Psalm 78:65-72

65 Then the Lord ¹awoke as if from sleep, Like a ²warrior overcome by wine.

66 He ³drove His adversaries backward; He put on them an everlasting reproach.

67 He also ⁴rejected the tent of Joseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,

68 But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount ⁵Zion which He loved.

69 And He ⁶built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has founded forever.

70 He also ⁷chose David His servant And took him from the sheepfolds *;

71 From ⁸the care of the ewes ⁹with suckling lambs He brought him To ¹⁰shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel ¹¹His inheritance.

72 So he shepherded them according to the ¹²integrity of his heart, And guided them with his skillful hands.

Psalm 78:65-72 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 44:23; Psalms 73:20
• 2. Isaiah 42:13
• 3. 1 Samuel 5:6
• 4. Psalms 78:60
• 5. Psalms 87:2; Psalms 132:13
• 6. 1 Kings 6:1-38
• 7. 1 Samuel 16:11, 12
• 8. 2 Samuel 7:8; Isaiah 40:11
• 9. Genesis 33:13
• 10. 2 Samuel 5:2; 1 Chronicles 11:2; Psalms 28:9
• 11. 1 Samuel 10:1
• 12. 1 Kings 9:4

Footnotes

• [a] Or "sobered up from"
• [b] Lit "smote"
• [c] Lit "following"
• [d] Lit "ewes which gave suck, He..."