Psalms78

Psalms 78 recounts the history of Israel's rebellion and God's enduring faithfulness, urging the people to remember divine law and works for future generations. It details Israel's repeated provocations in the wilderness and in the land, despite God's miraculous provisions and deliverances. The psalm culminates in God's rejection of Shiloh and His ultimate choice of Judah and David to shepherd His people.
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A Call to Hear God's Law

1
Give ear, O my people, to my instruction; listen to the words of my mouth. ​
2
I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning, ​
3
that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.
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We will not hide them from their children, but will declare to the next generation the praises of the LORD and His might, and the wonders He has performed.
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For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children, ​
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that the coming generation would know them— even children yet to be born— to arise and tell their own children
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that they should put their confidence in God, not forgetting His works, but keeping His commandments.
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Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God. ​

The Failure of Ephraim

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The archers of Ephraim turned back on the day of battle. ​
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They failed to keep God’s covenant and refused to live by His law.
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They forgot what He had done, the wonders He had shown them.

God's Marvels in the Wilderness

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He worked wonders before their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan. ​
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He split the sea and brought them through; He set the waters upright like a wall.
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He led them with a cloud by day and with a light of fire all night.
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He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as abundant as the seas. ​
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He brought streams from the stone and made water flow down like rivers.

Israel’s Rebellion and Temptation

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But they continued to sin against Him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High. ​
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They willfully tested God by demanding the food they craved. ​
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They spoke against God, saying, “Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?
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When He struck the rock, water gushed out and torrents raged. But can He also give bread or supply His people with meat?” ​
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Therefore the LORD heard and was filled with wrath; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and His anger flared against Israel,
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because they did not believe God or rely on His salvation. ​
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Yet He commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of the heavens.
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He rained down manna for them to eat; He gave them grain from heaven.
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Man ate the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance. ​
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He stirred the east wind from the heavens and drove the south wind by His might.
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He rained meat on them like dust, and winged birds like the sand of the sea.
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He felled them in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings.
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So they ate and were well filled, for He gave them what they craved.
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Yet before they had filled their desire, with the food still in their mouths,
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God’s anger flared against them, and He put to death their strongest and subdued the young men of Israel. ​
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In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; despite His wonderful works, they did not believe.
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So He ended their days in futility, and their years in sudden terror.

Hypocritical Repentance and Divine Compassion

34
When He slew them, they would seek Him; they repented and searched for God. ​
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And they remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.
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But they deceived Him with their mouths, and lied to Him with their tongues.
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Their hearts were disloyal to Him, and they were unfaithful to His covenant. ​
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And yet He was compassionate; He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. He often restrained His anger and did not unleash His full wrath. ​
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He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return. ​

Forgetting the Plagues and Deliverance

40
How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert! ​
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Again and again they tested God and provoked the Holy One of Israel. ​
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They did not remember His power— the day He redeemed them from the adversary,
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when He performed His signs in Egypt and His wonders in the fields of Zoan.
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He turned their rivers to blood, and from their streams they could not drink.
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He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them.
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He gave their crops to the grasshopper, the fruit of their labor to the locust.
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He killed their vines with hailstones and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
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He abandoned their cattle to the hail and their livestock to bolts of lightning.
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He unleashed His fury against them, wrath, indignation, and calamity— a band of destroying angels. ​
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He cleared a path for His anger; He did not spare them from death but delivered their lives to the plague.
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He struck all the firstborn of Egypt, the virility in the tents of Ham. ​

God Guides Israel to the Promised Land

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He led out His people like sheep and guided them like a flock in the wilderness. ​
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He led them safely, so they did not fear, but the sea engulfed their enemies.
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He brought them to His holy land, to the mountain His right hand had acquired. ​
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He drove out nations before them and apportioned their inheritance; He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

Israel's Renewed Apostasy in the Land

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But they tested and disobeyed God Most High, for they did not keep His decrees. ​
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They turned back and were faithless like their fathers, twisted like a faulty bow. ​
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They enraged Him with their high places and provoked His jealousy with their idols.
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On hearing it, God was furious and rejected Israel completely.

God Rejects Shiloh and Ephraim

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He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men. ​
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He delivered His strength to captivity, and His splendor to the hand of the adversary.
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He surrendered His people to the sword because He was enraged by His heritage.
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Fire consumed His young men, and their maidens were left without wedding songs.
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His priests fell by the sword, but their widows could not lament.
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Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a mighty warrior overcome by wine. ​
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He beat back His foes; He put them to everlasting shame.

