
and the miracles that he had shown them.
12 #
Ex 7—12; Isa 19.11, 13; Ezek 30.14 In the sight of their ancestors he worked marvels
in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
13 #
Ex 14.21; 15.8 He divided the sea and let them pass through it
and made the waters stand like a heap.
14 #
Ex 13.21
In the daytime he led them with a cloud
and all night long with a fiery light.
15 #
Num 20.11; 1 Cor 10.4 He split rocks open in the wilderness
and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
16He made streams come out of the rock
and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
17 #
Deut 9.22; Heb 3.16 Yet they sinned still more against him,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18 #
Ex 16.2; 1 Cor 10.9 They tested God in their heart
by demanding the food they craved.
19 #
Num 11.4
They spoke against God, saying,
“Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
20 #
Num 20.11
Even though he struck the rock so that water gushed out
and torrents overflowed,
can he also give bread
or provide meat for his people?”
21 #
Num 11.1
Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of rage;
a fire was kindled against Jacob,
his anger mounted against Israel,
22 #
Heb 3.18
because they had no faith in God
and did not trust his saving power.
23 #
Mal 3.10
Yet he commanded the skies above
and opened the doors of heaven;
24 #
Jn 6.31
he rained down on them manna to eat
and gave them the grain of heaven.
25Mortals ate of the bread of angels;
he sent them food in abundance.
26 #
Num 11.31
He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
and by his power he led out the south wind;
27 #
Ps 105.40
he rained flesh upon them like dust,
winged birds like the sand of the seas;
28he let them fall within their camp,
all around their dwellings.
29 #
Num 11.20
And they ate and were well filled,
for he gave them what they craved.
30But before they had satisfied their craving,
while the food was still in their mouths,
31 #
Num 11.33
the anger of God rose against them,
and he killed the strongest of them
and laid low the flower of Israel.
32 #
v 22
; Num 14; 16; 17In spite of all this they still sinned;
they did not believe in his wonders.
33 #
Num 14.29, 35 So he made their days vanish like a breath
and their years in terror.
34 #
Hos 5.15
When he killed them, they searched for him;
they repented and sought God earnestly.
35 #
Deut 32.4; Isa 41.14 They remembered that God was their rock,
the Most High God their redeemer.
36 #
Ex 32.7, 8; Ezek 33.31 But they flattered him with their mouths;
they lied to him with their tongues.
37Their heart was not steadfast toward him;
they were not true to his covenant.
38 #
Num 14.18; 1 Kings 21.29 Yet he, being compassionate,
forgave their iniquity
and did not destroy them;
often he restrained his anger
and did not stir up all his wrath.
39 #
Job 7.7, 16; Ps 103.14 He remembered that they were but flesh,
a wind that passes and does not come again.
40 #
Ps 95.8–10; Heb 3.16 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
and grieved him in the desert!
41 #
Num 14.22; Ps 89.18 They tested God again and again
and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42They did not keep in mind his power
or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,
43when he displayed his signs in Egypt
and his miracles in the fields of Zoan.
44 #
Ex 7.20
He turned their rivers to blood,
so that they could not drink of their streams.
45 #
Ex 8.24; Ps 105.31 He sent among them swarms of flies that devoured them
and frogs that destroyed them.
46He gave their crops to the caterpillar
and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47 #
Ex 9.25
He destroyed their vines with hail
and their sycamores with frost.
48 #
Ex 9.23
He gave over their cattle to the hail
and their flocks to thunderbolts.
49 #
Ex 15.7
He let loose on them his fierce anger,
wrath, indignation, and distress,
a company of destroying angels.
50He made a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death
but gave their lives over to the plague.
51 #
Ex 12.29; Ps 106.22 He struck all the firstborn in Egypt,
the first issue of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52 #
Ps 77.20
Then he led out his people like sheep
and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 #
Ex 14.19, 27 He led them in safety so that they were not afraid,
but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 #
Ex 15.17; Ps 44.3 And he brought them to his holy hill,
to the mountain that his right hand had won.
55 #
Ps 44.2; 105.11 He drove out nations before them;
he apportioned them for a possession
and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
56 #
vv 18, 40
Yet they tested the Most High God
and rebelled against him.
They did not observe his decrees
57 #
Ezek 20.27, 28; Hos 7.16 but turned away and were faithless like their ancestors;
they twisted like a treacherous bow.
58 #
Deut 12.2; 32.16, 21; 1 Kings 11.7 For they provoked him to anger with their high places;
they moved him to jealousy with their idols.
59When God heard, he was full of wrath,
and he utterly rejected Israel.
60 #
1 Sam 4.11
He abandoned his dwelling at Shiloh,
the tent where he dwelt among mortals,
61 #
Judg 18.30
and delivered his power to captivity,
his glory to the hand of the foe.
62 #
1 Sam 4.10
He gave his people to the sword
and vented his wrath on his heritage.
63 #
Jer 7.34
Fire devoured their young men,
and their young women had no marriage song.
64 #
1 Sam 22.18; Job 27.15 Their priests fell by the sword,
and their widows made no lamentation.
65 #
Isa 42.13
Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
like a warrior shouting because of wine.
66 #
1 Sam 5.6
He put his adversaries to rout;
he put them to everlasting disgrace.
67He rejected the tent of Joseph;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 #
Ps 87.2
but he chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which he loves.
69 #
1 Kings 6
He built his sanctuary like the high heavens,
like the earth, which he has founded forever.
70 #
1 Sam 16.11, 12 He chose his servant David
and took him from the sheepfolds;
71 #
Gen 33.13; 2 Sam 7.8; 1 Chr 11.2 from tending the nursing ewes he brought him
to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,
of Israel, his inheritance.
72 #
1 Kings 9.4
With upright heart he tended them
and guided them with skillful hand.
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New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, copyright © 2021 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.