Psalm 78 A Contemplation Of Asaph.

 Give ear, O my people, to my law;

Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

²I will open my mouth in a parable;

I will utter dark sayings of old,

³Which we have heard and known,

And our fathers have told us.

⁴We 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.

⁵For 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;

⁶That the generation to come might know them,

The children who would be born,

That they may arise and declare them to their children,

⁷That they may set their hope in God,

And not forget the works of God,

But keep His commandments;

⁸And 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.

⁹The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,

Turned back in the day of battle.

¹⁰They did not keep the covenant of God;

They refused to walk in His law,

¹¹And forgot His works

And His wonders that He had shown them.

¹²Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers,

In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

¹³He divided the sea and caused them to pass through;

And He made the waters stand up like a heap.

¹⁴In the daytime also He led them with the cloud,

And all the night with a light of fire.

¹⁵He split the rocks in the wilderness,

And gave them drink in abundance like the depths.

¹⁶He also brought streams out of the rock,

And caused waters to run down like rivers.

¹⁷But they sinned even more against Him

By rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.

¹⁸And they tested God in their heart

By asking for the food of their fancy.

¹⁹Yes, they spoke against God:

They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?

²⁰Behold, 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?”

²¹Therefore the Lord heard this and was furious;

So a fire was kindled against Jacob,

And anger also came up against Israel,

²²Because they did not believe in God,

And did not trust in His salvation.

²³Yet He had commanded the clouds above,

And opened the doors of heaven,

²⁴Had rained down manna on them to eat,

And given them of the bread of heaven.

²⁵Men ate angels’ food; He sent them food to the full.

²⁶He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens;

And by His power He brought in the south wind.

²⁷He also rained meat on them like the dust,

Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas;

²⁸And He let them fall in the midst of their camp,

All around their dwellings.

²⁹So they ate and were well filled,

For He gave them their own desire.

³⁰They were not deprived of their craving;

But while their food was still in their mouths,

³¹The wrath of God came against them,

And slew the stoutest of them,

And struck down the choice men of Israel.

³²In spite of this they still sinned,

And did not believe in His wondrous works.

³³Therefore their days He consumed in futility,

And their years in fear.

³⁴When He slew them, then they sought Him;

And they returned and sought earnestly for God.

³⁵Then they remembered that God was their rock,

And the Most High God their Redeemer.

³⁶Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth,

And they lied to Him with their tongue;

³⁷For their heart was not steadfast with Him,

Nor were they faithful in His covenant.

³⁸But 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;

³⁹For He remembered that they were but flesh,

A breath that passes away and does not come again.

⁴⁰How often they provoked Him in the wilderness,

And grieved Him in the desert!

⁴¹Yes, again and again they tempted God,

And limited the Holy One of Israel.

⁴²They did not remember His power:

The day when He redeemed them from the enemy,

⁴³When He worked His signs in Egypt,

And His wonders in the field of Zoan;

⁴⁴Turned their rivers into blood,

And their streams, that they could not drink.

⁴⁵He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them,

And frogs, which destroyed them.

⁴⁶He also gave their crops to the caterpillar,

And their labor to the locust.

⁴⁷He destroyed their vines with hail,

And their sycamore trees with frost.

⁴⁸He also gave up their cattle to the hail,

And their flocks to fiery lightning.

⁴⁹He cast on them the fierceness of His anger,

Wrath, indignation, and trouble,

By sending angels of destruction among them.

⁵⁰He made a path for His anger;

He did not spare their soul from death,

But gave their life over to the plague,

⁵¹And destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt,

The first of their strength in the tents of Ham.

⁵²But He made His own people go forth like sheep,

And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;

⁵³And He led them on safely, so that they did not fear;

But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

⁵⁴And He brought them to His holy border,

This mountain which His right hand had acquired.

⁵⁵He also drove out the nations before them,

Allotted them an inheritance by survey,

And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.

⁵⁶Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God,

And did not keep His testimonies,

⁵⁷But turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers;

They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

⁵⁸For they provoked Him to anger with their high places,

And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.

