Psalm 78 - New King James Version (NKJV)

God’s Kindness to Rebellious Israel

A ^(A)Contemplation^[a] of Asaph.

78 Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
² I will open my mouth in a ^(B)parable;
I will utter ^[b]dark sayings of old,
³ Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
^{4 (C)}We will not hide them from their children,
^(D)Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.

⁵ For ^(E)He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That ^(F)they should make them known to their children;
^{6 (G)}That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,
⁷ That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;
⁸ And ^(H)may not be like their fathers,
^(I)A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation ^(J)that did not ^[c]set its heart aright,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

⁹ The children of Ephraim, being armed and ^[d]carrying bows,
Turned back in the day of battle.
^{10 (K)}They did not keep the covenant of God;
They refused to walk in His law,
¹¹ And ^(L)forgot His works
And His wonders that He had shown them.

^{12 (M)}Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers,
In the land of Egypt, ^(N)in the field of Zoan.
^{13 (O)}He divided the sea and caused them to pass through;
And ^(P)He made the waters stand up like a heap.
^{14 (Q)}In the daytime also He led them with the cloud,
And all the night with a light of fire.
^{15 (R)}He split the rocks in the wilderness,
And gave them drink in abundance like the depths.
¹⁶ He also brought ^(S)streams out of the rock,
And caused waters to run down like rivers.

¹⁷ But they sinned even more against Him
By ^(T)rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.
¹⁸ And ^(U)they tested God in their heart
By asking for the food of their fancy.
^{19 (V)}Yes, they spoke against God:
They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
^{20 (W)}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?”

²¹ Therefore the Lord heard this and ^(X)was furious;
So a fire was kindled against Jacob,
And anger also came up against Israel,
²² Because they ^(Y)did not believe in God,
And did not trust in His salvation.
²³ Yet He had commanded the clouds above,
^(Z)And opened the doors of heaven,
^{24 (AA)}Had rained down manna on them to eat,
And given them of the ^[e]bread of ^(AB)heaven.
²⁵ Men ate angels’ food;
He sent them food to ^[f]the full.

^{26 (AC)}He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens;
And by His power He brought in the south wind.
²⁷ He also rained meat on them like the dust,
Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas;
²⁸ And He let them fall in the midst of their camp,
All around their dwellings.
^{29 (AD)}So they ate and were well filled,
For He gave them their own desire.
³⁰ They were not ^[g]deprived of their craving;
But ^(AE)while their food was still in their mouths,
³¹ The wrath of God came against them,
And slew the stoutest of them,
And struck down the choice men of Israel.

³² In spite of this ^(AF)they still sinned,
And ^(AG)did not believe in His wondrous works.
^{33 (AH)}Therefore their days He consumed in futility,
And their years in fear.

^{34 (AI)}When He slew them, then they sought Him;
And they returned and sought earnestly for God.
³⁵ Then they remembered that ^(AJ)God was their rock,
And the Most High God ^(AK)their Redeemer.
³⁶ Nevertheless they ^(AL)flattered Him with their mouth,
And they lied to Him with their tongue;
³⁷ For their heart was not steadfast with Him,
Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
^{38 (AM)}But He, being full of ^(AN)compassion, forgave their iniquity,
And did not destroy them.
Yes, many a time ^(AO)He turned His anger away,
And ^(AP)did not stir up all His wrath;
³⁹ For ^(AQ)He remembered ^(AR)that they were but flesh,
^(AS)A breath that passes away and does not come again.

