Psalms 78

This is a history psalm (see 105, 106, 114, 135, and 136). The German philosopher Hegel said that the one thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history. If you study the Bible and church history, you discover that God’s people make that same mistake. As Asaph reviewed the history of his people, he saw a sad record of forgetfulness, faithlessness, foolishness, and failure, and he sought to understand what it all meant. These things were written for the profit of believers today (1 Cor. 10:11–12), so we had better heed what Asaph says. As A. T. Pierson said, “History is His story.”

The psalm concludes with the coronation of David, but the mention of the temple in verse 69 indicates that David’s reign had ended. “Ephraim” in verse 9 probably refers, not to the tribe, but to the northern kingdom (Israel) that had split from Judah and Benjamin when Rehoboam became king (1 Kings 12). The leaders of Israel abandoned the faith of their fathers and established a religion of their own making, while the people of Judah sought to be faithful to the Lord. In this psalm, Asaph warned the people of Judah not to imitate their faithless ancestors or their idolatrous neighbors and disobey the Lord. He admonished them to know the Scriptures and teach them to their children. Judah had the temple on Mount Zion, the covenants, the priesthood, and the Davidic dynasty, and all this could be lost in one generation (see Judg. 2). Since Israel is a covenant nation, she has the responsibility of obeying and honoring the Lord, and this psalm presents three responsibilities God expected His people to fulfill.

Where would we be today if over the centuries the remnant of Jewish spiritual leaders had not preserved the Scriptures for us! Until the New Testament was completed near the end of the first century, the only Bible the early church had was the Old Testament. It was God’s law that each generation of Jewish people pass on God’s Word to the next generation (71:18; 79:13; 102:18; 145:4; see Ex. 10:2; 12:26–27; 13:8, 14; Deut. 4:9; 6:6–9, 20–25), and this law applies to His church today (2 Tim. 2:2). In telling the “praises of the Lord”—His deeds worthy of praise—Asaph helped his readers understand an enigma in their history. (See Matt. 13:35.) He explained why God rejected the tribe of Ephraim and chose the tribe of Judah and David to be king, and why He abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh and had a temple built on Mount Zion. Future generations needed to understand this so they would obey the Lord and do His will. Asaph did not want the people to imitate the “exodus generation” that died in the wilderness, or the third generation in Canaan that turned to idols, or the ten tribes that forsook the Lord and established a new kingdom and a false religion. The nation had been stubborn and rebellious (vv. 8, 37; Deut. 21:18) and had suffered because of their disobedience. On the positive side, Asaph wanted the future generations to trust God, to learn from the past, and to obey God’s Word (v. 8). Only then could they be sure of the blessing of the Lord. That principle still applies today.

Asaph reviewed the past, beginning with the apostasy of Ephraim (vv. 9–11) and continuing with Israel’s sins in the wilderness (vv. 12–39) and in Canaan (vv. 54–64). One of the causes of their rebellion was that they forgot God’s victory over the gods of Egypt and His deliverance of Israel from bondage (vv. 12–13, 40–53). They also did not take to heart His care for them during their wilderness journey. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (George Santayana).

The apostasy of Ephraim (vv. 9–11). This passage refers to the northern kingdom of Israel. When the ten tribes broke away from Judah and Benjamin, they informally adopted the name of their strongest and largest tribe, Ephraim. Joseph’s sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, were adopted and blessed by Jacob, who made Ephraim the firstborn (Gen. 48:8–20; see Deut. 33:13–17). This added to the tribe’s prestige. Moses’ successor, Joshua, came from Ephraim (Num. 13:8), and so did Jeroboam, the founding king of Israel/Ephraim (1 Kings 11:26; 12:16ff.). Proud and militant, the tribe created problems for both Joshua (Josh. 17:14–18) and Gideon (Judg. 8:1–3). The tabernacle was in Shiloh, which was located in Ephraim, and this also added to the honor of the tribe. Like a warrior fleeing from the battlefield, Israel turned back from following the Lord, disobeyed Him, and forgot what He had done for them. (For the image of the “bow,” see also verse 57 and Hos. 7:16.) By opening this long historical section with a description of the apostasy of the northern kingdom, Asaph was warning Judah not to follow their example.

The nation’s sins in the wilderness (vv. 12–39). Asaph now returned to the account of the sins of the whole nation, before the political division after Solomon’s death. The Jews forgot what the Lord did for them in Egypt when He sent the plagues to Egypt and delivered the Jewish people at the exodus. The people saw one miracle after another as the Lord exposed the futility of the Egyptian gods and goddesses (Ex. 12:12; Num. 33:4), but the memory soon faded. (Asaph will again mention the Egyptian experience in vv. 40–53.) God led the nation both day and night and miraculously provided water for all the people. In verses 15–16, he combined the water miracles of Exodus 17:1–7 and Numbers 20:1–13. But the people would not trust the Lord but tempted Him by asking for food, “a table in the wilderness” (vv. 17–31). He sent manna, the “bread of heaven,” as well as fowl to eat (Ex. 16; Num. 11), but He judged them for their insolence and fleshly appetite. Sometimes God’s greatest judgment is to give us what we want. (See vv. 21, 31, 49–50, 58–59, 62.) “He brought their days to an end in futility” (v. 33 nasb; 90:7–12) at Kadesh Barnea when they refused to enter the land (Num. 13—14). They wandered for the next thirty-eight years until the people twenty years and older all died (Num. 14:28–38). From time to time, God’s discipline did bring them to their knees in temporary repentance, but their confessions were insincere flattery (v. 36), and they soon rebelled again. In His mercy, God forgave them and held back His wrath, but they were a generation that grieved His heart.

