Psm78:1 God's Kindness to Rebellious IsraelA Contemplation of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
Psm78:2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old,
Psm78:3 Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us.
Psm78:4 We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
Psm78:5 For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children;
Psm78:6 That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children,
Psm78:7 That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments;
Psm78:8 And may not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not set its heart aright, And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
Psm78:9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle.
Psm78:10 They did not keep the covenant of God; They refused to walk in His law,
Psm78:11 And forgot His works And His wonders that He had shown them.
Psm78:12 Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
Psm78:13 He divided the sea and caused them to pass through; And He made the waters stand up like a heap.
Psm78:14 In the daytime also He led them with the cloud, And all the night with a light of fire.
Psm78:15 He split the rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink in abundance like the depths.
Psm78:16 He also brought streams out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers.
Psm78:17 But they sinned even more against Him By rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.
Psm78:18 And they tested God in their heart By asking for the food of their fancy.
Psm78:19 Yes, they spoke against God: They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
Psm78:20 Behold, He struck the rock, So that the waters gushed out, And the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Can He provide meat for His people?
Psm78:21 Therefore the LORD heard this and was furious; So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also came up against Israel,
Psm78:22 Because they did not believe in God, And did not trust in His salvation.
Psm78:23 Yet He had commanded the clouds above, And opened the doors of heaven,
Psm78:24 Had rained down manna on them to eat, And given them of the bread of heaven.
Psm78:25 Men ate angels' food; He sent them food to the full.
Psm78:26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens; And by His power He brought in the south wind.
Psm78:27 He also rained meat on them like the dust, Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas;
Psm78:28 And He let them fall in the midst of their camp, All around their dwellings.
Psm78:29 So they ate and were well filled, For He gave them their own desire.
Psm78:30 They were not deprived of their craving; But while their food was still in their mouths,
Psm78:31 The wrath of God came against them, And slew the stoutest of them, And struck down the choice men of Israel.
Psm78:32 In spite of this they still sinned, And did not believe in His wondrous works.
Psm78:33 Therefore their days He consumed in futility, And their years in fear.
Psm78:34 When He slew them, then they sought Him; And they returned and sought earnestly for God.
Psm78:35 Then they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer.
Psm78:36 Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, And they lied to Him with their tongue;
Psm78:37 For their heart was not steadfast with Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
Psm78:38 But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, And did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, And did not stir up all His wrath;
Psm78:39 For He remembered that they were but flesh, A breath that passes away and does not come again.
Psm78:40 How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert!
Psm78:41 Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel.
Psm78:42 They did not remember His power: The day when He redeemed them from the enemy,
Psm78:43 When He worked His signs in Egypt, And His wonders in the field of Zoan;
Psm78:44 Turned their rivers into blood, And their streams, that they could not drink.
Psm78:45 He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them, And frogs, which destroyed them.
Psm78:46 He also gave their crops to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust.
Psm78:47 He destroyed their vines with hail, And their sycamore trees with frost.
Psm78:48 He also gave up their cattle to the hail, And their flocks to fiery lightning.
Psm78:49 He cast on them the fierceness of His anger, Wrath, indignation, and trouble, By sending angels of destruction among them.
Psm78:50 He made a path for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death, But gave their life over to the plague,
Psm78:51 And destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt, The first of their strength in the tents of Ham.
Psm78:52 But He made His own people go forth like sheep, And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;
Psm78:53 And He led them on safely, so that they did not fear; But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
Psm78:54 And He brought them to His holy border, This mountain which His right hand had acquired.
Psm78:55 He also drove out the nations before them, Allotted them an inheritance by survey, And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
Psm78:56 Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God, And did not keep His testimonies,
Psm78:57 But turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers; They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
Psm78:58 For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.
Psm78:59 When God heard this, He was furious, And greatly abhorred Israel,
Psm78:60 So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent He had placed among men,
Psm78:61 And delivered His strength into captivity, And His glory into the enemy's hand.
Psm78:62 He also gave His people over to the sword, And was furious with His inheritance.
Psm78:63 The fire consumed their young men, And their maidens were not given in marriage.
Psm78:64 Their priests fell by the sword, And their widows made no lamentation.
Psm78:65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine.
Psm78:66 And He beat back His enemies; He put them to a perpetual reproach.
Psm78:67 Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
Psm78:68 But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved.
Psm78:69 And He built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has established forever.
Psm78:70 He also chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds;
Psm78:71 From following the ewes that had young He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance.
Psm78:72 So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.