⁵⁹When God heard this, He was furious,

And greatly abhorred Israel,

⁶⁰So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,

The tent He had placed among men,

⁶¹And delivered His strength into captivity,

And His glory into the enemy’s hand.

⁶²He also gave His people over to the sword,

And was furious with His inheritance.

⁶³The fire consumed their young men,

And their maidens were not given in marriage.

⁶⁴Their priests fell by the sword,

And their widows made no lamentation.

⁶⁵Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,

Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine.

⁶⁶And He beat back His enemies;

He put them to a perpetual reproach.

⁶⁷Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph,

And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,

⁶⁸But chose the tribe of Judah,

Mount Zion which He loved.

⁶⁹And He built His sanctuary like the heights,

Like the earth which He has established forever.

⁷⁰He also chose David His servant,

And took him from the sheepfolds;

⁷¹From following the ewes that had young He brought him,

To shepherd Jacob His people,

And Israel His inheritance.

⁷²So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart,

And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

Preamble: If Psalm 77 was Asaph’s struggling in his faith, Psalm 78 is his victorious resolution!

Commentary

Vs. 1-4 ¹Give ear, O my people, to my law;

Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

²I will open my mouth in a parable;

I will utter dark sayings of old,

³Which we have heard and known,

And our fathers have told us.

⁴We 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.

Asaph begins by calling all people to give head to the law, that is God’s Law, God’s Word, for by it God’s Person and Works are known. Interestingly he then moves to say that he will now bring forth knowledge of God through a parable (Jesus is the Master of this literally device, a device which brings forth great knowledge of God and His Works, but not to the casual listener, nor to those who have had their eyes shut and their ears closed). And through it he will utter sayings of old, again not literally, but the truths they contain through this literary device, truths which their fathers, the forerunners of our faith, had proven, and thus they passed down to their children so that they too could hear and declare the praises of the Lord, remember and declare His strength and His wondaful Works that He has done.

Vs. 5-8 ⁵For 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;

⁶That the generation to come might know them,

The children who would be born,

That they may arise and declare them to their children,

⁷That they may set their hope in God,

And not forget the works of God,

But keep His commandments;

⁸And 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.

In choosing Israel God established a testimony for Himself through them. Thus some of God’s earliest dealings with His people are seen in the life of Jacob. Of course, as the children of Israel, i.e., Jacob multiplied, and His Word which He had spoken to Abraham, roughly 400 years earlier came to pass, He then brought them out of Egypt by the hand of Moses, and through him appointed a law, His Law, for them. A law that would distinguish them from all the nations and the peoples on earth as a truly wise and understanding people when they kept it. And so, each generation to come was to have a true knowledge of God, not based on mans ideas about God, rather what God Himself declared Himself to be and what they were to be like. Ultimately then His Word was given them so that they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His Commandments (vs. 5-7). The passage then moves to recall that generation who came out of Egypt with Moses, whom the Scripture rightly calls a stubborn and rebellious generation that did not set its heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful to God, for they always wanted Moses to return them to Egypt. And so that generation ultimately perished in the wilderness, while their children went on to enter the Promised Land with Joshua.

Vs. 9-11 ⁹The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,

Turned back in the day of battle.

¹⁰They did not keep the covenant of God;

They refused to walk in His law,

¹¹And forgot His works

And His wonders that He had shown them.

The tribe of Ephraim is now named as a chief offender, though chosen to lead the fight they instead turned back in the day of battle, the exact reference to this is not given, so it must be a general warning about their behavior as the then most premiant tribe. For they simply did not go forward in faith as God would have them do. Instead, they disobeyed God and decried His telling them to enter the Promised Land and take it after the spies returned. Thus, they soon forgot God’s Mighty Works which He had done to the Egyptians when they dwelt there, as well as His saving them from them (Num. 14:1-45).

Vs. 12-16 ¹²Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers,

In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

¹³He divided the sea and caused them to pass through;

And He made the waters stand up like a heap.

¹⁴In the daytime also He led them with the cloud,

And all the night with a light of fire.

