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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Psalm 78 Pulpit Commentary</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/psalms/78.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/psalms/78-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">Pulpit Commentary</a> > Psalm 78</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../psalms/77.htm" title="Psalm 77">◄</a> Psalm 78 <a href="../psalms/79.htm" title="Psalm 79">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Pulpit Commentary</div><div class="chap"><div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-1.htm">Psalm 78:1</a></div><div class="verse"><<Maschil of Asaph.>> Give ear, O my people, <i>to</i> my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 1-8.</span> - The <span class="accented">introduction</span> calls special attention to the teaching that is about to be put forth, which it declares to be traditional (ver. 3), and, further, to be the sort of instruction which God had especially commanded to be given to his people by their teachers (vers. 5, 6) for their edification (vers. 7, 8). <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 1.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Give ear, O my people, to my law;</span> rather, <span class="accented">to my teaching. Hat-torah</span> - <span class="accented">torah</span> with the article - is "the Law;" but <span class="accented">torah</span> alone is any teaching or instruction. <span class="cmt_word">Incline</span> <span class="cmt_word">your ears to the words of my mouth.</span> Dr. Kay regards the words of ver. 1 as "God's own words," <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(1)</span> on account of the expression, "<span class="accented">O</span> <span class="accented">my</span> people;" and <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(2)</span> on account of "<span class="accented">my Law</span>." But "my people" is not inappropriate in the mouth of a psalmist, and occurs in <a href="/psalms/59-11.htm">Psalm 59:11</a> and Psalms 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 <span class="accented">torah.</span> </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-2.htm">Psalm 78:2</a></div><div class="verse">I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 2.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">I will open my mouth in a parable</span>. The facts of Israelitish history. are the "parable," the inner meaning of which it is for the intelligent to grasp. They are <span class="greek">φωνᾶντα συνετοῖσιν</span>. <span class="cmt_word">I will utter dark sayings of old</span> (comp. <a href="/proverbs/1-6.htm">Proverbs 1:6</a>). <span class="accented">Khidoth</span> (<span class="hebrew">חידות</span>) are properly "riddles" (see <a href="/judges/14-12.htm">Judges 14:12</a>). Here the idea is that God's dealings with his people had been "riddles," whereto the psalmist would give the clue (comp. vers. 21, 22, 33, 56-59, etc.). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-3.htm">Psalm 78:3</a></div><div class="verse">Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 3.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us</span>; 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. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-4.htm">Psalm 78:4</a></div><div class="verse">We will not hide <i>them</i> from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 4.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">We will not hide them from their children.</span> 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 (comp. <a href="/2_chronicles/29-30.htm">2 Chronicles 29:30</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> the actions for which he deserves praise. <span class="cmt_word">And his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done</span> (comp. vers. 12-16, and vers. 23-55). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-5.htm">Psalm 78:5</a></div><div class="verse">For 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:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 5.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel.</span> 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 (<a href="/genesis/17-10.htm">Genesis 17:10-14</a>), and terminating with the last precept in Deuteronomy (<a href="/deuteronomy/32-46.htm">Deuteronomy 32:46</a>). They may include also the teachings of God through history. <span class="cmt_word">These he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children</span> (see <a href="/exodus/12-26.htm">Exodus 12:26, 27</a>; <a href="/exodus/13-8.htm">Exodus 13:8, 14, 15</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/4-9.htm">Deuteronomy 4:9</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/6-7.htm">Deuteronomy 6:7</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/11-19.htm">Deuteronomy 11:19</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/32-46.htm">Deuteronomy 32:46</a>, etc.). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-6.htm">Psalm 78:6</a></div><div class="verse">That the generation to come might know <i>them, even</i> the children <i>which</i> should be born; <i>who</i> should arise and declare <i>them</i> to their children:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 6.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">That the generation to come might know them.</span> "The generation to come" is the <span class="accented">next</span> generation, that immediately following those to whom the command was directly given. <span class="cmt_word">Even the children which should be born.</span> Their actual sons and daughters. <span class="cmt_word">Who should arise and declare them to their children.</span> 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 <a href="/acts/8-31.htm">Acts 8:31</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-7.htm">Psalm 78:7</a></div><div class="verse">That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 7.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">That they might set their hope in God.</span> 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. <span class="cmt_word">And not forget the works of God.</span> They could not well forget, it' they were perpetually reminded of them. But keep his commandments. If they bore God's works - <span class="accented">i.e.</span> his many mercies - in mind, they would be the more disposed to obedience. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-8.htm">Psalm 78:8</a></div><div class="verse">And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation <i>that</i> set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 8.