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78
A psalm (maskil) of Asaph.
1 Listen to what I have to teach you, my people; hear what I have to say.
2 I will tell you wise sayings;* Or “proverbs.” I will explain mysteries from the past
3 that we have heard before and reflected on; stories our forefathers passed down to us.
4 We will not keep them from our children; we will tell the next generation about God's marvelous actions—about his power and the amazing things he has done.
5 He gave his laws to the descendants of Jacob; his instructions to the people of Israel. He commanded our forefathers to teach them to their children,
6 so that the next generation—children yet to be born—would understand and grow up to teach their children.
7 In this way they should place their trust in God and not forget what God has done, and keep his commandments.
8 Then they would not be like their forefathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation that was untrustworthy and unfaithful.
9 The soldiers of Ephraim,† Ephraim is often used as a term for the whole northern kingdom. though armed with bows, ran away on the day of battle.
10 They did not keep God's agreement, and refused to follow his laws.
11 They ignored‡ Literally, “forgot,” but here it means more than simply poor memory. what he had done, and the amazing things he had shown them—
12 the miracles he had performed for their forefathers near Zoan§ Identified as the city of Rameses (see Exodus 1:11). in Egypt.
13 He split the sea in two and led them through, making the water stand like walls on either side.* “On either side”: implied.
14 He led them with a cloud by day, and by night with a light of fire.
15 He split open rocks in the desert to give his people plenty to drink, water as deep as the ocean.
16 He made streams flow from the stone; water rushing down like rivers!
17 But they repeatedly sinned against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18 They deliberately provoked God by demanding the foods they longed for.
19 They insulted God by saying, “Can God provide food† Literally, “set a table.” here in the desert?
20 Yes, he can strike a rock so that water gushes out like flowing rivers, but can he give us bread? Can he supply his people with meat?”
21 When he heard this, the Lord became very angry, burning like fire against the descendants of Jacob, furious with the people of Israel,
22 for they didn't believe in God and didn't trust him to take care of them.
23 Even so he commanded the skies above and the doors of heaven to open,
24 and he made manna rain down on them to eat, giving them bread from heaven.
25 Human beings ate the bread of angels; he sent them more than enough food.
26 He sent the east wind blowing across the sky; by his power he drove the south wind.‡ A reference to the miraculous arrival of quail ( Numbers 11:31).
27 He rained down meat on them as plentiful as dust; birds as numerous as sand on a beach.
28 He made them fall right in the middle of their camp, all around where they were living.
29 They ate until they were full. He gave them the food they longed for.
30 But before they satisfied their appetite, while the meat was still in their mouths,
31 God became angry with them and he killed their strongest men, striking them down in the prime of life.
32 Despite all this they went right on sinning. Despite the miracles, they refused to trust him.
33 So he snuffed out their futile lives, bringing them to an end in terror.
34 When he began killing them, the rest came back to God in repentance, praying to him.
35 They remembered that God was their rock, that God Most High was their Savior.
36 They flattered him by what they told him, but they were only lying.
37 Deep down they were not sincere, and did not keep to the agreement§ Or “covenant.” they had with him.
38 But being compassionate he pardoned their guilt and did not destroy all of them. He often held back his anger—he did not pour out all his fury.
39 He remembered their mortality—that they were like a gust of wind that would not return.
40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness, giving him grief in the desert!
41 Again and again they provoked God, causing pain to the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember his strength when he rescued them from their oppressors,
43 performing miracles in Egypt, doing wonderful things on the plain of Zoan.
44 There he turned their* “Their”—referring to the Egyptians. rivers and their streams into blood so that no one could drink from them.
45 He sent flies among them to destroy† Literally, “consume” but it is unlikely that flies could be seen as eating human beings. them, and frogs to ruin everything.
46 He gave their crops to locusts; everything they worked had for was taken by locusts.‡ Two different words are used for “locusts.”
47 He destroyed their vines with hail, and their fig trees with freezing rain.
48 He handed over their cattle to hail and their flocks to lightning bolts.
49 He poured out on them his fierce anger—rage and hostility and anguish—sending a band of destroying angels against them.
50 He sent his unrestrained anger against them; he did not spare them from death, handing them over to the plague.
51 He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, the first to be conceived in the tents of Ham.§ Ham—referring to Egypt.
52 But he led out his people like sheep, and guided them like a flock in the wilderness.
53 He led them to safety, and they were not afraid. He drowned their enemies in the sea.
54 He brought them to the border of his holy land, to this mountainous land that he had conquered for them.
55 He drove out the heathen nations before them. He divided up the land for them to own. He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
56 But they provoked God Most High, rebelling against him. They did not follow what he had told them.
57 Just like their forefathers they turned away from God and were unfaithful to him, as twisted as a defective bow.* “Defective bow”—a bow that could not shoot arrows straight.
58 They made him angry with their pagan high places of worship; they made him jealous with their idols.
59 When God heard their worship he became furious and he totally rejected Israel.
60 He abandoned his place at Shiloh, the Tabernacle where he lived among the people.
61 He surrendered the ark of his power, allowing it to be captured; handing it over into enemy hands.
62 He handed over his people to be slaughtered by the sword; he was furious with his chosen people.
63 Their young men were destroyed by fire; their young women had no wedding songs.† Literally, “were not praised.” Either that the men were dead so they could not marry, or they were killed themselves.
64 Their priests were killed by the sword; their widows were unable to mourn.
65 Then the Lord woke up as if from sleep, as a warrior sobering up from drinking wine.
66 He defeated his enemies, striking them on the back, causing them everlasting shame.
67 He rejected the descendants of Joseph, and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.‡ This is a reference to the ark once it had been returned. 1 Samuel 6; 2 Samuel 6.
68 Instead he chose the tribe of Judah, and Mount Zion which he loves.
69 There he built his sanctuary, high like the heavens, on earth that he made to last forever.
70 He chose his servant David, taking him from the sheep pens,
71 taking him from caring for the sheep and lambs to be a shepherd to the descendants of Jacob—God's special people, Israel.
72 Like a shepherd, he took care of them with sincere devotion, leading them with skillful hands.

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*78:2 Or “proverbs.”

†78:9 Ephraim is often used as a term for the whole northern kingdom.

‡78:11 Literally, “forgot,” but here it means more than simply poor memory.

§78:12 Identified as the city of Rameses (see Exodus 1:11).

*78:13 “On either side”: implied.

†78:19 Literally, “set a table.”

‡78:26 A reference to the miraculous arrival of quail ( Numbers 11:31).

§78:37 Or “covenant.”

*78:44 “Their”—referring to the Egyptians.

†78:45 Literally, “consume” but it is unlikely that flies could be seen as eating human beings.

‡78:46 Two different words are used for “locusts.”

§78:51 Ham—referring to Egypt.

*78:57 “Defective bow”—a bow that could not shoot arrows straight.

†78:63 Literally, “were not praised.” Either that the men were dead so they could not marry, or they were killed themselves.

‡78:67 This is a reference to the ark once it had been returned. 1 Samuel 6; 2 Samuel 6.

© 2018 Dr. Jonathan Gallagher