¹⁵He split the rocks in the wilderness,

And gave them drink in abundance like the depths.

¹⁶He also brought streams out of the rock,

And caused waters to run down like rivers.

And yet from the land of Egypt onward they were privileged to see all the Mighty signs and wonders which God worked through Moses in Egypt and beyond! For God even parted the Red Sea for them to pass safely through. And while they dwelt in the wilderness every day and night God was known to them all, guiding, leading and sheltering them with the cloud by day and the fire by night.

And when they thirsted for water in the wilderness God did not forsake them, for He split the rock in their presence, and gave them drink in abundance like the depths of the sea! And even when God made the waters to flow out of the rock like streams that run down like rivers in their very presence and for their very persons, after they drank, they soon forgot Him, and their hearts turned back to Egypt. Which is a warning for us all.  

Vs. 17-25 ¹⁷But they sinned even more against Him

By rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.

¹⁸And they tested God in their heart

By asking for the food of their fancy.

¹⁹Yes, they spoke against God:

They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?

²⁰Behold, 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?”

²¹Therefore the Lord heard this and was furious;

So a fire was kindled against Jacob,

And anger also came up against Israel,

²²Because they did not believe in God,

And did not trust in His salvation.

²³Yet He had commanded the clouds above,

And opened the doors of heaven,

²⁴Had rained down manna on them to eat,

And given them of the bread of heaven.

²⁵Men ate angels’ food; He sent them food to the full.

And so instead of increasing in faith and faithfulness to God they only grew more and more rebellious and cantankerous, complaining time and against Him, Moses, and Aaron (Num. 11:1-3 etc.). Rebelling against Him as when Korah and his followers did (Num. 16:1-50). They even went on to take the Moabite woman to themselves and eat the sacrifices of their gods whom God said to destroy (Num. 25:1-18). Just look into their history in the wilderness and sadly all you will see is a catalogue of sins, complaints and unbelief. At least until the generation that came out of Egypt dies off, however the generation born in wilderness that Joshua leads into the promised land truly is a people of faith, but that’s later, for now the Scripture recalls how they tested God in their hearts, saying things to Moses that he had only led them into the wilderness to destroy them, complaining that God was not providing food and water for them. Indeed, they were always looking back to Egypt in their hearts, saying that they ate like kings there, when they were only slaves being terrible mistreated and abused there. And so time and again they quickly forgot what God had done for them, and they even doubted that God could provide food for them in their time of need, and when He did provide them with water and bread as they needed (splitting the rock and gushing out fresh water for them and their animals to drink, while also giving them His manna to eat), it was not enough for them, for they soon lusted after meat so strongly that they wailed and cried to Moses for it, begging him for meat while openly loathing the manna God had provided for them. Manna which was more than just food, and angels’ food at that, for it symbolized His salvation for them all! A salvation which we now have through Christ! Therefore, when God heard this, He was furious, and if not for Moses and Aaron’s intercession time and again for them He would have destroyed them all leaving neither name nor remnant to them. 

Vs. 26-35 ²⁶He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens;

And by His power He brought in the south wind.

²⁷He also rained meat on them like the dust,

Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas;

²⁸And He let them fall in the midst of their camp,

All around their dwellings.

²⁹So they ate and were well filled,

For He gave them their own desire.

³⁰They were not deprived of their craving;

But while their food was still in their mouths,

³¹The wrath of God came against them,

And slew the stoutest of them,

And struck down the choice men of Israel.

³²In spite of this they still sinned,

And did not believe in His wondrous works.

³³Therefore their days He consumed in futility,

And their years in fear.

³⁴When He slew them, then they sought Him;

And they returned and sought earnestly for God.

³⁵Then they remembered that God was their rock,

And the Most High God their Redeemer.

