Psalms 78 : 1 (ERVEN)
One of Asaph's maskils. My people, listen to my teachings. Listen to what I say.
Psalms 78 : 2 (ERVEN)
I will tell you a story. I will tell you about things from the past that are hard to understand.
Psalms 78 : 3 (ERVEN)
We have heard the story, and we know it well. Our fathers told it to us.
Psalms 78 : 4 (ERVEN)
And we will not forget it. Our people will be telling this story to the last generation. We will all praise the Lord and tell about the amazing things he did.
Psalms 78 : 5 (ERVEN)
The Lord made an agreement with Jacob. He gave the law to Israel. He gave the commands to our ancestors. He told them to teach the law to their children.
Psalms 78 : 6 (ERVEN)
Then the next generation, even the children not yet born, would learn the law. And they would be able to teach it to their own children.
Psalms 78 : 7 (ERVEN)
So they would all trust in God, never forgetting what he had done and always obeying his commands.
Psalms 78 : 8 (ERVEN)
They would not be like their ancestors, who were stubborn and refused to obey. Their hearts were not devoted to God, and they were not faithful to him.
Psalms 78 : 9 (ERVEN)
The men from Ephraim had their weapons, but they ran from the battle.
Psalms 78 : 10 (ERVEN)
They did not keep their agreement with God. They refused to obey his teachings.
Psalms 78 : 11 (ERVEN)
They forgot the great things he had done and the amazing things he had shown them.
Psalms 78 : 12 (ERVEN)
While their ancestors watched, he showed his great power at Zoan in Egypt.
Psalms 78 : 13 (ERVEN)
He split the Red Sea and led the people across. The water stood like a solid wall on both sides of them.
Psalms 78 : 14 (ERVEN)
Each day God led them with the tall cloud, and each night he led them with the light from the column of fire.
Psalms 78 : 15 (ERVEN)
He split the rocks in the desert and gave them an ocean of fresh water.
Psalms 78 : 16 (ERVEN)
He brought a stream of water out of the rock and made it flow like a river!
Psalms 78 : 17 (ERVEN)
But they continued sinning against him. They rebelled against God Most High in the desert.
Psalms 78 : 18 (ERVEN)
Then they decided to test God by telling him to give them the food they wanted.
Psalms 78 : 19 (ERVEN)
They complained about him and said, "Can God give us food in the desert?
Psalms 78 : 20 (ERVEN)
Yes, he struck the rock and a flood of water came out. But can he give us bread and meat?"
Psalms 78 : 21 (ERVEN)
The Lord heard what they said and became angry with Jacob's people. He was angry with Israel,
Psalms 78 : 22 (ERVEN)
because they did not trust in him. They did not believe that God could save them.
Psalms 78 : 23 (ERVEN)
But then God opened the clouds above, and manna rained down on them for food. It was as if doors in the sky opened, and grain poured down from a storehouse in the sky.
Psalms 78 : 25 (ERVEN)
These people ate the food of angels. God sent plenty of food to satisfy them.
Psalms 78 : 26 (ERVEN)
He sent a strong wind from the east, and by his power he made the south wind blow.
Psalms 78 : 27 (ERVEN)
He made quail fall like rain until they covered the ground. There were so many birds that they were like sand on the seashore.
Psalms 78 : 28 (ERVEN)
The birds fell in the middle of the camp, all around their tents.
Psalms 78 : 29 (ERVEN)
The people ate until they were full. God had given them what they wanted.
Psalms 78 : 30 (ERVEN)
But before they were fully satisfied, while the food was still in their mouths,
Psalms 78 : 31 (ERVEN)
God became angry and killed even the strongest of them. He brought down Israel's best young men.
Psalms 78 : 32 (ERVEN)
But the people continued to sin! They did not trust in the amazing things God could do.
Psalms 78 : 33 (ERVEN)
So he ended their worthless lives; he brought their years to a close with disaster.
Psalms 78 : 34 (ERVEN)
When he killed some of them, the others would turn back to him. They would come running back to God.
