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The psalm is, as the title also declares, one of "instruction." It seeks to keep the people faithful to David and his house, and to check their tendency to place themselves under the leadership of the tribe of Ephraim, by recalling the whole course of God's dealings with Israel in the past, from the time of the sojourn in Egypt to the establishment of David's kingdom. It also seeks to keep them faithful to God, by showing how all their past calamities and sufferings had arisen out of their unfaithfulness (Psa_78:8, Psa_78:10, Psa_78:22, Psa_78:32, Psa_78:37, etc.).
The psalm divides itself merely into a preface or introduction (Psa_78:1-8), and a continuous narrative (Psa_78:9-72).
Psa_78:1-8
The introduction calls special attention to the teaching that is about to be put forth, which it declares to be traditional (Psa_78:3), and, further, to be the sort of instruction which God had especially commanded to be given to his people by their teachers (Psa_78:5, Psa_78:6) for their edification (Psa_78:7, Psa_78:8).
Psa_78:1
Give ear, O my people, to my law; rather, to my teaching. Hat-torah—torah with the article—is "the Law;" but torah alone is any teaching or instruction. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. Dr. Kay regards the words of Psa_78:1 as "God's own words,"
(1) on account of the expression, "O my people;" and
(2) on account of "my Law." But "my people" is not inappropriate in the mouth of a psalmist, and occurs in Psa_59:11 and Psa_144:2. It "indicates the love in which the effort of the psalmist originated" (Hengstenberg). And "law," as already observed, is not the proper, or at any rate not the only, meaning of torah.
Psa_78:2
I will open my mouth in a parable. The facts of Israelitish history. are the "parable," the inner meaning of which it is for the intelligent to grasp. They are φωνᾶντα συνετοῖσιν . I will utter dark sayings of old (comp. Pro_1:6). Khidoth ( çéãåú ) are properly "riddles" (see Jdg_14:12). Here the idea is that God's dealings with his people had been "riddles," whereto the psalmist would give the clue (comp. Psa_78:21, Psa_78:22, Psa_78:33, Psa_78:56-59, etc.).
Psa_78:3
Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us; or, "recounted to us" (Kay). The facts of their past history had been handed down orally from father to son among the Israelites, not simply learnt from their sacred writings. So the facts of Christianity have reached us, not merely through the New Testament, but also by the teaching of the Church.
Psa_78:4
We will not hide them from their children. They shall still be handed down in the same way. We of this generation will still continue the practice of handing down, by word of mouth, to the next generation, how God has dealt with Israel. Asaph's psalms were written, it must be remembered, to be recited in the services of the sanctuary. Showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord; i.e. the actions for which he deserves praise. And his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done (comp. Psa_78:12-16, and Psa_78:23-55).
Psa_78:5
For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel. The "testimony" and the "law" are the whole series of commands given by God to his people, beginning with the directions concerning circumcision in Genesis (Gen_17:10-14), and terminating with the last precept in Deuteronomy (Deu_32:46). They may include also the teachings of God through history. These he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children (see Exo_12:26, Exo_12:27; Exo_13:8, Exo_13:14, Exo_13:15; Deu_4:9; Deu_6:7; Deu_11:19; Deu_32:46, etc.).
Psa_78:6
That the generation to come might know them. "The generation to come" is the next generation, that immediately following those to whom the command was directly given. Even the children which should be born. Their actual sons and daughters. Who should arise and declare them to their children. The first generation were to hand the knowledge on to the second, the second to the third, and so on. This is the way in which the hulk of human knowledge actually passes on. Not much is learnt from books without a teacher (see Act_8:31).
Psa_78:7
That they might set their hope in God. Instruction in God's Law, and in his treatment of their forefathers, would naturally tend to make the Israelites "set their hope in God," who in the past had done so much for them. And not forget the works of God. They could not well forget, it' they were perpetually reminded of them. But keep his commandments. If they bore God's works—i.e. his many mercies—in mind, they would be the more disposed to obedience.
Psa_78:8
And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation (comp. Deu_21:18, Deu_21:20, for the combination of the two words). The "stubbornness" of Israel is noted in Deu_9:27; Jdg_2:19; and frequently by Jeremiah (Jer_3:17; Jer_7:24; Jer_9:14; Jer_11:8, etc.); their "rebelliousness" in Deu_9:7, Deu_9:24; Isa_30:1, Isa_30:9; Isa_65:2; Jer_5:23; Eze_2:3-8; Eze_3:9, Eze_3:26, Eze_3:27; Eze_12:2, Eze_12:3, etc. (compare also for the idea 2Ki_17:14-17; 2Ch_36:14-16; Ezr_9:6, Ezr_9:7; Neh_1:6, Neh_1:7; Dan_9:5-11; and Act_7:51, "Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye"). A generation that set not their heart aright; literally, that prepared not their heart—did not make it ready to receive Divine influences (see 1Sa_7:3; Job_11:13; 2Ch_20:33). And whose spirit was not steadfast with God. It was not that Israel was wholly without religious feeling, but the feeling was fickle, unsteadfast, never to be depended on (comp. Exo_32:1-6; Num_16:41, Num_16:42; Jdg_2:17, etc.).
Psa_78:9-72
The historical portion of the psalm now follows. It commences with some general remarks on the transgressions of Ephraim, i.e. of Israel while under the guidance of Ephraim—from Joshua to Samuel (verses 9-11). It then proceeds to details, and sketches the Israelite history. from the deliverance out of Egypt to the establishment of David's kingdom (verses 12-72).
