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
A contemplation by Asaph.
1Hear my teaching, my people.
Turn your ears to the words of my mouth.
2I will open my mouth in a parable.
I will utter dark sayings of old,
3which we have heard and known,
and our fathers have told us.
4We will not hide them from their children,
telling to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh,
his strength, and his wondrous deeds that he has done.
5For 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;
6that the generation to come might know, even the children who should be born;
who should arise and tell their children,
7that they might set their hope in God,
and not forget God’s deeds,
but keep his commandments,
8and 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.
9The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,
turned back in the day of battle.
10They didn’t keep God’s covenant,
and refused to walk in his law.
11They forgot his doings,
his wondrous deeds that he had shown them.
12He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers,
in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13He split the sea, and caused them to pass through.
He made the waters stand as a heap.
14In the daytime he also led them with a cloud,
and all night with a light of fire.
15He split rocks in the wilderness,
and gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.
16He brought streams also out of the rock,
and caused waters to run down like rivers.
17Yet they still went on to sin against him,
to rebel against the Most High in the desert.
18They 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?
20Behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out,
and streams overflowed.
Can he give bread also?
Will he provide meat for his people?”
21Therefore Yahweh heard, and was angry.
A fire was kindled against Jacob,
anger also went up against Israel,
22because they didn’t believe in God,
and didn’t trust in his salvation.
23Yet he commanded the skies above,
and opened the doors of heaven.
24He 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.
26He caused the east wind to blow in the sky.
By his power he guided the south wind.
27He also rained meat on them as the dust,
winged birds as the sand of the seas.
28He let them fall in the middle of their camp,
around their habitations.
29So they ate, and were well filled.
He gave them their own desire.
30They didn’t turn from their cravings.
Their food was yet in their mouths,
31when the anger of God went up against them,
killed some of their strongest,
and struck down the young men of Israel.
32For 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.
34When he killed them, then they inquired after him.
They returned and sought God earnestly.
35They 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.
37For their heart was not right with him,
neither were they faithful in his covenant.
38But 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.
39He remembered that they were but flesh,
a wind that passes away, and doesn’t come again.
40How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness,
and grieved him in the desert!
41They turned again and tempted God,
and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42They 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,
44he turned their rivers into blood,
and their streams, so that they could not drink.
45He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them;
and frogs, which destroyed them.
46He 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.
49He threw on them the fierceness of his anger,
wrath, indignation, and trouble,
and a band of angels of evil.
50He made a path for his anger.
He didn’t spare their soul from death,
but gave their life over to the pestilence,
51and struck all the firstborn in Egypt,
the chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52But he led out his own people like sheep,
and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53He led them safely, so that they weren’t afraid,
but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54He brought them to the border of his sanctuary,
to this mountain, which his right hand had taken.
55He 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.
56Yet 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.
58For they provoked him to anger with their high places,
and moved him to jealousy with their engraved images.
59When 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,
61and delivered his strength into captivity,
his glory into the adversary’s hand.
62He 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.
64Their 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.
66He 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.
69He built his sanctuary like the heights,
like the earth which he has established forever.
70He also chose David his servant,
and took him from the sheepfolds;
71from 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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