Psalm 78
72 verses · Historical psalm
He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men.
Introduction
Asaph, Israel's History Taught, Book 3: The crisis of the throne, Poetry, Psalms Overview.
Headed for Asaph and called a maskil, a teaching psalm, this is the longest history in the Psalter. A teacher who learned the story from his fathers hands it to children not yet born, so that they will trust God and live differently from their ancestors. He tells Israel's story from Egypt to David as a cycle that turns again and again: God acts, the people forget, God judges, and God shows mercy. Listen for that cycle, for the wilderness and the plagues told as a poet tells a story everyone knows, and for the end, where God chooses Judah, Zion and a shepherd king.
Context
- Who
- Parents responsible for telling their children what God had done
- What
- A teaching psalm that retells Israel's history from Egypt to David.
- Where
- Israel, where the nation's story was handed down by mouth inside each household.
- When
- The monarchy, after David's reign began, since the psalm ends with David chosen and Zion built.
- Why
- To teach each generation to trust God and to live differently from their unbelieving fathers.
Historical context
The heading names Asaph, and the psalm is written in the voice of a teacher who names who taught him, the fathers, and whom he means to teach, the generation not yet born. It belongs to the monarchy, since it closes with Judah chosen, the sanctuary built and David brought from the sheepfolds. The plagues happen in the field of Zoan, which is Tanis in the eastern Nile delta, near the Israelite settlement at Goshen. Israel's history moved by mouth inside households, and the Passover meal was built as a child's question and a father's answer. The psalm turns on Shiloh, which housed the tabernacle until the ark was captured, the day it treats as the reason worship moved south to Zion.
Significance
A nation that had split into two kingdoms heard a song tracing the split back past its politics to the fathers who would not believe God in the wilderness. It put the work on parents, whose telling was meant to lead their children to set their confidence in God and to live differently from the generation before them.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
How it is read
The psalm sets out to teach the next generation, and Rashi reads it as teaching in the strict sense. The parable of verse 2 he glosses in four words, "They are the words of Torah" (Rashi on Psalms 78:2:1). The duty of verse 4 is then handing on what the fathers said, so that nothing is hidden from the sons (Rashi on Psalms 78:4:1). On verse 9, the armed sons of Ephraim who turned back, Rashi carries a tradition that fills out a verse the text leaves bare. They left Egypt by force before the end of the exile had come, trusted their own arrows, and were killed by the men of Gath, as 1 Chronicles 7:21 records (Rashi on Psalms 78:9:1). At verse 16 he passes on another. The princes would draw a line with their staffs and the water from the rock followed them to each tribe's camp. He takes it from Numbers 21:18 and the discussion in tractate Makkot (Rashi on Psalms 78:16:1). The rest of his comments hold the psalm to the wilderness story. He reads the heaped waters of verse 13 with Exodus 15:8, the split rock of verse 15 with Exodus 17:6, and the fire of verse 21 with Numbers 11:1. Ibn Ezra stands in the corpus on this psalm twelve times, cited by reference alone. Rashi is quoted here from the Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, under CC-BY.
What the rabbis say
The corpus records forty places where the Midrash and the Talmud draw on this psalm, cited here by reference, and they run the length of the chapter from verse 1 to verse 48. Midrash Tehillim cites its verses at 106:2. Verse 23, on the doors of heaven opened for the manna, is drawn into the Babylonian Talmud at Chagigah 12b:5, and verse 13, on the waters heaped up, into Avot DeRabbi Natan 33:2. The manna and the quail of verses 24 to 31 draw Bamidbar Rabbah 15:24, 16:24 and the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Tractate Vayassa 4:5. Verse 38, on the God who forgives and does not destroy, stands at Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Kiddushin 1:8. The plagues of verses 43 to 48 are read at Midrash Lekach Tov, Exodus 9:23:2 and 11:9:1 and Midrash Sekhel Tov, Shemot 7:25:4.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Psalms 78:2 to 78:21, the Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, CC-BY, 1040 to 1105; Babylonian Talmud, Chagigah 12b:5 and the tractate Makkot cited by Rashi at 78:16, cited by reference; Avot DeRabbi Natan, 33:2, cited by reference; Bamidbar Rabbah, 15:24, 16:7, 16:24 and 19:9, cited by reference; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/psalms/78.json, fetched 2026-09-19, 2026.
Give ear, O my people: The opening is a summons to the whole people to listen. The word behind instruction is torah, which is what the law of Moses is called. The history that follows is delivered as teaching.
Psalms 78:2-4
I will open my mouth in parables: Matthew 13:35 quotes this verse of Christ teaching the crowds in parables. The Hebrew calls the history a mashal, a proverb, and the hidden things chidoth, riddles that need unfolding. Verses 3 and 4 hand it on, fathers to children to the next generation.
Psalms 78:2
“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 ( Matt. xiii. 35 ), which were (as this) representations of the state of the kingdom of God among men.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Cross references
Psalms 78:2
- Quoted inMatthew 13:35So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.”
'I will open my mouth in parables', fulfillment formula
ConnectionsMatthew 13:35
our fathers have relayed to us: Verse 2 promised hidden things, and verse 3 says how they reached the singer. Matthew Henry called them things of undoubted certainty, heard and known, with no room left to question them. He added that the history was sung to be remembered.
Psalms 78:3
“This history had been handed down (Ex 12:14; De 6:20) for God's honor, and that the principles of His law might be known and observed by posterity. This important sentiment is reiterated in (Ps 78:7, 8) negative form.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
We will not hide them from their children: Clarke said books were few, so the fathers kept the wonders of the LORD in sayings and songs for their children. He counted this psalm as one of those songs. Henry widened the duty to declare them to the children of others.
Psalms 78:4
“We will not hide them from their children. Our negligent silence shall not deprive our own and our father's offspring of the precious truth of God, it would be shameful indeed if we did so. Shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord. We will look forward to future generations, and endeavour to provide for their godly education.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
3 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:4
“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.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Psalms 78:4
“We will not hide them from their children - From their descendants, however remote. We of this generation will be faithful in handing down these truths to future times. We stand between past generations and the generations to come. We are entrusted by those who have gone before us with great and important truths; truths to be preserved and transmitted in their purity to future ages. That trust committed to us we will faithfully discharge. These truths shall not suffer in passing from us to them.”
Psalms 78:4
“We will not hide them - In those ancient times there was very little reading, because books were exceedingly scarce; tradition was therefore the only, or nearly the only, means of preserving the memory of past events. They were handed down from father to son by parables or pithy sayings and by chronological poems. This very Psalm is of this kind, and must have been very useful to the Israelites, as giving instructions concerning their ancient history, and recounting the wonderful deeds of the Almighty in their behalf.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Psalms 78:5-8
He established a testimony in Jacob: God set a testimony in Jacob and a law in Israel, and Gill reads the two names as one revelation given at Sinai. The command was that fathers teach their children, so that children not yet born would tell their own children. The fathers in view are the rebellious generation.
Psalms 78:5
“Established - This is justly put in first place, as the chief of all his mercies. A testimony - His law, called a testimony, because it is a witness between God and men, declaring the duties which God expects from man, and the blessings which man may expect from God.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
even children yet to be born—: The chain now runs four generations, from the fathers to their children, to children yet unborn, and to theirs. Charles Spurgeon said the one object of the testimony was transmission. Albert Barnes pictured each age receiving the trust and sending it onward to the next.
Psalms 78:6
“That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born. As far on as our brief life allows us to arrange, we must industriously provide for the godly nurture of youth. The narratives, commands, and doctrines of the word of God are not worn out; they are calculated to exert an influence as long as our race shall exist. Who should arise and declare them to their children. The one object aimed at is transmission; the testimony is only given that it may be passed on to succeeding generations.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
4 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:6
"That another generation may know, sons who shall be born and shall rise up, and they may tell to their sons." These words do point out two peoples as it were, the one belonging to the Old Testament, the other to the New: for in that he saith, he hath implied that they received the commandments, "to make them known to their sons," but that they did not know or do them: but they received them themselves, to the end "that another generation might know," what the former knew not. "Sons who shall be born and shall arise."
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · On the Psalms: Psalm 78patristic
Psalms 78:6
“That the generation to come might know them ... - That people in future times might enjoy the benefit of them as their fathers had done, and that they should then send them forward to those who were to succeed them. Who should arise and declare them to their children - Who, as they appeared on the stage of life, should receive the trust, and send it onward to future ages.”
Psalms 78:6
“A testimony in Jocob - This may signify the various ordinances, rites, and ceremonies prescribed by the law; and the word law may mean the moral law, or system of religious instruction, teaching them their duty to God, to their neighbor, and to themselves.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Psalms 78:6
"The sons who shall be born and shall rise up, and shall tell them to their sons." "In place of your fathers, sons have been born to you." We are their sons. They told us, and we have told our sons: we are their sons. "That they might place their hope in God." That they might now no longer believe in idols, but believe in God. "And not forget the works of God." That they might see the order of creation, and from the creation understand the Creator. "And seek out his commandments."
Jerome · written before 420 · Homily 11, on Psalm 77patristic
put their confidence in God: Verse 7 names the purpose of the telling, confidence in God. Spurgeon said those forgetting His works will fail to keep His commandments. Henry called the commandments their rule and the covenant their stay.
Psalms 78:7
“That they might set their hope in God - That they might place confidence in God; that they might maintain their allegiance to him. The object was to give such exhibitions of his character and government as to inspire just confidence in him, or to lead people to trust in him; and not to trust in idols and false gods.”
3 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:7
"That they may put their hope in God, and may not forget the works of God, and may seek out His commandments" [Psalm 78:7]. "And may not forget the works of God:" that is to say, in magnifying and vaunting their own works, as though they did them themselves; while "God it is that works," in them that work good things, "both to will and to work according to good will." [Philippians 2:13] "And may search out His commandments."...The commandments which He has commanded.