Psa_78:9
The children of Ephraim (comp. Psa_78:67). Ephraim was the leading tribe, from the appointment of Joshua to succeed Moses until the establishment of Saul as king. Hence the tabernacle was set up within the territory of Ephraim (Jos_18:1). The importance of Ephraim appears in Jdg_3:27; Jdg_7:24; Jdg_8:1, Jdg_8:2; Jdg_10:9; Jdg_12:1-6. Being armed, and carrying bows. There is no "and" in the original. "Carrying bows" is exegetical of "being armed". Turned back in the day of battle. The allusion is not to any one particular occasion, but to the ill success of Israel under the leadership of Ephraim during the whole period of the Judges (see Jdg_2:14; Jdg_3:8, Jdg_3:13, Jdg_3:31; Jdg_4:2; Jdg_6:1; Jdg_10:7, Jdg_10:12, etc.).
Psa_78:10
They kept not the covenant of God (comp. Deu_29:25; Deu_31:20; 1Ki_19:10, 1Ki_19:14, etc.). And refused to walk in his law (see Jdg_2:11-13; Jdg_8:33; Jdg_10:10).
Psa_78:11
And forgat his works (see Psa_78:42), and his wonders that he had showed them (see Psa_78:12-15, Psa_78:24-28, Psa_78:43-53).
Psa_78:12
Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. The miracles of Egypt are, perhaps, the most striking series in Jewish history. A more particular account of them is given below (Psa_78:44-53). They were wrought "in the field of Zoan," i.e. in the rich flat tract east and south of the city of Zoan, the Greek Tanis, now San. This fact could not have been gathered from Exodus, but must have come to the writer from the tradition of which he speaks in verse 3.
Psa_78:13
He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through (see Exo_14:21, Exo_14:22). And he made the waters to stand as an heap. The expression is taken from the Song of Moses (Exo_15:8). It must be understood poetically.
Psa_78:14
In the daytime also he led them with a cloud. The "pillar of the cloud" is, of course, intended (see Exo_13:21, Exo_13:22; Exo_14:19, Exo_14:24; Exo_40:38; Num_9:15; Num_10:34; Num_14:14; Deu_1:33). And all the night with a light of fire. The "pillar of fire" (Exo_13:21; Exo_40:38; Num_9:16, etc.).
Psa_78:15, Psa_78:16
He clave the rocks in the wilderness; rather, he clave rocks. The word has no article. The reference is probably to both Exo_17:6 and Num_20:8-11. And gave them drink as out of the great depths; rather, "and gave them drink abundantly, as out of the depths" (so Cheyne and the Revised Version). On the abundance of the water, see Num_20:11, and compare the next verse: He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
Psa_78:17
And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the Most High in the wilderness. The two provocations of a demand for bread (Exo_16:3) and a demand for flesh (Num_11:4) are joined together in the present passage, as the two occasions of giving water are in Psa_78:15, Psa_78:16. Only the second of these two provocations was subsequent to the (first) giving of water; but the psalmist does not allow himself to be bound by considerations of strict chronological accuracy. He is a poet, and not an historian; though at present he is treating of history.
Psa_78:18
And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust; rather, by asking food (Kay, Cheyne, Alexander). The term used ( àëì ) is wide enough to include both bread ( ìçí ) and flesh ( ùÑàø ). "For their lust" (literally, "for their soul") means for the gratification of their carnal appetites (comp. Exo_16:3; Num_11:5).
Psa_78:19
Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? (see Num_11:4). But the psalmist either feels himself at liberty to expand the account given in the Pentateuch, or has a further knowledge of the real feelings of the people, which has come to him by tradition (compare the comment on Psa_78:12).
Psa_78:20
Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams (literally, the torrent courses) overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people? These were probably the people's thoughts rather than their words. An "evil heart of unbelief" underlay their clamours and their murmurings. They doubted God's power to relieve their wants, notwithstanding all the proofs that they had had of his omnipotence.
Psa_78:21
Therefore the Lord heard this. Though these might be unspoken thoughts, yet God would "hear" them, i.e. be aware of them; for "he knoweth the very secrets of the heart." And was wroth (comp. Psa_78:59, Psa_78:62; Deu_3:26). So a fire was kindled against Jacob. Not a material fire, as in Le Psa_10:2; Num_11:1-3; and Num_16:35; but the fire of God's displeasure. And anger also came up against Israel (comp. Num_16:30, Num_16:31; Num_11:33).
Psa_78:22
Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation. They trusted neither in God's power nor in his love; they neither believed that he would nor that he could save them.
Psa_78:23
Though he had commanded the clouds from above; rather, and he commanded (Hengstenberg, Cheyne, Revised Version). The command was subsequent, not previous, to the want of faith (see Num_11:4-31). And opened the doors of heaven (comp. Gen_7:11, "The windows of heaven were opened"). The expressions are, of course, poetical (see also 2Ki_7:2).
Psa_78:24
And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them; rather, and rained down manna to eat, and gave them (comp. Exo_16:13, Exo_16:14). Of the corn of heaven (comp. Exo_16:4; Psa_105:40; Joh_6:6, Joh_6:7).
Psa_78:25
Man did eat angels' food; literally, bread of the mighty ones, by which the LXX. and most commentators understand "angels" to be meant. "Angels' food" may mean either the actual food on which angels subsist, or food supplied by the ministration of angels, and derived from their dwelling place. It cannot be laid down dogmatically that angels require no food. He sent them meat to the full (comp. Exo_16:3, where the Israelites contrast with their wretched life in the wilderness their life in Egypt, where they "did eat bread to the full").
Psa_78:26
He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind. Here, again, tradition seems to speak. The narrative in the Pentateuch has only, "There went forth a wind from the Lord" (Num_11:1-35 :81).
