Psalms 78
78
Lessons from History
Asaph’s poetic song of instruction
1Beloved ones, listen to this instruction.
Open your heart to the revelation
of this mystery that I share with you.
2A parable and a proverb are hidden in what I say—
an intriguing riddle # 78:2 The Hebrew word for “riddle” (chidoth) comes from the verb meaning “to tie a knot.” It is something that must be untied and unraveled by the Spirit of God. One of these riddles or wordplays is the name of Jesus hidden in plain sight (see v. 22 and footnote). from the past.
3-4We’ve heard true stories from our fathers about our rich heritage.
We will continue to tell our children
and not hide from the rising generation
the great marvels of our God—
his miracles and power that have brought us all this far.
5The story of Israel is a lesson in God’s ways.
He established decrees for Jacob and established the law in Israel,
and he commanded our forefathers to teach them to their children.
6For perpetuity God’s ways will be passed down
from one generation to the next, even to those not yet born.
7In this way, every generation will set its hope in God
and not forget his wonderful works but keep his commandments.
8By following his ways they will break the past bondage
of their fickle fathers, who were a stubborn, rebellious generation
and whose spirits strayed from the eternal God.
They refused to love him with all their hearts.
9Take, for example, the sons of Ephraim.
Though they were all equipped warriors, each with weapons,
when the battle began they retreated and ran away in fear.
10They didn’t really believe the promises of God;
they refused to trust him and move forward in faith.
11They forgot his wonderful works and the miracles of the past,
12even their exodus from Egypt, the epic miracle of his might.
They forgot the glories of his power at the place of passing over. # 78:12 Or “the fields of Zoan.” Zoan means “crossing place” or “place of departure.” (See v. 43.)
13God split the sea wide open, and
the waters stood at attention on either side
as the people passed on through!
14By day the moving glory-cloud led them forward.
And all through the night the fire-cloud stood as a sentry of light.
15-16In the days of desert dryness, he split open the mighty rock,
and the waters flowed like a river before their very eyes.
He gave them all they wanted to drink from his living springs.
17Yet they kept their rebellion alive against God Most High,
and their sins against God continued to be counted.
18In their hearts they tested God just to get what they wanted,
asking for the food their hearts craved.
19-20Like spoiled children they grumbled against God,
demanding he prove his love by saying,
“Can’t God provide for us in this barren wilderness?
Will he give us food, or will he only give us water?
Where’s our meal?”
21Then God heard all their complaining and was furious!
His anger flared up against his people.
22For they turned away from faith and walked away in fear;
they failed to trust in his power to save # 78:22 The word for “save” looks and sounds like Yeshua (Jesus). them when he was near.
23-24Still he spoke on their behalf, and the skies opened up;
the windows of heaven poured out food,
the mercy bread-manna.
The grain of grace fell from the clouds.
25Humans ate angels’ food—the meal of the mighty ones. # 78:25 The word for “angels” is ‘abirim which means “brave,” “noble,” or “strong.” The psalmist was saying that God gave them the best, most delicious food imaginable, a meal eaten by the mighty ones, and yet the people grew tired of it and began to complain and demanded some variety.
His grace gave them more than enough!
26-27The heavenly winds of miracle power blew in their favor,
and food rained down upon them;
succulent quail quieted their hunger as they ate all they wanted.
28Food fell from the skies, thick as clouds;
their provision floated down right in front of their eyes!
29He gave them all they desired, and they ate to their fill.
30-31But before they had even finished,
even with their food still in their mouths,
God’s fiery anger arose against them,
killing the finest of their mighty men.
32Yet in spite of all this, they kept right on sinning.
Even when they saw God’s marvels,
they refused to believe God could care for them.
33So God cut their lives short with sudden disaster,
with nothing to show for their lives but fear and failure.
34When he cared for them they ignored him,
but when he began to kill them, ending their lives in a moment,
they came running back to God, pleading for mercy.
35They remembered that God, the Mighty One,
was their strong protector,
the Hero-God who would come to their rescue.