Now is the recalled just how God quelled their craving meat from Him. Yet it was not as one might think, and not meat as one would have expected. Instead, it was very unique, in that God Himself brought forth the south wind and by it He blew into the camp qual, thousands upon thousands of birds then were left laying on the ground helpless before those people. And so, it was when they saw this, they immediately jumped upon them and began to slaughter and eat them with no regards for God and what He had just done for them. It's all just a sad display of their lack of faith and trust in God. And so, when God saw this, that all that they desired from Him was meat (and so to them He was just a means to an end, to satisfy their own lusts and desires), therefore when God saw this His wrath came against them and slew the stoutest of them and all the choice men of Israel, (i.e., the leaders), everyone then who also was only concerned with filling their own mouths along with them, God struck down in the presence of all while the meat was still in their teeth. And yet despite this those who remained did not fear Him, but they still sinned and did not believe His wonderous works. Therefore, God consumed their days with futility and their lives with fear, and that is how the remainder of that unbelieving generation lived out their days in the wilderness, living in their sins and in their fears. For without faith in God one will be left with only one’s own fears and sins to face and wrestle with), yes, He let them live, but their lives that they then lived were utterly meaningless and again lived in fear of this or that. Verses thirty-four and five go on to say that when God slew them then they sought Him; yes, they earnestly sought God, for then they remembered that God was their Rock and the Most High their Redeemer. Tragically then it was only through events like these that God could rekindle their desire for Him, for when they were faced with troubles they again saw their need for Him (Consider Judges 10:6-15.)

Vs. 36-39 ³⁶Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth,

And they lied to Him with their tongue;

³⁷For their heart was not steadfast with Him,

Nor were they faithful in His covenant.

³⁸But 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;

³⁹For He remembered that they were but flesh,

A breath that passes away and does not come again.

Continuing on though in their unbelief they thought that through flattery God might be moved to favor them. And so the lied to Him, likely making all kinds of promises to Him that they never kept. Therefore when they sought Him their seeking Him was not genuine, it was not born out of a heart of faith, but only a mouth of flattery and deceit, which is the ultimate folly. For God knows our hearts, He knows us all intimately, why then flatter Him with the mouth and lie to Him with the tongue? For He is not impressed with such things, nor will He be moved by such things. For God does not look favorably upon those who play the hypocrite with Him. And so the Scripture says of them that their heart was not steadfast with Him, nor were they faithful to His covenant, a covenant that they freely entered into with Him which had attached to it both blessing and curses. Nonetheless when He saw this, His people’s inability to keep His covenant, “He being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned away His anger away and did not stir up all His wrath, for He remembered that they were but flesh, a breath that passes away and does not come again” (vs. 38-39). Thus we see once again that God is always concerned with out well being, that He will search heaven and earth to try to find a way to be merciful with us, that in His mind and heart (and hopefully ours as well) mercy always triumph's over judgment (James 2:10).  

Vs. 40-41 ⁴⁰How often they provoked Him in the wilderness,

And grieved Him in the desert!

⁴¹Yes, again and again they tempted God,

And limited the Holy One of Israel.

Sadly more of Israel’s failings are now recalled, how they often provoked God in the wilderness. For there are several incidences when Moses and Aaron had to intercede for them lest God consume them all (like when the people refused to enter Canaan, Numbers 14:1-38; and the golden calf incident, Exodus 32:1-14; and the rebellion led by Korah, Numbers 16:1-50; and the bronze serpent on the rod, needed for when the people again spoke against God and Moses, Num. 21:4-9). The Scripture goes on saying, Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. For these were not one off incidences, but were an ongoing pattern of their hearts and behavior towards Him throughout their journeys with Him, such as with their arrogant harlotry with the Moabite women (Num. 25:1-16).

Vs. 42-53 ⁴²They did not remember His power:

The day when He redeemed them from the enemy,

⁴³When He worked His signs in Egypt,

And His wonders in the field of Zoan;

⁴⁴Turned their rivers into blood,

And their streams, that they could not drink.

⁴⁵He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them,

And frogs, which destroyed them.

⁴⁶He also gave their crops to the caterpillar,

And their labor to the locust.

⁴⁷He destroyed their vines with hail,

And their sycamore trees with frost.

⁴⁸He also gave up their cattle to the hail,

And their flocks to fiery lightning.