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation</span> (comp. <a href="/deuteronomy/21-18.htm">Deuteronomy 21:18, 20</a>, for the combination of the two words). The "stubbornness" of Israel is noted in <a href="/deuteronomy/9-27.htm">Deuteronomy 9:27</a>; <a href="/judges/2-19.htm">Judges 2:19</a>; and frequently by Jeremiah (<a href="/jeremiah/3-17.htm">Jeremiah 3:17</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/7-24.htm">Jeremiah 7:24</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/9-14.htm">Jeremiah 9:14</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/11-8.htm">Jeremiah 11:8</a>, etc.); their "rebelliousness" in <a href="/deuteronomy/9-7.htm">Deuteronomy 9:7, 24</a>; <a href="/isaiah/30-1.htm">Isaiah 30:1, 9</a>; <a href="/isaiah/65-2.htm">Isaiah 65:2</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/5-23.htm">Jeremiah 5:23</a>; <a href="/ezekiel/2-3.htm">Ezekiel 2:3-8</a>; <a href="/ezekiel/3-9.htm">Ezekiel 3:9, 26, 27</a>; <a href="/ezekiel/12-2.htm">Ezekiel 12:2, 3</a>, etc. (compare also for the idea <a href="/2_kings/17-14.htm">2 Kings 17:14-17</a>:<a href="/2_chronicles/36-14.htm">2 Chronicles 36:14-16</a>; <a href="/ezra/9-6.htm">Ezra 9:6, 7</a>; <a href="/nehemiah/1-6.htm">Nehemiah 1:6, 7</a>; <a href="/daniel/9-5.htm">Daniel 9:5-11</a>; and <a href="/acts/7-51.htm">Acts 7:51</a>, "Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; <span class="accented">as your fathers did</span>, so do ye"). <span class="cmt_word">A generation that set not their heart aright;</span> literally, <span class="accented">that prepared not their heart</span> - did not make it ready to receive Divine influences (see <a href="/1_samuel/7-3.htm">1 Samuel 7:3</a>; <a href="/job/11-13.htm">Job 11:13</a>; <a href="/2_chronicles/20-33.htm">2 Chronicles 20:33</a>). <span class="cmt_word">And whose spirit was not steadfast with God.</span> It was not that Israel was wholly without religious feeling, but the feeling was fickle, unsteadfast, never to be depended on (comp. <a href="/exodus/32-1.htm">Exodus 32:1-6</a>; <a href="/numbers/16-41.htm">Numbers 16:41, 42</a>; <a href="/judges/2-17.htm">Judges 2:17</a>, etc.). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-9.htm">Psalm 78:9</a></div><div class="verse">The children of Ephraim, <i>being</i> armed, <i>and</i> carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 9-72.</span> - The historical portion of the psalm now follows. It commences with some general remarks on the transgressions of Ephraim, <span class="accented">i.e.</span> of Israel while under the guidance of Ephraim - from Joshua to Samuel (vers. 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 (vers, 12-72). <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 9.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">The children of Ephraim</span> (comp. ver. 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 (<a href="/joshua/18-1.htm">Joshua 18:1</a>). The importance of Ephraim appears in <a href="/judges/3-27.htm">Judges 3:27</a>; <a href="/judges/7-24.htm">Judges 7:24</a>; <a href="/judges/8-1.htm">Judges 8:1, 2</a>; <a href="/judges/10-9.htm">Judges 10:9</a>; <a href="/judges/12-1.htm">Judges 12:1-6</a>. Being <span class="cmt_word">armed</span>, and <span class="cmt_word">carrying bows.</span> There is no "and" in the original. "Carrying bows" is exegetical of "being armed" (comp. <a href="/2_chronicles/17-17.htm">2 Chronicles 17:17</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Turned back in the day of battle.</span> 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 <a href="/judges/2-14.htm">Judges 2:14</a>; <a href="/judges/3-8.htm">Judges 3:8, 13, 31</a>; <a href="/judges/4-2.htm">Judges 4:2</a>; <a href="/judges/6-1.htm">Judges 6:1</a>; <a href="/judges/10-7.htm">Judges 10:7, 12</a>, etc.). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-10.htm">Psalm 78:10</a></div><div class="verse">They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 10.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">They kept not the covenant of God</span> (comp. <a href="/deuteronomy/29-25.htm">Deuteronomy 29:25</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/31-20.htm">Deuteronomy 31:20</a>; <a href="/1_kings/19-10.htm">1 Kings 19:10, 14</a>, etc.). <span class="cmt_word">And refused to walk in his law</span> (see <a href="/judges/2-11.htm">Judges 2:11-13</a>; <a href="/judges/8-33.htm">Judges 8:33</a>; <a href="/judges/10-10.htm">Judges 10:10</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-11.htm">Psalm 78:11</a></div><div class="verse">And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 11.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And forgat his works</span> (see ver. 42), <span class="cmt_word">and his wonders that he had showed them</span> (see vers. 12-15, 24-28, 43-53). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-12.htm">Psalm 78:12</a></div><div class="verse">Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, <i>in</i> the field of Zoan.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 12.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.</span> The miracles of Egypt are, perhaps, the most striking series in Jewish history. A more particular account of them is given below (vers. 44-53). They were wrought "in the field of Zoan," <span class="accented">i.e.</span> in the rich flat tract east and south of the city of Zoan, the Greek Tanis, now <span class="accented">San</span>. (On this place, see Mr. Reginald Peele's 'Cities of Egypt,' pp. 64-88.) This fact could not have been gathered from Exodus, but must have come to the writer from the tradition of which he speaks in ver. 3. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-13.htm">Psalm 78:13</a></div><div class="verse">He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 13.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through</span> (see <a href="/exodus/14-21.htm">Exodus 14:21, 22</a>). <span class="cmt_word">And he made the waters to stand as an heap.</span> The expression is taken from the Song of Moses (<a href="/exodus/15-8.htm">Exodus 15:8</a>). It must be understood poetically. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-14.htm">Psalm 78:14</a></div><div class="verse">In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 14.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">In the daytime also he led them with a cloud.</span> The "pillar of the cloud" is, of course, intended (see <a href="/exodus/13-21.htm">Exodus 13:21, 22</a>; <a href="/exodus/14-19.htm">Exodus 14:19, 24</a>; <a href="/exodus/40-38.htm">Exodus 40:38</a>; <a href="/numbers/9-15.htm">Numbers 9:15</a>; <a href="/numbers/10-34.htm">Numbers 10:34</a>; <a href="/numbers/14-14.htm">Numbers 14:14</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/1-33.htm">Deuteronomy 1:33</a>). <span class="cmt_word">And all the night with a light of fire.