Psalms 78
1 A contemplation by Asaph. Hear my teaching, my people. Turn your ears to the words of my mouth.
My friends, listen to what I am going to teach you; pay careful attention [IDM] to what I say.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old,
I am going to give you some sayings that wise people have said. They will be sayings about things that happened long ago, things that were difficult to understand [MET],
3 which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
things that we have heard and known previously, things that our parents and grandparents told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, his strength, and his wondrous deeds that he has done.
We will tell these things to our children [LIT], and we will also tell to our grandchildren [about] Yahweh’s power and the glorious/great things that he has done.
5 For he established a covenant in Jacob, and appointed a teaching in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children;
He gave laws and commandments to the Israeli people, [those who are the descendants of] Jacob [DOU], and he told our ancestors to teach them to their children
6 that the generation to come might know, even the children who should be born; who should arise and tell their children,
in order that their children would [also] know them and then they would teach them to their children.
7 that they might set their hope in God, and not forget God’s deeds, but keep his commandments,
In that way, they also would trust in God, and not forget the things that he has done; instead, they would obey his commandments.
8 and might not be as their fathers— a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not make their hearts loyal, whose spirit was not steadfast with God.
They would not be like their ancestors, who were very stubborn and kept rebelling [against God]; they did not continue firmly trusting in God, and they did not worship only him.
9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.
[The soldiers of] the tribe of Ephraim had bows [and arrows] but they ran away [from their enemies] on the day that they fought a battle with their enemies.
10 They did not keep God’s covenant, and refused to walk in his law.
They did not do what they had agreed with God that they would do; they refused to obey his laws.
11 They forgot his doings, his wondrous deeds that he had shown them.
They forgot what he had done; they forgot about the miracles that they had seen him perform.
12 He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
While our ancestors were watching, God performed miracles in the area around Zoan [city] in Egypt.
13 He split the sea, and caused them to pass through. He made the waters stand as a heap.
[Then] he caused the [Red] Sea to divide, causing the water [on each side] to pile up like a wall, with the result that [our ancestors] walked through it [on dry ground].
14 In the daytime he also led them with a cloud, and all night with a light of fire.
He led them by a [bright] cloud during the day and by a fiery light during the night.
15 He split rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.
He split rocks open in the desert, giving to our ancestors plenty of water from deep inside the earth.
16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
He caused a stream of water to flow from the rock; the water flowed like a river [DOU].
17 Yet they still went on to sin against him, to rebel against the Most High in the desert.
But [our ancestors] continued to sin against God; in the desert they rebelled against the one who is greater than any other god.
18 They tempted God in their heart by asking food according to their desire.
By demanding that God give them the food that they desired, they tried to find out if he would always do what they requested him to do.
19 Yes, they spoke against God. They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
They insulted God by saying, “We don’t think he can supply food for us [here] in this desert!
20 Behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out, and streams overflowed. Can he give bread also? Will he provide meat for his people?”
[It is true that] he struck the rock, with the result that water gushed/flowed out, [but] (can he also provide bread and meat for [us], his people?/we doubt that he can also provide bread and meat for us, his people.)” [RHQ]
21 Therefore the LORD heard, and was angry. A fire was kindled against Jacob, anger also went up against Israel,
So, when Yahweh heard that, he became very angry, and he sent a fire to burn up [some of] his Israeli [people]. [MTY, DOU]
22 because they did not believe in God, and did not trust in his salvation.
[He did that] because they did not trust in him, and they did not believe that he would rescue them.
23 Yet he commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven.
But God spoke to the sky above them; he commanded it to open [like] a door,
24 He rained down manna on them to eat, and gave them food from the sky.
and [then food] fell down like rain, [food which they named] ‘manna’; God gave them grain from (heaven/the sky).
25 Man ate the bread of angels. He sent them food to the full.
[So] the people ate the food that angels eat, [and] God gave to them all the manna that they wanted.
26 He caused the east wind to blow in the sky. By his power he guided the south wind.
[Later], he caused the wind to blow from the east, and by his power he also sent wind from the south,
27 He also rained meat on them as the dust, winged birds as the sand of the seas.
and the wind brought birds which were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore.
28 He let them fall in the middle of their camp, around their habitations.
God caused those birds to fall [dead] in the middle of (their camp)/the area where the people had put up their tents. [There were dead birds] all around their tents.
29 So they ate, and were well filled. He gave them their own desire.
[So] the people [cooked the birds and] ate the meat and their stomachs were full, because God had given them what they wanted.
30 They did not turn from their cravings. Their food was yet in their mouths,
But before they had eaten all that they wanted, and while they were still eating it,
31 when the anger of God went up against them, killed some of their strongest, and struck down the young men of Israel.
God was [still] very angry with them, and he caused their strongest men to die; he got rid of [many of] the finest [young] Israeli men.
32 For all this they still sinned, and did not believe in his wondrous works.
In spite of all that, the people continued to sin; in spite of all the miracles that God had performed, they still did not trust that he [would take care of them].
33 Therefore he consumed their days in vanity, and their years in terror.
So, he caused their lives to end as quickly as a puff of wind ends; they died when disasters suddenly struck them.
34 When he killed them, then they inquired after him. They returned and sought God earnestly.
When God caused [some of] them to die, [the others] turned to God; they repented and earnestly asked God [to save them].
35 They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God, their redeemer.
They remembered that God is [like] a huge rock ledge [under which they would be safe] [MET], and that he, who was greater than any other god, is the one who protected/rescued them.
36 But they flattered him with their mouth, and lied to him with their tongue.
But they [tried to] deceive God by what they said [MTY]; their words [MTY] were [all] lies.