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · Exposition on Psalm 78patristic
Psalms 78:7
“That they might set their hope in God. Faith cometh by hearing. Those who know the name of the Lord will set their hope in him, and that they may be led to do so is the main end of all spiritual teaching. And not forget the works of God. Grace cures bad memories; those who soon forget the merciful works of the Lord have need of teaching; they require to learn the divine art of holy memory. But keep his commandments. Those who forget God's works are sure to fail in their own.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
Psalms 78:7
“His righteousness cried, "If ye come straight to me, I also will come straight to you but if ye walk crooked, I also will walk crooked saith the Lord of hosts;" meaning by the crooked ways the chastisements of sinners. For the straight and natural way which is indicated by the iota of the name of Jesus is His goodness, which is firm and sure towards those who have believed at hearing: "When I called, ye obeyed not, saith the Lord; but set at nought my counsels, and heeded not my reproofs." Thus the Lord's reproof is most beneficial.”
Clement of Alexandria · written before 215 · The Instructor Book 1patristic
a stubborn and rebellious generation: Albert Barnes placed these fathers in the wilderness and pointed to Exodus 32, where God called them stiff-necked. He gave the Hebrew behind the disloyal heart as a heart never prepared, one they took no pains to keep right. Charles Spurgeon warned that inherited disobedience stays inexcusable.
Psalms 78:8
"That they might not become like their fathers." That they might not murmur, as certain ones murmured in the desert and perished; that they might not murmur thus like the Jews, and perish in the desert. "A generation crooked and provoking." It is not I who say this: your own prophet says this about you. "A generation crooked and provoking." "An adulterous and most wicked generation seeks a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah." Why did he say "crooked"? "Because they were turned into a crooked bow."
Jerome · written before 420 · Homily 11, on Psalm 77patristic
Psalms 78:9-16
The archers of Ephraim turned back: Ephraim's archers turned back, and verses 10 and 11 name the failure, a broken covenant and forgotten works. The works come next, wonders in Egypt at Zoan, the sea split, the cloud and fire, and water out of split rock. Delitzsch ties the tribe to its rejection at verse 67.
Psalms 78:9
“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 Sam. iv.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Psalms 78:9
“I DO NOT THINK that it has ever been clearly ascertained to what particular historical event Asaph here refers, but I do not find that any of the commentators mention a very obscure passage in the First Book of Chronicles, which I venture to suggest may give us the explanation.”
refused to live by His law: Verse 10 explains the retreat of verse 9. Augustine read the turning back in battle as this same failure to keep the covenant. Charles Spurgeon recalled that the people had pledged at Sinai to keep the law, as Exodus 24:7 records, and then willfully disobeyed it.
Psalms 78:10
“They kept not the covenant of God. Vows and promises were broken, idols were set up, and the living God was forsaken. They were brought out of Egypt in order to be a people separated unto the Lord, but they fell into the sins of other nations, and did not maintain a pure testimony for the one only true God. And refused to walk in his law. They gave way to fornication, and idolatry, and other violations of the decalogue, and were often in a state of rebellion against the benign theocracy under which they lived.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
4 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:10
"They did not keep the covenant of God, and in his law they were unwilling to walk, and they forgot his benefits." They rose up against him who regenerated them in baptism. "And his wonders which he showed them: before their fathers the wonders which he did." See the sense of the Scriptures, how from the sons of Ephraim it comes to past histories; so that it shows that what is written, "I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter propositions from the beginning," was said parabolically.
Jerome · written before 420 · Homily 11, on Psalm 77patristic
Psalms 78:10
“They kept not the covenant of God - The covenant which God had made with the entire Hebrew people. They did not maintain their allegiance to Yahweh. Compare Deu 4:13, Deu 4:23; Deu 17:2. And refused to walk in his law - Refused to obey his law. They rebelled against him.”
Psalms 78:10
“They kept not the covenant; of God - They abandoned his worship, both moral and ritual. Thev acted like the Ephraimites in the above case, who threw down their bows and arrows, and ran away.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Psalms 78:10
“But what that is which he saith, "they have been turned back in the day of war," the following words do teach, wherein he hath most clearly explained this: "they have not kept," he saith, "the testament of God, and in His law they would not walk." Behold what is, "they have been turned back in the day of war:" they have not kept the testament of God.”
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · Exposition on Psalm 78patristic
the wonders He had shown them: Gill noted how fast the people forgot, within three days of the sea, when they grumbled at Marah. Barnes said the wonders forgotten are the ones the next verses tell. The psalm now tells them.
Psalms 78:11
“And forgat his works, and his wonders,.... That is, his wonderful works, the miracles he wrought in their favour, and for their deliverance, afterwards particularly mentioned; these were not only forgotten in the next generation, Jdg 15:10, but in a few years, yea, in a few months, nay, in a few days, when they had been but three days' journey in the wilderness, after their passage through the Red sea, see Exo 15:1, which occasioned the observation of the psalmist, Psa 106:12, that he had showed them; done in their sight, and in the sight of their fathers, as follows.”
3 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:11
“And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them. Had they remembered them they would have been filled with gratitude and inspired with holy awe: but the memory of God's mercies to them was as soon effaced as if written upon water. Scarcely could one generation retain the sense of the divine presence in miraculous power, the succeeding race needed a renewal of the extraordinary manifestations, and even then was not satisfied without many displays thereof.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
Psalms 78:11
“And forgat his works - The works which he had performed in behalf of the nation. These works are referred to in the verses following. And his wonders that he had shewed them - The wonderful works in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness; the miracles which he had performed on behalf of the nation.”
Psalms 78:11
“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.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
in the region of Zoan: Zoan is Tanis, a city in the land of Egypt. Clarke placed it in the Delta as the seat of Pharaoh, where Moses worked many wonders before their fathers. He also reported that the name could stand for all Egypt.
Psalms 78:12
“A record of God's dealings and the sins of the people is now made. The writer gives the history from the exode to the retreat from Kadesh; then contrasts their sins with their reasons for confidence, shown by a detail of God's dealings in Egypt, and presents a summary of the subsequent history to David's time.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
He set the waters upright like a wall: Barnes gave the Hebrew behind wall as a heap, like the waters of Exodus 15:8 and the Jordan in Joshua 3:16. Jerome noted the Greek had wineskin for heap. The sea stood upright and Israel was brought through.
Psalms 78:13
"He split the sea and led them through." The Lord walked upon the sea, and calmed the waves of the sea, and led us through. "He split the sea and led them through." To this day, O faithful monk, when you are led out of Egypt, the sea is split, and thus you are led out. "He set the waters as if in a wineskin." In the Hebrew it does not have "wineskin," but "heap."
Jerome · written before 420 · Homily 11, on Psalm 77patristic
a light of fire all night: Exodus 13:21 first describes this pillar. Albert Barnes called it the visible proof of God's presence, so the people had one by day and by night. Charles Spurgeon added that the cloud also shaded the tribes from the glare of the desert sun.
Psalms 78:14
“In the daytime also he led them with a cloud. He did it all. He alone. He brought them into the wilderness, and he led them through it; it is not the Lord's manner to begin a work, and then cease from it while it is incomplete. The cloud both led and shadowed the tribes. It was by day a vast sun screen, rendering the fierce heat of the sun and the glare of the desert sand bearable. And all the night with a light of fire.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
3 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:14
“He that "led them home in the cloud of the day, and in the whole of the night in the illumination of fire" [Psalm 78:14], is able also spiritually to direct goings if faith cries to Him, "Direct my goings after Your word."”
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · Exposition on Psalm 78patristic
Psalms 78:14
“In the day-time also he led them with a cloud - That is, the cloud was the visible symbol of his presence, and its movements determined the way in which they were to go. It was “God” who led them, and who adopted this manner of doing it, so that they had “always” with them, by day and by night, a “visible” proof of his presence.”
Psalms 78:14
"And he led them down in a cloud by day." "Behold, the Lord comes into Egypt upon a light cloud." By the light cloud we ought to understand either, properly, the body of the Savior, because it was light and weighed down by no sin; or certainly by the light cloud we ought to understand holy Mary, weighed down by no human seed. Behold, the Lord comes into the Egypt of this world upon a light cloud, the Virgin. "And he led them down in a cloud by day."
Jerome · written before 420 · Homily 11, on Psalm 77patristic
He split the rocks in the wilderness: Barnes read the plural rocks as two times God split the rock, at Horeb in Exodus 17:6 and at Numbers 20:11. Spurgeon heard the seas as water from the depths of the earth. Twice the stone gave drink.
Psalms 78:15
“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.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
made water flow down like rivers: Albert Barnes gave the Hebrew for streams as flowings, poured out in an overflowing stream that kept running. He pointed to 1 Corinthians 10:4, where Paul says the rock that followed them was Christ. Charles Spurgeon said the streams followed the camp.
Psalms 78:16
“The supply of water was as plenteous in quantity as it was miraculous in origin. Torrents, not driblets came from the rocks. Streams followed the camp; the supply was not for an hour or a day. This was a marvel of goodness. If we contemplate the abounding of divine grace we shall be lost in admiration. Mighty rivers of love have flowed for us in the wilderness. Alas, great God! our return has not been commensurate therewith, but far otherwise.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
1 more voice on this verse
Psalms 78:16
“He brought streams also out of the rock ... - literally, “flowings.” The waters were poured out in an over-flowing stream. Those streams continued to flow, thus constituting a continued proof of the presence of God. See this fully explained in the notes at 1Co 10:4.”
Psalms 78:17-22
they continued to sin against Him: They tested God willfully, demanding the food they craved, and asked whether He could prepare a table in the wilderness. Verse 20 puts the question after the rock had already given water and torrents. The wrath that answered was a fire kindled against Jacob.
