Worthy.Bible » Parallel » Psalms » Chapter 78 » Verse 1-72

Psalms 78:1-72 King James Version (KJV)

1 Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:

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

4 We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.

5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:

6 That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:

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

8 And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.

9 The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.

10 They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;

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

12 Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

13 He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.

14 In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.

15 He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.

16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

17 And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.

18 And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.

19 Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?

20 Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?

21 Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;

22 Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:

23 Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,

24 And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.

25 Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full.

26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind.

27 He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea:

28 And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations.

29 So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire;

30 They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths,

31 The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.

32 For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.

33 Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.

34 When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God.

35 And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.

36 Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.

37 For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.

38 But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.

39 For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

40 How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!

41 Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.

42 They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.

43 How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan.

44 And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink.

45 He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.

46 He gave also their increase unto the caterpiller, and their labour unto the locust.

47 He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycomore trees with frost.

48 He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.

49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.

50 He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;

51 And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham:

52 But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

53 And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

54 And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased.

55 He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

56 Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies:

57 But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.

59 When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:

60 So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men;

61 And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand.

62 He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance.

63 The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage.

64 Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation.

65 Then the LORD awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.

66 And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach.

67 Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:

68 But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved.

69 And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever.

70 He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:

71 From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.

72 So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.


Psalms 78:1-72 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

1 [[Maschil H4905 of Asaph.]] H623 Give ear, H238 O my people, H5971 to my law: H8451 incline H5186 your ears H241 to the words H561 of my mouth. H6310

2 I will open H6605 my mouth H6310 in a parable: H4912 I will utter H5042 dark sayings H2420 of old: H6924

3 Which we have heard H8085 and known, H3045 and our fathers H1 have told H5608 us.

4 We will not hide H3582 them from their children, H1121 shewing H5608 to the generation H1755 to come H314 the praises H8416 of the LORD, H3068 and his strength, H5807 and his wonderful works H6381 that he hath done. H6213

5 For he established H6965 a testimony H5715 in Jacob, H3290 and appointed H7760 a law H8451 in Israel, H3478 which he commanded H6680 our fathers, H1 that they should make them known H3045 to their children: H1121

6 That the generation H1755 to come H314 might know H3045 them, even the children H1121 which should be born; H3205 who should arise H6965 and declare H5608 them to their children: H1121

7 That they might set H7760 their hope H3689 in God, H430 and not forget H7911 the works H4611 of God, H410 but keep H5341 his commandments: H4687

8 And might not be as their fathers, H1 a stubborn H5637 and rebellious H4784 generation; H1755 a generation H1755 that set H3559 not their heart H3820 aright, H3559 and whose spirit H7307 was not stedfast H539 with God. H410

9 The children H1121 of Ephraim, H669 being armed, H5401 and carrying H7411 bows, H7198 turned back H2015 in the day H3117 of battle. H7128

10 They kept H8104 not the covenant H1285 of God, H430 and refused H3985 to walk H3212 in his law; H8451

11 And forgat H7911 his works, H5949 and his wonders H6381 that he had shewed H7200 them.

12 Marvellous things H6382 did H6213 he in the sight H5048 of their fathers, H1 in the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 in the field H7704 of Zoan. H6814

13 He divided H1234 the sea, H3220 and caused them to pass through; H5674 and he made the waters H4325 to stand H5324 as an heap. H5067

14 In the daytime H3119 also he led H5148 them with a cloud, H6051 and all the night H3915 with a light H216 of fire. H784

15 He clave H1234 the rocks H6697 in the wilderness, H4057 and gave them drink H8248 as out of the great H7227 depths. H8415

16 He brought H3318 streams H5140 also out of the rock, H5553 and caused waters H4325 to run down H3381 like rivers. H5104

17 And they sinned H2398 yet more H3254 against him by provoking H4784 the most High H5945 in the wilderness. H6723

18 And they tempted H5254 God H410 in their heart H3824 by asking H7592 meat H400 for their lust. H5315

19 Yea, they spake H1696 against God; H430 they said, H559 Can H3201 God H410 furnish H6186 a table H7979 in the wilderness? H4057

20 Behold, he smote H5221 the rock, H6697 that the waters H4325 gushed out, H2100 and the streams H5158 overflowed; H7857 can H3201 he give H5414 bread H3899 also? can H3201 he provide H3559 flesh H7607 for his people? H5971

21 Therefore the LORD H3068 heard H8085 this, and was wroth: H5674 so a fire H784 was kindled H5400 against Jacob, H3290 and anger H639 also came up H5927 against Israel; H3478

22 Because they believed H539 not in God, H430 and trusted H982 not in his salvation: H3444

23 Though he had commanded H6680 the clouds H7834 from above, H4605 and opened H6605 the doors H1817 of heaven, H8064

24 And had rained down H4305 manna H4478 upon them to eat, H398 and had given H5414 them of the corn H1715 of heaven. H8064

25 Man H376 did eat H398 angels' H47 food: H3899 he sent H7971 them meat H6720 to the full. H7648

26 He caused an east wind H6921 to blow H5265 in the heaven: H8064 and by his power H5797 he brought in H5090 the south wind. H8486

27 He rained H4305 flesh H7607 also upon them as dust, H6083 and feathered H3671 fowls H5775 like as the sand H2344 of the sea: H3220

28 And he let it fall H5307 in the midst H7130 of their camp, H4264 round about H5439 their habitations. H4908

29 So they did eat, H398 and were well H3966 filled: H7646 for he gave H935 them their own desire; H8378

30 They were not estranged H2114 from their lust. H8378 But while their meat H400 was yet in their mouths, H6310

31 The wrath H639 of God H430 came H5927 upon them, and slew H2026 the fattest H4924 of them, and smote down H3766 the chosen H970 men of Israel. H3478

32 For all this they sinned H2398 still, and believed H539 not for his wondrous works. H6381

33 Therefore their days H3117 did he consume H3615 in vanity, H1892 and their years H8141 in trouble. H928

34 When he slew H2026 them, then they sought H1875 him: and they returned H7725 and enquired early H7836 after God. H410

35 And they remembered H2142 that God H430 was their rock, H6697 and the high H5945 God H410 their redeemer. H1350

36 Nevertheless they did flatter H6601 him with their mouth, H6310 and they lied H3576 unto him with their tongues. H3956

37 For their heart H3820 was not right H3559 with him, neither were they stedfast H539 in his covenant. H1285

38 But he, being full of compassion, H7349 forgave H3722 their iniquity, H5771 and destroyed H7843 them not: yea, many a time H7235 turned H7725 he his anger H639 away, H7725 and did not stir up H5782 all his wrath. H2534

39 For he remembered H2142 that they were but flesh; H1320 a wind H7307 that passeth away, H1980 and cometh not again. H7725

40 How H4100 oft did they provoke H4784 him in the wilderness, H4057 and grieve H6087 him in the desert! H3452

41 Yea, they turned back H7725 and tempted H5254 God, H410 and limited H8428 the Holy One H6918 of Israel. H3478

42 They remembered H2142 not his hand, H3027 nor the day H3117 when he delivered H6299 them from the enemy. H6862

43 How he had wrought H7760 his signs H226 in Egypt, H4714 and his wonders H4159 in the field H7704 of Zoan: H6814

44 And had turned H2015 their rivers H2975 into blood; H1818 and their floods, H5140 that they could not drink. H8354

45 He sent H7971 divers sorts of flies H6157 among them, which devoured H398 them; and frogs, H6854 which destroyed H7843 them.

46 He gave H5414 also their increase H2981 unto the caterpiller, H2625 and their labour H3018 unto the locust. H697

47 He destroyed H2026 their vines H1612 with hail, H1259 and their sycomore trees H8256 with frost. H2602

48 He gave up H5462 their cattle H1165 also to the hail, H1259 and their flocks H4735 to hot thunderbolts. H7565

49 He cast H7971 upon them the fierceness H2740 of his anger, H639 wrath, H5678 and indignation, H2195 and trouble, H6869 by sending H4917 evil H7451 angels H4397 among them.

50 He made H6424 a way H5410 to his anger; H639 he spared H2820 not their soul H5315 from death, H4194 but gave H5462 their life H2416 over H5462 to the pestilence; H1698

51 And smote H5221 all the firstborn H1060 in Egypt; H4714 the chief H7225 of their strength H202 in the tabernacles H168 of Ham: H2526

52 But made his own people H5971 to go forth H5265 like sheep, H6629 and guided H5090 them in the wilderness H4057 like a flock. H5739

53 And he led H5148 them on safely, H983 so that they feared H6342 not: but the sea H3220 overwhelmed H3680 their enemies. H341

54 And he brought H935 them to the border H1366 of his sanctuary, H6944 even to this mountain, H2022 which his right hand H3225 had purchased. H7069

55 He cast out H1644 the heathen H1471 also before H6440 them, and divided H5307 them an inheritance H5159 by line, H2256 and made the tribes H7626 of Israel H3478 to dwell H7931 in their tents. H168

56 Yet they tempted H5254 and provoked H4784 the most high H5945 God, H430 and kept H8104 not his testimonies: H5713

57 But turned back, H5472 and dealt unfaithfully H898 like their fathers: H1 they were turned aside H2015 like a deceitful H7423 bow. H7198

58 For they provoked him to anger H3707 with their high places, H1116 and moved him to jealousy H7065 with their graven images. H6456