Psa_78:27
He rained flesh also upon them. With the expression, "rained flesh," comp. Exo_16:4, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven;" and see also Gen_19:24 and Exo_9:23. As dust; i.e. "as thick as dust" (Prayer book Version). The quails lay "as it were two cubits high" for the distance of a day's journey round about each encampment (see Num_11:31). And feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea. The commonest image of multiplicity (Gen_22:17; Deu_33:19; Jos_11:4; Jdg_7:12, etc.).
Psa_78:28
And he let it fall in the midst of their camp. The quails "covered the camp" (Exo_16:13). Round about their habitations. They extended also round it on every side (Num_11:31).
Psa_78:29
So they did eat, and were well filled; i.e. sated (comp. Num_11:19, Num_11:20). For he gave them their own desire; or, their own lust—that they lusted after (Revised Version).
Psa_78:30
They were not estranged from their lust; i.e. their lust was not yet satiated—they were still indulging it. The meat was yet in their mouths, still undergoing mastication, when—
Psa_78:31
The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them (comp. Num_11:33, "While the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague"). By "the fattest of them," we are to understand the strongest and healthiest. And smote down the chosen men of Israel; rather, the young men, as in the margin, "the ripened youths" (Cheyne). Here, again, the author adds touches which he has not obtained from the Pentateuch.
Psa_78:32
For all this they sinned still. Neither gratitude for favours received (Psa_78:13-17), nor alarm at punishments inflicted (Psa_78:31), had any effect on the stiff-necked people; despite of both, they "sinned still" (comp. Psa_78:40, Psa_78:41, Psa_78:56-58). And believed not for his wondrous works. Unbelief was at the root of their contumacy. They could not deny God's mighty works in the past, but they did not accept them as any evidence of his power to do other mighty works in the future (see Psa_78:20).
Psa_78:33
Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble. Their faithlessness was punished by their forty years of vain and purposeless wandering in the wilderness, and by the "troubles" that befell them there.
Psa_78:34
When he slew them, then they sought him (comp. Exo_32:28, Exo_32:35; Exo_33:4, Exo_33:10; Num_11:33; Num_16:48, Num_16:49, etc.). The repentance is not always noticed in the Mosaic narrative, being, as it was, short-lived, if not even feigned (Psa_78:36). But, no doubt, after each outpouring of the Divine vengeance, there was at least some show of repentance, as noted in Exo_33:4. And they returned—i.e. turned back from their evil courses—and inquired early after God; rather, earnestly (Cheyne, Canon Cook).
Psa_78:35
And they remembered that God was their Rock; i.e. their strength and stay. The expression is first used of God in Deu_32:4. And the high God their Redeemer (comp. Psa_19:14; Psa_74:2).
Psa_78:36
Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth. The Revised Version is simpler and better, But they flattered him with their mouth. All that they said or did when alarmed by some judgment of God's was a mere pretence—an attempt to "flatter" and cozen God, and so win his favour. And they lied unto him with their tongues. They offered him a lip service, which was a "lie," a mere semblance of real religion.
Psa_78:37
For their heart was not right with him. It is the worship of the heart alone which God values (see Deu_10:12; Pro_3:1; Pro_23:26, etc.). If the heart be not "right with God," our worship is an offence to him. Neither were they steadfast in his covenant (comp. Psa_78:8).
Psa_78:38
But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity. (On God's compassion, see Exo_34:6, Exo_34:7; Num_14:18; Psa_103:8; Psa_145:8.) And destroyed them not. The allusion is to such occasions as are noted in Exo_32:10-14; Num_14:12-20; Num_16:21, Num_16:45-50, when God was on the point of destroying the whole people, but relented at the intercession of Moses. Yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath (comp. Jdg_2:11-16; Jdg_3:8, Jdg_3:9; Jdg_4:2, Jdg_4:15; Jdg_6:1-8, etc.).
Psa_78:39
For he remembered that they were but flesh (comp. Gen_6:3). Flesh is weak, erring, frail—"in us, that is, in our flesh, dwelleth no good thing" (Rom_7:17)—God, therefore, who had made them "flesh," had compassion on their weakness. A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again (comp. Job_7:7). Man is a mere passing breath—as light, as fleeting, as transitory—"a vapour that appeareth for a little while, and then vanisheth away" (Jas_4:14).
Psa_78:40
How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! (comp. Deu_31:27; Deu_32:15-18; Act_7:30-43, etc.). That God is "grieved" at man's sins appears, not only from this passage, but also from Gen_6:6; Psa_95:10; Eph_4:30; Heb_3:17.
Psa_78:41
Yea, they turned back and tempted God; rather, again and again they tempted God (Hengstenberg, Kay, Cheyne); see Exo_17:2, Exo_17:7; Deu_6:16. And limited the Holy One of Israel (comp. Num_34:7, Num_34:8). This may mean either "they set limits to his power in their own minds" (see Deu_6:20), or "they actually limited his power to help and succour them by their want of faith". The other meanings suggested—"disgraced" and" provoked"—are less probable.
Psa_78:42
They remembered not his hand; i.e. "his doings" (comp. Psa_78:11, they "forgat his works"). Nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy. "The day" intended is probably that of the drowning of the Egyptians in the Red Sea (Exo_15:1-27 :28). In this the Egyptian signs culminated.
Psa_78:43
How he had wrought his signs in Egypt. The point just touched in Psa_78:12 is now taken up and expanded, with the object of showing to the Israelites of the writer's day what cause they had for thankfulness to God in the past and for trust in him for the future. And his wonders in the field of Zoan. "The field of Zoan" (sochet Zoan) is said to be mentioned in an Egyptian inscription.