Psalms 78:17
“And they sinned yet more against him - literally, “They added to sin against him.” The idea is, that his mercies, and the proofs of his presence were only made the occasion of greater sin on their part. This may have been in two ways; (1) their sin was thus more aggravated, as being committed against greater light; and (2) they evinced more and more their depravity, in proportion as he bestowed mercies on them - not an uncommon thing with people. By provoking the Most High - literally, “embittering.” They rebelled against him. They refused to submit to him.”
4 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:17
And yet, "they," like a generation crooked and embittering, "added yet to sin against Him:" that is, not to believe. For this is the sin, whereof the Spirit doth convict the world, as the Lord saith, "Of sin indeed because they have not believed on Me." "And they exasperated the Most High in drought," which other copies have, "in a place without water," which is a more exact translation from the Greek, and doth signify no other thing than drought. Was it in that drought of the desert, or rather in their own?
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · Exposition on Psalm 78patristic
Psalms 78:17
“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.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Psalms 78:17
“And they sinned yet more against him. Outdoing their former sins, going into greater deeps of evil: the more they had the more loudly they clamoured for more, and murmured because they had not every luxury that pampered appetites could desire. It was bad enough to mistrust their God for necessaries, but to revolt against him in a greedy rage for superfluities was far worse. Ever is it the nature of the disease of sin to proceed from bad to worse; men never weary of sinning, but rather increase their speed in the race of iniquity.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
Psalms 78:17
“Wilderness - Where they had such singular obligations to obedience. This was a great aggravation of their sins.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
demanding the food they craved: Spurgeon said God cannot truly be tempted, yet the people set out to test Him. Clarke read the Hebrew behind craved as food for their souls, as if the manna could never give them strength. Numbers 11:4 records the demand.
Psalms 78:18
“And they tempted God in their heart. He was not tempted, for he cannot be tempted by any, but they acted in a manner calculated to tempt him, and it always just to charge that upon men which is the obvious tendency of their conduct. Christ cannot die again, and yet many crucify him afresh, because such would be the legitimate result of their behaviour if its effects were not prevented by other forces. The sinners in the wilderness would have had the Lord change his wise proceedings to humour their whims, hence they are said to tempt him.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
4 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:18
“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.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Psalms 78:18
"And they tempted God in their hearts, in order that they might seek morsels for their souls." It is one thing to ask in believing, another thing in tempting. Lastly there followeth, "And they slandered God, and said, Shall God be able to prepare a table in the desert?" "For He smote the rock, and the waters flowed, and torrents gushed forth: will He be able to give bread also, or to prepare a table for His people?" Not believing therefore, they sought morsels for their souls.
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · Exposition on Psalm 78patristic
Psalms 78:18
And they tempted God in their heart - Exo 16:2. The heart was the source of the evil. They were not satisfied with what he gave them. They asked for that which would be more agreeable to them, and they did it with a complaining and a murmuring spirit.
Psalms 78:18
“By asking meat for their lust - לנפשם lenaphsham, “for their souls,” i.e., for their lives; for they said in their hearts that the light bread, the manna, was not sufficient to sustain their natural force, and preserve their lives. It seems, however, from the expression, that they were wholly carnal; that they had no spirituality of mind; they were earthly, animal, and devilish.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
prepare a table in the wilderness?: Barnes gave the Hebrew for prepare as to set in order, as a host sets a table for a feast. Spurgeon said doubting what God can do is itself speaking against God. The complaint stands in Numbers 11:4.
Psalms 78:19
“From this verse we learn that unbelief of God is a slander against him. Yea, they spake against God. But how? The answer is, They said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? To question the ability of one who is manifestly Almighty, is to speak against him. These people were base enough to say that although their God had given them bread and water, yet he could not properly order or furnish a table. He could give them coarse food, but could not prepare a feast properly arranged, so they were ungrateful enough to declare.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
2 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:19
“And that which in the wilderness seemed to the Jews marvellous, (they said at least, "Can He give bread also? or prepare a table in the wilderness?") this He shows forth in His works. With this view also He leads them into the wilderness, that the miracle might be very far beyond suspicion, and that no one might think that any village lying near contributed ought to the meal. For this reason He mentions the hour also, not the place only.”
John Chrysostom · written before 407 · Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 49patristic
Psalms 78:19
“Yea, they spake against God - That is, in the manner which is immediately specified - by calling in question his power, or his ability to provide for them in the wilderness. See Num 11:4. They said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? - In the desert. The word rendered “furnish” is in the margin “order.” It means to arrange; to set in order; and here to arrange and provide for, as at a feast. The precise words used by the complaining Hebrews are not quoted here, but the substance of what they said is retained.”
But can He also give bread: Matthew Henry called it the most absurd question unbelief ever asked. Albert Barnes reasoned that food in the desert was no harder for God to give than water had been. The argument runs from a proof of power to a doubt of it.
Psalms 78:20
“Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed. They admit what he had done, and yet, with superabundant folly and insolence, demand further proofs of his omnipotence. Can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people? As if the manna were nothing, as if animal food alone was true nourishment for men. If they had argued, "can he not give flesh?" the argument would have been reasonable, but they ran into insanity; when, having seen many marvels of omnipotence, they dared to insinuate that other things were beyond the divine power.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
2 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:20
“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.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Psalms 78:20
“Behold, he smote the rock ... - See the notes at Psa 78:15. The smiting of the rock the first time occurred “before” the complaining about the food. The fact that the rock had been smitten could not be doubted. They had thus had abundant evidence that God was able to do that, and to furnish “water” for them in the desert. It was unreasonable, therefore, to doubt whether he could provide “food” for them - for this in itself was no more difficult than to furnish water.”
a fire was kindled against Jacob: Numbers 11:1 tells of fire from the LORD burning the edges of the camp at Taberah. Albert Barnes allowed that the fire here may be both a figure for wrath and a literal burning. Spurgeon said God heard the words for Himself.
Psalms 78:21
“Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth. He was not indifferent to what they said. He dwelt among them in the holy place, and, therefore, they insulted him to his face. He did not hear a report of it, but the language itself came into his ears. So a fire was kindled against Jacob. The fire of his anger which was also attended with literal burnings. And anger also came up against Israel.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
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Psalms 78:21
"Wherefore the Lord heard, and He delayed, and fire was lighted in Jacob, and wrath went up into Israel." He hath explained what he hath called fire. He hath called anger fire: although in strict propriety fire did also burn up many men. What is therefore this that he saith, "The Lord heard, and He delayed"?
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · Exposition on Psalm 78patristic
Psalms 78:21
“Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth - See Num 11:1, Num 11:10. So a fire was kindled against Jacob ... - Fire may be used here, as in Num 11:1, as an emblem of wrath; a fire may have been literally sent down to consume them.”
rely on His salvation: This verse gives the reason for the fire of verse 21. Charles Spurgeon called unbelief the master sin, the one that shut Israel out of Canaan. Matthew Henry reasoned that people who cannot trust God for food on the way can hardly claim to trust His salvation at the end.
Psalms 78:22
“Because they believed not in God - They did not believe in his power, or in his promises. And trusted not in his salvation - In his power and his willingness to save. They had had abundant evidence of that power, but they still doubted his ability to save them, notwithstanding all that he had done for them.”
3 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:22
“Because they believed not in God,.... That he was able to give them bread, and provide flesh for them, or bring them through the wilderness to Canaan's land, as he had promised.”
Psalms 78:22
“Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation. This is the master sin, the crying sin. Like Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, it sins and makes Israel to sin; it is in itself evil and the parent of evils. It was this sin which shut Israel out of Canaan, and it shuts myriads out of heaven. God is ready to save, combining power with willingness, but rebellious man will not trust his Saviour, and therefore is condemned already.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
Psalms 78:22
“They believed not in God - After all the miracles they had seen, they were not convinced that there was a Supreme Being! and, consequently, they did not trust in his salvation - did not expect the glorious rest which he had promised them. Their descendants in the present day are precisely in this state. Multitudes of them disbelieve the Divine origin of their law, and have given up all hopes of a Messiah.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Psalms 78:23-29
He commanded the clouds above: The doubt is answered with the gift, manna rained down, grain from heaven, the bread of angels. An east wind and a south wind brought meat like dust and birds like the sand of the sea. They ate and were filled with what they craved.
Psalms 78:23
“Though he had commanded the clouds from above. Such a marvel ought to have rendered unbelief impossible: when clouds become granaries, seeing should be believing, and doubts should dissolve. And opened the doors of heaven. The great storehouse doors were set wide open, and the corn of heaven poured out in heaps. Those who would not believe in such a case were hardened indeed; and yet our own position is very similar, for the Lord has wrought for us great deliverances, quite as memorable and undeniable, and yet suspicions and forebodings haunt us.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
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Psalms 78:23
“Though he had commanded the clouds from above,.... Which were round about him, his chariots, and the dust of his feet; and which were at his command to go here and there, and carry and let down provisions for his people, as they did: and opened the doors of heaven; as a large granary, from whence the manna, afterwards called the corn of heaven, was given out in great abundance, which is signified by opening the doors; see Mal 3:10.”
Psalms 78:23
“Though he had commanded the clouds from above - Though he had showed that he had absolute control over the clouds, and had only to command them and they would furnish rain in abundance. Compare the notes at Isa 5:6. And opened the doors of heaven - As he had done at the deluge, Gen 7:11. The idea is, that he had rained down manna upon them in such abundance that it might be compared with the waters that had been sent down at the deluge.”
Psalms 78:23
“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. iii. 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.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
He gave them grain from heaven: Clarke gave the Hebrew as grain of heaven, for the manna lay around the camp like seed and seemed to rain down from the clouds. Barnes added that it took the place of grain as food. Both readings rest on the manna.
Psalms 78:24
“And had rained down manna upon them to eat - Exo 16:4-5, Exo 16:14; Num 11:7-9. Compare the notes at Joh 6:31. And had given them of the corn of heaven - Food that seemed to come down from heaven. The reference here is to the manna, and it is called corn in the sense that it was food, or that it supplied the place of grain. It may also have been called corn from its resemblance to grain. See Exo 16:31.”