36-37But their repentance lasted only as long as they were in danger;
they lied through their teeth to the true God of the Covenant.
So quickly they wandered away from his promises,
following God with their words and not their hearts!
Their worship was only flattery.
38But amazingly, God—so full of compassion—still forgave them.
He covered over their sins with his love,
refusing to destroy them all.
Over and over he held back his anger,
restraining wrath to show them mercy.
39He knew that they were made from mere dust—
frail, fragile, and short-lived, here today and gone tomorrow.
40How many times they rebelled in their desert days!
How they grieved him with their grumblings.
41Again and again they limited God, preventing him from blessing them.
Continually they turned back from him
and provoked # 78:41 The Hebrew verb for “provoked” is a hapax legomenon and comes from a root word for “marked.” It is as though Israel’s behavior wounded the heart of God. the Holy One of Israel!
42They forgot his great love, how he took them by his hand,
and with redemption’s kiss he delivered them from their enemies.
43They disregarded all the epic signs and marvels they saw
when they escaped from Egypt’s bondage.
They forgot the judgment of the plagues that set them free.
44God turned their rivers into blood, leaving the people thirsty.
45He sent them vast swarms of filthy flies that sucked their blood.
He sent hordes of frogs, ruining their lives.
46Grasshoppers consumed all their crops.
47Every garden and every orchard
was flattened with blasts of hailstones,
their fruit trees ruined by a killing frost.
48Even their cattle fell prey, pounded by the falling hail;
their livestock were struck with bolts of lightning.
49Finally, he unleashed upon them the fierceness of his anger.
Such fury!
He sent them sorrow and devastating trouble
by his mighty band of destroying angels;
messengers of death were dispatched against them.
50-51He lifted his mercy and let loose his fearful anger
and did not spare their lives.
He released the judgment-plagues to rage through their land.
God struck down in death all the firstborn sons of Egypt—
the pride and joy of each family.
52Then, like a shepherd leading his sheep, God led his people
out of tyranny, guiding them through the wilderness like a flock.
53Safely and carefully God led them out, with nothing to fear.
But their enemies he led into the sea.
He took care of them there once and for all!
54Eventually God brought his people to the Holy Land,
to a land of hills that he had prepared for them. # 78:54 The Aramaic reads “He brought them to the border of his holiness, the mountain possessed by his right hand.”
55He drove out and scattered all the peoples occupying the land,
staking out an inheritance, a portion for each of Israel’s tribes.
56Yet for all of this, they still rebelled and refused to follow his ways,
provoking to anger the God Most High.
57-58Like traitors turning back, they forsook him.
They were even worse than their fathers!
They became treacherous deceivers, crooked and corrupt,
and worshiped false gods in the high places,
bringing low the name of God with every idol they erected.
No wonder he was filled with jealousy and furious with anger!
59Enraged with anger, God turned his wrath on them,
and he rejected his people with disgust.
60God walked away from them and left his dwelling place at Shiloh,
abandoning the place where he had lived among them,
61allowing his emblem of strength, his glory-ark, to be captured.
Enemies stole the very source of Israel’s power.
62God vented his rage, allowing his people to be butchered
when they went out to battle,
for his anger was intense against his very own.
63Their young men fell on the battlefield and never came back.
Their daughters never heard their wedding songs,
since there was no one left to marry!
64Their priests were slaughtered and their widows were killed
before they had time to weep.
65Then all at once the Almighty awakened
as though he had been asleep.
Like a mighty man he arose, roaring into action!
66He blasted into battle, driving back every foe,
defeating them and disgracing them for time and eternity.
67He rejected Joseph’s family, the tribe of Ephraim.
68He chose instead the tribe of Judah # 78:68 The place of God’s dwelling was moved from the land of Ephraim (Shiloh) to the land of Judah (Jerusalem).
and Mount Zion, which he loves.
69There he built his towering temple,
strong and enduring as the earth itself.
70God also chose his beloved one, David.