Psa_78:44
And had turned their rivers into blood (see Exo_7:19, Exo_7:20). "Their rivers" are the many branches of the Nile, some natural, some artificial (Herod; 2.17), by which Lower Egypt is traversed. And their floods; or, their streams; i.e. the smaller canals, which diffused the Nile water over the entire land. That they could not drink (see Exo_7:21).
Psa_78:45
He sent divers sorts of flies among them (see Exo_8:24). A particular sort of fly or beetle is meant, rather than many different sorts. Dr. Kay and Professor Cheyne suggest "dog flies"—Canon Cook, the Blatta Orientalis. Which devoured them; i.e. "preyed upon them," sucking out their life blood. And frogs, which destroyed them (see Exo_8:6). The poet, not being an historian, does not give the plagues in their chronological order, neither regards himself as bound to mention all of them. He omits the third, and reverses the order of the second and fourth.
Psa_78:46
He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labour unto the locust. Khasil ( çÈñÄéì ), here translated "caterpillar," is probably either a particular kind of locust, or the locust in one of its stages. (On the plague of locusts in Egypt, see Exo_10:14, Exo_10:15.)
Psa_78:47
He destroyed their vines with hail (see Exo_9:23-25). Here, again, there is an inversion of the order in which the plagues came, since the plague of hail preceded that of the locusts. There is also an addition to the narrative of Exodus in the mention of "vines" (see also Psa_105:33), which may indicate a use of tradition. That vines were cultivated in Egypt is now generally acknowledged. And their sycamore trees with frost; or, with sleet—a variant of the "hail" in the other hemistich.
Psa_78:48
He gave up their cattle also to the hall (comp. Exo_9:19-21, Exo_9:25). And their flocks to hot thunderbolts (see Exo_9:24, Exo_9:28, Exo_9:29, Exo_9:34). The "fire which ran along the ground" (Exo_9:23) must have been caused by electrified clouds of high tension; the highly charged drops of rain meeting the inductively charged earth, and sparking across when within striking distance. This is believed to accompany every thunderstorm, though generally invisible to the eye. When exceptionally severe, it would convey the idea of running fire, and would of course be very destructive of life. It is no wonder that most of the cattle which were left "in the field" died (Exo_9:21, Exo_9:25).
Psa_78:49
He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble. "The accumulation of terms signifying Divine wrath is designed to set forth the dreadful nature of this last judgment" (Hengstenberg)—the death of the firstborn. By sending evil angels among them. Most modern critics regard this clause as in apposition with the preceding one, and consider the "wrath, indignation, and trouble" to be themselves the "evil angels" spoken of. Some, however, as Hengstenberg and Kay, interpret the passage of spiritual beings—not, however, of spirits of evil, who are never said to be ministers of God's wrath, but of good angels, who on this occasion were "ministers of woe."
Psa_78:50
He made a way to his anger; literally, he levelled a way for his anger; i.e. made a smooth path for it (Cheyne). He spared not their soul from death; rather, held not back their soul. But gave their life over to the pestilence. This is, undoubtedly, the true meaning, and not "he gave their beasts over to the murrain." Though no "pestilence" is expressly mentioned in Exo_12:1-51. as having caused the death of the firstborn, yet pestilence may assuredly have been the means employed.
Psa_78:51
And smote all the firstborn in Egypt (see Exo_12:29). The chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham; or, "the beginning (literally, firstfruits) of their strength" (comp. Gen_49:3). "The tabernacles of Ham" is a periphrasis for "Egypt"—the Egyptians, according to the author of Genesis (Gen_10:6), being descendants of Ham (comp. Psa_105:23, Psa_105:27; Psa_6:1-10 :22). There are no sufficient grounds for connecting the name of Ham either with the Egyptian Kem, Kemi—the native name for the country—or with Khem, one of the principal Egyptian goes. The literation is, no doubt, close in the latter case; but etymologists lay it down that close approximations are especially deceptive.
Psa_78:52
But made his own people to go forth like sheep (comp. Psa_77:20; Psa_95:7). And guided them in the wilderness like a flock. The guidance began from Succoth, and was effected by means of the pillar of the cloud and the pillar of fire (see Exo_13:20-22).
Psa_78:53
And he led them on safely, so that they feared not (comp. Exo_14:13-22). At Pi-hahiroth they "were sore afraid" (Exo_14:10), but after Moses had exhorted them (Psa_78:13), they showed no more signs of fear. But the sea overwhelmed their enemies (Exo_14:26-31; Exo_15:1, Exo_15:4, Exo_15:10).
Psa_78:54
And he brought them to the Border of his sanctuary. The "sanctuary" is here probably the Holy Land, as in Exo_15:17; or we may translate âáåÌì ÷ãùÑåÉ "his holy territory." Even to this mountain. Mount Zion, on which the writer regards himself as standing while his words are chanted in the temple service. Which his right hand had purchased; or, had gotten, "had won." God's right hand won the whole land for his people.
Psa_78:55
He cast out the heathen also before them (comp. Exo_34:24; Deu_7:1; 1Ki_21:26 : Psa_44:2, etc.). "They get not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but God's right hand, and his arm, and the light of his countenance" (Psa_44:3). And divided them an inheritance by line. The measuring line, which was employed in parcelling out territory, is intended (comp. Jer_31:39; Amo_7:17). Joshua's division of the land among the tribes is specially pointed at. And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents; i.e. in the tents of the heathen—the abodes of the Hivites, Hittites, Amorites, Porizzites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.
Psa_78:56
Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God (comp. above, Psa_78:17). The Israelites continued to "tempt and provoke God" after they had obtained possession of the Holy Land, and divided it among them (see Jdg_2:11-19; Jdg_3:12; Jdg_4:1; Jdg_6:1; Jdg_10:6-15; Jdg_13:1, etc.). And kept not his testimonies; or, his ordinances (Cheyne).