3 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:24
“Let us turn back to the one who performed these miracles. He is himself the bread that came down from heaven; but bread that nourishes and never diminishes; bread that can be eaten but cannot be eaten up. This bread was also signified by manna, of which it was said, "He gave them the bread of heaven; people ate the bread of angels. Who can the bread of heaven be, but Christ? But for people to eat the bread of angels, the Lord of angels became a human being.”
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · SERMON 130:2patristic
Psalms 78:24
“And had rained down manna upon them to eat. There was so much of it, the skies poured with food, the clouds burst with provender. It was fit food, proper not for looking at but for eating; they could eat it as they gathered it. Mysterious though it was, so that they called it manna, or "what is it?" yet it was eminently adapted for human nourishment; and it was both abundant and adapted, so also was it available! They had not far to fetch it, it was nigh them, and they had only to gather it up.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
Psalms 78:24
“The corn of heaven - The manna. It fell about their camp in the form of seeds; and as it appeared to come down from the clouds, it was not improperly termed heavenly corn, or heavenly grain, דגן שמים degan shamayim. The word shamayim is frequently taken to express the atmosphere.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Cross references
Psalms 78:24
- Quoted inJohn 6:31Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
'He gave them bread from heaven to eat' (bread-of-life discourse, 'as it is written')
Man ate the bread of angels: Barnes said the Hebrew for angels here means the mighty ones, a word used of princes and even of bulls. Clarke called the bread food for the tables of the great. He also followed Paul, who calls it spiritual food in 1 Corinthians 10:3.
Psalms 78:25
“Man did eat angels’ food - Food that came from heaven; food so directly and manifestly from heaven that it might be supposed to be the same kind that was eaten there, and that had now been sent down by a special miracle for man; food so delicate and so free from the ordinary coarse properties of food, that it might be supposed to be such as angels feed on.”
He stirred the east wind from the heavens: Numbers 11:31 says a wind from the LORD brought quail in from the sea. Albert Barnes took the sea to be the Red Sea, which would make it a southeast wind. Charles Spurgeon allowed two winds or one combined.
Psalms 78:26
“He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven. He is Lord Paramount, above the prince of the power of the air: storms arise and tempests blow at his command. Winds sleep till God arouses them, and then, like Samuel, each one answers, "Here am I, for thou didst call me." And by his power he brought in the south wind.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
2 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:26
“He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven - See Num 11:31. In the history, the quarter from which the wind came is not mentioned, except as it might be indicated by the statement that the “quails were brought from the sea;” - that is, evidently, the Red Sea. This wind would have come from the southeast. The phrase “in the heaven” means in the air, or from above. And by his power ... - By his direct agency. It was a wind which he caused to blow for the purpose; a miracle.”
Psalms 78:26
“He caused an east wind to blow - See the note on Num 11:31.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
winged birds like the sand of the sea: Albert Barnes gave the Hebrew as fowl of wing and noted that sand of the sea is the language of countless number in Genesis 22:17. Charles Spurgeon observed that God rained bread and then meat when He might have rained fire and brimstone. He called it a doubtful blessing.
Psalms 78:27
“He rained flesh also upon them as dust. First he rained bread and then flesh, when he might have rained fire and brimstone. The words indicate the speed, and the abundance of the descending quails. And feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea; there was no counting them. By a remarkable providence, if not by miracle, enormous numbers of migratory birds were caused to alight around the tents of the tribes. It was, however, a doubtful blessing, as easily acquired and super abounding riches generally are. The Lord save us from meat which is seasoned with divine wrath.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
1 more voice on this verse
Psalms 78:27
“He rained flesh also upon them as dust - The flesh of quails, Num 11:31. The word “rained” means that they seemed to come upon them like a copious shower. The word dust denotes their great abundance. And feathered fowls - Margin, as in Hebrew, “fowl of wing.” This is a poetic expression, designed to give beauty to the description by the image of their fluttering wings. Like as the sand of the sea - An expression also designed to denote their great numbers, Gen 22:17; Gen 32:12; Gen 41:49; Jos 11:4; 1Sa 13:5; Rev 20:8.”
all around their dwellings: Numbers 11:31 spreads the quail a day's travel on every side of the camp. Albert Barnes noted that the meat came to their doors, so no one had to go looking for it. Charles Spurgeon warned that mercies can be sent in anger.
Psalms 78:28
“We have the account Num. xi. 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.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
He gave them what they craved: The verse sounds like a blessing until verse 30. Henry said they were filled yet never satisfied, for desire is content with nothing. Spurgeon asked God to deny his urgent prayers sooner than give what he craved in anger.
Psalms 78:29
“So they did eat, and were well filled. They greedily devoured the birds, even to repletion. The Lord shewed them that he could "provide flesh for his people, "even enough and to spare. He also shewed them that when lust wins its desire it is disappointed, and by the way of satiety arrive at distaste. First the food satiates, then it nauseates. For he gave them their own desire. They were filled with their own ways. The flesh meat was unhealthy for them, but as they cried for it they had it, and a curse with it.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
1 more voice on this verse
Psalms 78:29
“So they did eat, and were well filled - The word rendered “well” here is intensive. It means that they were abundantly satisfied; that there was no lack; that they had the most ample supply. For he gave them their own desire - He gave them exactly what they asked. He gave them flesh to eat as they had demanded; and he gave it to them in such quantities that no one could say that he had not enough.”
Psalms 78:30-31
with the food still in their mouths: The food was still in their mouths when God's anger flared against them. The strongest among them died, and the young men of Israel were brought down. Numbers 11:34 names the place for the graves of those who craved.
Psalms 78:30
“They were not estranged from their lust - literally, “They were not made strangers to;” that is, in regard to their lusts or desires they were not in the condition of “foreigners” or aliens; they were not separated from them. The word “lusts” here means “desires, wishes.” It is not used here in the restricted sense in which it is now with us. The reference is to their desire for food different from manna - for flesh; and the idea is, that they did not restrain their intense desire even when it should have been fully satisfied.”
1 more voice on this verse
Psalms 78:30
“They were not estranged from their lust. Lust grows upon that which it feeds on. If sick of too much flesh, yet men grow not weary of lust, they change the object, and go on lusting still. When one sin is proved to be a bitterness, men do not desist, but pursue another iniquity. If, like Jehu, they turn from Baal, they fall to worshipping the calves of Bethel. But while their meat was yet in their mouths, before they could digest their coveted meat, it turned to their destruction.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
subdued the young men of Israel: Albert Barnes rendered the strongest as their fat ones, the men of most vigor, rank and strength. He gave the word for subdued as made to bow, that is, bowed in death. The judgment struck the ones who seemed safest.
Psalms 78:31
“The wrath of God came upon them - See Num 11:33. And slew the fattest of them - literally, “slew among their fat ones.” That is, The most vigorous among them were cut down; the people most eminent for rank, for influence, for strength, for valor. How far this was the natural effect of indulgence in eating, and how far it was a direct miracle, cannot now be ascertained. In either case it would equally show the divine displeasure. And smote down - Margin, as in Hebrew, “made to bow.” That is, they were made to bow in death.”
Psalms 78:32-39
they kept on sinning: , and when He slew them they sought Him, then remembered that God was their Rock. Their repentance reached the mouth and stopped, and their hearts stayed disloyal to His covenant. He forgave them anyway, remembering they were flesh.
Psalms 78:32
“For all this they sinned still. Judgments moved them no more than mercies. They defied the wrath of God. Though death was in the cup of their iniquity, yet they would not put it away, but continued to quaff it as if it were a healthful potion. How truly might these words be applied to ungodly men who have been often afflicted, laid upon a sick bed, broken in spirit, and impoverished in estate, and yet have persevered in their evil ways, unmoved by terrors, unswayed by threatenings. And believed not for his wondrous works.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
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Psalms 78:32
“But the generation crooked and embittering, "in all these things sinned yet more, and they believed not in His wonderful works." "And in their days failed in vanity." Though they might, if they had believed have had days in truth without failing, with Him to whom hath been said, "Thy years shall not fail." Therefore, "their days failed in vanity, and their years with haste." For the whole life of mortal men is hastening, and that which seemeth to be longer is but a vapour of somewhat longer duration.”
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · Exposition on Psalm 78patristic
Psalms 78:32
“Those hearts are hard indeed that will neither be melted by the mercies of God nor broken by his judgments. They persisting in their sins, God proceeded in his judgments, but they were judgments of another nature, which wrought not suddenly, but slowly.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Psalms 78:32
“For all this they sinned still - Even this did not reclaim them, and prevent their sinning. Heavy judgments do not always restrain men from sin. Not unfrequently they take occasion from such judgments to sin the more. And believed not for his wondrous works - They did not trust in His wondrous works; or, those works did not have the effect of producing faith. See Psa 78:22-23. The same thing occurred in the life of the Saviour. Joh 12:37.”
Psalms 78:32
“For all this they sinned still - How astonishing is this! They were neither drawn by mercies, nor awed by judgments! But we shall cease to wonder at this, if we have a thorough acquaintance with our own hearts.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
their years in sudden terror: Albert Barnes gave the Hebrew for the second line as in terror, the alarms of a vast desert. He saw the verse fulfilled in the wandering of Numbers 14:33, which went on until the generation that came out of Egypt had died. Their days went nowhere.
Psalms 78:33
“Their days did he consume in vanity - By causing them to wander forty years in the wilderness, vainly expecting an end to their labor, and the enjoyment of the promised rest, which, by their rebellions, they had forfeited.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
4 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:33
"And in their days failed in vanity." Though they might, if they had believed, have had days in truth without failing, with Him to whom has been said, "Your years shall not fail." Therefore, "their days failed in vanity, and their years with haste." For the whole life of mortal men is hastening, and that which seems to be longer is but a vapour of somewhat longer duration.