59 When God H430 heard H8085 this, he was wroth, H5674 and greatly H3966 abhorred H3988 Israel: H3478

60 So that he forsook H5203 the tabernacle H4908 of Shiloh, H7887 the tent H168 which he placed H7931 among men; H120

61 And delivered H5414 his strength H5797 into captivity, H7628 and his glory H8597 into the enemy's H6862 hand. H3027

62 He gave H5462 his people H5971 over H5462 also unto the sword; H2719 and was wroth H5674 with his inheritance. H5159

63 The fire H784 consumed H398 their young men; H970 and their maidens H1330 were not given to marriage. H1984

64 Their priests H3548 fell H5307 by the sword; H2719 and their widows H490 made no lamentation. H1058

65 Then the Lord H136 awaked H3364 as one out of sleep, H3463 and like a mighty man H1368 that shouteth H7442 by reason of wine. H3196

66 And he smote H5221 his enemies H6862 in the hinder parts: H268 he put H5414 them to a perpetual H5769 reproach. H2781

67 Moreover he refused H3988 the tabernacle H168 of Joseph, H3130 and chose H977 not the tribe H7626 of Ephraim: H669

68 But chose H977 the tribe H7626 of Judah, H3063 the mount H2022 Zion H6726 which he loved. H157

69 And he built H1129 his sanctuary H4720 like high H7311 palaces, like the earth H776 which he hath established H3245 for ever. H5769

70 He chose H977 David H1732 also his servant, H5650 and took H3947 him from the sheepfolds: H4356 H6629

71 From following H310 the ewes great with young H5763 he brought H935 him to feed H7462 Jacob H3290 his people, H5971 and Israel H3478 his inheritance. H5159

72 So he fed H7462 them according to the integrity H8537 of his heart; H3824 and guided H5148 them by the skilfulness H8394 of his hands. H3709


Psalms 78:1-72 American Standard (ASV)

1 Give ear, O my people, to my law: Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

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

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

4 We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah, And his strength, and his wondrous works that he hath done.

5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which he commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children;

6 That the generation to come might know `them', even the children that should be born; Who should arise and tell `them' to their children,

7 That they might set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep his commandments,

8 And might not be as their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that set not their heart aright, And whose spirit was not stedfast with God.

9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle.

10 They kept not the covenant of God, And refused to walk in his law;

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

12 Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

13 He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through; And he made the waters to stand as a heap.

14 In the day-time also he led them with a cloud, And all the night with a light of fire.

15 He clave rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.

16 He brought streams also out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers.

17 Yet went they on still to sin against him, To rebel against the Most High in the desert.

18 And they tempted God in their heart By asking food according to their desire.

19 Yea, they spake against God; They said, Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?

20 Behold, he smote the rock, so that waters gushed out, And streams overflowed; Can he give bread also? Will he provide flesh for his people?

21 Therefore Jehovah heard, and was wroth; And a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also went up against Israel;

22 Because they believed not in God, And trusted not in his salvation.

23 Yet he commanded the skies above, And opened the doors of heaven;

24 And he rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven.

25 Man did eat the bread of the mighty: He sent them food to the full.

26 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens; And by his power he guided the south wind.

27 He rained flesh also upon them as the dust, And winged birds as the sand of the seas:

28 And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, Round about their habitations.

29 So they did eat, and were well filled; And he gave them their own desire.

30 They were not estranged from that which they desired, Their food was yet in their mouths,

31 When the anger of God went up against them, And slew of the fattest of them, And smote down the young men of Israel.

32 For all this they sinned still, And believed not in his wondrous works.

33 Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, And their years in terror.

34 When he slew them, then they inquired after him; And they returned and sought God earnestly.

35 And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their redeemer.

36 But they flattered him with their mouth, And lied unto him with their tongue.

37 For their heart was not right with him, Neither were they faithful in his covenant.

38 But he, being merciful, forgave `their' iniquity, and destroyed `them' not: Yea, many a time turned he his anger away, And did not stir up all his wrath.

39 And he remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

40 How oft did they rebel against him in the wilderness, And grieve him in the desert!

41 And they turned again and tempted God, And provoked the Holy One of Israel.

42 They remember not his hand, Nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary;

43 How he set his signs in Egypt, And his wonders in the field of Zoan,

44 And turned their rivers into blood, And their streams, so that they could not drink.

45 He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them; And frogs, which destroyed them.

46 He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, And their labor unto the locust.

47 He destroyed their vines with hail, And their sycomore-trees with frost.

48 He gave over their cattle also to the hail, And their flocks to hot thunderbolts.

49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, Wrath, and indignation, and trouble, A band of angels of evil.

50 He made a path for his anger; He spared not their soul from death, But gave their life over to the pestilence,

51 And smote all the first-born in Egypt, The chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.

52 But he led forth his own people like sheep, And guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

53 And he led them safely, so that they feared not; But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

54 And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, To this mountain, which his right hand had gotten.

55 He drove out the nations also before them, And allotted them for an inheritance by line, And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

56 Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God, And kept not his testimonies;

57 But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers: They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, And moved him to jealousy with their graven images.

59 When God heard `this', he was wroth, And greatly abhorred Israel;

60 So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent which he placed among men;

61 And delivered his strength into captivity, And his glory into the adversary's hand.

62 He gave his people over also unto the sword, And was wroth with his inheritance.

63 Fire devoured their young men; And their virgins had no marriage-song.

64 Their priests fell by the sword; And their widows made no lamentation.

65 Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, Like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.

66 And he smote his adversaries backward: He put them to a perpetual reproach.

67 Moreover he refused the tent of Joseph, And chose not the tribe of Ephraim,

68 But chose the tribe of Judah, The mount Zion which he loved.

69 And he built his sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which he hath established for ever.

70 He chose David also his servant, And took him from the sheepfolds:

71 From following the ewes that have their young he brought him, To be the shepherd of Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.

72 So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skilfulness of his hands. Psalm 79 A Psalm of Asaph.


Psalms 78:1-72 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

1 An Instruction of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law, Incline your ear to sayings of my mouth.

2 I open with a simile my mouth, I bring forth hidden things of old,

3 That we have heard and do know, And our fathers have recounted to us.

4 We do not hide from their sons, To a later generation recounting praises of Jehovah, And His strength, and His wonders that He hath done.

5 And He raiseth up a testimony in Jacob, And a law hath placed in Israel, That He commanded our fathers, To make them known to their sons.

6 So that a later generation doth know, Sons who are born, do rise and recount to their sons,

7 And place in God their confidence, And forget not the doings of God, But keep His commands.

8 And they are not like their fathers, A generation apostate and rebellious, A generation! it hath not prepared its heart, Nor stedfast with God `is' its spirit.

9 Sons of Ephraim -- armed bearers of bow, Have turned in a day of conflict.

10 They have not kept the covenant of God, And in His law they have refused to walk,

11 And they forget His doings, And His wonders that He shewed them.

12 Before their fathers He hath done wonders, In the land of Egypt -- the field of Zoan.

13 He cleft a sea, and causeth them to pass over, Yea, He causeth waters to stand as a heap.

14 And leadeth them with a cloud by day, And all the night with a light of fire.

15 He cleaveth rocks in a wilderness, And giveth drink -- as the great deep.

16 And bringeth out streams from a rock, And causeth waters to come down as rivers.

17 And they add still to sin against Him, To provoke the Most High in the dry place.

18 And they try God in their heart, To ask food for their lust.

19 And they speak against God -- they said: `Is God able to array a table in a wilderness?'

20 Lo, He hath smitten a rock, And waters flow, yea, streams overflow. `Also -- bread `is' He able to give? Doth He prepare flesh for His people?'

21 Therefore hath Jehovah heard, And He sheweth Himself wroth, And fire hath been kindled against Jacob, And anger also hath gone up against Israel,

22 For they have not believed in God, Nor have they trusted in His salvation.

23 And He commandeth clouds from above, Yea, doors of the heavens He hath opened.

24 And He raineth on them manna to eat, Yea, corn of heaven He hath given to them.

25 Food of the mighty hath each eaten, Venison He sent to them to satiety.

26 He causeth an east wind to journey in the heavens, And leadeth by His strength a south wind,

27 And He raineth on them flesh as dust, And as sand of the seas -- winged fowl,

28 And causeth `it' to fall in the midst of His camp, Round about His tabernacles.

29 And they eat, and are greatly satisfied, And their desire He bringeth to them.

30 They have not been estranged from their desire, Yet `is' their food in their mouth,

31 And the anger of God hath gone up against them, And He slayeth among their fat ones, And youths of Israel He caused to bend.

32 With all this they have sinned again, And have not believed in His wonders.

33 And He consumeth in vanity their days, And their years in trouble.

34 If He slew them, then they sought Him, And turned back, and sought God earnestly,

35 And they remember that God `is' their rock, And God Most High their redeemer.

36 And -- they deceive Him with their mouth, And with their tongue do lie to Him,

37 And their heart hath not been right with Him, And they have not been stedfast in His covenant.

38 And He -- the Merciful One, Pardoneth iniquity, and destroyeth not, And hath often turned back His anger, And waketh not up all His fury.

39 And He remembereth that they `are' flesh, A wind going on -- and it returneth not.

40 How often do they provoke Him in the wilderness, Grieve Him in the desolate place?

41 Yea, they turn back, and try God, And the Holy One of Israel have limited.

42 They have not remembered His hand The day He ransomed them from the adversary.

43 When He set His signs in Egypt, And His wonders in the field of Zoan,

44 And He turneth to blood their streams, And their floods they drink not.

45 He sendeth among them the beetle, and it consumeth them, And the frog, and it destroyeth them,

46 And giveth to the caterpillar their increase, And their labour to the locust.

47 He destroyeth with hail their vine, And their sycamores with frost,

48 And delivereth up to the hail their beasts, And their cattle to the burning flames.

49 He sendeth on them the fury of His anger, Wrath, and indignation, and distress -- A discharge of evil messengers.

50 He pondereth a path for His anger, He kept not back their soul from death, Yea, their life to the pestilence He delivered up.