He promoted him from caring for sheep
and made him his prophetic servant.
71-72God prepared David and took this gentle shepherd-king
and presented him before the people
as the one who would love and care for them
with integrity, a pure heart, and the anointing
to lead Israel, his holy inheritance.
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Psalms 78: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationPsalms 78
78
God’s Kindness to Rebellious Israel
A #Ps. 74:titleContemplation 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 #Matt. 13:34, 35parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
3Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
4#Ex. 12:26, 27; Deut. 4:9; 6:7; Job 15:18; Is. 38:19; Joel 1:3We will not hide them from their children,
#Ex. 13:8, 14Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
5For #Ps. 147:19He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That #Deut. 4:9; 11:19they should make them known to their children;
6#Ps. 102:18That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,
7That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;
8And #2 Kin. 17:14; 2 Chr. 30:7; Ezek. 20:18may not be like their fathers,
#Ex. 32:9; Deut. 9:7, 24; 31:27; Judg. 2:19; Is. 30:9A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation #Job 11:13; Ps. 78:37that did not set its heart aright,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,
Turned back in the day of battle.
10#2 Kin. 17:15They did not keep the covenant of God;
They refused to walk in His law,
11And #Ps. 106:13forgot His works
And His wonders that He had shown them.
12#Ex. 7—12Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers,
In the land of Egypt, #Num. 13:22; Is. 19:11; 30:4; Ezek. 30:14in the field of Zoan.
13#Ex. 14:21He divided the sea and caused them to pass through;
And #Ex. 15:8He made the waters stand up like a heap.
14#Ex. 13:21In the daytime also He led them with the cloud,
And all the night with a light of fire.
15#Ex. 17:6; Num. 20:11; Is. 48:21; (1 Cor. 10:4)He split the rocks in the wilderness,
And gave them drink in abundance like the depths.
16He also brought #Num. 20:8, 10, 11streams out of the rock,
And caused waters to run down like rivers.
17But they sinned even more against Him
By #Deut. 9:22; Is. 63:10; Heb. 3:16rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.
18And #Ex. 16:2they tested God in their heart
By asking for the food of their fancy.
19#Ex. 16:3; Num. 11:4; 20:3; 21:5Yes, they spoke against God:
They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20#Num. 20:11Behold, He struck the rock,
So that the waters gushed out,
And the streams overflowed.
Can He give bread also?
Can He provide meat for His people?”
21Therefore the Lord heard this and #Num. 11:1was furious;
So a fire was kindled against Jacob,
And anger also came up against Israel,
22Because they #Deut. 1:32; 9:23; (Heb. 3:18)did not believe in God,
And did not trust in His salvation.
23Yet He had commanded the clouds above,
#Gen. 7:11; (Mal. 3:10)And opened the doors of heaven,
24#Ex. 16:4Had rained down manna on them to eat,
And given them of the bread of #John 6:31heaven.
25Men ate angels’ food;
He sent them food to the full.
26#Num. 11:31He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens;
And by His power He brought in the south wind.
27He also rained meat on them like the dust,
Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas;
28And He let them fall in the midst of their camp,
All around their dwellings.
29#Num. 11:19, 20So they ate and were well filled,
For He gave them their own desire.
30They were not deprived of their craving;
But #Num. 11:33while their food was still in their mouths,
31The wrath of God came against them,
And slew the stoutest of them,
And struck down the choice men of Israel.
32In spite of this #Num. 14:16, 17they still sinned,
And #Num. 14:11; Ps. 78:11, 22did not believe in His wondrous works.
33#Num. 14:29, 35Therefore their days He consumed in futility,
And their years in fear.
34#Num. 21:7; (Hos. 5:15)When He slew them, then they sought Him;
And they returned and sought earnestly for God.
35Then they remembered that #(Deut. 32:4, 15)God was their rock,
And the Most High God #(Ex. 15:13); Deut. 7:8; Is. 41:14; 44:6; 63:9their Redeemer.