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · Exposition on Psalm 78patristic
Psalms 78:33
“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. Under these rebukes they professed repentance, but they were not cordial and sincere in this profession.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Psalms 78:33
“Therefore their days did he consume in vanity - He suffered them to spend their days - the days of that entire generation - in vain and fruitless wanderings in the desert. Instead of leading them at once to the promised land, they were kept there to wear out their life in tedious monotony, accomplishing nothing - wandering from place to place - until all the generation that had come out of Egypt had died. And their years in trouble - literally, “in terror.” Amidst the troubles, the alarms, the terrors of a vast and frightful desert.”
Psalms 78:33
“Therefore their days did he consume in vanity. Apart from faith life is vanity. To wander up and down in the wilderness was a vain thing indeed, when unbelief had shut them out of the promised land. It was meet that those who would not live to answer the divine purpose by believing and obeying their God should be made to live to no purpose, and to die before their time, unsatisfied, unblessed.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
When He slew them, they would seek Him: Augustine said the dead could not seek God, so those who searched for Him were the ones He had not slain. The people are spoken of as one body. Barnes judged that they repented only for a short time, as their lies in verse 36 show.
Psalms 78:34
“When he slew them - When he came forth in his wrath and cut them down by the plague, by fiery serpents, or by their enemies. Then they sought him - Their calamities had the effect of producing temporary reformation. They became professedly penitent; they manifested a wish to know God, and expressed a purpose to serve him. It was, however, a temporary and hollow, not a deep and real reformation. This often occurs. In times of affliction, in sickness, in bereavement, in the loss of property, people become serious, and express a purpose to repent and turn to God.”
3 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:34
“Nevertheless, "when he slew them they sought Him:" not for the sake of eternal life, but fearing to end the vapour too soon. There sought Him then, not indeed those whom He had slain, but they that were afraid of being slain according to the example of them. But the Scripture has so spoken of them as if they sought God who were slain; because they were one people, and it is spoken as if of one body: "and they returned, and at dawn they came to God" [Psalm 78:34].”
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · Exposition on Psalm 78patristic
Psalms 78:34
“When he slew them, then they sought him. Like whipped curs, they licked their Master's feet. They obeyed only so long as they felt the whip about their loins. Hard are the hearts which only death can move. While thousands died around them, the people of Israel became suddenly religious, and repaired to the tabernacle door, like sheep who run in a mass while the black dog drives them, but scatter and wander when the shepherd whistles him off. And they returned and enquired early after God.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
Psalms 78:34
“When he slew them - While his judgments were upon them, then they began to humble themselves, and deprecate his wrath. When they saw some fall, the rest began to tremble.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
God Most High was their Redeemer: The title Rock recalls Deuteronomy 32:4. Clarke explained Redeemer by the Hebrew goel, the nearest kinsman, who had the right to redeem a lost inheritance. Spurgeon put the order briefly: they remembered after God slew them.
Psalms 78:35
“That God was their rock - They recollected in their affliction that Jehovah was their Creator, and their Father; the Rock, the Source, not only of their being, but of all their blessings; or, that he was their sole Protector. And the high God their Redeemer - ואל עליון גאלם veel elyon goalam, “And the strong God the Most High, their kinsman.” That one who possessed the right of redemption; the nearest akin to him who had forfeited his inheritance; so the word originally means, and hence it is often used for a redeemer.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
they deceived Him with their mouths: Barnes traced deceived to a root meaning to open, then to entice. Henry read the words of their mouths as a bargain to end the wrath, lies meant to be broken once the death passed. He said the rack drew them all out.
Psalms 78:36
“Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth - The word rendered “flatter” means properly “to open;” and hence, “to be open; to be ingenious or frank;” and then, to be easily persuaded, to be deluded, to be beguiled; and hence, also, in an active form, to persuade, to entice, to seduce, to beguile, to delude. The meaning here is, that they attempted to deceive by their professions, or that their professions were false and hollow. Those professions were the mere result of affliction. They were based on no principle; there was no true love or confidence at the foundation.”
Their hearts were disloyal to Him: Barnes read the Hebrew as a heart unfit for its promise, like the fathers of verse 8 whose heart was disloyal. Spurgeon said good resolutions came to their hearts as travellers come to inns, staying a while and then leaving. Mouth and heart disagreed.
Psalms 78:37
“For their heart was not right with him - Luther renders this, “Not fast with him.” The Hebrew word means “to fit, to prepare;” and the idea is, that the heart was not “adjusted” to such a profession, or did not “accord” with such a promise or pledge. It was a mere profession made by the lips, while the heart remained unaffected. See the notes at Psa 78:8. Neither were they stedfast in his covenant - In maintaining his covenant, or in adhering to it. Compare Psa 25:14; Psa 44:17. See also Psa 78:8.”
He forgave their iniquity: The verb behind forgave is the Hebrew word for atonement, which Adam Clarke gave as made an atonement and Albert Barnes as covered over. Barnes also noted that often restrained is literally He multiplied to turn His anger away. The mercy was repeated as often as the sin.
Psalms 78:38
“But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not. Though they were full of flattery, he was full of mercy, and for this cause he had pity on them. Not because of their pitiful and hypocritical pretensions to penitence, but because of his own real compassion for them he overlooked their provocations. Yea, many a time turned he his anger away. When he had grown angry with them he withdrew his displeasure. Even unto seventy times seven did he forgive their offences. He was slow, very slow, to anger.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
a passing breeze that does not return: Charles Spurgeon set the two memories side by side: Israel forgot God, and God remembered they were flesh. He saw God taking their frailty as a reason for mercy. Adam Clarke preferred to render the Hebrew ruach as spirit, a spirit that goes away and does not return.
Psalms 78:40-43
How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness: They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel. What they failed to remember was His power on the day He redeemed them. Egypt and Zoan are named again from verse 12.
Psalms 78:40
“How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness - Margin, Or, rebel against him. The Hebrew word may have the signification in the margin. The idea is, that they were perverse and rebellious; that they excited his displeasure, and gave occasion for his anger. See Psa 78:17. And grieve him in the desert - The word here rendered grieve means (1) to work, to fashion; (2) to suffer pain, to travail, to be afflicted; and then, (3) to cause one to suffer pain, or to afflict.”
provoked the Holy One of Israel: The verb provoked has two old readings. Clarke traced it to a root meaning to mark, and the Targum read that they set a sign on the Holy One. Barnes read it as setting a limit to the power of God, as if some things were beyond Him.
Psalms 78:41
“MAN IS ALWAYS ALTERING what God has ordained. Although God’s order is ever the best, yet man will never agree therewith. When God gave forth the law it was engraved upon two stones. The first table contained the commandments concerning man and God, the second dealt with man and man. Sins against God are sins against the first table: sins against man are offenses against the second table. Man, to prove constantly his perversity, will put the second table before the first, nay, upon the first, so as to cover and conceal it.”
the day He redeemed them from the adversary: Charles Spurgeon judged the forgetting practical, since displays of power like those in Egypt are hard to erase. A man who withholds the return of gratitude, he said, is fairly charged with forgetting. Albert Barnes allowed affliction as another reading of adversary.
Psalms 78:42
“They remembered not his hand. Yet it must have been difficult to forget it. Such displays of divine power as those which smote Egypt with astonishment, it must have needed some more than usual effort to blot it from the tablets of memory. It is probably meant that they practically, rather than actually, forgot. He who forgets the natural returns of gratitude, may justly be charged with not remembering the obligation. Nor the days when he delivered them from the enemy.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
1 more voice on this verse
Psalms 78:42
“They remembered not his hand - His gracious interpositions; the manifestations of his power. They forgot that power had been exercised which showed that he was omnipotent - that there was no limit to his ability to aid them. Nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy - The time when he rescued them. The power then manifested was sufficient to defend and deliver them in any new dangers that could befall them. The margin is, from affliction. The Hebrew will admit of either interpretation. The sense is not materially changed.”
His wonders in the fields of Zoan: Albert Barnes noted that the verb for performed means to set or place, as signs are set up. Charles Spurgeon took the signs as signals raised in open view and proofs of God's hatred of idols. Exodus 12:12 names judgment on Egypt's gods.
Psalms 78:43
“How he had wrought his signs in Egypt,.... The plagues which he brought upon the Egyptians, for refusing to let Israel go: and his wonders in the field of Zoan, or in the country of Zoan, that is, Tanis, as the Targum renders it; so the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions; see Psa 78:12, an enumeration of these signs and wonders follows; but not of all, nor in the order in which they were: only seven are mentioned, with which compare the seven vials or last plagues, Rev 6:1.”
Psalms 78:44-51
He turned their rivers to blood: The list names seven of the ten signs, from blood in the rivers to the firstborn of Egypt. Flies come before frogs here, which reverses the order of Exodus 8. Clarke reads the band of destroying angels at verse 49 as the agents who carried the judgment out.
Psalms 78:44
“And had turned their rivers into blood - Exo 7:20. There was properly but one river in Egypt - the Nile. But there were several branches of that river at the mouth; and there were numerous artificial streams or canals cut from the river, to anyone of which the word river might be also given. Compare the notes at Isa 11:15. And their floods ... - Their streams; the canals and branches of the Nile, where they usually obtained a supply of water.”
He sent swarms of flies that devoured them: The swarms sent on Egypt are the flies of Exodus 8:24, the fourth plague. Gill gave the Hebrew as a mixture, and the Targum read it as wild beasts. Barnes said the Greek called them dog-flies.
Psalms 78:45
“He sent divers sorts of flies ... - The account of this plague is found in Exo 8:24. The word there used is simply “swarm,” without indicating what the swarm was composed of. The rabbis explain the word as denoting a mixture, or a conflux of noxious insects, as if the word were derived from ערב ‛ârab - “to mix.” The Septuagint renders it κυνόμνια kunomnia - “dog-fly” - which Philo describes as so named from its impudence.”