51 And He smiteth every first-born in Egypt, The first-fruit of the strong in tents of Ham.

52 And causeth His people to journey as a flock, And guideth them as a drove in a wilderness,

53 And He leadeth them confidently, And they have not been afraid, And their enemies hath the sea covered.

54 And He bringeth them in unto the border of His sanctuary, This mountain His right hand had got,

55 And casteth out nations from before them, And causeth them to fall in the line of inheritance, And causeth the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents,

56 And they tempt and provoke God Most High, And His testimonies have not kept.

57 And they turn back, And deal treacherously like their fathers, They have been turned like a deceitful bow,

58 And make Him angry with their high places, And with their graven images make Him zealous,

59 God hath heard, and sheweth Himself wroth. And kicketh exceedingly against Israel.

60 And He leaveth the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent He had placed among men,

61 And He giveth His strength to captivity, And His beauty into the hand of an adversary,

62 And delivereth up to the sword His people, And with His inheritance shewed Himself angry.

63 His young men hath fire consumed, And His virgins have not been praised.

64 His priests by the sword have fallen, And their widows weep not.

65 And the Lord waketh as a sleeper, As a mighty one crying aloud from wine.

66 And He smiteth His adversaries backward, A reproach age-during He hath put on them,

67 And He kicketh against the tent of Joseph, And on the tribe of Ephraim hath not fixed.

68 And He chooseth the tribe of Judah, With mount Zion that He loved,

69 And buildeth His sanctuary as a high place, Like the earth, He founded it to the age.

70 And He fixeth on David His servant, And taketh him from the folds of a flock,

71 From behind suckling ones He hath brought him in, To rule over Jacob His people, And over Israel His inheritance.

72 And he ruleth them according to the integrity of his heart, And by the skilfulness of his hands leadeth them!


Psalms 78:1-72 Darby English Bible (DARBY)

1 {An instruction. Of Asaph.} Give ear, O my people, to my law; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter riddles from of old,

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

4 We will not hide [them] from their sons, shewing forth to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah, and his strength, and his marvellous works which he hath done.

5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children;

6 That the generation to come might know [them], the children that should be born; that they might rise up and tell [them] to their children,

7 And that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of ùGod, but observe his commandments;

8 And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that prepared not their heart, and whose spirit was not stedfast with ùGod.

9 The sons of Ephraim, armed bowmen, turned back in the day of battle.

10 They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;

11 And forgot his doings, and his marvellous works which he had shewn them.

12 In the sight of their fathers had he done wonders, in the land of Egypt, the field of Zoan.

13 He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through; and made the waters to stand as a heap;

14 And he led them with a cloud in the daytime, and all the night with the light of fire.

15 He clave rocks in the wilderness, and gave [them] drink as out of the depths, abundantly;

16 And he brought streams out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

17 Yet they still went on sinning against him, provoking the Most High in the desert;

18 And they tempted ùGod in their heart, by asking meat for their lust;

19 And they spoke against God: they said, Is ùGod able to prepare a table in the wilderness?

20 Behold, he smote the rock, and waters gushed out, and streams overflowed; is he able to give bread also, or provide flesh for his people?

21 Therefore Jehovah heard, and was wroth; and fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also went up against Israel:

22 Because they believed not in God, and confided not in his salvation;

23 Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and had opened the doors of the heavens,

24 And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them the corn of the heavens.

25 Man did eat the bread of the mighty; he sent them provision to the full.

26 He caused the east wind to rise in the heavens, and by his strength he brought the south wind;

27 And he rained flesh upon them as dust, and feathered fowl as the sand of the seas,

28 And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations:

29 And they did eat, and were well filled; for that they lusted after, he brought to them.

30 They were not alienated from their lust, their meat was yet in their mouths,

31 When the anger of God went up against them; and he slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.

32 For all this, they sinned still, and believed not in his marvellous works;

33 And he consumed their days in vanity, and their years in terror.

34 When he slew them, then they sought him, and returned and sought early after ùGod;

35 And they remembered that God was their rock, and ùGod, the Most High, their redeemer.

36 But they flattered him with their mouth, and lied unto him with their tongue;

37 For their heart was not firm toward him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.

38 But he was merciful: he forgave the iniquity, and destroyed [them] not; but many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his fury:

39 And he remembered that they were flesh, a breath that passeth away and cometh not again.

40 How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!

41 And they turned again and tempted ùGod, and grieved the Holy One of Israel.

42 They remembered not his hand, the day when he delivered them from the oppressor,

43 How he set his signs in Egypt, and his miracles in the field of Zoan;

44 And turned their rivers into blood, and their streams, that they could not drink;

45 He sent dog-flies among them, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them;

46 And he gave their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labour unto the locust;

47 He killed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with hail-stones;

48 And he delivered up their cattle to the hail, and their flocks to thunderbolts.

49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and distress, -- a mission of angels of woes.

50 He made a way for his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;

51 And he smote all the firstborn in Egypt, the first-fruits of their vigour in the tents of Ham.

52 And he made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock;

53 And he led them safely, so that they were without fear; and the sea covered their enemies.

54 And he brought them to his holy border, this mountain, which his right hand purchased;

55 And he drove out the nations before them, and allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

56 But they tempted and provoked God, the Most High, and kept not his testimonies,

57 And they drew back and dealt treacherously like their fathers: they turned like a deceitful bow.

58 And they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.

59 God heard, and was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:

60 And he forsook the tabernacle at Shiloh, the tent where he had dwelt among men,

61 And gave his strength into captivity, and his glory into the hand of the oppressor;

62 And delivered up his people unto the sword, and was very wroth with his inheritance:

63 The fire consumed their young men, and their maidens were not praised in [nuptial] song;

64 Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.

65 Then the Lord awoke as one out of sleep, like a mighty man that shouteth aloud by reason of wine;

66 And he smote his adversaries in the hinder part, and put them to everlasting reproach.

67 And he rejected the tent of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim,

68 But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved;

69 And he built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which he hath founded for ever.

70 And he chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:

71 From following the suckling-ewes, he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.

72 And he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and led them by the skilfulness of his hands.


Psalms 78:1-72 World English Bible (WEB)

1 > Hear my law, my people. Turn your ears to the words of my mouth.

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

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

4 We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh, His strength, and his wondrous works that he has done.

5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which he commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children;

6 That the generation to come might know, even the children who should be born; Who should arise and tell their children,

7 That they might set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep his commandments,

8 And might not be as their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that didn't make their hearts loyal, Whose spirit was not steadfast with God.

9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle.

10 They didn't keep God's covenant, And refused to walk in his law.

11 They forgot his doings, His wondrous works that he had shown them.

12 He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

13 He split the sea, and caused them to pass through; He made the waters stand as a heap.

14 In the daytime he also led them with a cloud, And all night with a light of fire.

15 He split rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.

16 He brought streams also out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers.

17 Yet they still went on to sin against him, To rebel against the Most High in the desert.

18 They tempted God in their heart By asking food according to their desire.

19 Yes, they spoke against God. They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?

20 Behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out, Streams overflowed. Can he give bread also? Will he provide flesh for his people?"

21 Therefore Yahweh heard, and was angry. A fire was kindled against Jacob, Anger also went up against Israel,

22 Because they didn't believe in God, And didn't trust in his salvation.

23 Yet he commanded the skies above, And opened the doors of heaven.

24 He rained down manna on them to eat, And gave them food from the sky.

25 Man ate the bread of angels. He sent them food to the full.

26 He caused the east wind to blow in the sky. By his power he guided the south wind.

27 He rained also flesh on them as the dust; Winged birds as the sand of the seas.

28 He let them fall in the midst of their camp, Around their habitations.

29 So they ate, and were well filled. He gave them their own desire.

30 They didn't turn from their cravings. Their food was yet in their mouths,

31 When the anger of God went up against them, Killed some of the fattest of them, And struck down the young men of Israel.

32 For all this they still sinned, And didn't believe in his wondrous works.

33 Therefore he consumed their days in vanity, And their years in terror.

34 When he killed them, then they inquired after him. They returned and sought God earnestly.

35 They remembered that God was their rock, The Most High God their redeemer.

36 But they flattered him with their mouth, And lied to him with their tongue.

37 For their heart was not right with him, Neither were they faithful in his covenant.

38 But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn't destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, And didn't stir up all his wrath.

39 He remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passes away, and doesn't come again.

40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness, And grieved him in the desert!