The forgotten lessons of Egypt (vv. 40–53). The people did not remember the demonstrations of God’s power in sending the plagues to Egypt (Ex. 7—12; Num. 14:32–35) and in opening the Red Sea to set the nation free (Ex. 12—15). Asaph listed six of the ten plagues but did not mention the gnats (Ex. 8:16–19), the killing of the livestock (Ex. 9:1–7), the boils (Ex. 9:8–12), and the three days of darkness before the death of the firstborn (Ex. 10:21–29). After this great display of divine power, the people should have been able to trust the Lord in any situation, knowing that He was in control, but they grieved Him, provoked Him, and tempted Him to display His anger against them! Human nature has not changed. Spurgeon said that we are too prone to engrave our trials in the marble and write our blessings in the sand. They opposed the Holy One of Israel (v. 41; 71:22; 89:18), and He disciplined them time after time.

The sins in Canaan (vv. 54–64). After caring for the nation in the wilderness for thirty-eight years, the Lord brought them again to Kadesh Barnea (Deut. 1:1–2). There Moses reviewed their history and taught them God’s law as he prepared the new generation to enter the land and conquer the enemy. Often in his farewell speech (which we call Deuteronony—“second law”), Moses exhorted them to remember and not forget what the Lord had said to them and done for them. They were a new generation, making a new beginning with a new leader (Joshua) and a new opportunity to trust God. Under Joshua’s able leadership, they conquered the land and claimed their inheritance, and for two generations obeyed the Lord. But the third generation repeated the sins of their ancestors and forgot what the Lord had said and done (vv. 56–57; Josh. 2:7–10). (The “faulty bow” image shows up again in Hos. 7:16.) Instead of destroying the altars and idols, the Jewish people mingled with the people of the land and learned their evil ways, and God had to discipline His people by turning them over to their enemies (v. 59). The book of Judges records how seven different nations invaded the nation of Israel and how God raised up judges to deliver Israel when the people repented and turned to Him for help. During the days of Eli the high priest, the Lord severely punished the people and even allowed His ark to be taken captive by the Philistines (1 Sam. 1—7). This meant the end of the tabernacle at Shiloh. It was at Nob in Benjamin for a time (1 Sam. 21:22; 2 Sam. 6:1–2) and also at Gibeon in Benjamin (1 Kings 3:4). When David brought the ark to Mount Zion (v. 68; 2 Sam. 6), he erected a tent there for the ark, and there the ark remained until it was moved into the temple during the reign of Solomon (1 Kings 8:3–9).

It has well been said that a change in circumstances does not overcome a flaw in character, and the history of the Jewish nation illustrates the truth of that statement. Whether living in Egypt, journeying in the wilderness, or dwelling in their own land, the people of Israel were prone to want their own way and rebel against the Lord. When chastened, they feigned repentance, experienced God’s help, and were forgiven, but before long, they were back in trouble again. But is any people or individual free from this malady? At least the Jewish writers who gave us the Bible were honest to record their sins as well as their achievements! The church today can learn from both (1 Cor. 10).

The statement in verse 65 is metaphorical, for the Lord neither gets drunk nor goes to sleep. During the time of Samuel and Saul, with the help of young David, Israel beat back her enemies, but it was when David ascended the throne that the nation achieved its greatest victories and experienced the greatest expansion of its boundaries. This is one reason why God rejected the tribe of Ephraim and chose the tribe of Judah, and why He abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh in Ephraim and chose Mount Zion for the site of the temple. Jacob had prophesied that the king would come from Judah (Gen. 49:10), and King Saul was from Benjamin. When the Lord directed David to capture Mount Zion and make Jerusalem his capital city, it was an act of His love (47:4; 87:2). If Asaph wrote this psalm after the division of the kingdom, then he was reminding the people of Judah that they were privileged indeed to have Jerusalem, Mount Zion, and a king from the line of David, from which line the Messiah would come! (See Luke 1:30–33, 66–79; Matt. 2:6.) If they appreciated these privileges, they would not follow the bad example of the northern kingdom and sin against the Lord by turning to idols.

Kings were called “shepherds” (Jer. 23:1–6; Ezek. 34) because God’s chosen people were the sheep of His pasture (v. 52; 77:20; 100:3), and no one was better qualified than David to hold that title (2 Sam. 5:1–3). He loved his “sheep” (2 Sam. 24:17) and often risked his life for them on the battlefield. His hands were skillful, whether holding a sword, a harp, a pen, or a scepter, and, unlike his predecessor Saul, his heart was wholly devoted to the Lord. (On “integrity,” see 7:8; 25:21; 26:1, 11; 41:12.) Integrity and skill need each other, for no amount of ability can compensate for a sinful heart, and no amount of devotion to God can overcome lack of ability.