Sermon Central
Psalm 78
God’s Guidance Of His People In Spite Of Their Unfaithfulness.
A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of Asaph.
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth [and be willing to learn].
I will utter dark and puzzling sayings of old [that contain important truth]—
And our fathers have told us.
But [we will] tell to the generation to come the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD,
And [tell of] His great might and power and the wonderful works that He has done.
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers
That they should teach to their children [the great facts of God’s transactions with Israel],
May arise and recount them to their children,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments,
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that did not prepare its heart to know and follow God,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
Yet they turned back in the day of battle.
And refused to walk according to His law;
And His miraculous wonders that He had shown them.
In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan [where Pharaoh resided].
And He made the waters stand up like [water behind] a dam.
And all the night with a light of fire.
And gave them abundant [water to] drink like the ocean depths.
And caused waters to run down like rivers.
By rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
By asking for food according to their [selfish] appetite.
They said, “Can God prepare [food for] a table in the wilderness?
And the streams overflowed;
Can He give bread also?
Or will He provide meat for His people?”
A fire was kindled against Jacob,
And His anger mounted up against Israel,
And they did not trust in His salvation (His power to save).
And opened the doors of heaven;
And gave them the grain of heaven.
God sent them provision in abundance.
And by His [unlimited] power He guided the south wind.
And winged birds (quail) like the sand of the seas.
Around their tents.
He gave them what they craved.
And while their food was in their mouths,
And killed some of the strongest of them,
And subdued the choice young men of Israel.
For they did not believe in His wonderful and extraordinary works.
And their years in sudden terror.
And they returned [to Him] and searched diligently for God [for a time].
And the Most High God their Redeemer.
And lied to Him with their tongues.
Nor were they faithful to His covenant.
Many times He restrained His anger
And did not stir up all His wrath.
A wind that goes and does not return.
And grieved Him in the desert!
And distressed the Holy One of Israel.
Nor the day when He redeemed them from the enemy,
And His wonders in the field of Zoan [where Pharaoh resided],
And their streams, so that they could not drink.
And frogs which destroyed them.
And the fruit of their labor to the locust.
And their sycamore trees with frost.
And their flocks and herds to thunderbolts.
His fury and indignation and distress,
A band of angels of destruction [among them].
He did not spare their souls from death,
But turned over their lives to the plague.
The first and best of their strength in the tents [of the land of the sons] of Ham.
And guided them in the wilderness like [a good shepherd with] a flock.
But the sea engulfed their enemies.
To this mountain [Zion] which His right hand had acquired.
And allotted their land as an inheritance, measured out and partitioned;
And He had the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents [the tents of those who had been dispossessed].
And did not keep His testimonies (laws).
They were twisted like a warped bow [that will not respond to the archer’s aim].
And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images [by denying Him the love, worship, and obedience that is rightfully and uniquely His].
And utterly rejected Israel, [greatly hating her ways],
The tent in which He had dwelled among men,
And His glory into the hand of the enemy (the Philistines).
And was infuriated with His inheritance (Israel).
And His [bereaved] virgins had no wedding songs.
And His widows could not weep.
Like a [mighty] warrior who awakens from the sleep of wine [fully conscious of his power].
He subjected them to lasting shame and dishonor.
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim [in which the tabernacle stood].
Mount Zion, which He loved [to replace Shiloh as His capital].
Like the earth which He has established forever.
And took him from the sheepfolds;
To shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel His inheritance.
And guided them with his skillful hands.
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