⁴⁹He cast on them the fierceness of His anger,

Wrath, indignation, and trouble,

By sending angels of destruction among them.

⁵⁰He made a path for His anger;

He did not spare their soul from death,

But gave their life over to the plague,

⁵¹And destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt,

The first of their strength in the tents of Ham.

⁵²But He made His own people go forth like sheep,

And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;

⁵³And He led them on safely, so that they did not fear;

But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

These verses truly must leave them with no excuse for their stubbornness and unbelief, because God's power and faithfulness has always been known to them, for they themselves have seen it with their own eyes. Seen His exercising His mighty power on behalf of Israel to redeem them from the Egyptians. Thus now is recalled all of God mighty sings and works in Egypt. Recalling how He brought judgment upon the Egyptians and all their gods. First turning their river to blood, their “sacred” river the Nile, where they killed the Israelite firstborn male children in, God turned to blood in their sight, indeed all their rivers and streams in the land of Egypt so that they could not drink of its waters. That was His first sign and judgment on them. Then He sent flies (likely bearing diseases) amongst the Egyptians to destroy them, and frogs which they so foolishly held as also being “sacred” God soon filled their houses with so that they soon loathed their very presence. Then God gave their crops, all their labors, over to the locust to eat. And their vines from which they ate grapes like kings and drank wine like nobles He destroyed with hail. He even destroyed their sycamore trees (often used medicinally) with frost. And when all that was left was their livestock God Himself sent His hail and fiery lightening down into their fields and pastures to destroy them. For He cast on them the fierceness of His anger, wrath, and indignation, making all kinds of trouble for them by sending angels of destruction amongst the Egyptians. For God did not spare their souls from death, like He did for His people who remained safe in the land of Goshen from all these things, instead He gave their lives over to the plague. All these things God Himself did in the defense and deliverance of His people. And as a finial act in making Himself known to them God destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt, all their strength in the tents of Ham, the man whom the Egyptians are descended from. Thus, God reached right back into their antiquity and right up to their present day to render His wrath and judgment upon the Egyptians. And when they pursued the Israelites right up to the Red Sea, God parted the sea for His people to pass safely through before bringing down its depths upon the pursuing Egyptians. Thus, he made His own people go forth like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock, leading them on safely so that they did not fear as the crossed the sea before God overwhelmed their enemies with it (Vs. 44-53). Who in this worlds history then has ever seen first hand and experienced such a mighty deliverance as the Israelites have. No people, no nation has ever had God act in their defense and on their behalf as He has done time and again for them. They owe Him then their faith. 

Vs. 54-55 ⁵⁴And He brought them to His holy border,

This mountain which His right hand had acquired.

⁵⁵He also drove out the nations before them,

Allotted them an inheritance by survey,

And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.

From out of Egypt and into Canaan the Lord God led them. For it was He who brought them to the promised land, to His holy border, where from the mountain top, they could see the land they were to enter. And so, it was the Lord God who went before them as they entered it, and it was He who drove out the nations before them as they expanded throughout it. For it was He who allotted all the tribes their inheritance after the land had been surveyed by them. And when the conquest of the land was complete;, for it was the Lord God who accomplished it; He made them all to dwell safely in their tents.

Vs. 56-58 ⁵⁶Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God,

And did not keep His testimonies,

⁵⁷But turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers;

They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

⁵⁸For they provoked Him to anger with their high places,

And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.

But instead of being loyal to Him for all His goodness towards them, they only tested and provoked Him, by flirting with the peoples of the nations around them and embracing their religious cultures which they were to vanquish from the land. Thus, they turned back just like their fathers did in the wilderness, for they did not follow God in faith. Therefore, they are here likened to being like a deceitful bow which on appearance looks fine, but when tested fails miserably. This is the testimony of the Israelites in the Judges era, indeed even in the Kingdom era. For they provoked Him to anger with their high places and moved Him to jealousy with their carved images, time and again.

Vs. 59-64 ⁵⁹When God heard this, He was furious,

And greatly abhorred Israel,

⁶⁰So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,

The tent He had placed among men,

⁶¹And delivered His strength into captivity,

And His glory into the enemy’s hand.