Psa_78:57
But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers (comp. Psa_78:8, end the comment ad loc.). They were turned aside like a deceitful bow (comp. Hos_7:16). A "deceitful bow" is one that fails in the hour of need, either breaking, or losing its strength, or sending its arrows wide of the mark.
Psa_78:58
For they provoked him to anger with their high places. The "high place" worship was always displeasing to God. It was, no doubt, deeply tinged with idolatry. And moved him to jealousy with their graven images. In the time of the Judges, both graven and molten images were employed by the Israelites in a worship which they nevertheless regarded as the worship of Jehovah (see the history of Micah in Jdg_17:1-13 and Jdg_18:1-31; especially Jdg_17:4, Jdg_17:13, and Jdg_18:14, Jdg_18:17, Jdg_18:18, Jdg_18:31).
Psa_78:59
When God heard this, he was wroth (comp. above, Psa_78:21). And greatly abhorred Israel. Not Israel, as distinct from Judah, but Israel in the broadest sense, the entire nation, as in Psa_78:55.
Psa_78:60
So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh. The "tabernacle of the congregation" was first set up under Joshua (Jos_18:1-28.) at Shiloh, a city of Ephraim, and here the national sanctuary continued throughout the period of the Judges (Jdg_18:31; Jdg_21:19; 1Sa_1:3, 1Sa_1:24; 1Sa_2:14; 1Sa_3:21; 1Sa_4:4, etc.). God was regarded as having "forsaken" this sanctuary, when he allowed the ark of the covenant, its chief treasure, to be taken (1Sa_4:11-22). Subsequently, but at what exact time is unknown, the tabernacle was removed from Shiloh to Nob (1Sa_21:1), and later on to Gibson (1Ki_3:4). The tent which he pitched among men.
Psa_78:61
And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand. God's "strength" and "glory" is the ark of the covenant (compare the expression in 1Sa_4:21, 1Sa_4:22, "The glory is departed from Israel"). (For the capture and "captivity" of the ark, see 1Sa_4:17, and 1Sa_4:5; 1Sa_6:1-21.)
Psa_78:62
He gave his people over also unto the sword. Thirty thousand Israelites were slain in the battle in which the ark was captured (see 1Sa_4:10). And was wroth with his inheritance (comp. Psa_28:9; Psa_33:12; Psa_106:5, Psa_106:40).
Psa_78:63
The fire consumed their young men. The reference is not to such passages as Le Psa_10:2; Num_11:1; Num_16:35, where a literal fire seems to be spoken of, but rather to the fire of war (Num_21:28; Isa_26:11; Jer_48:45), or more generally to the fire of the Divine anger (Isa_10:16-18; Isa_47:14, etc.). And their maidens were not given to marriage; literally, were not praised in song; i.e. in the bridal song. The destruction of the young men, either in battle or in any other way, caused there to be more marriageable girls in Israel than there were husbands for (comp. Isa_4:1).
Psa_78:64
Their priests fell by the sword. As Hophni and Phinehas at the taking of the ark (1Sa_4:11), and, no doubt, many others on other occasions. And their widows made no lamentation. The solemn funeral dirge could not take place, since the bodies remained on the battlefield.
Psa_78:65
Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep (comp. Psa_7:6; Psa_35:23; Psa_73:20). God is said to "awake," when, after a time of inaction, he suddenly exerts his Almighty power, to the discomfiture of his enemies. That God never really slept was the profound conviction of the Israelites generally (see 2Ki_18:27; Psa_121:3, Psa_121:4). And like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine (comp. Zec_10:7; Isa_42:13).
Psa_78:66
And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts; rather, backward, so that they fled before him (comp. Psa_40:14; Psa_70:2, etc.). There is no allusion to 1Sa_5:6-12. The reference is rather to the many victories of Israel over the Philistines, which began under Samuel (1Sa_7:10), and continued under Saul and David. He put them to a perpetual reproach. Covered them, that is, with shame and disgrace. The shame culminated, perhaps, in David's victory over Goliath (1Sa_17:40-51).
Psa_78:67
Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph. The "tabernacle of Joseph" is the sanctuary at Shiloh, which was north of Bethel, and thus within the limits of the tribe of Ephraim. When a permanent site was to be assigned to the tabernacle and the ark, God did not choose for them the position of Shiloh, but that of Jerusalem. And chose not the tribe of Ephraim. Ephraim had enjoyed the pre-eminency from the time of the death of Moses (see the comment on Psa_78:9). By the course of events between Samuel's death and the establishment of the kingdom of David, the pre-eminency had been transferred to Judah, according to the design of the Almighty from the first (see Gen_49:8-10).
Psa_78:68
But chose the tribe of Judah. The choice was made when David was, by God's command, anointed to be king (1Sa_16:1-12). The Mount Zion which he loved (comp. Psa_87:2, "The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob"). God, no doubt, inspired David with the thought of fixing his residence in "the stronghold of Zion" (2Sa_5:9), and of bringing up the ark of the covenant into it (2Sa_6:12-17). The presence of the ark determined the selection of Jerusalem for the site of the temple.
Psa_78:69
And he built his sanctuary like high palaces; rather, like the heights. The "heights of heaven" (Job_11:8; Job_22:12) are probably meant. Like the earth which he hath established forever; i.e. lofty as heaven, stable and firmly fixed as earth. The ultimate fate of the sanctuary is mercifully hidden from the psalmist.
Psa_78:70
He chose David also his servant (see 1Sa_16:1, 1Sa_16:12). And took him from the sheepfolds.
