Psalms 78:11

KJV

And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them.

KJV (with Strong's)

And forgat {H7911}{H8799)} his works {H5949}, and his wonders {H6381}{H8737)} that he had shewed {H7200}{H8689)} them.

Complete Jewish Bible

They forgot what he had done, his wonders which he had shown them.

Berean Standard Bible

They forgot what He had done, the wonders He had shown them.

American Standard Version

And they forgat his doings, And his wondrous works that he had showed them.

Commentary

### SUMMARY
Psalms 78:11 serves as a poignant indictment against ancient Israel, specifically the wilderness generation, for their profound spiritual amnesia. Despite having been direct witnesses to God's mighty acts of deliverance, provision, and miraculous intervention, they deliberately chose to disregard and forget these divine demonstrations. This verse encapsulates a recurring theme of human faithlessness in the face of divine faithfulness, setting the stage for the psalm's broader narrative of Israel's cyclical rebellion and God's enduring, yet often grieved, steadfastness.

### CONTEXT
* **Literary Context:** Psalms 78 is a lengthy *maskil* (a didactic or instructional psalm) attributed to Asaph, functioning as a historical recounting designed to teach future generations from the past failures of Israel. The psalm begins with an exhortation to listen to divine instruction ([Psalms 78:1-8](/psalms/78-1 "Psalms 78:1-8 - Exhortation to Hear God's Law")) before launching into a detailed historical survey, starting with the Exodus and wilderness wanderings. Verse 11 falls within the initial recounting of Israel's apostasy during the wilderness period, immediately following descriptions of God's miraculous provision and their subsequent rebellion (e.g., [Psalms 78:9-10](/psalms/78-9 "Psalms 78:9-10 - Ephraim's Failure")). This verse acts as a direct cause or consequence of their turning away, highlighting the root issue of their disobedience: a willful forgetfulness of God's manifest power and care. The subsequent verses continue to detail specific instances of their testing God and His patient, yet sometimes punitive, responses.

* **Historical & Cultural Context:** The historical backdrop for Psalms 78:11 is the period of the Exodus from Egypt and the subsequent forty years of wilderness wandering, as recorded primarily in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. This generation of Israelites had directly experienced the ten plagues that devastated Egypt, the miraculous parting of the Red Sea ([Exodus 14](/exodus/14 "Exodus 14 - Crossing the Red Sea")), the daily provision of manna ([Exodus 16](/exodus/16 "Exodus 16 - Manna and Quail")), water from the rock ([Exodus 17](/exodus/17 "Exodus 17 - Water from the Rock")), and the dramatic covenant ceremony at Mount Sinai ([Exodus 19-20](/exodus/19 "Exodus 19-20 - The Giving of the Law")). Culturally, memory played a crucial role in ancient Israelite society; remembering God's mighty acts (the *Heilsgeschichte* or "salvation history") was central to their identity, worship, and covenant fidelity. Feasts like Passover were specifically designed as acts of remembrance. To "forget" God's works, therefore, was not merely a lapse of memory but a profound act of spiritual rebellion and a rejection of their covenant relationship, demonstrating a deep-seated ingratitude and unbelief.

* **Key Themes:** The central theme underscored by Psalms 78:11 is the profound danger of **spiritual forgetfulness**. This forgetfulness is not passive but active, leading directly to **ingratitude** and **unbelief**, which manifest as **disobedience** and **rebellion** against God's commands and covenant. The psalm repeatedly emphasizes Israel's "stubborn and rebellious generation" ([Psalms 78:8](/psalms/78-8 "Psalms 78:8 - A Rebellious Generation")), highlighting a persistent **hardheartedness** despite overwhelming evidence of God's power and faithfulness. Conversely, the verse implicitly magnifies God's **enduring patience** and **faithfulness**, even in the face of human treachery. The psalm's overarching message is **didactic**, serving as a **cautionary tale** for future generations, warning against repeating the mistakes of the past and urging them to remember God's works so they might set their hope in Him and not forget His deeds ([Psalms 78:7](/psalms/78-7 "Psalms 78:7 - Purpose of Remembering God's Works")).

### EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
#### Key Word Analysis
* **forgat (Hebrew, _shakhach'_):** This verb signifies more than a simple mental lapse or accidental forgetting. In biblical usage, *shakhach* often implies a deliberate neglect, a disregard, or a failure to keep something in mind in a way that impacts one's actions, attitudes, and relationship. It suggests a willful turning away from remembrance, leading to a practical abandonment of what was known or experienced. Here, it points to Israel's conscious choice to ignore or dismiss the implications of God's past interventions, leading to their subsequent unfaithfulness.
* **works (Hebrew, _ma'aseh'_):** This term refers to God's general actions, deeds, or accomplishments. It encompasses the entirety of God's activity on behalf of Israel, including His acts of creation, providence, and historical interventions. In the context of the Exodus generation, it refers to the ongoing, consistent ways God demonstrated His power and care, such as leading them by a pillar of cloud and fire, providing daily sustenance, and protecting them from enemies. It signifies the broad scope of God's active involvement in their lives.
* **wonders (Hebrew, _pele'_):** This noun specifically denotes extraordinary, miraculous, or astonishing deeds. These are acts that transcend the natural order and reveal God's unique power and majesty, designed to evoke awe and wonder. For the wilderness generation, these included the spectacular plagues in Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and water gushing from a rock. The pairing of "works" and "wonders" emphasizes that Israel forgot both God's consistent, providential care and His dramatic, undeniable supernatural interventions.

#### Verse Breakdown
* **"And forgat his works,"**: This clause establishes the core accusation: a deliberate act of forgetting or disregarding God's general, consistent actions on their behalf. It highlights a profound spiritual amnesia concerning the totality of God's providential care and historical interventions, which should have fostered deep trust and obedience.
* **"and his wonders"**: This second clause specifies the nature of what was forgotten, emphasizing the extraordinary, miraculous, and awe-inspiring deeds God performed. The inclusion of "wonders" underscores the severity of their forgetfulness, as these were undeniable, supernatural demonstrations of divine power that should have left an indelible impression and secured their unwavering allegiance.
* **"that he had shewed them."**: This concluding phrase emphasizes the direct, personal, and undeniable nature of God's revelation. These "works" and "wonders" were not abstract concepts or distant rumors; they were directly witnessed experiences ("shewed them"). This makes their forgetfulness even more culpable, as they had firsthand, irrefutable evidence of God's faithfulness and power, yet chose to disregard it.

#### Literary Devices
Psalms 78:11 employs several literary devices to convey its powerful message. The most prominent is **Parallelism**, specifically synonymous parallelism, where "his works" and "his wonders" convey similar ideas, reinforcing the breadth and depth of God's interventions that Israel chose to forget. This pairing emphasizes that they disregarded both God's consistent care and His extraordinary miracles. The psalm itself functions as a **Historical Narrative**, recounting past events not merely for information but for instruction, making the entire psalm, and this verse within it, a **Didactic** or **Hortatory** piece. The act of "forgetting" in this context is a form of **Anthropomorphism** applied to human behavior, where a mental state (forgetting) is treated as a moral failing, highlighting the active choice involved in spiritual disregard rather than a passive lapse. The verse also contributes to the psalm's overall **Repetition of Themes**, particularly the cyclical pattern of Israel's rebellion and God's enduring patience, which serves to underscore the persistent nature of human sin and divine grace.

### THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
The profound forgetfulness described in Psalms 78:11 is a theological indictment, revealing a fundamental breakdown in the covenant relationship between God and Israel. It exposes the human propensity to disregard divine revelation and beneficence, leading to a cycle of disobedience and judgment. This spiritual amnesia is not merely a cognitive failure but a moral one, stemming from a hardened heart and a lack of faith in God's ongoing presence and power. The psalm teaches that remembering God's past faithfulness is foundational for present trust and future obedience, serving as a vital safeguard against apostasy. This theme resonates throughout the biblical narrative, emphasizing the importance of recalling God's mighty acts as a basis for worship, gratitude, and steadfastness.

* [Deuteronomy 6:12](/deuteronomy/6-12 "Deuteronomy 6:12 - Warning Against Forgetting God")
* [Judges 2:10](/judges/2-10 "Judges 2:10 - A Generation Who Did Not Know the Lord")
* [Hebrews 3:12](/hebrews/3-12 "Hebrews 3:12 - Warning Against an Evil, Unbelieving Heart")

### REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Psalms 78:11 serves as a timeless mirror reflecting the human tendency to forget God's faithfulness in the face of new challenges or comforts. Just as ancient Israel forgot the "works" and "wonders" that delivered them from bondage and sustained them in the wilderness, believers today can easily allow the pressures of life, the allure of worldly distractions, or the passage of time to dim the memory of God's past interventions. This forgetfulness erodes gratitude, weakens faith, and opens the door to doubt and disobedience. To combat this spiritual amnesia, we must cultivate habits of intentional remembrance: regularly recounting God's answers to prayer, His provision in times of need, His guidance through difficult decisions, and above all, His ultimate work of redemption in Christ. By actively recalling His "works" and "wonders" in our personal lives and in the grand narrative of salvation history, we fortify our faith, deepen our gratitude, and strengthen our resolve to walk in obedience.