⁶²He also gave His people over to the sword,

And was furious with His inheritance.

⁶³The fire consumed their young men,

And their maidens were not given in marriage.

⁶⁴Their priests fell by the sword,

And their widows made no lamentation.

Such then was their apostasy that God in His Holiness could not bear them any longer, therefore He greatly abhorred Israel. Indeed, He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the very place where Israel under Joshua set up the tabernacle to be God’s meeting place with His people in the land. Then because of their ongoing stubbornness and rebellion God during the Kingdom era, God warned them through Jeremiah the prophet that what He had done to Shiloh in destroying it He was about to do to their Temple in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 7:12-14). And yet they would not listen to Him. Therefore, He delivered His strength, all of Israel’s mighty men, all their nobles, all their prominent men and women, everyone who was well endowed or renowned into the enemy’s hand. For such was His wrath against them that He gave His people over to the sword, captivity, and plundering. Therefore, their young men were consumed and the maidens, their young betrothed women were left with none to marry, even their priests fell by the sword and their widows made no lamentation for them as they too were taken captive. These are then things which we, which no one should ever forget or ignore. For God does not allow us to worship Him as we wish, He does not allows us to mix our worship of Him with those peoples who do not believe in Him. For when that happens true worship of God is always lost to us and pagan worship and their corrupt ideals soon become our own, to our own ruin and destruction as well!

Vs. 65-66 ⁶⁵Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,

Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine.

⁶⁶And He beat back His enemies;

He put them to a perpetual reproach.

Thankfully though their story does not end there. For God remembers His people, He remembers the covenant He made with them, and having dwelt with the offenders amongst them. He then deals with those nations and people who have greatly offended Him in taking their liberties upon His people while they were weakened and vulnerable. That is what is being described here God’s vengeance upon His enemies, all the nations and peoples who set themselves against Him by making war with His people. For when the Lord awakes to render His wrath, He will stand before His people and He will beat back all of His enemies, for He shall put them all to a perpetual reproach!

Vs. 67-68 ⁶⁷Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph,

And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,

⁶⁸But chose the tribe of Judah,

Mount Zion which He loved.

God's rejecting the tent of Joseph is now told us. For Joseph was chosen by his father Jacob to receive a double portion above his brothers per Jacobs blessing on his sons; and so Joseph was the most prominent tribe in Israel (for he replaced Reuben, Jacobs firstborn son who lost his standing as the leader of the other tribes). However because of their own unfaithfulness they are now rejected by God along with he tribe of Ephraim, his son that Jacob placed before Manasseh, the other son of Joseph, as being the one through whom He shall bring His King and Establish His Throne through. Therefore, God's King and His throne will not come through them. For God has chosen the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved over and above the mountains of Ephraim

Vs. 69 ⁶⁹And He built His sanctuary like the heights,

Like the earth which He has established forever.

Though the Temple that Solomon built was destroyed, verse sixty-nine now tells how God Himself will build and established it forever! For He will build it and establish it again and this time when His Son Reigns on it no one shall ever destroy it, His Temple and His Throne shall remain forever!

Vs. 70-72 ⁷⁰He also chose David His servant,

And took him from the sheepfolds;

⁷¹From following the ewes that had young He brought him,

To shepherd Jacob His people,

And Israel His inheritance.

⁷²So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart,

And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

The man whom the Lord has chosen to bring forth His King and establish His Throne is David His servant, a man who was not born of nobility, or of any notoriety; indeed was the “least” of all his fathers’ sons. And yet the Lord knew his heart and knew that he would be a faithful man to Him. Therefore, He choose David when he was yet still just a shepherd boy and He took him from the sheepfolds, from following the ewes that had young, so that he could shepherd Jacob His people and Israel His inheritance. Notice that David has been placed above Jacob as the leader of the nation founded through him. Therefore, David as God's shepherd shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands. There is then no mistake when God’s chooses His man to lead His people. If only we would heed His counsel and choose those He has also chosen to lead us then we too would have victories over the enemy as Israel did during David's tenure. 