⁴⁰ How often they ^(AT)provoked^[h] Him in the wilderness,
And grieved Him in the desert!
⁴¹ Yes, ^(AU)again and again they tempted God,
And limited the Holy One of Israel.
⁴² They did not remember His ^[i]power:
The day when He redeemed them from the enemy,
⁴³ When He worked His signs in Egypt,
And His wonders in the field of Zoan;
^{44 (AV)}Turned their rivers into blood,
And their streams, that they could not drink.
^{45 (AW)}He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them,
And ^(AX)frogs, which destroyed them.
⁴⁶ He also gave their crops to the caterpillar,
And their labor to the ^(AY)locust.
^{47 (AZ)}He destroyed their vines with hail,
And their sycamore trees with frost.
⁴⁸ He also gave up their ^(BA)cattle to the hail,
And their flocks to fiery ^[j]lightning.
⁴⁹ He cast on them the fierceness of His anger,
Wrath, indignation, and trouble,
By sending angels of destruction among them.
⁵⁰ He made a path for His anger;
He did not spare their soul from death,
But gave ^[k]their life over to the plague,
⁵¹ And destroyed all the ^(BB)firstborn in Egypt,
The first of their strength in the tents of Ham.
⁵² But He ^(BC)made His own people go forth like sheep,
And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;
⁵³ And He ^(BD)led them on safely, so that they did not fear;
But the sea ^(BE)overwhelmed their enemies.
⁵⁴ And He brought them to His ^(BF)holy border,
This mountain ^(BG)which His right hand had acquired.
^{55 (BH)}He also drove out the nations before them,
^(BI)Allotted them an inheritance by ^[l]survey,
And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.

^{56 (BJ)}Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God,
And did not keep His testimonies,
⁵⁷ But ^(BK)turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers;
They were turned aside ^(BL)like a deceitful bow.
^{58 (BM)}For they provoked Him to anger with their ^(BN)high places,
And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.
⁵⁹ When God heard this, He was furious,
And greatly abhorred Israel,
^{60 (BO)}So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,
The tent He had placed among men,
^{61 (BP)}And delivered His strength into captivity,
And His glory into the enemy’s hand.
^{62 (BQ)}He also gave His people over to the sword,
And was furious with His inheritance.
⁶³ The fire consumed their young men,
And ^(BR)their maidens were not given in marriage.
^{64 (BS)}Their priests fell by the sword,
And ^(BT)their widows made no lamentation.

⁶⁵ Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
^(BU)Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine.
⁶⁶ And ^(BV)He beat back His enemies;
He put them to a perpetual reproach.

⁶⁷ Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
⁶⁸ But chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion ^(BW)which He loved.
⁶⁹ And He built His ^(BX)sanctuary like the heights,
Like the earth which He has established forever.
^{70 (BY)}He also chose David His servant,
And took him from the sheepfolds;
⁷¹ From following ^(BZ)the ewes that had young He brought him,
^(CA)To shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel His inheritance.
⁷² So he shepherded them according to the ^(CB)integrity of his heart,
And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

Footnotes

1. Psalm 78:1 Heb. Maschil
2. Psalm 78:2 obscure sayings or riddles
3. Psalm 78:8 Lit. prepare its heart
4. Psalm 78:9 Lit. bow shooters
5. Psalm 78:24 Lit. grain
6. Psalm 78:25 satiation
7. Psalm 78:30 Lit. separated
8. Psalm 78:40 rebelled against Him
9. Psalm 78:42 Lit. hand
10. Psalm 78:48 lightning bolts
11. Psalm 78:50 Or their beasts
12. Psalm 78:55 surveyed measurement, lit. measuring cord

