PsalmsChapter 78

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¹A maskil of Asaph.
My people, listen to my teaching.
Hear the words of my mouth. ²I will open my mouth in parables.
I will speak about things hidden since the beginning. ³We have heard and known these things.
Our fathers told them to us. ⁴We will not hide them from their children.
We will tell the next generation
about the LORD's praises and his power.
We will tell the wonders he has done. ⁵For he set up a witness in Jacob.
He gave a law in Israel.
He commanded our fathers
to teach these things to their children. ⁶Then the next generation would know them,
even children not yet born.
They would grow up and tell their own children. ⁷Then they would put their trust in God.
They would not forget what he has done.
They would keep his commands. ⁸Then they would not be like their fathers.
Those people were stubborn and rebelled.
Their hearts were not loyal.
Their spirits were not faithful to God. ⁹The archers of Ephraim turned and ran
on the day of battle. ¹⁰They did not keep God's covenant.
They refused to live by his law. ¹¹They forgot what he had done.
They forgot the wonders he had shown them. ¹²He did wonders in front of their fathers
in the land of Egypt, in the area of Zoan. ¹³He split the sea and led them through.
He made the waters stand up like a wall. ¹⁴He led them with a cloud during the day.
He led them with the light of a fire all night. ¹⁵He split the rocks in the wilderness.
He gave them as much water to drink as the seas. ¹⁶He brought streams out of the rock.
He made water flow down like rivers. ¹⁷But they kept on sinning against him.
In the desert they rebelled against the Most High. ¹⁸They tested God on purpose.
They demanded the food they wanted so badly. ¹⁹They spoke against God.
They said, "Can God really set a table in the wilderness? ²⁰When he struck the rock, water poured out.
Streams rushed out.
But can he also give bread?
Can he give his people meat?" ²¹So the LORD heard them and was very angry.
A fire was lit against Jacob.
His anger blazed against Israel. ²²This was because they did not believe God.
They did not trust him to save them. ²³Yet he gave orders to the clouds above.
He opened the doors of the skies. ²⁴He rained down manna for them to eat.
He gave them grain from heaven. ²⁵People ate the bread of angels.
He sent them more than enough food. ²⁶He stirred up the east wind in the skies.
By his power he drove the south wind. ²⁷He rained meat on them like dust.
He rained birds on them like sand on the seashore. ²⁸He made the birds fall in the middle of their camp.
They fell all around their tents. ²⁹So they ate until they were very full,
for he gave them what they wanted so badly. ³⁰But before they had their fill,
while the food was still in their mouths, ³¹God's anger blazed against them.
He killed the strongest of them.
He struck down the young men of Israel. ³²Even so, they kept on sinning.
He had done wonderful things, but they did not believe. ³³So he ended their days with nothing to show for them.
He ended their years with sudden terror. ³⁴Whenever he killed some of them, the rest would look for him.
They turned back and searched for God. ³⁵They remembered that God was their Rock.
They remembered that God Most High was their Redeemer. ³⁶But they tricked him with their mouths.
They lied to him with their tongues. ³⁷Their hearts were not loyal to him.
They were not faithful to his covenant. ³⁸Yet he was full of mercy.
He forgave their sin and did not destroy them.
Many times he held back his anger.
He did not let loose all his fury. ³⁹He remembered that they were only human.
They were like a breeze that passes by and does not come back. ⁴⁰How often they disobeyed him in the wilderness!
How often they made him sad in the desert! ⁴¹Again and again they tested God.
They made the Holy One of Israel angry. ⁴²They did not remember his power.
They forgot the day he redeemed them from the enemy. ⁴³They forgot when he did his signs in Egypt.
They forgot his wonders in the fields of Zoan. ⁴⁴He turned their rivers into blood.
They could not drink from their streams. ⁴⁵He sent swarms of flies that ate them up.
He sent frogs that ruined them. ⁴⁶He gave their crops to grasshoppers.
He gave what they worked for to locusts. ⁴⁷He killed their grapevines with hail.
He killed their fig trees with sleet. ⁴⁸He gave their cattle over to the hail.
He gave their herds over to bolts of lightning. ⁴⁹He let loose his burning anger against them.
He sent fury, rage, and disaster.
He sent a band of angels who destroy. ⁵⁰He made a path for his anger.
He did not spare them from death.
He handed their lives over to the plague. ⁵¹He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt.
They were the first of their strength in the tents of Ham. ⁵²He led his people out like sheep.
He guided them like a flock in the wilderness. ⁵³He led them safely, so they were not afraid.
But the sea covered their enemies. ⁵⁴He brought them to his holy land.
He brought them to the mountain his right hand had won. ⁵⁵He drove out nations ahead of them.
He divided up their land for his people to own.
He let the tribes of Israel live in their tents. ⁵⁶But they tested God Most High and disobeyed him,
for they did not keep his laws. ⁵⁷They turned away and were not faithful, like their fathers.
They were as twisted as a bad bow. ⁵⁸They made him angry with their high places.
They made him jealous with their idols. ⁵⁹When God heard this, he was very angry.
He turned away from Israel completely. ⁶⁰He left the tabernacle at Shiloh.
It was the tent he had set up among people. ⁶¹He let his strength be taken captive.
He let his glory fall into the enemy's hands.a ⁶²He handed his people over to the sword,
because he was very angry with the people who belonged to him. ⁶³Fire burned up his young men.
Their young women had no wedding songs. ⁶⁴His priests were killed by the sword.
Their widows could not weep for them. ⁶⁵Then the Lord woke up as if from sleep.
He was like a mighty warrior who had been overcome by wine. ⁶⁶He beat back his enemies.
He put them to shame forever. ⁶⁷He turned away from the tent of Joseph.
He did not choose the tribe of Ephraim. ⁶⁸But he chose the tribe of Judah.
He chose Mount Zion, which he loved. ⁶⁹He built his holy place like the high heavens.
He made it firm like the earth, which he set in place forever. ⁷⁰He chose his servant David.
He took him from the sheep pens. ⁷¹David had cared for the mother sheep.
God brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,
of Israel, the people who belong to him. ⁷²So David cared for them with an honest heart.
He led them with skillful hands.