</span> The "pillar of fire" (<a href="/exodus/13-21.htm">Exodus 13:21</a>; <a href="/exodus/40-38.htm">Exodus 40:38</a>; <a href="/numbers/9-16.htm">Numbers 9:16</a>, etc.). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-15.htm">Psalm 78:15</a></div><div class="verse">He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave <i>them</i> drink as <i>out of</i> the great depths.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 15, 16.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">He clave the rocks in the wilderness;</span> rather, <span class="accented">he clave rocks</span>. The word has no article. The reference is probably to both <a href="/exodus/17-6.htm">Exodus 17:6</a> and <a href="/numbers/20-8.htm">Numbers 20:8-11</a>. <span class="cmt_word">And gave them drink as out of the great depths;</span> rather, "and gave them drink <span class="accented">abundantly</span>, as out of the depths" (so Cheyne and the Revised Version). On the abundance of the water, see <a href="/numbers/20-11.htm">Numbers 20:11</a>, and compare the next verse: <span class="cmt_word">He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.</span> </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-16.htm">Psalm 78:16</a></div><div class="verse">He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-17.htm">Psalm 78:17</a></div><div class="verse">And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 17.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the Most High in the wilderness.</span> The two provocations of a demand for bread (<a href="/exodus/16-3.htm">Exodus 16:3</a>) and a demand for flesh (<a href="/numbers/11-4.htm">Numbers 11:4</a>) are joined together in the present passage, as the two occasions of giving water are in vers. 15, 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. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-18.htm">Psalm 78:18</a></div><div class="verse">And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 18.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust</span>; rather, <span class="accented">by asking food</span> (Kay, Cheyne, Alexander). The term used (<span class="hebrew">אכל</span>) is wide enough to include both bread (<span class="hebrew">לחם</span>) and flesh (<span class="hebrew">שׁאר</span>). "For their lust" (literally, "for their soul") means for the gratification of their carnal appetites (comp. <a href="/exodus/16-3.htm">Exodus 16:3</a>; <a href="/numbers/11-5.htm">Numbers 11:5</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-19.htm">Psalm 78:19</a></div><div class="verse">Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 19.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?</span> (see <a href="/numbers/11-4.htm">Numbers 11:4</a>). 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 ver. 12). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-20.htm">Psalm 78:20</a></div><div class="verse">Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 20.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams</span> (literally, <span class="accented">the torrent courses</span>) <span class="cmt_word">overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?</span> 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. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-21.htm">Psalm 78:21</a></div><div class="verse">Therefore the LORD heard <i>this</i>, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 21.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Therefore the Lord heard</span> this. Though these might be unspoken thoughts, yet God would "hear" them, <span class="accented">i.e.</span> be aware of them; for "he knoweth the very secrets of the heart." <span class="cmt_word">And was wroth</span> (comp. vers. 59, 62; <a href="/deuteronomy/3-26.htm">Deuteronomy 3:26</a>). <span class="cmt_word">So a fire was kindled against Jacob.</span> Not a material fire, as in <a href="/leviticus/10-2.htm">Leviticus 10:2</a>; <a href="/numbers/11-1.htm">Numbers 11:1-3</a>; and Numbers 16:35; but the fire of God's displeasure. <span class="cmt_word">And anger also came up against Israel</span> (comp. vers. 30, 31; <a href="/numbers/11-33.htm">Numbers 11:33</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-22.htm">Psalm 78:22</a></div><div class="verse">Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 22.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation.</span> They trusted neither in God's power nor in his love; they neither believed that he would nor that he could save them. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-23.htm">Psalm 78:23</a></div><div class="verse">Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 23.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Though he had commanded the clouds from above</span>; rather, <span class="accented">and he commanded</span> (Hengstenberg, Cheyne, Revised Version). The command was subsequent, not previous, to the want of faith (see <a href="/numbers/11-4.htm">Numbers 11:4-31</a>). <span class="cmt_word">And opened the doors of heaven</span> (comp. <a href="/genesis/7-11.htm">Genesis 7:11</a>, "The windows of heaven were opened"). The expressions are, of course, poetical (see also <a href="/2_kings/7-2.htm">2 Kings 7:2</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-24.htm">Psalm 78:24</a></div><div class="verse">And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 24.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them;</span> rather, <span class="accented">and rained down manna to eat, and gave them</span> (comp. <a href="/exodus/16-13.htm">Exodus 16:13, 14</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Of the corn of heaven</span> (comp. <a href="/exodus/16-4.htm">Exodus 16:4</a>; <a href="/psalms/105-40.htm">Psalm 105:40</a>; <a href="/john/6-6.htm">John 6:6, 7</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-25.htm">Psalm 78:25</a></div><div class="verse">Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 25.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Man did eat angels' food;</span> literally, <span class="accented">bread of the mighty ones</span>, 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. <span class="cmt_word">He sent them meat to the full</span> (comp. <a href="/exodus/16-3.htm">Exodus 16:3</a>, where the Israelites contrast with their wretched life in the wilderness their life in Egypt, where they "did eat bread <span class="accented">to the full"</span>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-26.htm">Psalm 78:26</a></div><div class="verse">He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 26.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind.</span> Here, again, tradition seems to speak. The narrative in the Pentateuch has only, "There went forth <span class="accented">a wind</span> from the Lord" (Numbers 11:81). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-27.htm">Psalm 78:27</a></div><div class="verse">He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 27.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">He rained flesh also upon them</span>. With the expression, "rained flesh," comp. <a href="/exodus/16-4.htm">Exodus 16:4</a>, "Behold, I will <span class="accented">rain</span> bread from heaven;" and see also <a href="/genesis/19-24.htm">Genesis 19:24</a> and <a href="/exodus/9-23.htm">Exodus 9:23</a>. <span class="cmt_word">As dust;</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> "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 <a href="/numbers/11-31.htm">Numbers 11:31</a>). And feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea. The commonest image of multiplicity (<a href="/genesis/22-17.htm">Genesis 22:17</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/33-19.htm">Deuteronomy 33:19</a>; <a href="/joshua/11-4.htm">Joshua 11:4</a>; <a href="/judges/7-12.htm">Judges 7:12</a>, etc.). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-28.htm">Psalm 78:28</a></div><div class="verse">And he let <i>it</i> fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 28.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And he let it fall in the midst of their camp.</span> The quails "covered the camp" (<a href="/exodus/16-13.htm">Exodus 16:13</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Round about their habitations</span>. They extended also round it on every side (<a href="/numbers/11-31.htm">Numbers 11:31</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-29.htm">Psalm 78:29</a></div><div class="verse">So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire;</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 29.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">So they did eat, and were well filled;</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> sated (comp. <a href="/numbers/11-19.htm">Numbers 11:19, 20</a>). <span class="cmt_word">For he gave them their own desire;</span> or, <span class="accented">their own lust</span> - <span class="accented">that they lusted after</span> (Revised Version). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-30.htm">Psalm 78:30</a></div><div class="verse">They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat <i>was</i> yet in their mouths,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 30.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">They were not estranged from their lust;</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> their lust was not yet satiated - they were still indulging it. <span class="cmt_word">The meat was yet in their mouths,</span> still undergoing mastication, when - </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-31.htm">Psalm 78:31</a></div><div class="verse">The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen <i>men</i> of Israel.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 31.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them (</span>comp. <a href="/numbers/11-33.htm">Numbers 11:33</a>, "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. <span class="cmt_word">And smote down the chosen men of Israel;</span> rather, <span class="accented">the young men</span>, as in the margin, "the ripened youths" (Cheyne). Here, again, the author adds touches which he has not obtained from the Pentateuch. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-32.htm">Psalm 78:32</a></div><div class="verse">For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 32.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">For all this they sinned still.</span> Neither gratitude for favours received (vers. 13-17), nor alarm at punishments inflicted (ver. 31), had any effect on the stiff-necked people; despite of both, they "sinned still" (comp. vers. 40, 41, 56-58). <span class="cmt_word">And believed not for his wondrous works.</span> 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 ver. 20). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-33.htm">Psalm 78:33</a></div><div class="verse">Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 33.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.</span> Their faithlessness was punished by their forty years of vain and purposeless wandering in the wilderness, and by the "troubles" that befell them there. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-34.htm">Psalm 78:34</a></div><div class="verse">When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and inquired early after God.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 34.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">When he slew them, then they sought him</span> (comp. <a href="/exodus/32-28.htm">Exodus 32:28, 35</a>; <a href="/exodus/33-4.htm">Exodus 33:4, 10</a>; <a href="/numbers/11-33.htm">Numbers 11:33</a>; <a href="/numbers/16-48.htm">Numbers 16:48, 49</a>, etc.). The repentance is not always noticed in the Mosaic narrative, being, as it was, short-lived, if not even feigned (ver. 36). But, no doubt, after each outpouring of the Divine vengeance, there was at least some show of repentance, as noted in <a href="/exodus/33-4.htm">Exodus 33:4</a>. <span class="cmt_word">And they returned</span> - <span class="accented">i.e.</span> turned back from their evil courses - <span class="cmt_word">and inquired early after God;</span> rather, <span class="accented">earnestly</span> (Cheyne, Canon Cook). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-35.htm">Psalm 78:35</a></div><div class="verse">And they remembered that God <i>was</i> their rock, and the high God their redeemer.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 35.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And they remembered that God was their Rock;</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> their strength and stay. The expression is first used of God in <a href="/deuteronomy/32-4.htm">Deuteronomy 32:4</a>. <span class="cmt_word">And the high God their Redeemer</span> (comp. <a href="/psalms/19-14.htm">Psalm 19:14</a>; <a href="/psalms/74-2.htm">Psalm 74:2</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-36.htm">Psalm 78:36</a></div><div class="verse">Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 36.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth.</span> The Revised Version is simpler and better, <span class="accented">But they flattered him with their mouth.</span> 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. <span class="cmt_word">And they lied unto him with their tongues.</span> They offered him a lip service, which was a "lie," a mere semblance of real religion. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-37.htm">Psalm 78:37</a></div><div class="verse">For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 37.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">For their heart was not right with him.</span> It is the worship of the heart alone which God values (see <a href="/deuteronomy/10-12.htm">Deuteronomy 10:12</a>; <a href="/proverbs/3-1.htm">Proverbs 3:1</a>; <a href="/proverbs/23-26.htm">Proverbs 23:26</a>, etc.). If the heart be not "right with God," our worship is an offence to him. <span class="cmt_word">Neither were they steadfast in his covenant</span> (comp. ver. 8). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-38.htm">Psalm 78:38</a></div><div class="verse">But he, <i>being</i> full of compassion, forgave <i>their</i> iniquity, and destroyed <i>them</i> not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 38.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity.</span> (On God's compassion, see <a href="/exodus/34-6.htm">Exodus 34:6, 7</a>; <a href="/numbers/14-18.htm">Numbers 14:18</a>; <a href="/psalms/103-8.htm">Psalm 103:8</a>; <a href="/psalms/145-8.htm">Psalm 145:8</a>.) <span class="cmt_word">And destroyed them not.</span> The allusion is to such occasions as are noted in <a href="/exodus/32-10.htm">Exodus 32:10-14</a>; <a href="/numbers/14-12.htm">Numbers 14:12-20</a>; <a href="/numbers/16-21.htm">Numbers 16:21, 45-50</a>, when God was on the point of destroying the whole people, but relented at the intercession of Moses. <span class="cmt_word">Yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath</span> (comp. <a href="/judges/2-11.htm">Judges 2:11-16</a>; <a href="/judges/3-8.htm">Judges 3:8, 9</a>; <a href="/judges/4-2.htm">Judges 4:2, 15</a>; <a href="/judges/6-1.htm">Judges 6:1-8</a>, etc.). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-39.htm">Psalm 78:39</a></div><div class="verse">For he remembered that they <i>were but</i> flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 39.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">For he remembered that they were but flesh</span> (comp. <a href="/genesis/6-3.htm">Genesis 6:3</a>). Flesh is weak, erring, frail - "in us, that is, in our flesh, dwelleth no good thing" (<a href="/romans/7-17.htm">Romans 7:17</a>) - God, therefore, who had made them "flesh," had compassion on their weakness. <span class="cmt_word">A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again</span> (comp. <a href="/job/7-7.htm">Job 7:7</a>). Man is a mere passing breath - as light, as fleeting, as transitory - "a vapour that appeareth for a little while, and then vanisheth away" (<a href="/james/4-14.htm">James 4:14</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-40.htm">Psalm 78:40</a></div><div class="verse">How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, <i>and</i> grieve him in the desert!</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 40.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!</span> (comp. <a href="/deuteronomy/31-27.htm">Deuteronomy 31:27</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/32-15.htm">Deuteronomy 32:15-18</a>; <a href="/acts/7-30.htm">Acts 7:30-43</a>, etc.). That God is "grieved" at man's sins appears, not only from this passage, but also from <a href="/genesis/6-6.htm">Genesis 6:6</a>; <a href="/psalms/95-10.htm">Psalm 95:10</a>; <a href="/ephesians/4-30.htm">Ephesians 4:30</a>; <a href="/hebrews/3-17.htm">Hebrews 3:17</a>. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-41.htm">Psalm 78:41</a></div><div class="verse">Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 41.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Yea, they turned back and tempted God;</span> rather, <span class="accented">again and again they</span> <span class="accented">tempted God</span> (Hengstenberg, Kay, Cheyne); see <a href="/exodus/17-2.htm">Exodus 17:2, 7</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/6-16.htm">Deuteronomy 6:16</a>. <span class="cmt_word">And limited the Holy One of Israel</span> (comp. <a href="/numbers/34-7.htm">Numbers 34:7, 8</a>). This may mean either "they set limits to his power in their own minds" (see ver. 20), or "they actually limited his power to help and succour them by their want of faith" (comp. <a href="/mark/6-5.htm">Mark 6:5</a>, "He could there do no mighty work," explained in <a href="/matthew/13-58.htm">Matthew 13:58</a> to have been "because of their unbelief"). The other meanings suggested - "disgraced" and" provoked" - are less probable. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-42.htm">Psalm 78:42</a></div><div class="verse">They remembered not his hand, <i>nor</i> the day when he delivered them from the enemy.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 42.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">They remembered not his hand;</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> "his doings" (comp. ver. 11, they "forgat his works"). <span class="cmt_word">Nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.</span> "The day" intended is probably that of the drowning of the Egyptians in the Red Sea (Exodus 15:28). In this the Egyptian signs culminated. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-43.htm">Psalm 78:43</a></div><div class="verse">How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 43.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">How he had wrought his signs in Egypt.</span> The point just touched in ver. 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. <span class="cmt_word">And his wonders in the field of Zoan.</span> "The field of Zoan" (<span class="accented">sochet Zoan</span>) is said to be mentioned in an Egyptian inscription (<span class="accented">Zeitschrift fur Aegyptische Sprache</span> for the year 1872, p. 16). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-44.htm">Psalm 78:44</a></div><div class="verse">And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 44.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And had turned their rivers into blood</span> (see <a href="/exodus/7-19.htm">Exodus 7:19, 20</a>). "Their rivers" are the many branches of the Nile, some natural, some artificial (Herod., 2:17), by which Lower Egypt is traversed. <span class="cmt_word">And their floods;</span> or, <span class="accented">their streams; i.e.</span> the smaller canals, which diffused the Nile water over the entire land. <span class="cmt_word">That they could not drink</span> (see <a href="/exodus/7-21.htm">Exodus 7:21</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-45.htm">Psalm 78:45</a></div><div class="verse">He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 45.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">He sent divers sorts of flies among them</span> (see <a href="/exodus/8-24.htm">Exodus 8:24</a>). 