Cross references

1. Psalm 78:1 : Ps. 74:title
2. Psalm 78:2 : Matt. 13:34, 35
3. Psalm 78:4 : Ex. 12:26, 27; Deut. 4:9; 6:7; Job 15:18; Is. 38:19; Joel 1:3
4. Psalm 78:4 : Ex. 13:8, 14
5. Psalm 78:5 : Ps. 147:19
6. Psalm 78:5 : Deut. 4:9; 11:19
7. Psalm 78:6 : Ps. 102:18
8. Psalm 78:8 : 2 Kin. 17:14; 2 Chr. 30:7; Ezek. 20:18
9. Psalm 78:8 : Ex. 32:9; Deut. 9:7, 24; 31:27; Judg. 2:19; Is. 30:9
10. Psalm 78:8 : Job 11:13; Ps. 78:37
11. Psalm 78:10 : 2 Kin. 17:15
12. Psalm 78:11 : Ps. 106:13
13. Psalm 78:12 : Ex. 7—12
14. Psalm 78:12 : Num. 13:22; Is. 19:11; 30:4; Ezek. 30:14
15. Psalm 78:13 : Ex. 14:21
16. Psalm 78:13 : Ex. 15:8
17. Psalm 78:14 : Ex. 13:21
18. Psalm 78:15 : Ex. 17:6; Num. 20:11; Is. 48:21; [1 Cor. 10:4]
19. Psalm 78:16 : Num. 20:8, 10, 11
20. Psalm 78:17 : Deut. 9:22; Is. 63:10; Heb. 3:16
21. Psalm 78:18 : Ex. 16:2
22. Psalm 78:19 : Ex. 16:3; Num. 11:4; 20:3; 21:5
23. Psalm 78:20 : Num. 20:11
24. Psalm 78:21 : Num. 11:1
25. Psalm 78:22 : Deut. 1:32; 9:23; [Heb. 3:18]
26. Psalm 78:23 : Gen. 7:11; [Mal. 3:10]
27. Psalm 78:24 : Ex. 16:4
28. Psalm 78:24 : John 6:31
29. Psalm 78:26 : Num. 11:31
30. Psalm 78:29 : Num. 11:19, 20
31. Psalm 78:30 : Num. 11:33
32. Psalm 78:32 : Num. 14:16, 17
33. Psalm 78:32 : Num. 14:11; Ps. 78:11, 22
34. Psalm 78:33 : Num. 14:29, 35
35. Psalm 78:34 : Num. 21:7; [Hos. 5:15]
36. Psalm 78:35 : [Deut. 32:4, 15]
37. Psalm 78:35 : [Ex. 15:13]; Deut. 7:8; Is. 41:14; 44:6; 63:9
38. Psalm 78:36 : Ex. 24:7, 8; Ezek. 33:31
39. Psalm 78:38 : [Num. 14:18–20]
40. Psalm 78:38 : Ex. 34:6
41. Psalm 78:38 : [Is. 48:9]
42. Psalm 78:38 : 1 Kin. 21:29
43. Psalm 78:39 : Job 10:9; Ps. 103:14–16
44. Psalm 78:39 : John 3:6
45. Psalm 78:39 : [Job 7:7, 16; James 4:14]
46. Psalm 78:40 : Ps. 95:8–10; [Eph. 4:30]; Heb. 3:16
47. Psalm 78:41 : Num. 14:22; Deut. 6:16
48. Psalm 78:44 : Ex. 7:20
49. Psalm 78:45 : Ex. 8:24
50. Psalm 78:45 : Ex. 8:6
51. Psalm 78:46 : Ex. 10:14
52. Psalm 78:47 : Ex. 9:23–25
53. Psalm 78:48 : Ex. 9:19
54. Psalm 78:51 : Ex. 12:29, 30
55. Psalm 78:52 : Ps. 77:20
56. Psalm 78:53 : Ex. 14:19, 20
57. Psalm 78:53 : Ex. 14:27, 28
58. Psalm 78:54 : Ex. 15:17
59. Psalm 78:54 : Ps. 44:3
60. Psalm 78:55 : Josh. 11:16–23; Ps. 44:2
61. Psalm 78:55 : Josh. 13:7; 19:51; 23:4
62. Psalm 78:56 : Judg. 2:11–13
63. Psalm 78:57 : Ezek. 20:27, 28
64. Psalm 78:57 : Hos. 7:16
65. Psalm 78:58 : Deut. 32:16, 21; Judg. 2:12; 1 Kin. 14:9; Is. 65:3
66. Psalm 78:58 : Deut. 12:2
67. Psalm 78:60 : 1 Sam. 4:11; Jer. 7:12–14; 26:6–9
68. Psalm 78:61 : Judg. 18:30
69. Psalm 78:62 : Judg. 20:21; 1 Sam. 4:10
70. Psalm 78:63 : Jer. 7:34; 16:9; 25:10
71. Psalm 78:64 : 1 Sam. 4:17; 22:18
72. Psalm 78:64 : Job 27:15; Ezek. 24:23
73. Psalm 78:65 : Is. 42:13
74. Psalm 78:66 : 1 Sam. 5:6
75. Psalm 78:68 : [Ps. 87:2]
76. Psalm 78:69 : 1 Kin. 6:1–38
77. Psalm 78:70 : 1 Sam. 16:11, 12; 2 Sam. 7:8
78. Psalm 78:71 : 2 Sam. 7:8; [Is. 40:11]
79. Psalm 78:71 : 2 Sam. 5:2; 1 Chr. 11:2
80. Psalm 78:72 : 1 Kin. 9:4