41 They turned again and tempted God, And provoked the Holy One of Israel.

42 They didn't remember his hand, Nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary;

43 How he set his signs in Egypt, His wonders in the field of Zoan,

44 Turned their rivers into blood, And their streams, so that they could not drink.

45 He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them; And frogs, which destroyed them.

46 He gave also their increase to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust.

47 He destroyed their vines with hail, Their sycamore-fig trees with frost.

48 He gave over their cattle also to the hail, And their flocks to hot thunderbolts.

49 He threw on them the fierceness of his anger, Wrath, indignation, and trouble, And a band of angels of evil.

50 He made a path for his anger. He didn't spare their soul from death, But gave their life over to the pestilence,

51 And struck all the firstborn in Egypt, The chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.

52 But he led forth his own people like sheep, And guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

53 He led them safely, so that they weren't afraid, But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

54 He brought them to the border of his sanctuary, To this mountain, which his right hand had taken.

55 He also drove out the nations before them, Allotted them for an inheritance by line, And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

56 Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God, And didn't keep his testimonies;

57 But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, And moved him to jealousy with their engraved images.

59 When God heard this, he was angry, And greatly abhorred Israel;

60 So that he forsook the tent of Shiloh, The tent which he placed among men;

61 And delivered his strength into captivity, His glory into the adversary's hand.

62 He also gave his people over to the sword, And was angry with his inheritance.

63 Fire devoured their young men; Their virgins had no wedding song.

64 Their priests fell by the sword, And their widows couldn't weep.

65 Then the Lord awakened as one out of sleep, Like a mighty man who shouts by reason of wine.

66 He struck his adversaries backward. He put them to a perpetual reproach.

67 Moreover he rejected the tent of Joseph, And didn't choose the tribe of Ephraim,

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

69 He built his sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which he has established forever.

70 He also chose David his servant, And took him from the sheepfolds;

71 From following the ewes that have their young, He brought him to be the shepherd of Jacob, his people, And Israel, his inheritance.

72 So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.


Psalms 78:1-72 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

1 <Maschil. Of Asaph.> Give ear, O my people, to my law; let your ears be bent down to the words of my mouth.

2 Opening my mouth I will give out a story, even the dark sayings of old times;

3 Which have come to our hearing and our knowledge, as they were given to us by our fathers.

4 We will not keep them secret from our children; we will make clear to the coming generation the praises of the Lord and his strength, and the great works of wonder which he has done.

5 He put up a witness in Jacob, and made a law in Israel; which he gave to our fathers so that they might give knowledge of them to their children;

6 So that the generation to come might have knowledge of them, even the children of the future, who would give word of them to their children;

7 So that they might put their hope in God, and not let God's works go out of their minds, but keep his laws;

8 And not be like their fathers, a stiff-necked and uncontrolled generation; a generation whose heart was hard, whose spirit was not true to God.

9 The children of Ephraim, armed with bows, were turned back on the day of the fight.

10 They were not ruled by God's word, and they would not go in the way of his law;

11 They let his works go out of their memory, and the wonders which he had made them see.

12 He did great works before the eyes of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.

13 The sea was cut in two so that they might go through; the waters were massed together on this side and on that.

14 In the daytime he was guiding them in the cloud, and all through the night with a light of fire.

15 The rocks of the waste land were broken by his power, and he gave them drink as out of the deep waters.

16 He made streams come out of the rock; and waters came flowing down like rivers.

17 And they went on sinning against him even more, turning away from the Most High in the waste land;

18 Testing God in their hearts, requesting meat for their desire.

19 They said bitter words against God, saying, Is God able to make ready a table in the waste land?

20 See, the rock was cut open by his power, so that the water came rushing out, and overflowing streams; is he able to give us bread? is he able to get meat for his people?

21 So these things came to the Lord's ears, and he was angry; and a fire was lighted against Jacob, and wrath came up against Israel;

22 Because they had no faith in God, and no hope in his salvation.

23 And he gave orders to the clouds on high, and the doors of heaven were open;

24 And he sent down manna like rain for their food, and gave them the grain of heaven.

25 Man took part in the food of strong ones; he sent them meat in full measure.

26 He sent an east wind from heaven, driving on the south wind by his power.

27 He sent down meat on them like dust, and feathered birds like the sand of the sea,

28 And he let it come down into their resting-place, round about their tents.

29 So they had food and were full; for he gave them their desire;

30 But they were not turned from their desires; and while the food was still in their mouths,

31 The wrath of God came on them, and put to death the fattest of them, and put an end to the young men of Israel.

32 For all this they went on sinning even more, and had no faith in his great wonders.

33 So their days were wasted like a breath, and their years in trouble.

34 When he sent death on them, then they made search for him; turning to him and looking for him with care;

35 In the memory that God was their Rock, and the Most High God their saviour.

36 But their lips were false to him, and their tongues were untrue to him;

37 And their hearts were not right with him, and they did not keep their agreement with him.

38 But he, being full of pity, has forgiveness for sin, and does not put an end to man: frequently turning back his wrath, and not being violently angry.

39 So he kept in mind that they were only flesh; a breath which is quickly gone, and will not come again.

40 How frequently did they go against him in the waste land, and give him cause for grief in the dry places!

41 Again they put God to the test, and gave pain to the Holy One of Israel.

42 They did not keep in mind the work of his hand, or the day when he took them from the power of their haters;

43 How he had done his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan;

44 So that their rivers were turned to blood, and they were not able to get drink from their streams.

45 He sent different sorts of flies among them, poisoning their flesh; and frogs for their destruction.

46 He gave the increase of their fields to worms, the fruits of their industry to the locusts.

47 He sent ice for the destruction of their vines; their trees were damaged by the bitter cold.

48 Ice was rained down on their cattle; thunderstorms sent destruction among the flocks.

49 He sent on them the heat of his wrath, his bitter disgust, letting loose evil angels among them.

50 He let his wrath have its way; he did not keep back their soul from death, but gave their life to disease.

51 He gave to destruction all the first sons of Egypt; the first-fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham;

52 But he took his people out like sheep, guiding them in the waste land like a flock.

53 He took them on safely so that they had no fear; but their haters were covered by the sea.

54 And he was their guide to his holy land, even to the mountain, which his right hand had made his;

55 Driving out nations before them, marking out the line of their heritage, and giving the people of Israel their tents for a resting-place.

56 But they were bitter against the Most High God, testing him, and not keeping his laws;

57 Their hearts were turned back and untrue like their fathers; they were turned to one side like a twisted bow.

58 They made him angry with their high places; moving him to wrath with their images.

59 When this came to God's ears he was very angry, and gave up Israel completely;

60 So that he went away from the holy place in Shiloh, the tent which he had put among men;

61 And he let his strength be taken prisoner, and gave his glory into the hands of his hater.

62 He gave his people up to the sword, and was angry with his heritage.

63 Their young men were burned in the fire; and their virgins were not praised in the bride-song.

64 Their priests were put to death by the sword, and their widows made no weeping for them.

65 Then was the Lord like one awaking from sleep, and like a strong man crying out because of wine.

66 His haters were turned back by his blows and shamed for ever.

67 And he put the tent of Joseph on one side, and took not the tribe of Ephraim;

68 But he took the tribe of Judah for himself, and the mountain of Zion, in which he had pleasure.

69 And he made his holy place like the high heaven, like the earth which is fixed by him for ever.

70 He took David to be his servant, taking him from the place of the flocks;

71 From looking after the sheep which were giving milk, he took him to give food to Jacob his people, and to Israel his heritage.

72 So he gave them food with an upright heart, guiding them by the wisdom of his hands.

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 78

Commentary on Psalms 78 Matthew Henry Commentary


Psalm 78

This psalm is historical; it is a narrative of the great mercies God had bestowed upon Israel, the great sins wherewith they had provoked him, and the many tokens of his displeasure they had been under for their sins. The psalmist began, in the foregoing psalm, to relate God's wonders of old, for his own encouragement in a difficult time; there he broke off abruptly, but here resumes the subject, for the edification of the church, and enlarges much upon it, showing not only how good God had been to them, which was an earnest of further finishing mercy, but how basely they had conducted themselves towards God, which justified him in correcting them as he did at this time, and forbade all complaints. Here is,

  • I. The preface to this church history, commanding the attention of the present age to it and recommending it to the study of the generations to come (v. 1-8).
  • II. The history itself from Moses to David; it is put into a psalm or song that it might be the better remembered and transmitted to posterity, and that the singing of it might affect them with the things here related, more than they would be with a bare narrative of them. The general scope of this psalm we have (v. 9-11) where notice is taken of the present rebukes they were under (v. 9), the sin which brought them under those rebukes (v. 10), and the mercies of God to them formerly, which aggravated that sin (v. 11). As to the particulars, we are here told,
    • 1. What wonderful works God had wrought for them in bringing them out of Egypt (v. 12-16), providing for them in the wilderness (v. 23-29), plaguing and ruining their enemies (v. 43-53), and at length putting them in possession of the land of promise (v. 54, 55).
    • 2. How ungrateful they were to God for his favours to them and how many and great provocations they were guilty of. How they murmured against God and distrusted him (v. 17-20), and did but counterfeit repentance and submission when he punished them (v. 34-37), thus grieving and tempting him (v. 40-42). How they affronted God with their idolatries after they came to Canaan (v. 56-58).
    • 3. How God had justly punished them for their sins (v. 21, 22) in the wilderness, making their sin their punishment (v. 29-33), and now, of late, when the ark was taken by the Philistines (v. 59-64).
    • 4. How graciously God had spared them and returned in mercy to them, notwithstanding their provocations. He had forgiven them formerly (v. 38, 39), and now, of late, had removed the judgments they had brought upon themselves, and brought them under a happy establishment both in church and state (v. 65-72).

As the general scope of this psalm may be of use to us in the singing of it, to put us upon recollecting what God has done for us and for his church formerly, and what we have done against him, so the particulars also may be of use to us, for warning against those sins of unbelief and ingratitude which Israel of old was notoriously guilty of, and the record of which was preserved for our learning. "These things happened unto them for ensamples,' 1 Co. 10:11; Heb. 4:11.

Maschil of Asaph.