1 more voice on this verse
Psalms 78:45
“He sent divers sorts of flies among them,.... This was the fourth plague; see Exo 8:24, the word signifies a "mixture" (f), and the Targum renders it "a mixture of wild beasts;'' so Josephus (g) understood this plague of various sorts of beasts of different forms, and such as had never been seen before.”
the fruit of their labor to the locust: This is the eighth plague of Exodus 10. John Gill took the grasshopper and the locust as one creature, since Exodus names only the locust. Albert Barnes gave the Hebrew for the first as the devourer, and the fruit of labor as the harvests in their fields.
Psalms 78:46
“He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar - The increase or the produce of their fields. Exo 10:12-14. The word חסיל châsı̂yl - is supposed to denote a species of locust rather than the caterpillar. It literally means the devourer. In our version, however, it is uniformly rendered caterpillar as here; 1Ki 8:37; 2Ch 6:28; Isa 33:4; Joe 1:4; Joe 2:25. It occurs nowhere else. And their labor unto the locust - The fruit of their labor; the harvests in their fields.”
3 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:46
“He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar,.... A kind of locust, and the same with the locust in the next clause; for we read but of the locust only in Exo 10:13. and their labour unto the locust; which devoured the increase of the field, all green grass and trees, all sorts of corn, wheat, barley and rye, and the increase of vineyards, and all fruit trees, on which much labour had been used to manure and cultivate; see Rev 9:3 this was the eighth plague.”
Psalms 78:46
“He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labour unto the locust. Different sorts of devourers ate up every green herb and tree. What one would not eat another did. What they expected from the natural fertility of the soil, and what they looked for from their own toil, they saw devoured before their eyes by an insatiable multitude against whose depredation no defense could be found. Observe in the text that the Lord did it all—"he sent, " "he gave, ""he destroyed, ""he gave up, "etc.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
Psalms 78:46
“The caterpillar and - the locust - See on Exo 10:13 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
their sycamore-figs with sleet: Exodus 9:25 records the hail striking the plants and trees of the field. Spurgeon saw the vines as the wealth of the rich and the sycamore-figs as the food of the poor, so the hail struck both. Clarke added that Egypt made coffins from sycamore wood.
Psalms 78:47
“He destroyed their vines with hail - Though the vine was never plentiful in Egypt, yet they have some; and the wine made in that country is among the most delicious. The leaf of the vine is often used by the Egyptians of the present day for wrapping up their mince-meat, which they lay leaf upon leaf, season it after their fashion, and so cook it, making it a most exquisite sort of food, according to Mr. Maillet.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:47
“Sycamore-trees - Under these and the vines, all other trees are comprehended. This hail and frost destroyed the fruit of the trees, and sometimes the trees themselves.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Psalms 78:47
“He destroyed their vines with hail - Margin, killed. See Exo 9:22-26. In the account in Exodus the hail is said to have smitten man and beast, the herb, and the tree of the field. In the psalm only one thing is mentioned, perhaps denoting the ruin by what would be particularly felt in Palestine, where the culture of the grape was so common and so important. And their sycamore trees with frost - The sycamore is mentioned particularly as giving poetic beauty to the passage.”
Psalms 78:47
“He destroyed their vines with hail. No more shall thy butler press the clusters into thy cup, O Pharaoh! The young fruit bearing shoots were broken off, the vintage failed. And their sycomore trees with frost. Frost was not usual, but Jehovah regards no laws of nature when men regard not his moral laws. The sycomore fig was perhaps more the fruit of the many than was the vine, therefore this judgment was meant to smite the poor, while the former fell most heavily upon the rich.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
their livestock to bolts of lightning: Exodus 9:23 has fire running along the ground. Albert Barnes gave the Hebrew for bolts of lightning as flames, the lightning itself. Hippolytus reported that Symmachus rendered the verse as cattle given up to the plague and possessions to birds.
Psalms 78:48
"He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their substance to the fire." Symmachus renders it: "Who gave up their cattle to the plague, and their possessions to birds."
Hippolytus of Rome · written before 235 · Fragments from Commentaries on Various Books of Scripture - On Psalm LXXVII. Or LXXVIII.patristic
a band of destroying angels: The verse heaps up words of fury before the last plague. Barnes read them as the fullest display of wrath, fitting the death of the firstborn. Hippolytus ranked them, with anger the lesser, wrath the greater and tribulation the greatest.
Psalms 78:49
"He discharged upon them the wrath of His anger;-anger, and wrath, and tribulation, a visitation by evil angels." Under anger, wrath, and tribulation, he intended bitter punishments; for God is without passion. And by anger you will understand the lesser penalties, and by wrath the greater, and by tribulation the greatest.
Hippolytus of Rome · written before 235 · Fragments from Commentaries on Various Books of Scripture - On Psalm LXXVII. Or LXXVIII.patristic
He cleared a path for His anger: Barnes read the path as a road leveled for a march, as in Isaiah 40:3. Spurgeon traced the order of the blows, first on their crops and cattle and then on their lives, as through a breach in a wall. The plague came last.
Psalms 78:50
“He made a way to his anger - Margin, he weighed a path. He leveled a path for it; he took away all hindrance to it; he allowed it to have free scope. The idea of weighing is not in the original. The allusion is to a preparation made by which one can march along freely, and without any obstruction. See the notes at Isa 40:3-4. He spared not their soul from death - He spared not their lives. That is, he gave them over to death.”
the virility in the tents of Ham: Albert Barnes linked the virility of Egypt to Genesis 49:3, where Jacob speaks of his firstborn as his strength. Charles Spurgeon saw measure for measure, since Egypt had struck Israel, the Lord's firstborn. Exodus 4:22 gives Israel that name.
Psalms 78:52-55
He led out His people like sheep: God led His people out like sheep, and the sea engulfed the enemies behind them. He guided them like a flock, then brought them to His holy land and settled the tribes in their tents. Maclaren ties this flock to the shepherd at verse 72.
Psalms 78:52
“But made his own people to go forth like sheep. The contrast is striking, and ought never to have been forgotten by the people. The wolves were slain in heaps, the sheep were carefully gathered, and triumphantly delivered. The tables were turned, and the poor serfs became the honoured people, while their oppressors were humbled before them. Israel went out in a compact body like a flock; they were defenceless in themselves as sheep, but they were safe under their Great Shepherd; they left Egypt as easily as a flock leaves one pasture for another.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
4 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:52
“The Psalm proceedeth then after the commemoration of the plagues of the Egyptians and saith, "And He took away like sheep His people, and He led them through like a flock in the desert."”
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · On the Psalms: Psalm 78patristic
Psalms 78:52
“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 ( Exod. xiv. 10 ), but that was said to them, and done for them, which effectually silenced their fears.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Psalms 78:52
“But made his own people to go forth like sheep ... - That is, he was a shepherd to them. He defended them; provided for them; led them - as a shepherd does his flock. See the notes at Psa 23:1-2.”
Psalms 78:52
“The Spirit speaks with the authority of the Lord: "The Spirit said to [Peter], 'Rise and go down, and accompany them without hesitation; for I have sent them.' " Are these the words of an abject inferior? "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Does a slave give commands like this? Isaiah says, "The Lord God and his Spirit have sent me," and "the Spirit came down from the Lord and led them." Do not try again to convince me that this "leading" by the Spirit is some lowly service.”
Basil of Caesarea · written before 379 · On the Holy Spirit 19:49patristic
so they did not fear: Exodus 14:10 records their terror as Pharaoh's army drew near, and Charles Spurgeon placed the courage after that first alarm. He added that the blow at the sea kept Egypt from pursuing the tribes for forty years. Albert Barnes gave engulfed as covered.
Psalms 78:53
“And he led them on safely, so that they feared not. After the first little alarm, natural enough when they found themselves pursued by their old taskmasters, they plucked up courage and ventured forth boldly into the sea, and afterwards into the desert where no man dwelt. But the sea overwhelmed their enemies. They were gone, gone for ever, never to disturb the fugitives again. That tremendous blow effectually defended the tribes for forty years from any further attempt to drive them back. Egypt found the stone too heavy and was glad to let it alone.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
3 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:53
"And He led them down in hope, and they feared not, and their enemies the sea covered" [Psalm 78:53]. But we are being led home in hope, "For by hope we are saved." [Romans 8:24] Nor ought we to fear. For, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" [Romans 8:31] And our enemies the sea has covered, He has effaced them in baptism by the remission of sins.
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · Exposition on Psalm 78Early Church
Psalms 78:53
“And he led them on safely, so that they feared not - In hope; in confidence; so that they had no occasion for alarm. He showed himself able and willing to defend them. But the sea overwhelmed their enemies - Margin, as in Hebrew, covered. See Exo 14:27-28; Exo 15:10.”
Psalms 78:53
"And He led them down in hope, and they feared not, and their enemies the sea covered" [Psalm 78:53]. But we are being led home in hope, "For by hope we are saved." [Romans 8:24] Nor ought we to fear. For, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" [Romans 8:31] And our enemies the sea has covered, He has effaced them in baptism by the remission of sins.
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · Exposition on Psalm 78patristic
to the mountain His right hand had acquired: Commentators divide on the mountain. Adam Clarke took it as the hill country of Canaan, which he set against the flat land of Egypt. Albert Barnes read it as Mount Zion, which verse 68 names as the mountain God loved.
Psalms 78:54
“The border of his sanctuary - קדשו kodsho, “of his holy place,” that is, the land of Canaan, called afterwards the mountain which his right hand had purchased; because it was a mountainous country, widely differing from Egypt, which was a long, continued, and almost perfect level.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
apportioned their inheritance: Barnes said the land was measured out by line for each tribe, as Joshua 13 to 19 records. The tents Israel settled in had belonged to the nations driven out, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note from Deuteronomy 6:11. The land came furnished.
