Psalm 78:20-30

20 It is true that he struck the rock, and water flowed out in a torrent; but can he also provide us with bread and give his people meat?"

21 And so the Lord was angry when he heard them; he attacked his people with fire, and his anger against them grew,

22 because they had no faith in him and did not believe that he would save them.

23 But he spoke to the sky above and commanded its doors to open;

24 he gave them grain from heaven, ¹ by sending down manna for them to eat.

25 So they ate the food of angels, and God gave them all they wanted.

26 He also caused the east wind to blow, and by his power he stirred up the south wind;

27 and to his people he sent down birds, as many as the grains of sand on the shore;

28 they fell in the middle of the camp all around the tents.

29 So the people ate and were satisfied; God gave them what they wanted.

30 But they had not yet satisfied their craving and were still eating,

Psalm 78:20-30 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. 78.24 +2Wisdom 16.20-29; +1John 6.31.