Psa 78:1-8

These verses, which contain the preface to this history, show that the psalm answers the title; it is indeed Maschil-a psalm to give instruction; if we receive not the instruction it gives, it is our own fault. Here,

  • I. The psalmist demands attention to what he wrote (v. 1): Give ear, O my people! to my law. Some make these the psalmist's words. David, as a king, or Asaph, in his name, as his secretary of state, or scribe to the sweet singer of Israel, here calls upon the people, as his people committed to his charge, to give ear to his law. He calls his instructions his law or edict; such was their commanding force in themselves. Every good truth, received in the light and love of it, will have the power of a law upon the conscience; yet that was not all: David was a king, and he would interpose his royal power for the edification of his people. If God, by his grace, make great men good men, they will be capable of doing more good than others, because their word will be a law to all about them, who must therefore give ear and hearken; for to what purpose is divine revelation brought our ears if we will not incline our ears to it, both humble ourselves and engage ourselves to hear it and heed it? Or the psalmist, being a prophet, speaks as God's mouth, and so calls them his people, and demands subjection to what was said as to a law. Let him that has an ear thus hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches, Rev. 2:7.
  • II. Several reasons are given why we should diligently attend to that which is here related.
    • 1. The things here discoursed of are weighty, and deserve consideration, strange, and need it (v. 2): I will open my mouth in a parable, in that which is sublime and uncommon, but very excellent and well worthy your attention; I will utter dark sayings, which challenge your most serious regards as much as the enigmas with which the eastern princes and learned men used to try one another. These are called dark sayings, not because they are hard to be understood, but because they are greatly to be admired and carefully to be looked into. This is said to be fulfilled in the parables which our Saviour put forth (Mt. 13:35), which were (as this) representations of the state of the kingdom of God among men.
    • 2. They are the monuments of antiquity-dark sayings of old which our fathers have told us, v. 3. They are things of undoubted certainty; we have heard them and known them, and there is no room left to question the truth of them. The gospel of Luke is called a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us (Lu. 1:1), so were the things here related. The honour we owe to our parents and ancestors obliges us to attend to that which our fathers have told us, and, as far as it appears to be true and good, to receive it with so much the more reverence and regard.
    • 3. They are to be transmitted to posterity, and it lies as a charge upon us carefully to hand them down (v. 4); because our fathers told them to us we will not hide them from their children. Our children are called theirs, for they were in care for their seed's seed, and looked upon them as theirs; and, in teaching our children the knowledge of God, we repay to our parents some of that debt we owe to them for teaching us. Nay, if we have no children of our own, we must declare the things of God to their children, the children of others. Our care must be for posterity in general, and not only for our own posterity; and for the generation to come hereafter, the children that shall be born, as well as for the generation that is next rising up and the children that are born. That which we are to transmit to our children is not only the knowledge of languages, arts and sciences, liberty and property, but especially the praises of the Lord, and his strength appearing in the wonderful works he has done. Our great care must be to lodge our religion, that great deposit, pure and entire in the hands of those that succeed us. There are two things the full and clear knowledge of which we must preserve the entail of to our heirs:-
      • (1.) The law of God; for this was given with a particular charge to teach it diligently to their children (v. 5): He established a testimony or covenant, and enacted a law, in Jacob and Israel, gave them precepts and promises, which he commanded them to make known to their children, Deu. 6:7, 20. The church of God, as the historian says of the Roman commonwealth, was not to be res unius aetatis-a thing of one age but was to be kept up from one generation to another; and therefore, as God provided for a succession of ministers in the tribe of Levi and the house of Aaron, so he appointed that parents should train up their children in the knowledge of his law: and, when they had grown up, they must arise and declare them to their children (v. 6), that, as one generation of God's servants and worshippers passes away, another generation may come, and the church, as the earth, may abide for ever; and thus God's name among men may be as the days of heaven.
      • (2.) The providences of God concerning them, both in mercy and in judgment. The former seem to be mentioned for the sake of this; since God gave order that his laws should be made known to posterity, it is requisite that with them his works also should be made known, the fulfilling of the promises made to the obedient and the threatenings denounced against the disobedient. Let these be told to our children and our children's children,
        • [1.] That they may take encouragement to conform to the will of God (v. 7): that, not forgetting the works of God wrought in former days, they might set their hope in God and keep his commandments, might make his command their rule and his covenant their stay. Those only may with confidence hope for God's salvation that make conscience of doing his commandments. The works of God, duly considered, will very much strengthen our resolution both to set our hope in him and to keep his commandments, for he is able to bear us out in both.
        • [2.] That they may take warning not to conform to the example of their fathers (v. 8): That they might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation. See here,
          • First, What was the character of their fathers. Though they were the seed of Abraham, taken into covenant with God, and, for aught we know, the only professing people he had then in the world, yet they were stubborn and rebellious, and walked contrary to God, in direct opposition to his will. They did indeed profess relation to him, but they did not set their hearts aright; they were not cordial in their engagements to God, nor inward with him in their worship of him, and therefore their spirit was not stedfast with him, but upon every occasion they flew off from him. Note, Hypocrisy is the high road to apostasy. Those that do not set their hearts aright will not be stedfast with God, but play fat and loose.
          • Secondly, What was a charge to the children: That they be not as their fathers. Note, Those that have descended from wicked and ungodly ancestors, if they will but consider the word and works of God, will see reason enough not to tread in their steps. It will be no excuse for a vain conversation that it was received by tradition from our fathers (1 Pt. 1:18); for what we know of them that was evil must be an admonition to us, that we dread that which was so pernicious to them as we would shun those courses which they took that were ruinous to their health or estates.