#### Questions for Reflection
* **What "works" and "wonders" has God "shewed" you in your own life that you might be prone to forget?**
* **How does forgetting God's past faithfulness impact your present trust and obedience?**
* **What practical steps can you take to cultivate a more robust spiritual memory of God's goodness?**
* **In what ways does a lack of gratitude stem from a failure to remember God's deeds?**

### FAQ
**What does it mean for Israel to "forget" God's works and wonders? Was it literal amnesia?**

Answer: No, it was not literal amnesia in the sense of a medical condition. In biblical terms, "forgetting" (Hebrew: *shakhach*) often implies a deliberate disregard or neglect, a failure to keep something in mind in a way that influences one's actions, attitudes, and relationship with God. It signifies a practical abandonment of what was known and experienced. Despite having witnessed God's mighty acts firsthand, Israel chose not to live in light of those experiences. Their forgetfulness was a moral and spiritual failure, leading to a lack of trust, ingratitude, and disobedience, as seen throughout the wilderness narrative in books like [Numbers 14](/numbers/14 "Numbers 14 - Israel's Rebellion at Kadesh Barnea") and [Deuteronomy 8](/deuteronomy/8 "Deuteronomy 8 - Warnings Against Forgetting God in the Land").

**Why is remembering God's past acts so important in the Bible?**

Answer: Remembering God's past acts, particularly His "works" and "wonders," is crucial because it forms the foundation of faith, gratitude, and obedience. These acts demonstrate God's character (His power, faithfulness, love, and justice) and His covenant promises. For Israel, remembering the Exodus and wilderness experiences was meant to instill trust, remind them of their identity as God's chosen people, and motivate them to live in covenant fidelity. Forgetting these acts led to idolatry, rebellion, and a loss of their unique relationship with God. The entire Old Testament is replete with commands and narratives designed to foster this corporate and individual remembrance, ensuring that future generations would "not forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt" ([Deuteronomy 6:12](/deuteronomy/6-12 "Deuteronomy 6:12 - Warning Not to Forget the Lord")).

### CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Psalms 78:11, with its lament over Israel's forgetfulness of God's "works" and "wonders," powerfully foreshadows the ultimate "work" and "wonder" of God in Christ, and the New Covenant's solution to humanity's persistent spiritual amnesia. Israel's failure to remember their deliverance and provision highlights humanity's inherent inability to maintain covenant fidelity through mere memory or willpower. This deep-seated forgetfulness and rebellion underscore the necessity of a new covenant, one where God's law is not just written on stone tablets to be forgotten, but on human hearts by the Holy Spirit ([Jeremiah 31:33](/jeremiah/31-33 "Jeremiah 31:33 - The New Covenant")). The "works" of the Old Covenant, though mighty, pointed to the incomparably greater work of redemption accomplished through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is the ultimate "wonder" of God, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world ([John 1:29](/john/1-29 "John 1:29 - Jesus, the Lamb of God")), and the one in whom all God's promises find their "Yes" and "Amen" ([2_corinthians/1-20](/2-corinthians/1-20 "2 Corinthians 1:20 - All God's Promises are Yes in Christ")). Our remembrance in the New Covenant is centered on Christ's sacrifice, particularly in the Eucharist, where we "do this in remembrance of me" ([Luke 22:19](/luke/22-19 "Luke 22:19 - Institution of the Lord's Supper")). Unlike Israel, who forgot what God *had shewed them*, believers in Christ are indwelt by the Spirit, who empowers them to remember, to live in gratitude, and to fix their eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith ([Hebrews 12:2](/hebrews/12-2 "Hebrews 12:2 - Looking to Jesus")).

Note: Commentary is generated by AI with a directive for Biblical fidelity. Always rely on the Holy Spirit for discernment. The Scripture text and cross-references are from verified, non-AI sources.

Cross-References

Psalms 106:13

¶ They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel:

Psalms 78:7

That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:

Jeremiah 2:32

Can a maid forget her ornaments, [or] a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

Deuteronomy 32:18

Of the Rock [that] begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

Psalms 106:21

They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt;

Psalms 106:22

Wondrous works in the land of Ham, [and] terrible things by the Red sea.