God Chooses Judah, Zion, and David

67
He rejected the tent of Joseph and refused the tribe of Ephraim. ​
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But He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved.
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He built His sanctuary like the heights, like the earth He has established forever.
70
He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds; ​
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from tending the ewes He brought him to be shepherd of His people Jacob, of Israel His inheritance.
72
So David shepherded them with integrity of heart and guided them with skillful hands. ​

Study Notes for Psalms 78

Verse 1

This psalm is a *Maschil* (a didactic or instructional poem), intended to teach wisdom through historical review, emphasizing the importance of generational faithfulness to the covenant.

Verse 2

The speaker promises to use 'parable' and 'dark sayings' (Heb. *hîdôth*), meaning he will present profound, historical truths in a structured, memorable way that requires careful attention.

Verse 5

The 'testimony' and 'law' established in Israel refers to the covenant obligations given at Sinai, which mandated that divine instruction be passed down through families.

Verse 8

The goal of teaching is to prevent the new generation from repeating the mistakes of their ancestors, whose hearts were unstable and lacked steadfast commitment to God.

Verse 9

Ephraim, the dominant northern tribe, is used here as a representative example of Israel’s faithlessness, demonstrating spiritual failure despite being militarily prepared.

Verse 12

Zoan (Tanis) was a major capital city in the Egyptian delta, specified here to highlight the public and undeniable nature of God’s miraculous acts during the Exodus.

Verse 15

This verse recalls the miraculous provision of water from the rock, a central image of God's care and power in the desolate wilderness (Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:11).

Verse 17

Despite God's spectacular provision, Israel continually sinned by trying God's patience and challenging His authority and capability in the wilderness.

Verse 18

They 'tempted God' not merely by asking for food, but by demanding it out of selfish *lust* and lack of faith, testing whether God could truly satisfy their desires.

Verse 20

The people’s cynical challenge demonstrates profound skepticism, contrasting the provision of water (which they had seen) with the provision of bread and meat (which they doubted).

Verse 22

The root cause of God's anger was not their hunger, but their unbelief; they failed to trust in God’s power to deliver and sustain them completely.

Verse 25

Calling manna 'angels’ food' emphasizes its heavenly origin and supernatural quality, underscoring the extraordinary nature of God's provision for mortal man.

Verse 31

This refers to the judgment at Kibroth-hattaavah (Numbers 11), where God provided quail, but wrath followed immediately because their heart’s desire was rooted in greed and rebellion.

Verse 34

Israel’s seeking of God was often reactive—prompted by punishment—not genuine, heartfelt repentance, creating a cycle of surface-level obedience.

Verse 37

Their repentance was flawed because their hearts were insincere; they offered lip service without the steadfast internal dedication required by the covenant.

Verse 38

This verse serves as the theological hinge, highlighting God's enduring compassionate nature which prevents Him from destroying the people entirely, despite their constant provocation.

Verse 39

God's compassion is rooted in His memory of human frailty; He understands that humanity is temporary, like a passing wind, leading Him to temper His wrath.

Verse 40

The psalm returns to the theme of provocation, emphasizing the frequency and severity of Israel's rebellion against God during the wilderness journey.

Verse 41

To 'limit' God means to restrict His power or willingness to act in their minds, doubting that the Holy One of Israel could or would fulfill their needs.

Verse 49

The phrase 'evil angels' refers to messengers of judgment or agents of calamity, illustrating the supernatural intensity of God’s destructive wrath poured out upon Egypt through the plagues.

Verse 51

The climactic tenth plague, the death of the firstborn, is identified as the decisive act that broke Egypt's power. Ham is used poetically here to refer to Egypt.

Verse 52

This marks the transition from judgment in the wilderness to successful deliverance, using the imagery of a shepherd guiding his flock safely.

Verse 54

The destination is described as 'this mountain,' referring proleptically to Mount Zion, where God eventually established His permanent dwelling place.

Verse 56

The pattern of rebellion continued even after settlement in the Promised Land, marked by idolatry and breaking covenant commitments (the period of the Judges).

Verse 57

A 'deceitful bow' is a metaphor for unreliability; it fails to shoot straight, symbolizing Israel’s inability to remain faithful to the target of God's covenant.

Verse 60

God's rejection of Shiloh (where the Tabernacle was kept, 1 Sam 4) signifies the end of the religious primacy of the northern tribes (Joseph/Ephraim) due to their unfaithfulness.

Verse 65

This anthropomorphic description portrays God suddenly arising from apparent indifference to execute decisive judgment against Israel's oppressors (likely the Philistines).

Verse 67

The historical review culminates in the selection of the southern kingdom, Judah, establishing the permanent location of the sanctuary on Mount Zion.

Verse 70

The choice of David emphasizes God’s sovereign power to elevate the humble shepherd, establishing the Davidic covenant as the climax of Israel's history.

Verse 72

David's rule is characterized by 'integrity' (moral uprightness) and 'skilfulness' (competent leadership), providing the ideal model of a faithful covenant king.

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