Psa_78:71
From following the ewes great with young he brought him (comp. Isa_40:11). The Hebrew word translated "ewes great with young" really means "ewes that are giving suck." This is the portion of the flock which needs the tenderest care. To feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance (see 1Ch_11:2). As Peter, James, and John were called from their occupation of fishers to be "fishers of men" (Mat_4:19), so David was called from feeding sheep to feed God's people.
Psa_78:72
So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart. On the whole, David performed his task of governing Israel faithfully. He had the direct testimony of God to that effect (see 1Ki_9:4). And he guided them by the skilfulness of his hands. David was not only an upright and faithful king, but also a "skilful" or prudent one. He built up his kingdom into an empire without suffering any serious disasters. Israel reached its acme of glory and prosperity under him, decline setting in under Solomon.
I. THE HISTORY is told in Num_11:1-35; with that terseness and graphic power which belong to Bible narratives. The grand characteristic of those narratives, however, is not their style, but this—they let us see behind the scenes; they withdraw the veil and show us God's guiding and controlling hand—in miracle, when miracles are needed, not otherwise; but no less in the ordinary course of nature and human affairs. Thus we are taught that when we cannot see behind the scenes, within the veil, the same hand is always there. This terrible episode in Israel's history is one of the most signal illustrations of that profound mystery—the thwarting of God's gracious designs by man's sin and unbelief. "Design"—not that absolute purpose which must stand, let who will gainsay, but, as in nature and providence, so in the spiritual realm, the lines along which God works; the manifest fitness of things; the blessed and useful results which would certainly come about if men were trustfully obedient. In this sense, the design with which God led Israel forth out of Egypt is clear as day (Isa_43:21). To form a nation, giving them the two main elements of civilization—order and ideas: wise, righteous order; true, noble, fruitful ideas. And this, that they might be—as they have been, spite of all their sin and failure—the religious leaders and teachers of mankind. They were a rough material—with little, perhaps, beyond the patriarchal government of their chiefs of tribes and families, and the strict discipline to which their labour in Egypt inured them, to raise them above the "mixed multitude" of fugitives who joined them in their escape from bondage. Severe training was indispensable to mould them first into an army of hardy warriors, then into a nation of industrious, God-fearing, law-abiding free men. But had they bent to the hand that led them, listened to the voice that spoke to them, it would have been a gracious discipline. Their first lesson was the foundation truth of religion—absolute dependence on the power and providence of the Almighty Creator, "not far from every one of us" (Num_11:14 16, 23, 24). Then, at the foot of Mount Sinai, even the dullest, most unbelieving, ungodly heart was constrained to feel the actual presence of the living God; and national as well as personal life definitely hung on these two principles—obedience to God's Law, and faith in God's promise. Stained and maimed as is the history of God's ancient people, through their incurable, insensate unbelief and rebellion, so faithfully confessed in their own Scriptures, it is yet the source, remote but real, of our own religious life today; supplies our most touching and stirring pictures and parables of the Christian's life journey to the better land. What would it have been could they have risen to the height of God's purpose, and, like Caleb, "followed the Lord wholly"? Three conclusions seem so plain that I do not well know how any candid mind can avoid them.
1. That such a history—so unlike anything else—would never have been invented had it not been real.
2. That Hebrew writers would never have penned such a history of national apostasy, folly, and sin (of which this psalm is an epitome and specimen), unless divinely inspired.
3. The fact that what the Bible records as God's promises have been fulfilled after the lapse of ages, spite of the unbelief and opposition of those to whom they were given, cannot rationally be accounted for except by the fact that they are in truth God's word, which cannot be broken (Num_23:19).
II. SOME SPECIAL LESSONS FROM THIS PAGE OF ISRAEL'S HISTORY.
1. God is able to give you your "own desire." Some hidden wish, perhaps, so bold, or selfish, or wrong, or out of all ordinary range of likelihood, you dare not breathe in human ear. Yet if God spoke to you as to Solomon (2Ch_1:7), that is what would leap to your lips. If God does not grant it, it will not be because he cannot. No need of miracle. "With God all things are possible." Beware, therefore, how you pray!
2. God may (and sometimes does) grant our heart's desire, not approving, but in displeasure and punishment: happy for us if it be only for chastisement; not (as in the case of Israel) for destruction (Psa_106:15). Not arbitrarily. The body cannot be gorged, unbridled lust satiated, and at the same time the soul fed, the spiritual life nourished. Examples: love of wealth; amusement; success; ease. God and idols cannot both dwell in the soul's sanctuary. Sin brings its own penalty.
3. Therefore God may refuse and withhold our heart's desire, not in anger, but in mercy and wisdom. The father will not give the stone, serpent, scorpion (Luk_11:11, Luk_11:12), even if the child asks for it.
4. The heart's desire is the test of character. What a man loves both shows what he is and moulds him. "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Heb_4:12). The sinful desire, Christ teaches, is sin (Psa_19:12; 1Jn_1:8, 1Jn_1:9).
5. There are desires which we may be sure God will satisfy: the earnest of their own fulfilment (Psa_145:19; Isa_26:8).
Psa_78:34
I. First lesson. EXPERIENCE SHOWS THAT TROUBLE LEADS MEN TO SEEK GOD WHEN NOTHING ELSE WILL. "When he slew them" (cf. Psa_119:67, Psa_119:71).