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.

Psalm 77 To the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.

 ¹I cried out to God with my voice—To God with my voice;

And He gave ear to me.

²In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;

My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing;

My soul refused to be comforted.

³I remembered God, and was troubled;

I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah

⁴You hold my eyelids open;

I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

⁵I have considered the days of old,

The years of ancient times.

⁶I call to remembrance my song in the night;

I meditate within my heart,

And my spirit makes diligent search.

⁷Will the Lord cast off forever?

And will He be favorable no more?

⁸Has His mercy ceased forever?

Has His promise failed forevermore?

⁹Has God forgotten to be gracious?

Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah

¹⁰And I said, “This is my anguish;

But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”

¹¹I will remember the works of the Lord;

Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.

¹²I will also meditate on all Your work,

And talk of Your deeds.

¹³Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary;

Who is so great a God as our God?

¹⁴You are the God who does wonders;

You have declared Your strength among the peoples.

¹⁵You have with Your arm redeemed Your people,

The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

¹⁶The waters saw You, O God;

The waters saw You, they were afraid;

The depths also trembled.

¹⁷The clouds poured out water;

The skies sent out a sound;

Your arrows also flashed about.

¹⁸The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;

The lightnings lit up the world;

The earth trembled and shook.

¹⁹Your way was in the sea,

Your path in the great waters,

And Your footsteps were not known.

²⁰You led Your people like a flock

By the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Preamble: Not everything goes smoothly with us who believe. Very often the Godly suffer, even suffer unexplainably, and that can lead one to having a deep melancholy, and that is the case here, as Asaph searches for answers to his own plight. But ultimately it is not getting answers to our questions that changes us but our seeing our God with us while we are in them.

Commentary

Vs. 1-3 ¹I cried out to God with my voice—To God with my voice;

And He gave ear to me.

²In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;

My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing;

My soul refused to be comforted.

³I remembered God, and was troubled;

I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah

Asaph begins by saying that when he cried out to God in prayer God listened to Him. For Asaph sought Him, not casually, but diligently, stretching his hand out to Him without ceasing, even through the night. Such then was Asaph’s seeking of God that he would have no other consolation than that God would answer him (vs. 2). In was then during this time that Asaph’s depression began to overtake him (consider Job here), for as he considered God he no longer found the joy he once so freely had, for now he was troubled, questions He had not answered began to haunt him, circumstances he couldn’t understand began to shake him, and soon Asaph found himself moved from a place of unquestionable trust in God, to now complaining to Him, for what he was now facing was seemingly going to overwhelm him.

Vs. 4-6 ⁴You hold my eyelids open;

I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

⁵I have considered the days of old,

The years of ancient times.

⁶I call to remembrance my song in the night;

I meditate within my heart,

And my spirit makes diligent search.

When Asaph turned to his bed for solace and comfort he only found tossing and turning, his sleep simply would not come no matter what he did. So troubled was Asaph by it all that he simply could not speak, words now alluded him. It is then that he began to look back and consider the days of old, when things went so well with him, the years of ancient times when God was so clearly seen at work in His people’s lives, Asaph’s heart sought these good memories diligently, calling to mind his songs to Him during his sleepless nights, remembering when his worship of Him came so easily to him, Asaph even began a diligent search within himself, within his spirit, (his faith), for answers.

Vs. 7-9 ⁷Will the Lord cast off forever?

And will He be favorable no more?

⁸Has His mercy ceased forever?

Has His promise failed forevermore?

⁹Has God forgotten to be gracious?

Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah

Asaph’s searching now releases a series of six questions, each one touches on him individually and the nation Israel collectively, which may have been the root of his depression, their collective state. Now the first question is ones greatest fear. For to be cast off by the Lord forever is a dread that no believer could endure. And yet Asaph (because of his circumstances) pointily felt he may be standing at the precipice of that. Having raised that frightening prospect, he then moves to ask God if He will be favorable no more, will he and God’s people now have to face life alone, on this world’s terms? An almost equally frightening prospect. Next, he asks if God’s mercies have ceased forever, if His Promises to His people have failed forevermore; which is something that could never be, since God's Person does not change and He does not renege on His Promises. Or is it simply that He has simply forgotten to be gracious? That in His anger He has shut up His tender mercies from them? Deep questions that we may also have to wrestle with and overcome as Asaph has to do here.

