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 special psalm by Asaph.)
What God Has Done for His People
1My friends, I beg you
to listen as I teach.
2 #
Mt 13.35. I will give instruction
and explain the mystery
of what happened long ago.
3These are things we learned
from our ancestors,
4and we will tell them
to the next generation.
We won't keep secret
the glorious deeds
and the mighty miracles
of the Lord.
5God gave his Law
to Jacob's descendants,
the people of Israel.
And he told our ancestors
to teach their children,
6so that each new generation
would know his Law
and tell it to the next.
7Then they would trust God
and obey his teachings,
without forgetting anything
God had done.
8They would be different
from their ancestors,
who were stubborn, rebellious,
and unfaithful to God.
9The warriors from Ephraim
were armed with arrows,
but they ran away
when the battle began.
10They broke their agreement
with God,
and they turned their backs
on his teaching.
11They forgot all he had done,
even the mighty miracles
12 #
Ex 7.8—12.32. #Ws 16.1—19.22. he did for their ancestors
near Zoan#78.12 Zoan: A city in the eastern part of the Nile Delta. in Egypt.
13 #
Ex 14.21,22. God made a path in the sea
and piled up the water
as he led them across.
14 #
Ex 13.21,22. He guided them during the day
with a cloud,
and each night he led them
with a flaming fire.
15 #
Ex 17.1-7; Nu 20.2-13. God made water flow
from rocks he split open
in the desert,
and his people drank freely,
as though from a lake.
16He made streams gush out
like rivers from rocks.
17But in the desert,
the people of God Most High
kept sinning and rebelling.
18 #
Ex 16.2-15; Nu 11.4-23,31-35. They stubbornly tested God
and demanded from him
what they wanted to eat.
19They challenged God by saying,
“Can God provide food
out here in the desert?
20It's true God struck the rock
and water gushed out
like a river,
but can he give his people
bread and meat?”
21When the Lord heard this,
he was angry and furious
with Jacob's descendants,
the people of Israel.
22They had refused to trust him,
and they had doubted
his saving power.
23But God gave a command
to the clouds,
and he opened the doors
in the skies.
24 #
Ws 16.20-29; Jn 6.31. From heaven he sent grain
that they called manna.#78.24 manna: When the people of Israel were wandering through the desert, the Lord gave them a special kind of food to eat. It tasted like a wafer and was called “manna,” which in Hebrew means, “What is this?”
25He gave them more than enough,
and each one of them ate
this special food.
26God's mighty power
sent a strong wind
from the southeast,
27and it brought birds
that covered the ground,
like sand on the beach.
28Then God made the birds fall
in the camp of his people
near their tents.
29God gave his people
all they wanted,
and each of them ate
until they were full.
30But before they had swallowed
the last bite,
31God became angry and killed
the strongest and best
from the families of Israel.
32But the rest kept on sinning
and would not trust
God's miracles.
33So he cut their lives short
and made them terrified.
34After he killed some of them,
the others turned to him
with all their hearts.
35They remembered God Most High,
the mighty rock#78.35 mighty rock: See the note at 18.2.
that kept them safe.
36But they tried to flatter God,
and they told him lies;
37 #
Ac 8.21. they were unfaithful
and broke their promises.
38Yet God was kind.
He kept forgiving their sins
and didn't destroy them.
He often became angry,
but never lost his temper.
39God remembered that they
were made of flesh
and were like a wind
that blows once
and then dies down.
40While they were in the desert,
they often rebelled
and made God sad.
41They kept testing him
and caused terrible pain
for the Holy One of Israel.
42They forgot about his power
and how he had rescued them
from their enemies.
43God showed them all kinds
of wonderful miracles
near Zoan#78.43 Zoan: See the note at 78.12. in Egypt.
44 #
Ex 7.17-21. He turned the rivers of Egypt
into blood,
and no one could drink
from the streams.
45 #
Ex 8.20-24;
Ex 8.1-6. He sent swarms of flies
to pester the Egyptians,
and he sent frogs
to cause them trouble.
46 #
Ex 10.12-15. God let worms and grasshoppers
eat their crops.
47 #
Ex 9.22-25. He destroyed their grapevines
and their fig trees
with hail and floods.#78.47 floods: Or “frost.”
48Then he killed their cattle
with hail
and their other animals
with lightning.
49God was so angry and furious
that he went into a rage
and caused them great trouble
by sending swarms
of destroying angels.
50God released his anger
and slaughtered them
in a terrible way.
51 #
Ex 12.29. He killed the first-born son
of each Egyptian family.
52 #
Ex 13.17-22. Then God led his people
out of Egypt
and guided them in the desert
like a flock of sheep.
53 #
Ex 14.26-28. He led them safely along,
and they were not afraid,
but their enemies drowned
in the sea.
54 #
Ex 15.17; Js 3.14-17. God brought his people
to the sacred mountain
that he had taken
by his own power.
55 #
Js 11.16-23. He made nations run
from the tribes of Israel,
and he let the tribes
take over their land.
56 #
Jg 2.11-15. But the people tested
God Most High,
and they refused
to obey his laws.
57They were as unfaithful
as their ancestors,
and they were as crooked
as a twisted arrow.
58God demanded all their love,
but they made him angry
by worshiping idols.
59So God became furious
and completely rejected
the people of Israel.
60 #
Js 18.1; Jr 7.12-14; 26.6. Then he deserted his home
at Shiloh, where he lived
here on earth.
61 #
1 S 4.4-22. He let enemies capture
the sacred chest#78.61 sacred chest: The Hebrew text has “his power,” which refers to the sacred chest. In Psalm 132.8 it is called “powerful.”
and let them dishonor him.
62God took out his anger
on his chosen ones
and let them be killed
by enemy swords.
63Fire destroyed the young men,
and the young women were left
with no one to marry.
64Priests died violent deaths,
but their widows
were not allowed to mourn.
65Finally the Lord woke up,
like a soldier
startled from a drunken sleep.
66God scattered his enemies
and made them ashamed
forever.
67Then the Lord decided
not to make his home
with Joseph's descendants
in Ephraim.#78.67 with … Ephraim: Ephraim was Joseph's youngest son. One of the twelve tribes was named after him, and sometimes the northern kingdom of Israel was also known as Ephraim. The town of Shiloh was in the territory of Ephraim, but the place where God was worshiped was moved from there to Zion (Jerusalem) in the territory of Judah.
68Instead he chose the tribe
of Judah,
and he chose Mount Zion,
the place he loves.
69There he built his temple
as lofty as the mountains
and as solid as the earth
he made to last forever.
70 #
1 S 16.11,12; 2 S 7.8; 1 Ch 17.7; Ps 151.4. The Lord God chose David
to be his servant and took him
from tending sheep
71and from caring for lambs.
Then God made him the leader
of Israel, his own nation.
72David treated the people fairly
and guided them with wisdom.
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