Psa 78:9-39

In these verses,

  • I. The psalmist observes the late rebukes of Providence that the people of Israel had been under, which they had brought upon themselves by their dealing treacherously with God, v. 9-11. The children of Ephraim, in which tribe Shiloh was, though they were well armed and shot with bows, yet turned back in the day of battle. This seems to refer to that shameful defeat which the Philistines gave them in Eli's time, when they took the ark prisoner, 1 Sa. 4:10, 11. Of this the psalmist here begins to speak, and, after a long digression, returns to it again, v. 61. Well might that event be thus fresh in mind in David's time, above forty years after, for the ark, which in that memorable battle was seized by the Philistines, though it was quickly brought out of captivity, was never brought out of obscurity till David fetched it from Kirjath-jearim to his own city. Observe,
    • 1. The shameful cowardice of the children of Ephraim, that warlike tribe, so famed for valiant men, Joshua's tribe; the children of that tribe, though as well armed as ever, turned back when they came to face the enemy. Note, Weapons of war stand men in little stead without a martial spirit, and that is gone if God be gone. Sin dispirits men and takes away the heart.
    • 2. The causes of their cowardice, which were no less shameful; and these were,
      • (1.) A shameful violation of God's law and their covenant with him (v. 10); they were basely treacherous and perfidious, for they kept not the covenant of God, and basely stubborn and rebellious (as they were described, v. 8), for they peremptorily refused to walk in his law, and, in effect, told him to his face they would not be ruled by him.
      • (2.) A shameful ingratitude to God for the favours he had bestowed upon them: They forgot his works and his wonders, his works of wonder which they ought to have admired, v. 11. Note, Our forgetfulness of God's works is at the bottom of our disobedience to his laws.
  • II. He takes occasion hence to consult precedents and to compare this with the case of their fathers, who were in like manner unmindful of God's mercies to them and ungrateful to their founder and great benefactor, and were therefore often brought under his displeasure. The narrative in these verses is very remarkable, for it relates a kind of struggle between God's goodness and man's badness, and mercy, at length, rejoices against judgment.
    • 1. God did great things for his people Israel when he first incorporated them and formed them into a people: Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, and not only in their sight, but in their cause, and for their benefit, so strange, so kind, that one would think they should never be forgotten. What he did for them in the land of Egypt is only just mentioned here (v. 12), but afterwards resumed, v. 43. He proceeds here to show,
      • (1.) How he made a lane for them through the Red Sea, and caused them, gave them courage, to pass through, though the waters stood over their heads as a heap, v. 13. See Isa. 63:12, 13, where God is said to lead them by the hand, as it were, through the deep that they should not stumble.
      • (2.) How he provided a guide for them through the untrodden paths of the wilderness (v. 14); he led them step by step, in the day time by a cloud, which also sheltered them from the heat, and all the night with a light of fire, which perhaps warmed the air; at least it made the darkness of night less frightful, and perhaps kept off wild beasts, Zec. 2:5.
      • (3.) How he furnished their camp with fresh water in a dry and thirsty land where no water was, not by opening the bottles of heaven (that would have been a common way), but by broaching a rock (v. 15, 16): He clave the rocks in the wilderness, which yielded water, though they were not capable of receiving it either from the clouds above or the springs beneath. Out of the dry and hard rock he gave them drink, not distilled as out of an alembic, drop by drop, but in streams running down like rivers, and as out of the great depths. God gives abundantly, and is rich in mercy; he gives seasonably, and sometimes makes us to feel the want of mercies that we may the better know the worth of them. This water which God gave Israel out of the rock was the more valuable because it was spiritual drink. And that rock was Christ.
    • 2. When God began thus to bless them they began to affront him (v. 17): They sinned yet more against him, more than they had done in Egypt, though there they were bad enough, Eze. 20:8. They bore the miseries of their servitude better than the difficulties of their deliverance, and never murmured at their taskmasters so much as they did at Moses and Aaron; as if they were delivered to do all these abominations, Jer. 7:10. As sin sometimes takes occasion by the commandment, so at other times it takes occasion by the deliverance, to become more exceedingly sinful. They provoked the Most High. Though he is most high, and they knew themselves an unequal match for him, yet they provoked him and even bade defiance to his justice; and this in the wilderness, where he had them at his mercy and therefore they were bound in interest to please him, and where he showed them so much mercy and therefore they were bound in gratitude to please him; yet there they said and did that which they knew would provoke him: They tempted God in their heart, v. 18. Their sin began in their heart, and thence it took its malignity. They do always err in their heart, Heb. 3:10. Thus they tempted God, tried his patience to the utmost, whether he would bear with them or no, and, in effect, bade him do his worst. Two ways they provoked him:-
      • (1.) By desiring, or rather demanding, that which he had not thought fit to give them: They asked meat for their lust. God had given them meat for their hunger, in the manna, wholesome pleasant food and in abundance; he had given them meat for their faith out of the heads of leviathan which he broke in pieces, Ps. 74:14. But all this would not serve; they must have meat for their lust, dainties and varieties to gratify a luxurious appetite. Nothing is more provoking to God than our quarrelling with our allotment and indulging the desires of the flesh.
      • (2.) By distrusting his power to give them what they desired. This was tempting God indeed. They challenged him to give them flesh; and, if he did not, they would say it was because he could not, not because he did not see it fit for them (v. 19): They spoke against God. Those that set bounds to God's power speak against him. It was as injurious a reflection as could be cat upon God to say, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? They had manna, but the did not think they had a table furnished unless they had boiled and roast, a first, a second, and a third course, as they had in Egypt, where they had both flesh and fish, and sauce too (Ex. 16:3, Num. 11:5), dishes of meat and salvers of fruit. What an unreasonable insatiable thin is luxury! Such a mighty thing did these epicures think a table well furnished to be that they thought it was more than God himself could give them in that wilderness; whereas the beasts of the forest, and all the fowls of the mountains, are his, Ps. 50:10, 11. Their disbelief of God's power was so much the worse in that they did at the same time own that he had done as much as that came to (v. 20): Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, which they and their cattle drank of. And which is easier, to furnish a table in the wilderness, which a rich man can do, or to fetch water out of a rock, which the greatest potentate on the earth cannot do? Never did unbelief, though always unreasonable, ask so absurd a question: "Can he that melted down a rock into streams of water give bread also? Or can he that has given bread provide flesh also?' Is any thing too hard for Omnipotence? When once the ordinary powers of nature are exceeded God has made bare his arm, and we must conclude that nothing is impossible with him. Be it ever so great a thing that we ask, it becomes us to own, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst.
    • 3. God justly resented the provocation and was much displeased with them (v. 21): The Lord heard this, and was wroth. Note, God is a witness to all our murmurings and distrusts; he hears them and is much displeased with them. A fire was kindled for this against Jacob; the fire of the Lord burnt among them, Num. 11:1. Or it may be understood of the fire of God's anger which came up against Israel. To unbelievers our God is himself a consuming fire. Those that will not believe the power of God's mercy shall feel the power of his indignation, and be made to confess that it is a fearful thing to fall into his hands. Now here we are told,
      • (1.) Why God thus resented the provocation (v. 22): Because by this it appeared that they believed not in God; they did not give credit to the revelation he had made of himself to them, for they durst not commit themselves to him, nor venture themselves with him: They trusted not in the salvation he had begun to work for them; for then they would not thus have questioned its progress. Those cannot be said to trust in God's salvation as their felicity at last who cannot find in their hearts to trust in his providence for food convenient in the way to it. That which aggravated their unbelief was the experience they had had of the power and goodness of God, v. 23-25. He had given them undeniable proofs of his power, not only on earth beneath, but in heaven above; for he commanded the clouds from above, as one that had created them and commanded them into being; he made what use he pleased of them. Usually by their showers they contribute to the earth's producing corn; but now, when God so commanded them, they showered down corn themselves, which is therefore called here the corn of heaven; for heaven can do the work without the earth, but not the earth without heaven. God, who has the key of the clouds, opened the doors of heaven, and that is more than opening the windows, which yet is spoken of as a great blessing, Mal. 3:10. To all that by faith and prayer ask, seek, and knock, these doors shall at any time be opened; for the God of heaven is rich in mercy to all that call upon him. He not only keeps a good house, but keeps open house. Justly might God take it ill that they should distrust him when he had been so very kind to them that he had rained down manna upon them to eat, substantial food, daily, duly, enough for all, enough for each. Man did eat angels' food, such as angels, if they had occasion for food, would eat and be thankful for; or rather such as was given by the ministry of angels, and (as the Chaldee reads it) such as descended from the dwelling of angels. Every one, even the least child in Israel, did eat the bread of the mighty (so the margin reads it); the weakest stomach could digest it, and yet it was so nourishing that it was strong meat for strong men. And, though the provision was so good, yet they were not stinted, nor ever reduced to short allowance; for he sent them meat to the full. If they gathered little, it was their own fault; and yet even then they had no lack, Ex. 16:18. The daily provision God makes for us, and has made ever since we came into the world, though it has not so much of miracle as this, has no less of mercy, and is therefore a great aggravation of our distrust of God.
      • (2.) How he expressed his resentment of the provocation, not in denying them what they so inordinately lusted after, but in granting it to them.
        • [1.] Did they question his power? He soon gave them a sensible conviction that he could furnish a table in the wilderness. Though the winds seem to blow where they list, yet, when he pleased, he could make them his caterers to fetch in provisions, v. 26. He caused an east wind to blow and a south wind, either a south-east wind, or an east wind first to bring in the quails from that quarter and then a south wind to bring in more from that quarter; so that he rained flesh upon them, and that of the most delicate sort, not butchers' meat, but wild-fowl, and abundance of it, as dust, as the sand of the sea (v. 27), so that the meanest Israelite might have sufficient; and it cost them nothing, no, not the pains of fetching it from the mountains, for he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitation, v. 28. We have the account Num. 11:31, 32. See how good God is even to the evil and unthankful, and wonder that his goodness does not overcome their badness. See what little reason we have to judge of God's love by such gifts of his bounty as these; dainty bits are no tokens of his peculiar favour. Christ gave dry bread to the disciples that he loved, but a sop dipped in the sauce to Judas that betrayed him.
        • [2.] Did they defy his justice and boast that they had gained their point? He made them pay dearly for their quails; for, though he gave them their own desire, they were not estranged from their lust (v. 29, 30); their appetite was insatiable; they were well filled and yet they were not satisfied; for they knew not what they would have. Such is the nature of lust; it is content with nothing, and the more it is humoured the more humoursome it grows. Those that indulge their lust will never be estranged from it. Or it intimates that God's liberality did not make them ashamed of their ungrateful lustings, as it would have done if they had had any sense of honour. But what came of it? While the meat was yet in their mouth, rolled under the tongue as a sweet morsel, the wrath of God came upon them and slew the fattest of them (v. 31), those that were most luxurious and most daring. See Num. 11:33, 34. They were fed as sheep for the slaughter: the butcher takes the fattest first. We may suppose there were some pious and contented Israelites, that did eat moderately of the quails and were never the worse; for it was not the meat that poisoned them, but their own lust. Let epicures and sensualists here read their doom. The end of those who make a god of their belly is destruction, Phil. 3:19. The prosperity of fools shall destroy them, and their ruin will be the greater.
    • 4. The judgments of God upon them did not reform them, nor attain the end, any more than his mercies (v. 32): For all this, they sinned still; they murmured and quarrelled with God and Moses as much as ever. Though God was wroth and smote them, yet they went on frowardly in the way of their heart (Isa. 57:17); they believed not for his wondrous works. Though his works of justice were as wondrous and as great proofs of his power as his works of mercy, yet they were not wrought upon by them to fear God, nor convinced how much it was their interest to make him their friend. Those hearts are hard indeed that will neither be melted by the mercies of God nor broken by his judgments.
    • 5. They persisting in their sins, God proceeded in his judgments, but they were judgments of another nature, which wrought not suddenly, but slowly. He punished them not now with such acute diseases as that was which slew the fattest of them, but a lingering chronical distemper (v. 33): Therefore their days did he consume in vanity in the wilderness and their years in trouble. By an irreversible doom they were condemned to wear out thirty-eight tedious years in the wilderness, which indeed were consumed in vanity; for in all those years there was not a step taken nearer Canaan, but they were turned back again, and wandered to and fro as in a labyrinth, not one stroke struck towards the conquest of it: and not only in vanity, but in trouble, for their carcases were condemned to fall in the wilderness and there they all perished but Caleb and Joshua. Note, Those that sin still must expect to be in trouble still. And the reason why we spend our days in so much vanity and trouble, why we live with so little comfort and to so little purpose, is because we do not live by faith.
    • 6. Under these rebukes they professed repentance, but they were not cordial and sincere in this profession.
      • (1.) Their profession was plausible enough (v. 34, 35): When he slew them, or condemned them to be slain, then they sought him; they confessed their fault, and begged his pardon. When some were slain others in a fright cried to God for mercy, and promised they would reform and be very good; then they returned to God, and enquired early after him. So one would have taken them to be such as desired to find him. And they pretended to do this because, however they had forgotten it formerly, now they remembered that God was their rock and therefore now that they needed him they would fly to him and take shelter in him, and that the high God was their Redeemer, who brought them out of Egypt and to whom therefore they might come with boldness. Afflictions are sent to put us in mind of God as our rock and our redeemer; for, in prosperity, we are apt to forget him.
      • (2.) They were not sincere in this profession (v. 36, 37): They did but flatter him with their mouth, as if they thought by fair speeches to prevail with him to revoke the sentence and remove the judgment, with a secret intention to break their word when the danger was over; they did not return to God with their whole heart, but feignedly, Jer. 3:10. All their professions, prayers, and promises, were extorted by the rack. It was plain that they did not mean as they said, for they did not adhere to it. They thawed in the sun, but froze in the shade. They did but lie to God with their tongues, for their heart was not with him, was not right with him, as appeared by the issue, for they were not stedfast in his covenant. They were not sincere in their reformation, for they were not constant; and, by thinking thus to impose upon a heart-searching God, they really put as great an affront upon him as by any of their reflections.
    • 7. God hereupon, in pity to them, put a stop to the judgments which were threatened and in part executed (v. 38, 39): But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity. One would think this counterfeit repentance should have filled up the measure of their iniquity. What could be more provoking than to lie thus to the holy God, than thus to keep back part of the price, the chief part? Acts 5:3. And yet he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity thus far, that he did not destroy them and cut them off from being a people, as he justly might have done, but spared their lives till they had reared another generation which should enter into the promised land. Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it, Isa. 65:8. Many a time he turned his anger away (for he is Lord of his anger) and did not stir up all his wrath, to deal with them as they deserved: and why did he not? Not because their ruin would have been any loss to him, but,
      • (1.) Because he was full of compassion and, when he was going to destroy them, his repentings were kindled together, and he said, How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, Israel? Hos. 11:8.
      • (2.) Because, though they did not rightly remember that he was their rock, he remembered that they were but flesh. He considered the corruption of their nature, which inclined them to evil, and was pleased to make that an excuse for his sparing them, though it was really no excuse for their sin. See Gen. 6:3. He considered the weakness and frailty of their nature, and what an easy thing it would be to crush them: They are as a wind that passeth away and cometh not again. They may soon be taken off, but, when they are gone, they are gone irrecoverably, and then what will become of the covenant with Abraham? They are flesh, they are wind; whence it were easy to argue they may justly, they may immediately, be cut off, and there would be no loss of them: but God argues, on the contrary, therefore he will not destroy them; for the true reason is, He is full of compassion.

