Psalm 7833
A well-written song34
by Asaph
78:1 Pay attention, my people, to my instruction!
Listen to the words I speak!1
78:2 I will sing a song that imparts wisdom,
I will make insightful observations about the past.2
78:3 What we have heard and learned,3
that which our ancestors have told us,4
78:4 we will not hide from their5
descendents.
We will tell the next generation
about the LORD’s praiseworthy acts,6
about his strength and the amazing things he has done.
78:5 He established a rule7
in Jacob,
he set up a law in Israel.
He commanded our ancestors
to make his deeds known to their descendents,8
78:6 so that the next generation, children yet to be born,
might know about them.
They will grow up and tell their descendents about them.9
78:7 Then they will place their confidence in God.
They will not forget the works of God,
and they will obey10
his commands.
78:8 Then they will not be like their ancestors,
who were a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation that was not committed
and faithful to God.11
78:9 The Ephraimites12
were armed with bows,13
but they retreated in the day of battle.14
78:10 They did not keep their covenant with God,15
and they refused to obey16
his law.
78:11 They forgot what he had done,17
the amazing things he had shown them.
78:12 He did amazing things in the sight of their fathers,
in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.18
78:13 He divided the sea and led them across it,
he made the water stand in a heap.
78:14 He led them with a cloud by day,
and with the light of a fire all night long.
78:15 He broke open rocks in the wilderness,
and gave them enough water to fill the depths of the sea.19
78:16 He caused streams to flow from the rock,
and made the water flow like rivers.
78:17 Yet they continued to sin against him,
and rebelled against the Sovereign One20
in the desert.
78:18 They willfully challenged God,21
by asking for food to satisfy their appetite.
78:19 They insulted God, saying,22
“Is God really able to give us food23
in the wilderness?
78:20 Yes,24
he struck a rock and water flowed out,
streams gushed forth.
But can he also give us food?
Will he provide meat for his people?”
78:21 When25
the LORD heard this, he was furious.
A fire broke out against Jacob,
and his anger flared up26
against Israel,
78:22 because they did not have faith in God,
and did not trust his ability to deliver them.27
78:23 He gave a command to the clouds above,
and opened the doors in the sky.
78:24 He rained down manna for them to eat,
he gave them the grain of heaven.28
78:25 Man ate the food of the mighty ones,29
He sent them more than enough to eat.30
78:26 He brought the east wind through the sky,
and by his strength led forth the south wind.
78:27 He rained down meat on them like dust,
birds as numerous as the sand on the seashores.31
78:28 He caused them to fall right in the middle of their camp,
all around their homes.
78:29 They ate until they were stuffed,32
he gave them what they desired.
78:30 They were not yet filled up,33
their food was still in their mouths,
78:31 when the anger of God flared up against them.
He killed some of the strongest of them,
he brought the young men of Israel to their knees.
78:32 Despite all this, they continued to sin,
and did not trust him to do amazing things.34
78:33 So he caused them to die unsatisfied35
and filled with terror.36
78:34 When he struck them down,37
they sought his favor,38
they turned back and longed for God.
78:35 They remembered that God was their protector,39
and that the sovereign God was their deliverer.40
78:36 But they deceived him with their words,41
and lied to him.42
78:37 They were not really committed to him,43
and they were unfaithful to his covenant.
78:38 Yet he is compassionate.
He forgives sin and does not destroy.
He often holds back his anger,
and does not stir up his fury.44
78:39 He remembered45
that they were made of flesh,
and were like a wind that blows past and does not return.46
78:40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness,
and insulted him47
in the desert!
78:41 They again challenged God,48
and offended49
the sovereign king of Israel.50
78:42 They did not remember what he had done,51
how he delivered them from the enemy,52
78:43 when he performed his awesome deeds53
in Egypt,
and his acts of judgment54
in the region of Zoan.
78:44 He turned their rivers into blood,
and they could not drink from their streams.
78:45 He sent swarms of biting insects against
them,55
as well as frogs that overran their land.56
78:46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,
the fruit of their labor to the locust.
78:47 He destroyed their vines with hail,
and their sycamore-fig trees with driving rain.
78:48 He rained hail down on their cattle,57
and hurled lightning bolts down on their livestock.58
78:49 His raging anger lashed out against them,59
He sent fury, rage and trouble
as messengers who bring disaster.60
78:50 He sent his anger in full force,61
he did not spare them from death,
he handed their lives over to destruction.62
78:51 He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt,
the firstfruits of their reproductive power63
in the tents of Ham.
78:52 Yet he brought out his people like sheep,
he led them through the wilderness like a flock .
78:53 He guided them safely along,
while the sea covered their enemies.
78:54 He brought them to the border of his holy land,
to this mountainous land64
which his right hand65
acquired.
78:55 He drove the nations out from before them,
he assigned them their tribal allotments,66
and allowed the tribes of Israel to settle down.67
78:56 Yet they challenged and defied68
the Sovereign God,69
and did not obey70
his commands.71
78:57 They were unfaithful72
and acted as treacherously as their ancestors,73
they were as unreliable as a malfunctioning bow.74
78:58 They made him angry with their pagan shrines,75
and made him jealous with their idols.
78:59 God heard and was angry,
he completely rejected Israel.
78:60 He abandoned76
the sanctuary at Shiloh,
the tent where he lived among men.
78:61 He allowed the symbol of his strong presence
to be captured,77
he gave the symbol of his splendor78
into the hand of the enemy.79
78:62 He delivered his people over to the sword,
and was angry with his chosen nation.80
78:63 Fire consumed their81
young men,
and their82
virgins remained unmarried.83
78:64 Their84
priests fell by the sword,
but their85
widows did not weep.86
78:65 But then the sovereign master awoke from
his sleep,87
he was like a warrior in a drunken rage.88
78:66 He drove his enemies back,
he made them a permanent target for insults.89
78:67 He rejected the tent of Joseph,
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
78:68 He chose the tribe of Judah,
and Mount Zion, which he loves.
78:69 He made his sanctuary as enduring as the
heavens above,90
as secure as the earth, which he established permanently.91
78:70 He chose David, his servant,
and took him from the sheepfolds.
78:71 He took him away from following the mother
sheep,92
and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people,
and of Israel, his chosen nation.93
78:72 He94
cared for them with pure motives,95
he led them with skill.96