Psalm 78:60-70

60 He ¹forsook his dwelling at ²Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among mankind,

61 and delivered his ³power to captivity, his ⁴glory to the hand of the foe.

62 He ⁵gave his people over to the sword and ⁶vented his wrath on his heritage.

63 ⁷Fire devoured their young men, and their young women had no ⁸marriage song.

64 Their ⁹priests fell by the sword, and their ¹⁰widows made no lamentation.

65 Then the Lord ¹¹awoke as from sleep, like a strong man shouting because of wine.

66 And he ¹²put his adversaries to rout; he put them to everlasting shame.

67 He rejected the tent of ¹³Joseph; he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,

68 but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he ¹⁴loves.

69 He ¹⁵built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which he has founded forever.

70 He ¹⁶chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds;

Psalm 78:60-70 Meaning and Commentary

Maschil of Asaph. Or for "Asaph" {f}; a doctrinal and "instructive" psalm, as the word "Maschil" signifies; see Psalm 32:1, which was delivered to Asaph to be sung; the Targum is, "the understanding of the Holy Spirit by the hands of Asaph." Some think David was the penman of it; but from the latter part of it, in which mention is made of him, and of his government of the people of Israel, it looks as if it was wrote by another, and after his death, though not long after, since the account is carried on no further than his times; and therefore it is probable enough it was written by Asaph, the chief singer, that lived in that age: whoever was the penman of it, it is certain he was a prophet, and so was Asaph, who is called a seer, the same with a prophet, and who is said to prophesy, 2 Chronicles 29:30 and also that he represented Christ; for that the Messiah is the person that is introduced speaking in this psalm is clear from Matthew 13:34 and the whole may be considered as a discourse of his to the Jews of his time; giving them an history of the Israelites from their first coming out of Egypt to the times of David, and in it an account of the various benefits bestowed upon them, of their great ingratitude, and of the divine resentment; the design of which is to admonish and caution them against committing the like sins, lest they should be rejected of God, as their fathers were, and perish: some Jewish writers, as Arama observes, interpret this psalm of the children of Ephraim going out of Egypt before the time appointed.

Cross References

• 1. 78:60 1 Sam. 4:11; Jer. 7:12, 14; 26:6
• 2. 78:60 Josh. 18:1
• 3. 78:61 Ps. 132:8; [Ps. 63:2; 96:6]
• 4. 78:61 [1 Sam. 4:21]
• 5. 78:62 [1 Sam. 4:10]
• 6. 78:62 ver. 59
• 7. 78:63 [Ps. 79:5; 89:46]
• 8. 78:63 [Jer. 7:34]
• 9. 78:64 1 Sam. 4:11
• 10. 78:64 Job 27:15
• 11. 78:65 Ps. 73:20; See Ps. 35:23
• 12. 78:66 [Ps. 40:14]
• 13. 78:67 Ps. 80:1; 81:5
• 14. 78:68 Ps. 87:2
• 15. 78:69 See 1 Kgs. 6
• 16. 78:70 1 Sam. 16:12, 13