Psalms 78:55
“He cast out the heathen also before them, or "he drove out the nations." Not only were armies routed, but whole peoples displaced. The iniquity of the Canaanites was full; their vices made them rot above ground; therefore, the land ate up its inhabitants, the hornets vexed them, the pestilence destroyed them, and the sword of the tribes completed the execution to which the justice of long provoked heaven had at length appointed them.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
3 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:55
"And He made to dwell in their tabernacles the tribes of Israel." In the tabernacles, he saith, of the Gentiles He made the tribes of Israel to dwell, which I think can better be explained spiritually, inasmuch as unto celestial glory, whence sinning angels have been cast forth and cast down, by Christ's grace we are being uplifted.
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · On the Psalms: Psalm 78Early Church
Psalms 78:55
“He cast out the heathen also before them - literally, the nations. The idea of their being pagan, in the sense which is now attached to that word, is not in the original. The word is one which would be applied to any nation, without reference to its religion. These nations were, indeed, pagans according to the present use of that term, but that idea is not necessarily in the Hebrew word. And divided them an inheritance by line - Divided to his people an inheritance by a measurement of the land.”
Psalms 78:55
"And He made to dwell in their tabernacles the tribes of Israel." In the tabernacles, he saith, of the Gentiles He made the tribes of Israel to dwell, which I think can better be explained spiritually, inasmuch as unto celestial glory, whence sinning angels have been cast forth and cast down, by Christ's grace we are being uplifted.
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · On the Psalms: Psalm 78patristic
Psalms 78:56-58
they tested and disobeyed God Most High: In the land the sin changes shape, from testing God to high places and idols. Verse 57 calls them twisted like a faulty bow, which takes up the archers of verse 9. The bow that turned back is the same picture.
Psalms 78:56
“Yet they tempted and provoked ... - They tried the patience of God, and provoked him to anger after they were peaceably settled in the promised land. See Jdg 2:10-13. The object is to show that it was the character of the people that they were prone to depart from God. Compare Psa 78:10-11, note; Psa 78:17, note; Psa 78:40, note.”
twisted like a faulty bow: Clarke, who had strung bows himself, told of a faulty bow springing back to its curve and striking the archer. Barnes pictured a bow with one arm longer, so the arrow turned aside. Israel turned back like their fathers.
Psalms 78:57
“They were turned aside like a deceitful bow - The eastern bow, which when at rest is in the form of a [curved figure], must be recurved, or turned the contrary way, in order to be what is called bent and strung. If a person who is unskilful or weak attempt to recurve and string one of these bows, if he take not great heed it will spring back and regain its quiescent position, and perhaps break his arm.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
provoked His jealousy with their idols: Charles Spurgeon took the high places as worship offered in ways God had not commanded, many altars where He had named one place. He saw them as the first step toward idols. Albert Barnes explained jealousy from marriage, where love owed to one is given to another.
Psalms 78:58
“For they provoked him to anger with their high places - places where idols were worshipped; usually on mountains or elevated places. Lev 26:30; compare 1Ki 3:2; 1Ki 12:31-32; 2Ki 17:32; 2Ch 33:17. And moved him to jealousy - As one is when affections due to himself are bestowed upon another - as in the married life. “With their graven images.” Their idols. Graven images are here put for idols in general.”
1 more voice on this verse
Psalms 78:58
“For they provoked him to anger with their high places. This was their first error—will worship, or the worship of God, otherwise than according to his command. Many think lightly of this, but it was no mean sin; and its tendencies to further offence are very powerful. The Lord would have his holy place remain as the only spot for sacrifice; and Israel, in wilful rebellion, (no doubt glossed over by the plea of great devotion,)determined to have many altars upon many hills.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
Psalms 78:59-64
God was furious and rejected Israel completely: God abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh and gave His strength to captivity, which is the ark taken by the Philistines at 1 Samuel 4:11. The judgment fell across the nation, fire on the young men, priests falling by the sword, maidens without wedding songs. The widows could not lament.
Psalms 78:59
“When God heard this, he was wroth. The mere report of it filled him with indignation; he could not bear it, he was incensed to the uttermost, and most justly so. And greatly abhorred Israel. He cast his idolatrous people from his favour, and left them to themselves, and their own devices. How could he have fellowship with idols? What concord hath Christ with Belial? Sin is in itself so offensive that it makes the sinner offensive too.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
2 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:59
"God heard, and He despised:" that is, He gave heed and took vengeance. "And unto nothing He brought Israel exceedingly" [Psalm 78:60]. For when God despised, what were they who by God's help were what they were? But doubtless he is commemorating the doing of that thing, when they were conquered by the Philistines in the time of Heli the priest, and the Ark of the Lord was taken, and with great slaughter they were laid low. This it is that he speaks of.
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · Exposition on Psalm 78patristic
Psalms 78:59
“When God heard this - literally, “God heard;” that is, he understood this; he was acquainted with it. He heard their prayers addressed to false gods; he heard their praises sung in honor of idols. He was wroth - This is language taken from the common manner of speaking among people, for language derived from human conceptions and usages must be employed when we speak of God, though it may be difficult to say what is its exact meaning.”
the tent He had pitched among men: Wesley read among men as a mark of God coming down to dwell with them, and of their folly in despising it. Clarke noted that God never returned to Shiloh. Jeremiah 7:12 later points Judah to its ruins.
Psalms 78:60
“So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men. His glory would no more reveal itself there, he left Shiloh to become a complete ruin. At the door of that tent shameless sin had been perpetrated, and all around it idols had been adored, and therefore the glory departed and Ichabod was sounded as a word of dread concerning Shiloh and the tribe of Ephraim. Thus may the candlestick be removed though the candle is not quenched. Erring churches become apostate, but a true church still remains; if Shiloh be profaned Zion is consecrated.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
1 more voice on this verse
Psalms 78:60
“He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh - The Lord, offended with the people, and principally with the priests, who had profaned his holy worship, gave up his ark into the hands of the Philistines. And so true it is that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, that he never returned to it again. See 1Sa 6:1; 2 Samuel 6; 1Ki 8:1; where the several removals of the ark are spoken of, and which explain the remaining part of this Psalm.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
His splendor to the hand of the adversary: Strength and splendor both name the ark. Wesley took strength as the pledge of the power of God for His people, and splendor as the seat of His presence. Spurgeon added that the adversary took the ark only when the Lord delivered it.
Psalms 78:61
“His strength - The ark, called God's strength, 1 Chron. xvi, 11, because it was the sign and pledge of his strength put forth on his people's behalf. Glory - So the ark is called, as being the monument and seat of God's glorious presence.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
He surrendered His people to the sword: Albert Barnes tied the verse to 1 Samuel 4:10, where thirty thousand of Israel fell on the day the ark was taken. Charles Spurgeon noticed that the verse calls them His twice, His people and His heritage. His anger fell on what He still owned.
Psalms 78:62
“He gave his people over also to the sword,.... To those that kill with the sword, as the Targum; that is, to the Philistines, when there fell of them thirty thousand men at once, 1Sa 4:10. and was wroth with his inheritance; and the above showed that he was, though they were his inheritance, his portion and possession, and he had chosen them for it, Psa 33:12.”
left without wedding songs: Adam Clarke gave the Hebrew as hullalu, maidens left uncelebrated with marriage songs. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown rendered the word literally as praised, the praise sung over a bride. The young men who would have married them had fallen.
Psalms 78:63
“The fire consumed their young men. As fire slew Nadab and Abihu literally, so the fire of divine wrath fell on the sons of Eli, who defiled the sanctuary of the Lord, and the like fire, in the form of war, consumed the flower of the people. And their maidens were not given to marriage. No nuptial hymn were sung, the bride lacked her bridegroom, the edge of the sword had cut the bands of their espousals, and left unmarried those who else had been extolled in hymns and congratulations.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
4 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:63
"Their young men the fire devoured:" that is, wrath. "And their virgins mourned not" [Psalm 78:63]. For not even for this was there leisure, in fear of the foe.
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · Exposition on Psalm 78patristic
Psalms 78:63
“The fire consumed their young men - Fire here may be regarded as an image of destructive war, as in Num 21:28: “For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed Ar of Moab,” etc. The idea here is, that the young people had been cut off in war. And their maidens were not given to marriage - As the young people who would have entered into this relation were cut off in war.”
Psalms 78:63
“Their maidens were not given to marriage - הוללו hullalu, were not celebrated with marriage songs. It is considered a calamity in the east if a maiden arrives at the age of twelve years without being sought or given in marriage.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Psalms 78:63
"Their young men the fire devoured:" that is, wrath. "And their virgins mourned not" [Psalm 78:63]. For not even for this was there leisure, in fear of the foe.
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · Exposition on Psalm 78Early Church
their widows could not lament: Wesley named the priests who fell by the sword as Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli. He gave two reasons the widows could not lament: some died too, as the wife of Phinehas did, and the enemy hindered the rest. Grief had no time.
Psalms 78:64
Their priests fell by the sword - Hophni and Phinehas, who were slain in that unfortunate battle against the Philistines in which the ark of the Lord was taken, 1Sa 4:11. A Chaldee Targum on this passage says, “In the time in which the ark of the Lord was taken by the Philistines, Hophni and Phinehas, the two priests, fell by the sword at Shiloh; and when the news was brought, their wives made no lamentation, for they both died the same day.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Psalms 78:65-66
Then the Lord awoke as from sleep: The waking is described twice, as a man out of sleep, then as a warrior after wine. Henry reads the sleep as a figure for how God's patience looked to the people. He beat His foes back into everlasting shame.