Psa 78:40-72

The matter and scope of this paragraph are the same with the former, showing what great mercies God had bestowed upon Israel, how provoking they had been, what judgments he had brought upon them for their sins, and yet how, in judgment, he remembered mercy at last. Let not those that receive mercy from God be thereby emboldened to sin, for the mercies they receive will aggravate their sin and hasten the punishment of it; yet let not those that are under divine rebukes for sin be discouraged from repentance, for their punishments are means of repentance, and shall not prevent the mercy God has yet in store for them. Observe,

  • I. The sins of Israel in the wilderness again reflected on, because written for our admonition (v. 40, 41): How often did they provoke him in the wilderness! Note once, nor twice, but many a time; and the repetition of the provocation was a great aggravation of it, as well as the place, v. 17. God kept an account how often they provoked him, though they did not. Num. 14:22, They have tempted me these ten times. By provoking him they did not so much anger him as grieve him, for he looked upon them as his children (Israel is my son, my first-born), and the undutiful disrespectful behaviour of children does more grieve than anger the tender parents; they lay it to heart, and take it unkindly, Isa. 1:2. They grieved him because they put him under a necessity of afflicting them, which he did not willingly. After they had humbled themselves before him they turned back and tempted God, as before, and limited the Holy One of Israel, prescribing to him what proofs he should give of his power and presence with them and what methods he should take in leading them and providing for them. They limited him to their way and their time, as if he did not observe that they quarrelled with him. It is presumption for us to limit the Holy One of Israel; for, being the Holy One, he will do what is most for his own glory; and, being the Holy One of Israel, he will do what is most for their good; and we both impeach his wisdom and betray our own pride and folly if we go about to prescribe to him. That which occasioned their limiting God for the future was their forgetting his former favours (v. 42): They remembered not his hand, how strong it is and how it had been stretched out for them, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy, Pharaoh, that great enemy who sought their ruin. There are some days made remarkable by signal deliverances, which ought never to be forgotten; for the remembrance of them would encourage us in our greatest straits.
  • II. The mercies of God to Israel, which they were unmindful of when they tempted God and limited him; and this catalogue of the works of wonder which God wrought for them begins higher, and is carried down further, than that before, v. 12, etc.
    • 1. This begins with their deliverance out of Egypt, and the plagues with which God compelled the Egyptians to let them go: these were the signs God wrought in Egypt (v. 43), the wonders he wrought in the field of Zoan, that is, in the country of Zoan, as we say, in Agro N., meaning in such a country.
      • (1.) Several of the plagues of Egypt are here specified, which speak aloud the power of God and his favour to Israel, as well as terror to his and their enemies. As,
        • [1.] The turning of the waters into blood; they had made themselves drunk with the bloods of God's people, even the infants, and now God gave them blood to drink, for they were worthy, v. 44.
        • [2.] The flies and frogs which infested them, mixtures of insects in swarms, in shoals, which devoured them, which destroyed them, v. 45. For God can make the weakest and most despicable animals instruments of his wrath when he pleases; what they want in strength may be made up in number.
        • [3.] The plague of locusts, which devoured their increase, and that which they had laboured for, v. 46. They are called God's great army, Joel 2:25.
        • [4.] The hail, which destroyed their trees, especially their vines, the weakest of trees (v. 47), and their cattle, especially their flocks of sheep, the weakest of their cattle, which were killed with hot thunder-bolts (v. 48), and the frost, or congealed rain (as the word signifies), was so violent that it destroyed even the sycamore-trees.
        • [5.] The death of the first-born was the last and sorest of the plagues of Egypt, and that which perfected the deliverance of Israel; it was first in intention (Ex. 4:23), but last in execution; for, if gentler methods would have done the work, this would have been prevented: but it is here largely described, v. 49-51.
          • First, The anger of God was the cause of it. Wrath had now come upon the Egyptians to the uttermost; Pharaoh's heart having been often hardened after less judgments had softened it, God now stirred up all his wrath; for he cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, anger in the highest degree, wrath and indignation the cause, and trouble (tribulation and anguish, Rom. 2:8, 9) the effect. This from on high he cast upon them and did not spare, and they could not flee out of his hands, Job 27:22. He made a way, or (as the word is) he weighed a path, to his anger. He did not cast it upon them uncertainly, but by weight. His anger was weighed with the greatest exactness in the balances of justice; for, in his greatest displeasure, he never did, nor ever will do, any wrong to any of his creatures: the path of his anger is always weighed.
          • Secondly, The angels of God were the instruments employed in this execution: He sent evil angels among them, not evil in their own nature, but in respect to the errand upon which they were sent; they were destroying angels, or angels of punishment, which passed through all the land of Egypt, with orders, according to the weighed paths of God's anger, not to kill all, but the first-born only. Good angels become evil angels to sinners. Those that make the holy God their enemy must never expect the holy angels to be their friends.
          • Thirdly, The execution itself was very severe: He spared not their soul from death, but suffered death to ride in triumph among them and gave their life over to the pestilence, which cut the thread of life off immediately; for he smote all the first-born in Egypt (v. 51), the chief of their strength, the hopes of their respective families; children are the parents' strength, and the first-born the chief of their strength. Thus, because Israel was precious in God's sight, he gave men for them and people for their life, Isa. 43:4.
      • (2.) By these plagues on the Egyptians God made a way for his own people to go forth like sheep, distinguishing between them and the Egyptians, as the shepherd divides between the sheep and the goats, having set his own mark on these sheep by the blood of the lamb sprinkled on their door-posts. He made them go forth like sheep, not knowing whither they went, and guided them in the wilderness, as a shepherd guides his flock, with all possible care and tenderness, v. 52. He led them on safely, though in dangerous paths, so that they feared not, that is, they needed not to fear; they were indeed frightened at the Red Sea (Ex. 14:10), but that was said to them, and done for them, which effectually silenced their fears. But the sea overwhelmed their enemies that ventured to pursue them into it, v. 63. It was a lane to them, but a grave to their persecutors.
    • 2. It is carried down as far as their settlement in Canaan (v. 54): He brought them to the border of his sanctuary, to that land in the midst of which he set up his sanctuary, which was, as it were, the centre and metropolis, the crown and glory, of it. That is a happy land which is the border of God's sanctuary. It was the happiness of that land that there God was known, and there were his sanctuary and dwelling-place, Ps. 76:1, 2. The whole land in general, and Zion in particular, was the mountain which his right hand had purchased, which by his own power he had set apart for himself. See Ps. 44:3. He made them to ride on the high places of the earth, Isa. 58:14; Deu. 32:13. They found the Canaanites in the full and quiet possession of that land, but God cast out the heathen before them, not only took away their title to it, as the Lord of the whole earth, but himself executed the judgment given against them, and, as Lord of hosts, turned them out of it, and made his people Israel tread upon their high places, dividing each tribe an inheritance by line, and making them to dwell in the houses of those whom they had destroyed. God could have turned the uninhabited uncultivated wilderness (which perhaps was nearly of the same extent as Canaan) into fruitful soil, and have planted them there; but the land he designed for them was to be a type of heaven, and therefore must be the glory of all lands; it must likewise be fought for, for the kingdom of heaven suffers violence.
  • III. The sins of Israel after they were settled in Canaan, v. 56-58. The children were like their fathers, and brought their old corruptions into their new habitations. Though God had done so much for them, yet they tempted and provoked the most high God still. He gave them his testimonies, but they did not keep them; they began very promisingly, but they turned back, gave God good words, but dealt unfaithfully, and were like a deceitful bow, which seemed likely to send the arrow to the mark, but, when it is drawn, breaks, and drops the arrow at the archer's foot, or perhaps makes it recoil in his face. There was no hold of them, nor any confidence to be put in their promises or professions. They seemed sometimes devoted to God, but they presently turned aside, and provoked him to anger with their high places and their graven images. Idolatry was the sin that did most easily beset them, and which, though they often professed their repentance for, they as often relapsed into. It was spiritual adultery either to worship idols or to worship God by images, as if he had been an idol, and therefore by it they are said to move him to jealousy, Deu. 32:16, 21.
  • IV. The judgments God brought upon them for these sins. Their place in Canaan would no more secure them in a sinful way than their descent from Israel. You only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you, Amos 3:2. Idolatry is winked at among the Gentiles, but not in Israel,
    • 1. God was displeased with them (v. 59): When God heard this, when he heard the cry of their iniquity, which came up before him, he was wroth, he took it very heinously, as well he might, and he greatly abhorred Israel, whom he had greatly loved and delighted in. Those that had been the people of his choice became the generation of his wrath. Presumptuous sins, idolatries especially, render even Israelites odious to God's holiness and obnoxious to his justice.
