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 New Beginning in Zion and David
1A maskil of Asaph.
I
Attend, my people, to my teaching;
listen to the words of my mouth.
2I will open my mouth in a parable,#Parable: Hebrew mashal literally refers to some sort of relationship of comparison and can signify a story whose didactic potential becomes clear in the telling, as here in the retrospective examination of the history of Israel. Mt 13:35 cites the verse to explain Jesus’ use of parables.
unfold the puzzling events of the past.#Ps 49:5; Mt 13:35.
3What we have heard and know;
things our ancestors have recounted to us.#Ps 44:2.
4We do not keep them from our children;
we recount them to the next generation,
The praiseworthy deeds of the Lord and his strength,
the wonders that he performed.#Ex 10:2; Dt 4:9; Jb 8:8.
5God made a decree in Jacob,
established a law in Israel:#Ps 147:19; Dt 33:4.
Which he commanded our ancestors,
they were to teach their children;
6That the next generation might come to know,
children yet to be born.#Ps 22:31–32; Dt 4:9; 6:7.
In turn they were to recount them to their children,
7that they too might put their confidence in God,
And not forget God’s deeds,
but keep his commandments.
8They were not to be like their ancestors,
a rebellious and defiant generation,#Dt 31:27; 32:5.
A generation whose heart was not constant,#Ps 95:10.
and whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9The ranks of Ephraimite archers,#Ephraimite archers: Ephraim was the most important tribe of the Northern Kingdom. Its military defeat (here unspecified) demonstrates its infidelity to God, who otherwise would have protected it.
retreated on the day of battle.
10They did not keep God’s covenant;
they refused to walk according to his law.
11They forgot his deeds,
the wonders that he had shown them.
II
A
12In the sight of their ancestors God did wonders,
in the land of Egypt, the plain of Zoan.#78:12, 43] Zoan: a city on the arm of the Nile, a former capital of Egypt.#Ps 106:7.
13He split the sea and led them across,#Ps 136:13; Ex 14–15.
making the waters stand like walls.#Ex 14:22; 15:8.
14He led them with a cloud by day,
all night with the light of fire.#Ps 105:39; Ex 13:21; Wis 18:3.
15He split rocks in the desert,
gave water to drink, abundant as the deeps of the sea.#Ps 105:41; 114:8; Ex 17:1–7; Nm 20:2–13; Dt 8:15; Wis 11:4; Is 48:21.
16He made streams flow from crags,
caused rivers of water to flow down.
B
17But they went on sinning against him,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.#Dt 9:7; Ez 20:13.
18They tested God in their hearts,
demanding the food they craved.#Ps 106:14; Ex 16:2–36.
19They spoke against God, and said,
“Can God spread a table in the wilderness?#Ps 23:5.
20True, when he struck the rock,
water gushed forth,
the wadies flooded.
But can he also give bread,
or provide meat to his people?”
C
21The Lord heard and grew angry;#78:21f] Nm 11; Dt 32:22.
fire blazed up against Jacob;
anger flared up against Israel.
22For they did not believe in God,
did not trust in his saving power.
23#On the manna and the quail, see Ex 16 and Nm 11. Unlike Ex 16, here both manna and quail are instruments of punishment, showing that a divine gift can become deadly because of Israel’s apostasy.So he commanded the clouds above;
and opened the doors of heaven.
24God rained manna upon them for food;
grain from heaven he gave them.#Ps 105:40; Ex 16:4, 14; Dt 8:3; Wis 16:20; Jn 6:31.
25Man ate the bread of the angels;#Bread of the angels: the translation “angels” comports with the supernatural origin of the manna, though the Hebrew lechem ‘abbirim is more literally translated as “bread of the strong ones” or “bread of the mighty.” In the context of the manna event, this phrase cannot possibly mean the Israelites or any human being.
food he sent in abundance.
26He stirred up the east wind in the skies;
by his might God brought on the south wind.
27He rained meat upon them like dust,
winged fowl like the sands of the sea,
28They fell down in the midst of their camp,
all round their dwellings.
29They ate and were well filled;
he gave them what they had craved.
30But while they still wanted more,
and the food was still in their mouths,
31God’s anger flared up against them,
and he made a slaughter of their strongest,
laying low the youth of Israel.#Nm 14:29.
32In spite of all this they went on sinning,
they did not believe in his wonders.