Psalms 78:65
“The Lord awaked as one out of sleep. Justly inactive, he had suffered the enemy to triumph, his ark to be captured, and his people to be slain; but now he arouses himself, his heart is full of pity for his chosen, and anger against the insulting foe. Woe to thee, O Philistia, now thou shalt feel the weight of his right hand! Waking and putting forth strength like a man who has taken a refreshing draught, the Lord is said to be, like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular Baptist
4 more voices on this verse
Psalms 78:65
"And the Lord was awakened as one sleeping" [Psalm 78:65]. For He seems to sleep, when He gives His people into the hands of those whom He hates, when there is said to them, "Where is your God?" "He was awakened, then, like one sleeping, like a mighty man drunken with wine." No one would dare to say this of God, save His Spirit. For he has spoken, as it seems to ungodly men reviling; as if like a drunken man He sleeps long, when He succours not so speedily as men think.
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · Exposition on Psalm 78patristic
Psalms 78:65
“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.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Psalms 78:65
“Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep - literally, as one sleeping; that is, as one who is asleep suddenly arouses himself. The Lord seemed to have slept, or to have been inattentive to what was occurring. Suddenly he aroused himself to inflict vengeance on the enemies of his people. Compare Psa 7:6, note; Psa 44:23, note. And like a mighty man - The allusion is probably to a warrior.”
Psalms 78:65
“Then the Lord awaked - He seemed as if he had totally disregarded what was done to his people, and the reproach that seemed to fall on himself and his worship by the capture of the ark. Like a mighty man - כגבור kegibbor, like a hero that shouteth by reason of wine. One who, going forth to meet his enemy, having taken a sufficiency of wine to refresh himself, and become a proper stimulus to his animal spirits shouts - gives the war-signal for the onset; impatient to meet the foe, and sure of victory.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
He put them to everlasting shame: The older rendering says He struck His foes from behind. Clarke tied the shame to the plague on the Philistines while they held the ark, in 1 Samuel 5:6. Barnes looked ahead to David beating back the same foes.
Psalms 78:66
“He smote his enemies in the hinder part - This refers to the hemorrhoids with which he afflicted the Philistines. See the note on 1Sa 5:6-10 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Psalms 78:67-72
He rejected the tent of Joseph: The tent of Joseph is rejected and Ephraim refused, and Judah with Mount Zion is chosen in their place. God then took David from the sheepfolds to shepherd Jacob. Spurgeon reads the closing pair, integrity of heart and skillful hands, as the shepherd's own measure.
Psalms 78:67
“Moreover, he refused the tabernacle of Joseph - As a place where his worship should be celebrated. This is the completion of the statement in Psa 78:60. The design is to show that there had been a transfer of the preeminence from the tribe of Ephraim to the tribe of Judah, and from Shiloh to Zion. Joseph is mentioned here as the father of Ephraim, from whom one of the tribes - (one of the most influential and numerous) - was named. Jacob had twelve sons, from whom the twelve tribes in general took their name.”
Mount Zion, which He loved: Barnes saw the blessing of Judah in Genesis 49:10 fulfilled when God chose the tribe, and compared Psalm 87:2 on the love of Zion. Spurgeon recalled that the ark came to Zion under David. The choice answers the rejection of Shiloh.
Psalms 78:68
“But chose the tribe of Judah - He chose David of the tribe of Judah as ruler and king; he chose a place within the limits of Judah, to wit, Mount Zion, or Jerusalem, as the place where his worship was to be celebrated. Thus, the ancient prediction in regard to the supremacy of Judah was accomplished. Gen 49:8-10. The Mount Zion, which he loved - Which he chose, for which he had an affection. Compare Psa 87:2.”
He built His sanctuary like the heights: Barnes read the sanctuary as the tabernacle on Zion, for the temple came later and stood on Moriah. Wesley took it as the temple of Solomon, an established home for the ark after years of moving. The verse pairs the heights with forever.
Psalms 78:69
“And he built his sanctuary - His holy place; that is, his tabernacle. The temple was not then built; and, when reared, it was not on Mount Zion, but on Mount Moriah. The name Zion, however, was often given to the whole city. Like high palaces - The word palaces is not in the original. The Hebrew means simply high places, like hills or mountains. The meaning is, that his sanctuary was exalted, as if it were placed on a high hill.”
took him from the sheepfolds: Barnes said David His servant came from no royal house and had no claim to the throne. In 1 Samuel 16:11 he was out keeping the sheep. Spurgeon said God chose him to become a servant.
Psalms 78:70
“He chose David also his servant - He chose him that he might set him over his people as their king. The idea is, that David was selected when he had no natural pretensions to the office, as he did not pertain to a royal family, and could have no claim to such a distinction. The account of this choice is contained in 1 Sam. 15:1-30. And took him from the sheep-folds - From the humble occupation of a shepherd. 1Sa 16:11; 2Sa 7:8.”
from tending the ewes: Barnes said the ewes were those nursing their young, which the shepherd follows and watches. Spurgeon saw the care David learned with them as fitting a shepherd of the people of Israel. The flock changed, and the care stayed the same.
Psalms 78:71
“From following the ewes great with younq - Margin, as in Hebrew, From after. The meaning is, that he followed after them; that is, he attended them, or watched over them as a shepherd. The single word rendered “the ewes great with young” - עול ‛ûl - is a participle from עלוה ‛âlâhô, to ascend, to go up; and then, to bring up, to nourish. The exact idea here is doubtless that of bringing up, or of sucking them, and the word should have been so translated here. It is so rendered by Luther.”
1 more voice on this verse
Psalms 78:71
"And He chose David His servant" [Psalm 78:71]. The tribe, I say, of Judah, for the sake of David: but David for the sake of Christ: the tribe then of Judah for the sake of Christ. At whose passing by blind men cried out, "Have pity on us, Son of David:" [Matthew 20:30] and immediately by His pity they received light, because true was the thing which they cried out.
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · Exposition on Psalm 78patristic
guided them with skillful hands: Albert Barnes gave integrity as the perfection of the heart, and skillful hands as hands of understanding, as if the hand could think. He compared Psalm 144:1, where God trains the hands for war. Adam Clarke read the verse as looking back on a finished reign.
How this psalm is built
The form: Instruction given in parables, handed from the fathers to a generation not yet born, as Hippo classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| The eight verses of instruction before any history begins | Verses 1 to 8 are spoken to a listener and contain no event at all. They state who is speaking, what he will open his mouth to say, who told him, whom he will tell, and why. Only at verse 9 does the psalm begin to narrate, and every verse after that stands under the purpose set out here. | Psalm 78:1, Psalm 78:8, Psalm 78:9 |
| The cycle run four times | The psalm turns the same wheel again and again: God acts, the people forget, they rebel, He judges, He relents. Verses 12 to 22, 23 to 33, 34 to 39 and 40 to 55 each carry a full turn of it, and the words for forgetting and testing return at each turn. | Psalm 78:11, Psalm 78:17, Psalm 78:32, Psalm 78:41, Psalm 78:56 |
| The plagues listed as a sequence of losses | Verses 44 to 51 name the rivers turned to blood, the flies, the frogs, the grasshopper, the locust, the hail, the sleet, the lightning and the firstborn, one after another. The psalm counts what Egypt lost rather than telling the story of Moses, and the list ends on the tents of Ham. | Psalm 78:44, Psalm 78:51 |
| The shepherd at the end and the sheep in the middle | Verse 52 leads the people out like sheep and guides them like a flock in the wilderness. Verses 70 to 72 close the psalm by taking David from the sheepfolds, from tending the ewes, to shepherd Israel. The figure opens the second half and closes the whole, and the last word of the psalm is about hands that guide. | Psalm 78:52, Psalm 78:70, Psalm 78:71, Psalm 78:72 |
Verse 2 is quoted in the New Testament. Matthew 13:35 states that Jesus spoke in parables so that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled, and then gives the line of this psalm: I will open My mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world. The evangelist reads the psalmist's opening as a description of how the Lord would teach.
9 more paragraphs on the patterns
Verse 24 is quoted as well. John 6:31 has the crowd cite the manna against Jesus, saying that it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat, and the whole discourse on the bread of life follows from that quotation. The psalm's account of the manna at verses 23 to 25 is the text the argument turns on.
Inside the psalm the pattern is exact repetition with the stakes raised. Each cycle adds a mercy the people had not yet received and a rebellion they had not yet committed. The psalm's own comment on the pattern stands at verse 39, that God remembered they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return. That line is the reason the cycle never ends in destruction.
The New Testament's use
Two verses are quoted. Matthew 13:35 gives verse 2 as the prophecy fulfilled when Jesus taught in parables: I will open My mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world. The evangelist reads the psalmist's opening line as a description of how the Lord would teach, which makes Psalm 78 one of the few texts the New Testament applies to the manner of Christ's teaching rather than to its content.
John 6:31 gives verse 24. The crowd quotes it against Jesus, saying that it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat, and the discourse on the bread of life is His answer to that quotation. The psalm's account of the manna at verses 23 to 25 is therefore the text the sixth chapter of John argues over.
The debated point
Verse 9 is the psalm's obscure line: the archers of Ephraim turned back on the day of battle, and no such defeat is narrated in the law. Adam Clarke reports the rabbinic tradition, naming David Kimchi, that reads it of a defeat in the desert and points to the account of the men of Gath in Chronicles (Commentary on the Bible, 1832, on Psalm 78:9). Others read the verse as a summary of Ephraim's failure across the whole period rather than as one event. The psalm gives no date and no place, so the identification is a reading rather than a fact.
Where to go deeper
The manna of verses 23 to 25 is set out at manna. The plagues counted at verses 44 to 51 are set out at the ten plagues. The generation the psalm is about is set out at the wilderness generation, and the rock at verses 15 and 16 at the rock in the wilderness.
Keep studying
Studies14
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 78, 430, on Psalm 78:1; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2723, "God's Dealings With Egypt and Israel", 1901 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710, on Psalm 78:1 to 8.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Alexander Maclaren, The Psalms, Expositor's Bible; Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 78; Charles Spurgeon; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Hippolytus of Rome, Fragments from Commentaries on Various Books of Scripture; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Homily 11, on Psalm 77; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
The painting
A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie. Albert Bierstadt, 1866. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.