36Nevertheless they #Ex. 24:7, 8; Ezek. 33:31flattered Him with their mouth,
And they lied to Him with their tongue;
37For their heart was not steadfast with Him,
Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
38#(Num. 14:18–20)But He, being full of #Ex. 34:6compassion, forgave their iniquity,
And did not destroy them.
Yes, many a time #(Is. 48:9)He turned His anger away,
And #1 Kin. 21:29did not stir up all His wrath;
39For #Job 10:9; Ps. 103:14–16He remembered #John 3:6that they were but flesh,
#(Job 7:7, 16; James 4:14)A breath that passes away and does not come again.
40How often they #Ps. 95:8–10; (Eph. 4:30); Heb. 3:16provoked Him in the wilderness,
And grieved Him in the desert!
41Yes, #Num. 14:22; Deut. 6:16again and again they tempted God,
And limited the Holy One of Israel.
42They did not remember His power:
The day when He redeemed them from the enemy,
43When He worked His signs in Egypt,
And His wonders in the field of Zoan;
44#Ex. 7:20Turned their rivers into blood,
And their streams, that they could not drink.
45#Ex. 8:24He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them,
And #Ex. 8:6frogs, which destroyed them.
46He also gave their crops to the caterpillar,
And their labor to the #Ex. 10:14locust.
47#Ex. 9:23–25He destroyed their vines with hail,
And their sycamore trees with frost.
48He also gave up their #Ex. 9:19cattle to the hail,
And their flocks to fiery lightning.
49He cast on them the fierceness of His anger,
Wrath, indignation, and trouble,
By sending angels of destruction among them.
50He made a path for His anger;
He did not spare their soul from death,
But gave their life over to the plague,
51And destroyed all the #Ex. 12:29, 30firstborn in Egypt,
The first of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52But He #Ps. 77:20made His own people go forth like sheep,
And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;
53And He #Ex. 14:19, 20led them on safely, so that they did not fear;
But the sea #Ex. 14:27, 28overwhelmed their enemies.
54And He brought them to His #Ex. 15:17holy border,
This mountain #Ps. 44:3which His right hand had acquired.
55#Josh. 11:16–23; Ps. 44:2He also drove out the nations before them,
#Josh. 13:7; 19:51; 23:4Allotted them an inheritance by survey,
And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
56#Judg. 2:11–13Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God,
And did not keep His testimonies,
57But #Ezek. 20:27, 28turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers;
They were turned aside #Hos. 7:16like a deceitful bow.
58#Deut. 32:16, 21; Judg. 2:12; 1 Kin. 14:9; Is. 65:3For they provoked Him to anger with their #Deut. 12:2high places,
And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.
59When God heard this, He was furious,
And greatly abhorred Israel,
60#1 Sam. 4:11; Jer. 7:12–14; 26:6–9So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,
The tent He had placed among men,
61#Judg. 18:30And delivered His strength into captivity,
And His glory into the enemy’s hand.
62#Judg. 20:21; 1 Sam. 4:10He also gave His people over to the sword,
And was furious with His inheritance.
63The fire consumed their young men,
And #Jer. 7:34; 16:9; 25:10their maidens were not given in marriage.
64#1 Sam. 4:17; 22:18Their priests fell by the sword,
And #Job 27:15; Ezek. 24:23their widows made no lamentation.
65Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
#Is. 42:13Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine.
66And #1 Sam. 5:6He beat back His enemies;
He put them to a perpetual reproach.
67Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68But chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion #(Ps. 87:2)which He loved.
69And He built His #1 Kin. 6:1–38sanctuary like the heights,
Like the earth which He has established forever.
70#1 Sam. 16:11, 12; 2 Sam. 7:8He also chose David His servant,
And took him from the sheepfolds;
71From following #2 Sam. 7:8; (Is. 40:11)the ewes that had young He brought him,
#2 Sam. 5:2; 1 Chr. 11:2To shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel His inheritance.
72So he shepherded them according to the #1 Kin. 9:4integrity of his heart,
And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.