37 For their heart was not right with him, neither were they faithful in his covenant.
They were not loyal to him; they disregarded/ignored the agreement that he had made with them.
38 But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and did not destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.
But God was merciful to his people. He forgave them for having sinned and did not get rid of them. Many times he refrained from becoming angry [with them] and restrained from furiously/severely [punishing them] [MTY].
39 He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes away, and does not come again.
He remembered/considered that they were only humans who die; they [disappear quickly] [SIM], like a wind that blows by and then is gone.
40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness, and grieved him in the desert!
Many times our ancestors rebelled against God in the desert and caused him to become very sad.
41 They turned again and tempted God, and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
Many times they did evil things, to find out [if they could do those things without God punishing them]. They frequently caused the holy God of Israel to become disgusted/sad.
42 They did not remember his hand, nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary;
They forgot about his [great] power, and they (forgot/did not think) about the time when he rescued them from their enemies.
43 how he set his signs in Egypt, his wonders in the field of Zoan,
They forgot about when he performed many miracles in the area near Zoan [city] in Egypt.
44 he turned their rivers into blood, and their streams, so that they could not drink.
He caused the [Nile] River (OR, their sources of water) to become [red like] blood, with the result that the people of Egypt had no water to drink.
45 He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.
He sent among the people of Egypt swarms of flies that bit them, and he sent frogs that ate up everything.
46 He also gave their increase to the caterpillar, and their labor to the locust.
He sent locusts to eat their crops and the other things that grew in their fields.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail, their sycamore fig trees with frost.
He sent hail that destroyed the grapevines, and sent frost that ruined the figs.
48 He also gave over their livestock to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
He sent hail that killed their cattle and sent lightning that killed their sheep and cows.
49 He threw on them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, indignation, and trouble, and a band of angels of evil.
Because God was fiercely angry with the people of Egypt, he caused them to be very distressed. The disasters that struck them were like a group of angels that destroyed [everything].
50 He made a path for his anger. He did not spare their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence,
He did not lessen his being angry [with them], and he did not (spare their lives/prevent them from dying); he sent a (plague/serious illness) that killed [many of] them.
51 and struck all the firstborn in Egypt, the chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.
He also caused all the firstborn sons of the people of Egypt to die.
52 But he led out his own people like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
Then he led his people out [of Egypt] like [a shepherd leads] his sheep [SIM], and he guided them [while they walked] through the desert.
53 He led them safely, so that they were not afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
He led them safely, and they were not afraid, but their enemies were drowned in the sea.
54 He brought them to the border of his sanctuary, to this mountain, which his right hand had taken.
[Later] he brought them to [Canaan], his sacred land, to [Zion] Hill (OR, the hilly area) and by his power [MTY] he enabled them to conquer [the people who were living there].
55 He also drove out the nations before them, allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
He expelled the people-groups while his people were advancing; he allotted part of the land for [each tribe] to possess, and he gave to the Israeli people the houses of those people who had been expelled.
56 Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God, and did not keep his testimonies,
However, the Israeli people rebelled against God, who is greater than any other god, and they did many evil things to see if they could do those things without God punishing them, and they did not obey his commandments.
57 but turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. They were twisted like a deceitful bow.
Instead, like their ancestors did, they rebelled against God and (were not loyal to/did not faithfully [obey]) him; they were as [unreliable as] a crooked arrow [that does not go straight] [SIM].
58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their engraved images.
Because they [worshiped] carved images of their gods on the tops of hills, they caused God to become angry [DOU].
59 When God heard this, he was angry, and greatly abhorred Israel,
He saw what they were doing and became very angry, so he rejected the Israeli people.
60 so that he abandoned the tent of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men,
He no longer appeared to them at Shiloh in the tent where he had lived among them.
61 and delivered his strength into captivity, his glory into the adversary’s hand.
He allowed their enemies to capture [the sacred chest], [which was the symbol of] his power and his glory.
62 He also gave his people over to the sword, and was angry with his inheritance.
Because he was angry with his people, he allowed them to be killed [MTY] [by their enemies].
63 Fire devoured their young men. Their virgins had no wedding song.
Young men were killed in battles, with the result that the young women had no one to marry.
64 Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows could not weep.
[Many] priests were killed by [their enemies’] swords, and (the people did not allow the priests’ widows/the priests’ widows were not allowed) to mourn.
65 Then the Lord awakened as one out of sleep, like a mighty man who shouts by reason of wine.
Later, [it was as though] the Lord awoke from sleeping; he was like a strong man who (became stimulated/felt that he was strong) by (OR, became sober after) [drinking] a lot of wine [SIM].
66 He struck his adversaries backward. He put them to a perpetual reproach.
He pushed their enemies back and caused them to be [very] ashamed for a long time [HYP] [because they had been defeated].
67 Moreover he rejected the tent of Joseph, and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
[But] he did not set up his tent where [the people of] the tribe of Ephraim lived; he did not choose their area [to do that].
68 But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved.
Instead he chose [the area where] the tribe of Judah [lived]; he chose Zion Hill, which he loves.
69 He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which he has established forever.
He [decided to have] his temple built [there], high up, like [his home in] heaven; he caused it to be firm, [and intended that] his temple would last forever, like the earth.
70 He also chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds;
He chose David, who served him [faithfully], and took him from the pastures
71 from following the ewes that have their young, he brought him to be the shepherd of Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.
where he was taking care of his [father’s] sheep, and appointed him to be the leader [MET] of the Israeli people, the people who belong to God.
72 So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.
David took care of the Israeli people sincerely and wholeheartedly, and guided them skillfully/wisely.
