Psalm 78:8-18

8 and that they should not be ¹like their fathers, ²a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation ³whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

9 The Ephraimites, armed with^[a] the bow, ⁴turned back on the day of battle.

10 They ⁵did not keep God’s covenant, but refused to walk according to his law.

11 They ⁶forgot his works and ⁷the wonders that he had shown them.

12 In the sight of their fathers ⁸he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in ⁹the fields of Zoan.

13 He ¹⁰divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters ¹¹stand like a heap.

14 ¹²In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light.

15 He ¹³split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.

16 He made streams come out of ¹⁴the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

17 Yet they sinned still more against him, ¹⁵rebelling against the Most High in the desert.

18 They ¹⁶tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved.

Psalm 78:8-18 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. 78:8 2 Kgs. 17:14; 2 Chr. 30:7; Ezek. 20:18
• 2. 78:8 Ex. 32:9; 33:3; Deut. 9:7, 24; 31:27; Jer. 5:23
• 3. 78:8 ver. 37; Job 11:13
• 4. 78:9 ver. 57
• 5. 78:10 [2 Kgs. 17:15]
• 6. 78:11 See Ps. 106:13
• 7. 78:11 ver. 4
• 8. 78:12 ver. 43; See Ex. 7-12; Ps. 72:18
• 9. 78:12 ver. 43; Num. 13:22; Isa. 19:11, 13; Ezek. 30:14
• 10. 78:13 Ps. 136:13; Ex. 14:21
• 11. 78:13 Ex. 15:8
• 12. 78:14 See Ps. 105:39
• 13. 78:15 ver. 20; Ps. 105:41; 114:8; Ex. 17:6; Isa. 48:21
• 14. 78:16 Num. 20:8, 10, 11
• 15. 78:17 ver. 40, 56; Deut. 9:22; Isa. 63:10
• 16. 78:18 ver. 41, 56; Ps. 95:9; 106:14; Deut. 6:16; 1 Cor. 10:9

Footnotes

• [a] 78:9 Hebrew 'armed and shooting'