1. Trouble scourges conscience awake; brings sin to mind (1Ki_17:18). Joseph's brethren carried their sin on their consciences unconfessed two and twenty years; covered the sore with opium plaster of silence, indifference, forgetfulness. But with Simeon bound before their eyes, accused of being spies, families at home gnawed with hunger, conscience woke (Gen_42:21, Gen_42:22). In many cases trouble actually springs from sin: conscience dull, indeed, if not touched! Of course, this does not apply to all troubles. No greater mistake than for Christians to torment themselves with the notion that every trial is punishment for some special sin. Probably the hardest trials in life arise from sins of others; e.g. good wife has bad husband, good husband bad wife, godly parents undutiful, vicious children; honest man deceived by those he trusts. Even carelessness, ignorance of others, may overwhelm brightest life with calamity; e.g. whole family swept away through poisoned milk or ill-laid drains. Yet, even so, the sufferer may hear a voice none else can hear. Very solemn, touching glimpse of inner working of conscience (Job_13:23-26).
2. Trouble breaks up the illusions of life. Life's chariot wheels would drive heavily if we had no illusions. Hardly even young people would have courage to face the future if we saw things just as they are. A token man was meant for bliss—an heir of life, not death—that trouble commonly seems so strange, joy so natural. Faith can lift above sorrow, but no experience (our own or others') makes us at home with it. As misfortune tests a man's friends—perhaps few out of many, and not those he counted on—so when trouble singles us out, sets us apart on that beach of God's school, we learn the difference between dreams and realities, pleasure and profit, show and substance. Well for you if then the anchor holds; great eternal realities emerge. Terrible if the surface breaks up, shadows dissolve, and no reality, no refuge, rest, certainty, remain! The lesson of Psa_46:1-11. is a hard one; but those who have learned it count it worth while: "God is our Refuge "(Psa_46:1-3).
3. In trouble men learn to pray. The sense of our weakness and dependence on God, and of his nearness and readiness to help, may slumber, like sense of sin; and need heavy blow to waken it. Even earnest Christian can hardly pray when all goes smoothly, as when the storm bursts. Jonah, no doubt, a man of prayer; but never prayed before as when weeds wrapt about his head (Jon_2:1-10.). Disciples (Mar_4:38). Even heathen sailors (Jon_1:6). The anchor of prayer which, perhaps, has swung idly through half the voyage of life, is let down then. (See Mrs. Browning's 'Cry of the Children.') Let us correct our views of life. We are often amazed—faith is tried—by the enormous mass of human sorrow and suffering, and that life is so unstably balanced on brink of death. How would it be if trouble banished, and life secure, healthful, joyous, for centuries—men still being sinners? Would not God be more fearfully forgotten, sin regarded as a trifle, shows of life taken for substance, voice of prayer fall silent? World would become not better, but incalculably worse. In mercy, as well as judgment, man was shut out of Eden (Gen_3:22) lest immortality became a curse.
II. AS EXPERIENCE SHOWS THIS RESULT OF TROUBLE, GOD'S WORD REVEALS THIS DESIGN OF TROUBLE. "Then they sought him." God meant they should. What we have spoken of may be called the natural effect of trouble, if accepted as God's chastening—to awaken conscience, dispel illusions, lead us to pray; not necessary result—taken amiss, it may harden. "Natural result" is only another name for Divine purpose (except so far as sin has perverted our nature). But God's Word gives far higher, more inward, view of life—a distinct Divine plan and purpose, at least forevery life yielded and trusted to God. No view of life so noble as this (Psa_138:8). Scripture abounds with illustrations: Abraham, Joseph, David, Saul of Tarsus. Exceptions? Yes, in this sense, that high place and conspicuous service are for the few. But, after all, chief aim in God's training is character, not service; not what we are to do, but to be. Tens of thousands in lowliest walks God is training, as surely as Joseph—not for high place here, but glory, honour, immortality. Now, if one thing is plain, it is that character is perfected by discipline. Gold needs the furnace (Heb_12:5). To go above all mere human examples. Our Saviour's whole life was obedience—prayer—fellowship with his Father. But see Heb_5:7-9; Heb_2:10; Joh_16:32. Those lessons, therefore, we have spoken of, do not belong merely to conversion, or early stages of Christian experience. Christian who has long rejoiced in forgiveness may need deepened sense of sin. If he has kept his head steady in prosperity, he may yet need the bracing air and cool twilight of adversity. Holiest Christian may be brought nearer to God—to the Saviour. It would be a narrow view to think all this exhausts the design of trouble. In the case of our blessed Lord we should not have dared to think of this end at all, if not so plainly taught. Main end—supreme purpose—"to give his life a ransom." He "bare our sins." Even with us, his humble imperfect disciples, suffering is largely "vicarious"—for the sake of others. Calls forth as nothing else could, sympathy, love, mutual help. Softens and enriches the soil of life. St. Paul (Col_1:24).
1. To warn Ephraim; not to taunt and exult over him, but to warn. This psalm seems to belong to the period of the disruption. Ephraim, with the other northern tribes, had broken away from Judah and from the worship of God, and this psalm seems designed, by its recital of their old sins and the consequences thereof, to warn them against like sin in the future (cf. 2Ch_13:1-22.).
2. To warn Judah. If they had been greatly exalted of God, and by his presence amongst them were so still, let them take warning by Ephraim's sin, that they fall not in like manner.
II. ITS CONTENTS.
1. After an exordium (Psa_78:1-4), in which he asks attention, and tells the manner of his speech, its source, and its intent;
2. He begins his history, telling of the covenant, and wherefore God had appointed it, and what a failure on Israel's part it had been (Psa_78:5-8).
3. Then he gives the details of his story. He charges Ephraim as being most in fault; how they broke the covenant, refused God's Law, and forgot his works—the wonders of the Exodus and of the wilderness, the pillar of fire, and the water out of the rock; how they tempted God in spite of all, and taunted him with their unbelief as to his power to provide them bread.
4. Then the psalm recites how God was wroth with them, and gave them the flesh they lusted after, but the plague along with it, letting them eat of the fruit of their own ways (Psa_78:31).