Vs. 10-12 ¹⁰And I said, “This is my anguish;

But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”

¹¹I will remember the works of the Lord;

Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.

¹²I will also meditate on all Your work,

And talk of Your deeds.

Yes, Asaph had anguish of soul, but he also had the resolve of heart to see past it. And that is how he picks himself up, by looking past the present distressing questions and looking to the mighty years when the nation was truly seen at the right hand of the Most High. For if God wanted to forsake His people, He would have done it long ago, instead He stood with them, and stands with them, as they stand with Him. Therefore, Asaph says that he will remember God’s wonders of old, all His Mighty Works and Acts of deliverance, indeed all of God’s Works in heaven and on earth (especially in our own lives) are to be recalled when doubts and fears overtake us, but more than just recalled they are to be openly declared. For that is how you build and strengthen your faith and others as well, by cutting off all the enemies advances through doubts. Therefore, Asaph has committed himself to do this, to meditate on God’s ways, and not on things that are beyond his and our understanding and control. 

Vs. 13-14 ¹³Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary;

Who is so great a God as our God?

¹⁴You are the God who does wonders;

You have declared Your strength among the peoples.

Asaph now recalls the Holy Nature of God. That He meets with us as we seek Him in holiness, in the sanctuary. For God’s way is in the sanctuary, then a literal building, but now literally by His Spirit in our own persons, for He now dwells in us who believe in Him and draws near to us as we sanctify our bodies for Him. Knowing that God draws near His people, Asaph recalls how God did mighty wonders in Egypt on their behalf; though his thought here is likely not limited to that; for throughout the kingdom era, time and again the Lord God interceded on their behalf, and by doing so He Himself declared His strength among the peoples around them, watching them (and not always for good I might add). For if God let them be consumed all the proud and unbelieving peoples of the earth would think that they could even exalt themselves against Him, as they so foolishly tried to do in the days of their building the tower of Babylon. Therefore, God intercedes for us, and especially for His own Names sake, even when we have totally undermined it, He can make straight what we have made crooked. But we must be willing partners with Him in His work if we are to succeed with Him. 

 Vs. 15 “You have with Your arm redeemed Your people,

The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah”

 And so it is that God alone redeemed His people, all the sons of Jacob and Joseph from their bondage in Egypt. In like manner He has also redeemed us who believe In Christ from our bondage to sin and Satan. A bondage which we did not know we were under until the Lord Jesus Christ made us free, free from having to be conformed to this world, so that we might be transformed by Him.

Vs. 16-20 ¹⁶The waters saw You, O God;

The waters saw You, they were afraid;

The depths also trembled.

¹⁷The clouds poured out water;

The skies sent out a sound;

Your arrows also flashed about.

¹⁸The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;

The lightnings lit up the world;

The earth trembled and shook.

¹⁹Your way was in the sea,

Your path in the great waters,

And Your footsteps were not known.

²⁰You led Your people like a flock

By the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Asaph now recalls the parting of the Red Sea by the Hand of God. How when God’s people stood upon the shore with no escape from the pursuing Egyptians, God Himself came down from heaven and with His Presence there before them the waters feared and the depths trembled, and they gave way to Him to lead His people safely across to the other side. And when they had all made their way across, the waters had no regard for the pursuing Egyptians, instead they closed in on them and swallowed them up alive!  

Therefore, its was through His chosen servants Moses and Aaron that God continued to lead His people like a flock through the wilderness, their many years of wanderings, and by them He kept them in the way they should go, so that the generation who followed Him wholly could enter the promised land. Therefore, if you let Him God will also lead you home safely (Joshua 1:1-8). All it takes is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, let Him then lead you by His Word and through His Spirit home safely as well. 

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.