Read Psalm 78
A maskil of Asaph.
1 My people, hear my teaching;
listen to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth with a parable;
I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
3 things we have heard and known,
things our ancestors have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their descendants;
we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
his power, and the wonders he has done.
5 He decreed statutes for Jacob
and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
to teach their children,
6 so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.
7 Then they would put their trust in God
and would not forget his deeds
but would keep his commands.
8 They would not be like their ancestors—
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God,
whose spirits were not faithful to him.
9 The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,
turned back on the day of battle;
10 they did not keep God’s covenant
and refused to live by his law.
11 They forgot what he had done,
the wonders he had shown them.
12 He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors
in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea and led them through;
he made the water stand up like a wall.
14 He guided them with the cloud by day
and with light from the fire all night.
15 He split the rocks in the wilderness
and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
16 he brought streams out of a rocky crag
and made water flow down like rivers.
17 But they continued to sin against him,
rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.
18 They willfully put God to the test
by demanding the food they craved.
19 They spoke against God;
they said, “Can God really
spread a table in the wilderness?
20 True, he struck the rock,
and water gushed out,
streams flowed abundantly,
but can he also give us bread?
Can he supply meat for his people?”
21 When the Lord heard them, he was furious;
his fire broke out against Jacob,
and his wrath rose against Israel,
22 for they did not believe in God
or trust in his deliverance.
23 Yet he gave a command to the skies above
and opened the doors of the heavens;
24 he rained down manna for the people to eat,
he gave them the grain of heaven.
25 Human beings ate the bread of angels;
he sent them all the food they could eat.
26 He let loose the east wind from the heavens
and by his power made the south wind blow.
27 He rained meat down on them like dust,
birds like sand on the seashore.
28 He made them come down inside their camp,
all around their tents.
29 They ate till they were gorged—
he had given them what they craved.
30 But before they turned from what they craved,
even while the food was still in their mouths,
31 God’s anger rose against them;
he put to death the sturdiest among them,
cutting down the young men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;
in spite of his wonders, they did not believe.
33 So he ended their days in futility
and their years in terror.
34 Whenever God slew them, they would seek him;
they eagerly turned to him again.
35 They remembered that God was their Rock,
that God Most High was their Redeemer.
36 But then they would flatter him with their mouths,
lying to him with their tongues;
37 their hearts were not loyal to him,
they were not faithful to his covenant.
38 Yet he was merciful;
he forgave their iniquities
and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger
and did not stir up his full wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh,
a passing breeze that does not return.
40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
and grieved him in the wasteland!
41 Again and again they put God to the test;
they vexed the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember his power—
the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,
43 the day he displayed his signs in Egypt,
his wonders in the region of Zoan.
44 He turned their river into blood;
they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent swarms of flies that devoured them,
and frogs that devastated them.
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,
their produce to the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail
and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
48 He gave over their cattle to the hail,
their livestock to bolts of lightning.
49 He unleashed against them his hot anger,
his wrath, indignation and hostility—
a band of destroying angels.
50 He prepared a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death
but gave them over to the plague.
51 He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,
the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.
52 But he brought his people out like a flock;
he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
53 He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
but the sea engulfed their enemies.
54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
to the hill country his right hand had taken.
55 He drove out nations before them
and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;
he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.
56 But they put God to the test
and rebelled against the Most High;
they did not keep his statutes.
57 Like their ancestors they were disloyal and faithless,
as unreliable as a faulty bow.
58 They angered him with their high places;
they aroused his jealousy with their idols.
59 When God heard them, he was furious;
he rejected Israel completely.
60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,
the tent he had set up among humans.
61 He sent the ark of his might into captivity,
his splendor into the hands of the enemy.
62 He gave his people over to the sword;
he was furious with his inheritance.
63 Fire consumed their young men,
and their young women had no wedding songs;
64 their priests were put to the sword,
and their widows could not weep.
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.
66 He beat back his enemies;
he put them to everlasting shame.
67 Then he rejected the tents of Joseph,
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which he loved.
69 He built his sanctuary like the heights,
like the earth that he established forever.
70 He chose David his servant
and took him from the sheep pens;
71 from tending the sheep he brought him
to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,
of Israel his inheritance.
72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;
with skillful hands he led them.
Go Deeper
Psalm 78 is the first historical psalm in this book, recounting past events of God’s people lacking belief in him and rebelling because they forgot who God is and what He had done for them. The primary events can be found in the Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible), Joshua, Judges, and Samuel. He delivered them out of slavery, gave them food in the wilderness, brought plagues to their oppressors, and lead them to the promise land. Yet the people still chose to remain unfaithful and live their lives the way they wanted. It took God punishing and disciplining them to finally wake them up and begin to see what was going on. The heart of this story is that despite the constant rebellion and belief of fallen people, God’s unimaginable love and grace for His people remains constant and unwavering. Time and time again God met them where they were and provided for them. His goodness and mercy is never ending, though it is undeserving.
How often are we like the Israelites? So often we forget who God is and His power – not because He hasn’t shown it to us but because we so easily forget. Our unbelief isn’t because God is never present, rather it’s that we don’t focus on Him and as a result, we don’t know Him. We seek after glory and success for ourselves and try to be a believer, too. Jesus says in Matthew 16:25, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” As long as we live in this world, we won’t experience the freedom found in wholeheartedly laying down our lives for Christ. We need to surrender and give Him control because God is beginning to move in our nation. He is starting to refine us and build up an army of believers who are bold and radical. There is no being passive or middle ground: we are either with Him or against Him (Luke 11:23). God is here, and He is moving in us and our generation if only we choose to join Him.
Questions
- In what ways are we like the generation described in this chapter? What aspects of your life do you need to lose today in order to find the life God has for you?
- How can we take active steps today to look more like Christ and not the world?
- Make a list of things you have seen God do either in your life or in general.
Listen Here
For a great reminder that God is working in this generation now and we can be a part of this movement, listen to this episode of Jennie Allen’s Made For This podcast titled “When 500 People Get Saved at a Rave”.
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1 thought on “Psalm 78”
This Psalm is a long history lesson of God’s gracious acts among His people. These lessons were repeated from one generation to the next to teach them who God was and how he was worthy of worship. V4 declares “We must not hide them from our children, but must tell a future generation the praises of the Lord, His might, and the wonderful works He has performed.” As believers we are living to leave a legacy of faith for the next generation. I think about our 10 grandchildren and how my earnest prayer is that they know and love Jesus. Deuteronomy 6:7 describes passing on faith as something we do in the context of everyday life as it says “Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” I have the gift of a long line of Christian heritage that I desire my children & grandchildren to share. My constant prayer is “Lord, let the circle be unbroken.” This will require intentionality in creating opportunities to nurture faith and modeling what it looks like to love & serve Jesus.