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
An Instruction of Asaph.
1Give ear, O my people, to my law, Incline your ear to sayings of my mouth.
2I open with a simile my mouth, I bring forth hidden things of old,
3That we have heard and do know, And our fathers have recounted to us.
4We do not hide from their sons, To a later generation recounting praises of Jehovah, And His strength, and His wonders that He hath done.
5And He raiseth up a testimony in Jacob, And a law hath placed in Israel, That He commanded our fathers, To make them known to their sons.
6So that a later generation doth know, Sons who are born, do rise and recount to their sons,
7And place in God their confidence, And forget not the doings of God, But keep His commands.
8And they are not like their fathers, A generation apostate and rebellious, A generation! it hath not prepared its heart, Nor stedfast with God [is] its spirit.
9Sons of Ephraim — armed bearers of bow, Have turned in a day of conflict.
10They have not kept the covenant of God, And in His law they have refused to walk,
11And they forget His doings, And His wonders that He shewed them.
12Before their fathers He hath done wonders, In the land of Egypt — the field of Zoan.
13He cleft a sea, and causeth them to pass over, Yea, He causeth waters to stand as a heap.
14And leadeth them with a cloud by day, And all the night with a light of fire.
15He cleaveth rocks in a wilderness, And giveth drink — as the great deep.
16And bringeth out streams from a rock, And causeth waters to come down as rivers.
17And they add still to sin against Him, To provoke the Most High in the dry place.
18And they try God in their heart, To ask food for their lust.
19And they speak against God — they said: ‘Is God able to array a table in a wilderness?’
20Lo, He hath smitten a rock, And waters flow, yea, streams overflow. ‘Also — bread [is] He able to give? Doth He prepare flesh for His people?’
21Therefore hath Jehovah heard, And He sheweth Himself wroth, And fire hath been kindled against Jacob, And anger also hath gone up against Israel,
22For they have not believed in God, Nor have they trusted in His salvation.
23And He commandeth clouds from above, Yea, doors of the heavens He hath opened.
24And He raineth on them manna to eat, Yea, corn of heaven He hath given to them.
25Food of the mighty hath each eaten, Venison He sent to them to satiety.
26He causeth an east wind to journey in the heavens, And leadeth by His strength a south wind,
27And He raineth on them flesh as dust, And as sand of the seas — winged fowl,
28And causeth [it] to fall in the midst of His camp, Round about His tabernacles.
29And they eat, and are greatly satisfied, And their desire He bringeth to them.
30They have not been estranged from their desire, Yet [is] their food in their mouth,
31And the anger of God hath gone up against them, And He slayeth among their fat ones, And youths of Israel He caused to bend.
32With all this they have sinned again, And have not believed in His wonders.
33And He consumeth in vanity their days, And their years in trouble.
34If He slew them, then they sought Him, And turned back, and sought God earnestly,
35And they remember that God [is] their rock, And God Most High their redeemer.
36And — they deceive Him with their mouth, And with their tongue do lie to Him,
37And their heart hath not been right with Him, And they have not been stedfast in His covenant.
38And He — the Merciful One, Pardoneth iniquity, and destroyeth not, And hath often turned back His anger, And waketh not up all His fury.
39And He remembereth that they [are] flesh, A wind going on — and it returneth not.
40How often do they provoke Him in the wilderness, Grieve Him in the desolate place?
41Yea, they turn back, and try God, And the Holy One of Israel have limited.
42They have not remembered His hand The day He ransomed them from the adversary.
43When He set His signs in Egypt, And His wonders in the field of Zoan,
44And He turneth to blood their streams, And their floods they drink not.
45He sendeth among them the beetle, and it consumeth them, And the frog, and it destroyeth them,
46And giveth to the caterpillar their increase, And their labour to the locust.
47He destroyeth with hail their vine, And their sycamores with frost,
48And delivereth up to the hail their beasts, And their cattle to the burning flames.
49He sendeth on them the fury of His anger, Wrath, and indignation, and distress — A discharge of evil messengers.
50He pondereth a path for His anger, He kept not back their soul from death, Yea, their life to the pestilence He delivered up.
51And He smiteth every first-born in Egypt, The first-fruit of the strong in tents of Ham.
52And causeth His people to journey as a flock, And guideth them as a drove in a wilderness,
53And He leadeth them confidently, And they have not been afraid, And their enemies hath the sea covered.
54And He bringeth them in unto the border of His sanctuary, This mountain His right hand had got,
55And casteth out nations from before them, And causeth them to fall in the line of inheritance, And causeth the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents,
56And they tempt and provoke God Most High, And His testimonies have not kept.
57And they turn back, And deal treacherously like their fathers, They have been turned like a deceitful bow,
58And make Him angry with their high places, And with their graven images make Him zealous,
59God hath heard, and sheweth Himself wroth. And kicketh exceedingly against Israel.
60And He leaveth the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent He had placed among men,
61And He giveth His strength to captivity, And His beauty into the hand of an adversary,
62And delivereth up to the sword His people, And with His inheritance shewed Himself angry.
63His young men hath fire consumed, And His virgins have not been praised.
64His priests by the sword have fallen, And their widows weep not.
65And the Lord waketh as a sleeper, As a mighty one crying aloud from wine.
66And He smiteth His adversaries backward, A reproach age-during He hath put on them,
67And He kicketh against the tent of Joseph, And on the tribe of Ephraim hath not fixed.
68And He chooseth the tribe of Judah, With mount Zion that He loved,
69And buildeth His sanctuary as a high place, Like the earth, He founded it to the age.
70And He fixeth on David His servant, And taketh him from the folds of a flock,
71From behind suckling ones He hath brought him in, To rule over Jacob His people, And over Israel His inheritance.
72And he ruleth them according to the integrity of his heart, And by the skilfulness of his hands leadeth them!
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