5. Next he tells of their miserable repentance (Psa_78:34-36), and how oft, nevertheless, God forgave them (Psa_78:38, Psa_78:39).
6. Then from Psa_78:42-58 there is a further recital of God's favour, and their ingratitude and disobedience. Then from Psa_78:59-67 is told the final rejection of Ephraim, and from thence onward the choosing of Judah and of David, and the justification of that choice (Psa_78:72). But—
III. WHAT IS THE MESSAGE OF ALL THIS FOR US TODAY?
1. The fearful strength of the evil heart of unbelief. Religious privilege cannot restrain it; miracles cannot convince it; nor mercies persuade it; nor awful judgments permanently change it.
2. Inquire whence deliverance from such evil heart may come.
(1) Do not encourage it. Sin makes unbelief our interest—we cannot afford to believe.
(2) If we have given such encouragement, by true repentance take it away.
(3) Encourage faith. Let it be your real interest to believe, as the real believer knows it is. He loves faith.
(4) By constant communion keep close to God.—S.C.
Psa_78:2
I. ITS AUTHOR—God. The story of the nations often seems to be no better than a wild hurly-burly, and their wars to be no more important than, as one has said, the fightings of so many kites and crows. But such idea is the result of a merely slight and superficial observation. Deeper study would show the
"Divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will."
The philosophy of history is the discovery of God.
II. ITS METHODS—the record of events that are ordinary, familiar, human. These are the common groundwork of both parable and history.
III. ITS USEFULNESS—that it conveys instruction in a manner that arrests thought, deepens impression, awakes interest, and is retained in the memory as other forms of teaching are not. It is especially adapted for children.
IV. ITS INTENT AND PURPOSE—to teach men, and to incline them to follow the ways of God. And such are—
V. ITS RESULTS. For just as the result of the parables of our Lord on the minds and hearts of men is simply incalculable in the vast extent of its controlling power, so also is it with the teachings of history. They have created a just judgment and a fixed habit of mind in men, upon which most of the modern life of the nations is based. History—the record of experience—is, after all, the Bible of mankind, and doubtless was intended so to be. We do no honour to the sacred Scriptures by our too common habit of confining our studies of the ways of God in history to its records alone. All history teaches of God, and not that of the Bible only. Happy will it be for both teachers and taught when they, as did the writer of this psalm, regard all national history as a parable of God.—S.C.
Psa_78:4
I. ITS AUTHORITY. "He commanded our fathers" (Psa_78:5; cf. Deu_6:1-25.). That which reason, conscience, and experience would alike teach, the authority of God confirms by direct command. And it is at our peril that we neglect this. The sanctions that accompany the command have not to wait for the future life for their fulfilment; they are visible everywhere in the present, as they have been in all the past.
II. ITS IMPORTANCE. This entire psalm is the sad record of the results of neglecting this command (see Psa_78:8, Psa_78:40).
III. ITS METHOD.
1. By entrusting this duty mainly to the parents (see Psa_78:5)—those who might naturally be expected to feel the chief interest in, and responsibility for, their children.
2. Adopting the most interesting mode of instruction—the parabolic (Psa_78:2); the historic (Psa_78:4).
3. Charging the children with the responsibility of transmission (Psa_78:5, Psa_78:6).
IV. ITS HIGH AND HOLY PURPOSE. (Psa_78:7, Psa_78:8.)—S.C.
Psa_78:9
I. THE BATTLE. "All the world's a stage," said our great poet. Had he said, "All the world's a battlefield," he would have been yet more true to fact. The battle is between God and Satan, as to who shall reign over us—God or his adversary. And God has equipped many soldiers for the fight. See—
II. THE ARMOUR he has given them—given to many of us. Christian education; holy example; means of grace; power and capacity for service, imparted by the teaching of his Word; the sanctions and urgings of conscience, the drawings of his Spirit, and much more. Such things constitute the armour which would make us good soldiers if we would avail ourselves of them. But there is—
III. THE TURNING BACK on the part of many, even as Ephraim turned back. Ridicule has, perhaps, to be met; or loss to be borne; or self to be denied; or ease to be foregone; the cross in one or other of its forms has to be taken up; and many go away—go back, sorrowful, perhaps, but, nevertheless, they turn back. Oh, what shame to them! a people nobly born, well armed, and pledged to the service, and yet, etc.! What dishonour to Christ! what discouragement to the faithful Church! what loss to God's kingdom! what triumph for the foe! what ruin for themselves!—S.C.
Psa_78:16
I. THE RESEMBLANCE BETWEEN CHRIST AND THE ROCK,
1. In nature. A rock is like Christ; it is stable, solid, fit for a foundation. A rock may be a great defence. "Be thou my strong Rock, a House of defence to cover me." A refreshing shade. "The shadow of a great rock," etc.
2. In the fact that the rock was smitten ere the waters flowed out.
3. Moses, the Law's representative, was the smiter. And to obey the Law, Christ was smitten.
II. THE STREAMS WHICH FLOWED FROM IT. These tell of what from Christ flow to us—pardoning mercy, sanctifying grace, spiritual consolation, eternal life. And as those streams, so these are free, satisfying, copious, constant.
III. THE INQUIRIES SUGGESTED. Have we drunk of them? If not, do so. Are we drinking of them? Invite others.—S.C.
Psa_78:21
I. NATIONS ARE JUDGED AS WELL AS INDIVIDUALS. History is almost entirely occupied with the judgments of God upon nations. Hence it is that we say, "Happy is that nation which has no history!" for if it has, we know the nature of the record for the most part.
II. THEIR JUDGMENT IS JUST. Study the causes of the decline of empires, nations, and peoples, and it w