Psalms 78:6-36

6 so that the next generation might learn them and in turn should tell their children.

7 In this way they also will put their trust in God and not forget what he has done, but always obey his commandments.

8 They will not be like their ancestors, a rebellious and disobedient people, whose trust in God was never firm and who did not remain faithful to him.

9 The Ephraimites, armed with bows and arrows, ran away on the day of battle.

10 They did not keep their covenant with God; they refused to obey his law.

11 They forgot what he had done, the miracles they had seen him perform.

12 While their ancestors watched, God performed miracles ¹ in the plain of Zoan in the land of Egypt.

13 He divided the sea and took them through it; ² he made the waters stand like walls.

14 By day he led them with a cloud ³ and all night long with the light of a fire.

15 He split rocks open in the desert and gave them water from the depths.

16 He caused a stream to come out of the rock ⁴ and made water flow like a river.

17 But they continued to sin against God, and in the desert they rebelled against the Most High.

18 They deliberately put God to the test ⁵ by demanding the food they wanted.

19 They spoke against God and said, "Can God supply food in the desert?

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, ⁶ 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,

31 when God became angry with them and killed their strongest men, the best young men of Israel.

32 In spite of all this the people kept sinning; in spite of his miracles they did not trust him.

33 So he ended their days like a breath and their lives with sudden disaster.

34 Whenever he killed some of them, the rest would turn to him; they would repent and pray earnestly to him.

35 They remembered that God was their protector, that the Almighty came to their aid.

36 But their words were all lies; nothing they said was sincere.

Psalms 78:6-36 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. 78.12Exodus 7.8--12.32.
• 2. 78.13Exodus 14.21, 22.
• 3. 78.14Exodus 13.21, 22.
• 4. +278.12-16Wisdom 16.1--19.22.+O+N78.15, 16Exodus 17.1_-7;Numbers 20.2-13.
• 5. 78.18-31Exodus 16.2-15;Numbers 11.4-23, 31-35.
• 6. 78.24 +2Wisdom 16.20-29; +1John 6.31.