Psalms 78:1
in Psalms 78Give ear, O my people, to my instruction; listen to the words of my mouth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Give ear, O my people, to my law: Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
KJV
Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
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This verse in Psalms 78
Commentary
12 notes on this verse"Hearken ye," He says, "My people, to My law" [Psalm 78:1]. Whom may we suppose to be here speaking, but God? For it was Himself that gave a law to His people, whom when delivered out of Egypt He gathered together, the which gathering together is properly named a Synagogue, which the word Asaph is interpreted to signify. Hath it then been said, "Understanding of Asaph," in the sense that Asaph himself has understood; or must it be figuratively understood, in the sense that the same Synagogue, that is, the same people, has understood, unto whom is said, "Hearken, My people, unto My law"? Why is it then that He is rebuking the same people by the mouth of the Prophet, saying, "But Israel has not known Me, and My people has not understood"? [Isaiah 1:3] But, in fact, there were even in that people they that understood, having the faith which was afterwards revealed, not pertaining to the letter of the law, but the grace of the Spirit. For they cannot have been without the same faith, who were able to foresee and foretell the revelation thereof that should be in Christ, inasmuch as even those old Sacraments were significants of those that should be. Had the prophets alone this faith, and not the people too? Nay indeed, but even they that faithfully heard the Prophets, were aided by the same grace in order that they might understand what they heard. But without doubt the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven was veiled in the Old Testament, which in the fullness of time should be unveiled in the New. "For," says the Apostle, "they did drink of the Spiritual Rock following them, but the Rock was Christ." [1 Corinthians 10:4] In a mystery therefore theirs was the same meat and drink as ours, but in signification the same, not in form; because the same Christ was Himself figured to them in a Rock, manifested to us in the Flesh. […]
This site's exposition
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.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Divine Scripture commands that, when we have been invited to a rich man's banquet, we should with understanding put forth our hand to the dishes. And so for us too the banquet of Scriptures has been set out as a rich man's feast. We have come into a meadow; it has very many flowers: here the rose is red, there the lilies gleam white, there are flowers of every kind. Our soul is drawn this way and that, to gather from wherever it may the more beautiful flowers.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
My law - The doctrine which I am about to deliver. Parable - Weighty sentences. Dark sayings - Not that the words are hard to be understood, but the things, God's transcendent goodness, their unparallel'd ingratitude; and their stupid ignorance and insensibleness, under such excellent teachings of God's word and works, are prodigious and hard to be believed.
Give ear, O my people,....
He calls his instructions his law or edict; such was their commanding force in themselves. Every good truth, received in the light and love of it, will have the power of a law upon the conscience; yet that was not all: David was a king, and he would interpose his royal power for the edification of his people.
The history itself from Moses to David; it is put into a psalm or song that it might be the better remembered and transmitted to posterity, and that the singing of it might affect them with the things here related, more than they would be with a bare narrative of them.
5 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century5 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
my people . . . my law--the language of a religious teacher (Ps 78:2; Ro 2:16, 27; compare Ps 49:4). The history which follows was a "dark saying," or riddle, if left unexplained, and its right apprehension required wisdom and attention.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Give ear, O my people, to my law. The inspired bard calls on his countrymen to give heed to his patriotic teaching. We naturally expect God's chosen nation to be first in hearkening to his voice. When God gives his truth a tongue, and sends forth his messengers trained to declare his word with power, it is the least we can do to give them our ears and the earnest obedience of our hearts. Shall God speak, and his children refuse to hear? His teaching has the force of law, let us yield both ear and heart to it. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. Give earnest attention, bow your stiff necks, lean forward to catch every syllable. We are at this day, as readers of the sacred records, bound to study them deeply, exploring their meaning, and labouring to practice their teaching. As the officer of an army commences his drill by calling for "Attention, "even so every trained soldier of Christ is called upon to give ear to his words. Men lend their ears to music, how much more then should they listen to the harmonies of the gospel; they sit enthralled in the presence of an orator, how much rather should they yield to the eloquence of heaven.
Give ear, O my people, to my law. The inspired bard calls on his countrymen to give heed to his patriotic teaching. We naturally expect God's chosen nation to be first in hearkening to his voice. When God gives his truth a tongue, and sends forth his messengers trained to declare his word with power, it is the least we can do to give them our ears and the earnest obedience of our hearts. Shall God speak, and his children refuse to hear? His teaching has the force of law, let us yield both ear and heart to it.
Give ear, O my people - This is the exordium of this very pathetic and instructive discourse.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Give ear, O my people - This is not an address of God, but an address of the king or ruler of the people, calling their attention to an important subject; to wit, his right to rule over them, or showing why the power had been vested in him. To my law - The word law here seems to mean what he would say, as if what he should choose to say would have the force and authority of law. What follows is not exactly law in the sense that it was a rule to be obeyed; but it is something that is authoritatively said, and should have the force of law. Incline your ears ... - Be attentive. What is to be said is worthy of your particular regard. Compare the notes at Psa 5:1.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַאֲזִ֣ינָה | haazinah | give ear to ! | H238 → | 41 times |
| עַ֭מִּי | ʾami | O people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| תּוֹרָתִ֑י | torati | instruction my | H8451 → | 219 times |
| הַטּ֥וּ | hatu | incline | H5186 → | 214 times |
| אָ֝זְנְכֶ֗ם | ʾazenekhem | ear your | H241 → | 187 times |
| לְאִמְרֵי־ | leimrei- | to [the] words of | H561 → | 49 times |
| פִֽי׃ | fi | mouth my | H6310 → | 498 times |
הַאֲזִ֣ינָהgive ear to !
haazinahH238 →41 times
עַ֭מִּיO people my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 times
תּוֹרָתִ֑יinstruction my
toratiH8451 →219 times
הַטּ֥וּincline
hatuH5186 →214 times
אָ֝זְנְכֶ֗םear your
ʾazenekhemH241 →187 times
לְאִמְרֵי־to [the] words of
leimrei-H561 →49 times
פִֽי׃mouth my
fiH6310 →498 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 55:3Incline your ear and come to Me; listen, so that your soul may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant—My loving devotion promised to David.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 32:40
I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put My fear in their hearts, so that they will never turn away…
- Matthew 11:28
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
- Proverbs 4:20
My son, pay attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.
- John 10:27
My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
- Acts 13:34
In fact, God raised Him from the dead, never to see decay. As He has said: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’
- Jeremiah 32:40
Through
Psalms 74:1Why have You rejected us forever, O God? Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture?
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 29:20
The LORD will never be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse written in this book will fall upon him. The LORD will blot…
- Psalms 79:13
Then we Your people, the sheep of Your pasture, will thank You forever; from generation to generation we will declare Your praise.
- Psalms 100:3
Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
- Deuteronomy 29:20
Where this verse is studied
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About Psalms
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 78; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Homily 11, on Psalm 77; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.