D
33God ended their days abruptly,
their years in sudden death.
34When he slew them, they began to seek him;
they again looked for God.#Dt 32:15, 18; Is 26:16.
35They remembered#Remembered: invoked God publicly in worship. Their words were insincere (Ps 78:36). that God was their rock,
God Most High, their redeemer.
36But they deceived him with their mouths,
lied to him with their tongues.
37Their hearts were not constant toward him;
they were not faithful to his covenant.#Ps 95:10; Is 29:13.
38#God is always ready to forgive and begin anew, as in choosing Zion and David (Ps 78:65–72).But God being compassionate forgave their sin;
he did not utterly destroy them.
Time and again he turned back his anger,
unwilling to unleash all his rage.#Ps 85:4; Ex 32:14; Is 48:9; Ez 20:22.
39He remembered that they were flesh,
a breath that passes on and does not return.
III
A
40How often they rebelled against God in the wilderness,
grieved him in the wasteland.
41Again and again they tested God,
provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42They did not remember his power,
the day he redeemed them from the foe,#Ps 106:21.
43#Ex 7–12 records ten plagues. Here there are six divine attacks upon Egypt; the seventh climactic act is God’s bringing Israel to the holy land.When he performed his signs in Egypt,
his wonders in the plain of Zoan.#78:43f] Ps 105:27–36; 135:9; Ex 7:14–11:10; 12:29–36; Wis 16–18.
44God turned their rivers to blood;
their streams they could not drink.
45He sent swarms of insects that devoured them,#Ex 8:17.
frogs that destroyed them.
46He gave their harvest to the caterpillar,
the fruits of their labor to the locust.
47He killed their vines with hail,#Wis 16:16.
their sycamores with frost.
48He exposed their cattle to plague,
their flocks to pestilence.#Ex 9:3.
49He let loose against them the heat of his anger,
wrath, fury, and distress,
a band of deadly messengers.
50He cleared a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death,
but delivered their animals to the plague.
51He struck all the firstborn of Egypt,#Ps 105:36; 136:10; Ex 12:29.
the first fruits of their vigor in the tents of Ham.
52Then God led forth his people like sheep,
guided them like a flock through the wilderness.#Ps 77:21.
53He led them on secure and unafraid,
while the sea enveloped their enemies.#Ex 14:26–28.
54And he brought them to his holy mountain,
the hill his right hand had won.#Ex 15:17.
55He drove out the nations before them,
allotted them as their inherited portion,
and settled in their tents the tribes of Israel.
B
56But they tested and rebelled against God Most High,
his decrees they did not observe.
57They turned disloyal, faithless like their ancestors;
they proved false like a slack bow.
58They enraged him with their high places,
and with their idols provoked him#Provoked him: lit., “made him jealous.” to jealous anger.#Dt 32:16, 21.
C
59God heard and grew angry;
he rejected Israel completely.
60He forsook the shrine at Shiloh,#Shiloh: an important shrine in the north prior to Jerusalem. Despite its holy status, it was destroyed (Ps 78:60–64; cf. Jer 7:12, 14).#Jos 18:1; 1 Sm 1:3; Jer 7:12; 26:6.
the tent he set up among human beings.
61He gave up his might into captivity,
his glorious ark into the hands of the foe.#1 Sm 4:11, 22.
62God delivered his people to the sword;
he was enraged against his heritage.
63Fire consumed their young men;
their young women heard no wedding songs.#Dt 32:25; Jer 7:34.
64Their priests fell by the sword;
their widows made no lamentation.
D
65Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
like a warrior shouting from the effects of wine.
66He put his foes to flight;
everlasting shame he dealt them.
67He rejected the tent of Joseph,
chose not the tribe of Ephraim.
68#78:68, 70] God’s ultimate offer of mercy to the sinful, helpless people is Zion and the Davidic king.God chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion which he loved.#Ps 48:2; 50:2; Lam 2:15.
69He built his shrine like the heavens,
like the earth which he founded forever.
70He chose David his servant,
took him from the sheepfolds.#Ps 89:21; Ez 34:23; 37:24; 2 Chr 6:6.
71From tending ewes God brought him,
to shepherd Jacob, his people,
Israel, his heritage.#1 Sm 16:11–13; 2 Sm 7:8.
72He shepherded them with a pure heart;
with skilled hands he guided them.
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