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 <span class="accented">Blatta</span> <span class="accented">Orientalis. <span class="cmt_word"></span>Which devoured them;</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> "preyed upon them," sucking out their life blood. <span class="cmt_word">And frogs, which destroyed them</span> (see <a href="/exodus/8-6.htm">Exodus 8:6</a>). 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. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-46.htm">Psalm 78:46</a></div><div class="verse">He gave also their increase unto the caterpiller, and their labour unto the locust.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 46.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labour unto the locust.</span> <span class="accented">Khasil</span> (<span class="hebrew">חָסִיל</span>), 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 <a href="/exodus/10-14.htm">Exodus 10:14, 15</a>.) </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-47.htm">Psalm 78:47</a></div><div class="verse">He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycomore trees with frost.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 47.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">He destroyed their vines with hail</span> (see <a href="/exodus/9-23.htm">Exodus 9:23-25</a>). 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 <a href="/psalms/105-33.htm">Psalm 105:33</a>), which may indicate a use of tradition. That vines were cultivated in Egypt is now generally acknowledged. <span class="cmt_word">And their sycamore trees with frost;</span> or, <span class="accented">with sleet</span> - a variant of the "hail" in the other hemistich. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-48.htm">Psalm 78:48</a></div><div class="verse">He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 48.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">He gave up their cattle also to the hall</span> (comp. <a href="/exodus/9-19.htm">Exodus 9:19-21, 25</a>). <span class="cmt_word">And their flocks to hot thunderbolts</span> (see <a href="/exodus/9-24.htm">Exodus 9:24, 28, 29, 34</a>). The "fire which ran along the ground" (<a href="/exodus/9-23.htm">Exodus 9:23</a>) 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 (<a href="/exodus/9-21.htm">Exodus 9:21, 25</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-49.htm">Psalm 78:49</a></div><div class="verse">He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels <i>among them</i>.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 49.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble.</span> "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. <span class="cmt_word">By sending evil angels among them.</span> 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 cf. 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." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-50.htm">Psalm 78:50</a></div><div class="verse">He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 50.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">He made a way to his anger;</span> literally, he <span class="accented">levelled a way for his anger; i.e.</span> made a smooth path for it (Cheyne). <span class="cmt_word">He spared not their soul from death</span>; rather, <span class="accented">held not back their soul. <span class="cmt_word"></span>But gave their life over to the pestilence.</span> This is, undoubtedly, the true meaning, and not "he gave their beasts over to the murrain." Though no "pestilence" is expressly mentioned in <a href="/exodus/12.htm">Exodus 12</a>. as having caused the death of the firstborn, yet pestilence may assuredly have been the means employed. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-51.htm">Psalm 78:51</a></div><div class="verse">And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of <i>their</i> strength in the tabernacles of Ham:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 51.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And smote all the firstborn in Egypt</span> (see <a href="/exodus/12-29.htm">Exodus 12:29</a>). <span class="cmt_word">The chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham;</span> or, "the <span class="accented">beginning</span> (literally, <span class="accented">firstfruits</span>) of their strength" (comp. <a href="/genesis/49-3.htm">Genesis 49:3</a>). "The tabernacles of Ham" is a periphrasis for "Egypt" - the Egyptians, according to the author of Genesis (<a href="/genesis/10-6.htm">Genesis 10:6</a>), being descendants of Ham (comp. <a href="/psalms/105-23.htm">Psalm 105:23, 27</a>; 6:22). 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. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-52.htm">Psalm 78:52</a></div><div class="verse">But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 52.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">But made his own people to go forth like sheep</span> (comp. <a href="/psalms/77-20.htm">Psalm 77:20</a>; <a href="/psalms/95-7.htm">Psalm 95:7</a>). <span class="cmt_word">And guided them in the wilderness like a flock.</span> The guidance began from Succoth, and was effected by means of the pillar of the cloud and the pillar of fire (see <a href="/exodus/13-20.htm">Exodus 13:20-22</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-53.htm">Psalm 78:53</a></div><div class="verse">And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 53.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And he led them on safely, so that they feared not</span> (comp. <a href="/exodus/14-13.htm">Exodus 14:13-22</a>). At Pi-hahiroth they "were sore afraid" (<a href="/exodus/14-10.htm">Exodus 14:10</a>), but after Moses had exhorted them (ver. 13), they showed no more signs of fear. <span class="cmt_word">But the sea overwhelmed their enemies</span> (<a href="/exodus/14-26.htm">Exodus 14:26-31</a>; <a href="/exodus/15-1.htm">Exodus 15:1, 4, 10</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-54.htm">Psalm 78:54</a></div><div class="verse">And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, <i>even to</i> this mountain, <i>which</i> his right hand had purchased.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 54.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And he brought them to the Border of his sanctuary.</span> The "sanctuary" is here probably the Holy Land, as in <a href="/exodus/15-17.htm">Exodus 15:17</a>; or we may translate <span class="hebrew">גבוּל קדשׁו</span> "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. <span class="cmt_word">Which his right hand had purchased;</span> or, <span class="accented">had gotten</span>, "had won." God's right hand won the whole land for his people. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-55.htm">Psalm 78:55</a></div><div class="verse">He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 55.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">He cast out the heathen also before them</span> (comp. <a href="/exodus/34-24.htm">Exodus 34:24</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/7-1.htm">Deuteronomy 7:1</a>; <a href="/1_kings/21-26.htm">1 Kings 21:26</a>: <a href="/psalms/44-2.htm">Psalm 44:2</a>, 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" (<a href="/psalms/44-3.htm">Psalm 44:3</a>). <span class="cmt_word">And divided them an inheritance by line.</span> The measuring line, which was employed in parcelling out territory, is intended (comp. <a href="/jeremiah/31-39.htm">Jeremiah 31:39</a>; <a href="/amos/7-17.htm">Amos 7:17</a>). Joshua's division of the land (<a href="/joshua/15.htm">Joshua 15-19</a>.) among the tribes is specially pointed at. <span class="cmt_word">And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents;</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> in the tents of the heathen - the abodes of the Hivites, Hittites, Amorites, Porizzites, Girgashites, and Jebusites. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-56.htm">Psalm 78:56</a></div><div class="verse">Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 56.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God</span> (comp. above, ver. 17). The Israelites continued to "tempt and provoke God" after they had obtained possession of the Holy Land, and divided it among them (see <a href="/judges/2-11.htm">Judges 2:11-19</a>; <a href="/judges/3-12.htm">Judges 3:12</a>; <a href="/judges/4-1.htm">Judges 4:1</a>; <a href="/judges/6-1.htm">Judges 6:1</a>; <a href="/judges/10-6.htm">Judges 10:6-15</a>; <a href="/judges/13-1.htm">Judges 13:1</a>, etc.). <span class="cmt_word">And kept not his testimonies;</span> or, <span class="accented">his ordinances</span> (Cheyne). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-57.htm">Psalm 78:57</a></div><div class="verse">But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 57.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers</span> (comp. ver. 8, end the comment <span class="accented">ad</span> <span class="accented">loc</span>.). <span class="cmt_word">They were turned aside like a deceitful bow</span> (comp. <a href="/hosea/7-16.htm">Hosea 7:16</a>). 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. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-58.htm">Psalm 78:58</a></div><div class="verse">For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 58.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">For they provoked him to anger with their high places.</span> The "high place" worship was always displeasing to God. It was, no doubt, deeply tinged with idolatry. <span class="cmt_word">And moved him to jealousy with their graven images.</span> 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 <a href="/judges/17.htm">Judges 17</a>. and 18, especially <a href="/judges/17-4.htm">Judges 17:4, 13</a>, and <a href="/judges/18-14.htm">Judges 18:14, 17, 18, 31</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-59.htm">Psalm 78:59</a></div><div class="verse">When God heard <i>this</i>, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 59.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">When God heard this, he was wroth</span> (comp. above, ver. 21). <span class="cmt_word">And greatly abhorred Israel</span>. Not Israel, as distinct from Judah, but Israel in the broadest sense, the entire nation, as in ver. 55. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-60.htm">Psalm 78:60</a></div><div class="verse">So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent <i>which</i> he placed among men;</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 60.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh.</span> The "tabernacle of the congregation" was first set up under Joshua (<a href="/joshua/18.htm">Joshua 18</a>.) at Shiloh, a city of Ephraim, and here the national sanctuary continued throughout the period of the Judges (<a href="/judges/18-31.htm">Judges 18:31</a>; <a href="/judges/21-19.htm">Judges 21:19</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/1-3.htm">1 Samuel 1:3, 24</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/2-14.htm">1 Samuel 2:14</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/3-21.htm">1 Samuel 3:21</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/4-4.htm">1 Samuel 4:4</a>, etc.). God was regarded as having "forsaken" this sanctuary, when he allowed the ark of the covenant, its chief treasure, to be taken (<a href="/1_samuel/4-11.htm">1 Samuel 4:11-22</a>). Subsequently, but at what exact time is unknown, the tabernacle was removed from Shiloh to Nob (<a href="/1_samuel/21-1.htm">1 Samuel 21:1</a>), and later on to Gibson (<a href="/1_kings/3-4.htm">1 Kings 3:4</a>). <span class="cmt_word">The tent which he pitched among men</span>. (On the form and materials of the tabernacle, see <a href="/exodus/26-1.htm">Exodus 26:1-37</a>, and compare Mr. Fergusson's article on the subject in Smith's 'Dictionary of the Bible,' vol. 3. pp. 1451-1455.) </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-61.htm">Psalm 78:61</a></div><div class="verse">And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 61.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand</span>. God's "strength" and "glory" is the ark of the covenant (compare the expression in <a href="/1_samuel/4-21.htm">1 Samuel 4:21, 22</a>, "The glory is departed from Israel"). (For the capture and "captivity" of the ark, see <a href="/1_samuel/4-17.htm">1 Samuel 4:17</a>, and 5, 6.) </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-62.htm">Psalm 78:62</a></div><div class="verse">He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 62.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">He gave his people over also unto the sword.</span> Thirty thousand Israelites were slain in the battle in which the ark was captured (see <a href="/1_samuel/4-10.htm">1 Samuel 4:10</a>). <span class="cmt_word">And was wroth with his inheritance</span> (comp. <a href="/psalms/28-9.htm">Psalm 28:9</a>; <a href="/psalms/33-12.htm">Psalm 33:12</a>; <a href="/psalms/106-5.htm">Psalm 106:5, 40</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-63.htm">Psalm 78:63</a></div><div class="verse">The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 63.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">The fire consumed their young men.