    • 2. He deserted his tabernacle among them, and removed the defence which was upon that glory, v. 60. God never leaves us till we leave him, never withdraws till we have driven him from us. His name is Jealous, and he is a jealous God; and therefore no marvel if a people whom he had betrothed to himself be loathed and rejected, and he refuse to cohabit with them any longer, when they have embraced the bosom of a stranger. The tabernacle at Shiloh was the tent God had placed among men, in which God would in very deed dwell with men upon the earth; but, when his people treacherously forsook it, he justly forsook it, and then all its glory departed. Israel has small joy of the tabernacle without the presence of God in it.
    • 3. He gave up all into the hands of the enemy. Those whom God forsakes become an easy prey to the destroyer. The Philistines are sworn enemies to the Israel of God, and no less so to the God of Israel, and yet God will make use of them to be a scourge to his people.
      • (1.) God permits them to take the ark prisoner, and carry it off as a trophy of their victory, to show that he had not only forsaken the tabernacle, but even the ark itself, which shall now be no longer a token of his presence (v. 61): He delivered his strength into captivity, as if it had been weakened and overcome, and his glory fell under the disgrace of being abandoned into the enemy's hand. We have the story 1 Sa. 4:11. When the ark has become as a stranger among Israelites, no marvel if it soon be made a prisoner among Philistines.
      • (2.) He suffers the armies of Israel to be routed by the Philistines (v. 62, 63): He gave his people over unto the sword, to the sword of his own justice and of the enemy's rage, for he was wroth with his inheritance; and that wrath of his was the fire which consumed their young men, in the prime of their time, by the sword or sickness, and made such a devastation of them that their maidens were not praised, that is, were not given in marriage (which is honourable in all), because there were no young men for them to be given to, and because the distresses and calamities of Israel were so many and great that the joys of marriage-solemnities were judged unseasonable, and it was said, Blessed is the womb that beareth not. General destructions produce a scarcity of men. Isa. 13:12, I will make a man more precious than fine gold, so that seven women shall take hold of one man, Isa. 4:1; 3:25. Yet this was not the worst:
      • (3.) Even their priests, who attended the ark, fell by the sword, Hophni and Phinehas. Justly they fell, for they made themselves vile, and were sinners before the Lord exceedingly; and their priesthood was so far from being their protection that it aggravated their sin and hastened their fall. Justly did they fall by the sword, because they exposed themselves in the field of battle, without call or warrant. We throw ourselves out of God's protection when we go out of our place and out of the way of our duty. When the priests fell their widows made no lamentation, v. 64. All the ceremonies of mourning were lost and buried in substantial grief; the widow of Phinehas, instead of lamenting her husband's death, died herself, when she had called her son Ichabod, 1 Sa. 4:19, etc.
  • V. God's return, in mercy, to them, and his gracious appearances for them after this. We read not of their repentance and return to God, but God was grieved for the miseries of Israel (Jdg. 10:16) and concerned for his own honour, fearing the wrath of the enemy, lest they should behave themselves strangely, Deu. 32:27. And therefore then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep (v. 65), and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine, not only like one that is raised out of sleep and recovers himself from the slumber which by drinking he was overcome with, who then regards that which before he seemed wholly to neglect, but like one that is refreshed with sleep, and whose heart is made glad by the sober and moderate use of wine, and is therefore the more lively and vigorous, and fit for business. When God had delivered the ark of his strength into captivity, as one jealous of his honour, he soon put forth the arm of his strength to rescue it, stirred up his strength to do great things for his people.
    • 1. He plagued the Philistines who held the ark in captivity, v. 66. He smote them with emerods in the hinder parts, wounded them behind, as if they were fleeing from him, even when they thought themselves more than conquerors. He put them to reproach, and they themselves helped to make it a perpetual reproach by the golden images of their emerods, which they returned with the ark for a trespass-offering (1 Sa. 6:5), to remain in perpetuam rei memoriam-as a perpetual memorial. Note, Sooner or later God will glorify himself by putting disgrace upon his enemies, even when they are most elevated with their successes.
    • 2. He provided a new settlement for his ark after it had been some months in captivity and some years in obscurity. He did indeed refuse the tabernacle of Joseph; he never sent it back to Shiloh, in the tribe of Ephraim, v. 67. The ruins of that place were standing monuments of divine justice. God, see what I did to Shiloh, Jer. 7:12. But he did not wholly take away the glory from Israel; the moving of the ark is not the removing of it. Shiloh has lost it, but Israel has not. God will have a church in the world, and a kingdom among men, though this or that place may have its candlestick removed; nay, the rejection of Shiloh is the election of Zion, as, long after, the fall of the Jews was the riches of the Gentiles, Rom. 11:12. When God chose not the tribe of Ephraim, of which tribe Joshua was, he chose the tribe of Judah (v. 68), because of that tribe Jesus was to be, who is greater than Joshua. Kirjath-jearim, the place to which the ark was brought after its rescue out of the hands of the Philistines, was in the tribe of Judah. There it took possession of that tribe; but thence it was removed to Zion, the Mount Zion which he loved (v. 68), which was beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth; there it was that he built his sanctuary like high palaces and like the earth, v. 69. David indeed erected only a tent for the ark, but a temple was then designed and prepared for, and finished by his son; and that was,
      • (1.) A very stately place. It was built like the palaces of princes, and the great men of the earth, nay, it excelled them all in splendour and magnificence. Solomon built it, and yet here it is said God built its, for his father had taught him, perhaps with reference to this undertaking, that except the Lord build the house those labour in vain that build it, Ps. 127:1, which is a psalm for Solomon.
      • (2.) A very stable place, like the earth, though not to continue as long as the earth, yet while it was to continue it was as firm as the earth, which God upholds by the word of his power, and it was not finally destroyed till the gospel temple was erected, which is to continue as long as the sun and moon endure (Ps. 89:36, 37) and against which the gates of hell shall not prevail.
    • 3. He set a good government over them, a monarchy, and a monarch after his own heart: He chose David his servant out of all the thousands of Israel, and put the sceptre into his hand, out of whose loins Christ was to come, and who was to be a type of him, v. 70. Concerning David observe here,
      • (1.) The meanness of his beginning. His extraction indeed was great, for he descended from the prince of the tribe of Judah, but his education was poor. He was bred not a scholar, not a soldier, but a shepherd. He was taken from the sheep-folds, as Moses was; for God delights to put honour upon the humble and diligent, to raise the poor out of the dust and to set them among princes; and sometimes he finds those most fit for public action that have spent the beginning of their time in solitude and contemplation. The Son of David was upbraided with the obscurity of his original: Is not this the carpenter? David was taken, he does not say from leading the rams, but from following the ewes, especially those great with young, which intimated that of all the good properties of a shepherd he was most remarkable for his tenderness and compassion to those of his flock that most needed his care. This temper of mind fitted him for government, and made him a type of Christ, who, when he feeds his flock like a shepherd, does with a particular care gently lead those that are with young, Isa. 40:11.
      • (2.) The greatness of his advancement. God preferred him to feed Jacob his people, v. 71. It was a great honour that God put upon him, in advancing him to be a king, especially to be king over Jacob and Israel, God's peculiar people, near and dear to him; but withal it was a great trust reposed in him when he was charged with the government of those that were God's own inheritance. God advanced him to the throne that he might feed them, not that he might feed himself, that he might do good, not that he might make his family great. It is the charge given to all the under-shepherds, both magistrates and ministers, that they feed the flock of God.
      • (3.) The happiness of his management. David, having so great a trust put into his hands, obtained mercy of the Lord to be found both skilful and faithful in the discharge of it (v. 72): So he fed them; he ruled them and taught them, guided and protected them,
        • [1.] Very honestly; he did it according to the integrity of his heart, aiming at nothing but the glory of God and the good of the people committed to his charge; the principles of his religion were the maxims of his government, which he administered, not with carnal policy, but with godly sincerity, by the grace of God. In every thing he did he meant well and had no by-end in view.
        • [2.] Very discreetly; he did it by the skilfulness of his hands. He was not only very sincere in what he designed, but very prudent in what he did, and chose out the most proper means in pursuit of his end, for his God did instruct him to discretion. Happy the people that are under such a government! With good reason does the psalmist make this the finishing crowning instance of God's favour to Israel, for David was a type of Christ the great and good Shepherd, who was humbled first and then exalted, and of whom it was foretold that he should be filled with the spirit of wisdom and understanding and should judge and reprove with equity, Isa. 11:3, 4. On the integrity of his heart and the skilfulness of his hands all his subjects may entirely rely, and of the increase of his government and people there shall be no end.