Psalm 78:2-12

2 I will ¹open my mouth in a parable; I will utter ²dark sayings of old,

3 Which we have heard and known, And ³our fathers have told us.

4 We will ⁴not conceal them from their children, But ⁵tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His ⁶wondrous works that He has done.

5 For He established a ⁷testimony in Jacob And appointed a ⁸law in Israel, Which He ⁹commanded our fathers That they should ¹⁰teach them to their children,

6 ¹¹That the generation to come might know, even ¹²the children yet to be born, That they may arise and ¹³tell them to their children,

7 That they should put their confidence in God And ¹⁴not forget the works of God, But ¹⁵keep His commandments,

8 And ¹⁶not be like their fathers, A ¹⁷stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that ¹⁸did not prepare its heart And whose spirit was not ¹⁹faithful to God.

9 The sons of Ephraim were ²⁰archers equipped with bows, Yet ²¹they turned back in the day of battle.

10 They ²²did not keep the covenant of God And refused to ²³walk in His law;

11 They ²⁴forgot His deeds And His miracles that He had shown them.

12 ²⁵He wrought wonders before their fathers In the land of Egypt, in the ²⁶field of Zoan.

Psalm 78:2-12 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. Psalms 49:4; Matthew 13:35
• 2. Proverbs 1:6
• 3. Psalms 44:1
• 4. Exodus 12:26; Deuteronomy 6:7; Deuteronomy 11:19; Job 15:18; Psalms 145:4; Isaiah 38:19; Joel 1:3
• 5. Exodus 13:8, 14; Psalms 22:30
• 6. Job 37:16; Psalms 26:7; Psalms 71:17
• 7. Psalms 19:7; Psalms 81:5; Isaiah 8:20
• 8. Psalms 147:19
• 9. Deuteronomy 6:4-9
• 10. Deuteronomy 4:9
• 11. Psalms 102:18
• 12. Psalms 22:31
• 13. Deuteronomy 11:19
• 14. Deuteronomy 4:9; Deuteronomy 6:12; Deuteronomy 8:14
• 15. Deuteronomy 4:2; Deuteronomy 5:1, 29; Deuteronomy 27:1; Joshua 22:5
• 16. 2 Kings 17:14; 2 Chronicles 30:7; Ezekiel 20:18
• 17. Exodus 32:9; Deuteronomy 9:7, 24; Deuteronomy 31:27; Judges 2:19; Isaiah 30:9
• 18. Job 11:13; Psalms 78:37
• 19. Psalms 51:10
• 20. 1 Chronicles 12:2
• 21. Judges 20:39; Psalms 78:57
• 22. Judges 2:20; 1 Kings 11:11; 2 Kings 17:15; 2 Kings 18:12
• 23. Psalms 119:1; Jeremiah 32:23; Jeremiah 44:10, 23
• 24. Psalms 106:13
• 25. Exodus 7-12; Psalms 106:22
• 26. Numbers 13:22; Psalms 78:43; Isaiah 19:11; Isaiah 30:4; Ezekiel 30:14

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "make them known"
• [b] Or "put right"
• [c] Or "being"
• [d] Or "wonderful works"