</span> The reference is not to such passages as <a href="/leviticus/10-2.htm">Leviticus 10:2</a>; <a href="/numbers/11-1.htm">Numbers 11:1</a>; <a href="/numbers/16-35.htm">Numbers 16:35</a>, where a literal fire seems to be spoken of, but rather to the fire of war (<a href="/numbers/21-28.htm">Numbers 21:28</a>; <a href="/isaiah/26-11.htm">Isaiah 26:11</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/48-45.htm">Jeremiah 48:45</a>), or more generally to the fire of the Divine anger (<a href="/isaiah/10-16.htm">Isaiah 10:16-18</a>; <a href="/isaiah/47-14.htm">Isaiah 47:14</a>, etc.). <span class="cmt_word">And their maidens were not given to marriage;</span> literally, <span class="accented">were not praised in song; i.e.</span> 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. <a href="/isaiah/4-1.htm">Isaiah 4:1</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-64.htm">Psalm 78:64</a></div><div class="verse">Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 64.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Their priests fell by the sword.</span> As Hophni and Phinehas at the taking of the ark (<a href="/1_samuel/4-11.htm">1 Samuel 4:11</a>), and, no doubt, many others on other occasions. <span class="cmt_word">And their widows made no lamentation.</span> The solemn funeral dirge could not take place, since the bodies remained on the battlefield. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-65.htm">Psalm 78:65</a></div><div class="verse">Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, <i>and</i> like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 65.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep</span> (comp. <a href="/psalms/7-6.htm">Psalm 7:6</a>; <a href="/psalms/35-23.htm">Psalm 35:23</a>; <a href="/psalms/73-20.htm">Psalm 73:20</a>). 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 <a href="/2_kings/18-27.htm">2 Kings 18:27</a>; <a href="/psalms/121-3.htm">Psalm 121:3, 4</a>). And like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine (comp. <a href="/zechariah/10-7.htm">Zechariah 10:7</a>; <a href="/isaiah/42-13.htm">Isaiah 42:13</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-66.htm">Psalm 78:66</a></div><div class="verse">And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 66.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts</span>; rather, <span class="accented">backward</span>, so that they fled before him (comp. <a href="/psalms/40-14.htm">Psalm 40:14</a>; <a href="/psalms/70-2.htm">Psalm 70:2</a>, etc.). There is no allusion to <a href="/1_samuel/5-6.htm">1 Samuel 5:6-12</a>. The reference is rather to the many victories of Israel over the Philistines, which began under Samuel (<a href="/1_samuel/7-10.htm">1 Samuel 7:10</a>), and continued under Saul and David. <span class="cmt_word">He put them to a perpetual reproach.</span> Covered them, that is, with shame and disgrace. The shame culminated, perhaps, in David's victory over Goliath (<a href="/1_samuel/17-40.htm">1 Samuel 17:40-51</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-67.htm">Psalm 78:67</a></div><div class="verse">Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 67.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph.</span> 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. <span class="cmt_word">And chose not the tribe of Ephraim.</span> Ephraim had enjoyed the pre-eminency from the time of the death of Moses (see the comment on ver. 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 <a href="/genesis/49-8.htm">Genesis 49:8-10</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-68.htm">Psalm 78:68</a></div><div class="verse">But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 68.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">But chose the tribe of Judah.</span> The choice was made when David was, by God's command, anointed to be king (<a href="/1_samuel/16-1.htm">1 Samuel 16:1-12</a>). <span class="cmt_word">The Mount Zion which he loved</span> (comp. <a href="/psalms/87-2.htm">Psalm 87:2</a>, "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" (<a href="/2_samuel/5-9.htm">2 Samuel 5:9</a>), and of bringing up the ark of the covenant into it (<a href="/2_samuel/6-12.htm">2 Samuel 6:12-17</a>). The presence of the ark determined the selection of Jerusalem for the site of the temple. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-69.htm">Psalm 78:69</a></div><div class="verse">And he built his sanctuary like high <i>palaces</i>, like the earth which he hath established for ever.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 69.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And he built his sanctuary like high palaces</span>; rather, <span class="accented">like the heights.</span> The "heights of heaven" (<a href="/job/11-8.htm">Job 11:8</a>; <a href="/job/22-12.htm">Job 22:12</a>) are probably meant. <span class="cmt_word">Like the earth which he hath established forever;</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> lofty as heaven, stable and firmly fixed as earth. The ultimate fate of the sanctuary is mercifully hidden from the psalmist. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-70.htm">Psalm 78:70</a></div><div class="verse">He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 70.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">He chose David also his servant</span> (see <a href="/1_samuel/16-1.htm">1 Samuel 16:1, 12</a>). <span class="cmt_word">And took him from</span> <span class="cmt_word">the sheepfolds</span> (comp. <a href="/1_samuel/16-11.htm">1 Samuel 16:11, 19</a>; <a href="/2_samuel/7-8.htm">2 Samuel 7:8</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-71.htm">Psalm 78:71</a></div><div class="verse">From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 71.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">From following the ewes great with young he brought him</span> (comp. <a href="/isaiah/40-11.htm">Isaiah 40:11</a>). 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. <span class="cmt_word">To feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance</span> (see <a href="/1_chronicles/11-2.htm">1 Chronicles 11:2</a>). As Peter, James, and John were called from their occupation of fishers to be "fishers of men" (<a href="/matthew/4-19.htm">Matthew 4:19</a>), so David was called from feeding sheep to feed God's people. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/78-72.htm">Psalm 78:72</a></div><div class="verse">So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 72.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart.</span> On the whole, David performed his task of governing Israel faithfully. He had the direct testimony of God to that effect (see <a href="/1_kings/9-4.htm">1 Kings 9:4</a>). <span class="cmt_word">And he guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.</span> 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. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> </div></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. 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