Psalms 78 : 35 (ERVEN)
They would remember that God was their Rock. They would remember that God Most High had saved them.
Psalms 78 : 36 (ERVEN)
But they tried to fool him with their words; they told him lies.
Psalms 78 : 37 (ERVEN)
Their hearts were not really with him. They were not faithful to the agreement he gave them.
Psalms 78 : 38 (ERVEN)
But God was merciful. He forgave their sins and did not destroy them. Many times he held back his anger. He never let it get out of control.
Psalms 78 : 39 (ERVEN)
He remembered that they were only people, like a wind that blows and then is gone.
Psalms 78 : 40 (ERVEN)
Oh, they caused him so much trouble in the desert! They made him so sad.
Psalms 78 : 41 (ERVEN)
Again and again they tested his patience. They really hurt the Holy One of Israel.
Psalms 78 : 42 (ERVEN)
They forgot about his power. They forgot the many times he saved them from the enemy.
Psalms 78 : 43 (ERVEN)
They forgot the miracles he did in Egypt, the miracles in the fields of Zoan.
Psalms 78 : 44 (ERVEN)
God turned the rivers into blood, and the Egyptians could not drink the water.
Psalms 78 : 45 (ERVEN)
He sent swarms of flies that bit them. He sent the frogs that ruined their lives.
Psalms 78 : 46 (ERVEN)
He gave their crops to grasshoppers and their other plants to locusts.
Psalms 78 : 47 (ERVEN)
He destroyed their vines with hail and their trees with sleet.
Psalms 78 : 48 (ERVEN)
He killed their animals with hail and their cattle with lightning.
Psalms 78 : 49 (ERVEN)
He showed the Egyptians his anger. He sent his destroying angels against them.
Psalms 78 : 50 (ERVEN)
He found a way to show his anger. He did not spare their lives. He let them die with a deadly disease.
Psalms 78 : 51 (ERVEN)
He killed all the firstborn sons in Egypt. He killed every firstborn in Ham's family.
Psalms 78 : 52 (ERVEN)
Then he led Israel like a shepherd. He led his people like sheep into the desert.
Psalms 78 : 53 (ERVEN)
He guided them safely. They had nothing to fear. He drowned their enemies in the sea.
Psalms 78 : 54 (ERVEN)
He led his people to his holy land, to the mountain he took with his own power.
Psalms 78 : 55 (ERVEN)
He forced the other nations out before them and gave each family its share of the land. He gave each tribe of Israel a place to live.
Psalms 78 : 56 (ERVEN)
But they tested God Most High and made him very sad. They didn't obey his commands.
Psalms 78 : 57 (ERVEN)
They turned against him and were unfaithful just like their ancestors. They changed directions like a boomerang.
Psalms 78 : 58 (ERVEN)
They built high places and made God angry. They built statues of false gods and made him jealous.
Psalms 78 : 59 (ERVEN)
God heard what they were doing and became very angry. So he rejected Israel completely!
Psalms 78 : 60 (ERVEN)
He abandoned his place at Shiloh, the Holy Tent where he lived among the people.
Psalms 78 : 61 (ERVEN)
He let foreigners capture the Box of the Agreement, the symbol of his power and glory.
Psalms 78 : 62 (ERVEN)
He showed his anger against his people and let them be killed in war.
Psalms 78 : 63 (ERVEN)
Their young men were burned to death, and there were no wedding songs for their young women.
Psalms 78 : 64 (ERVEN)
Their priests were killed, but the widows had no time to mourn for them.
Psalms 78 : 65 (ERVEN)
Finally, our Lord got up like a man waking from his sleep, like a soldier after drinking too much wine.
Psalms 78 : 66 (ERVEN)
He forced his enemies to turn back defeated. He brought them shame that will last forever.
Psalms 78 : 67 (ERVEN)
Then the Lord rejected Joseph's family. He did not accept Ephraim's family.
Psalms 78 : 68 (ERVEN)
No, he chose the tribe of Judah, and he chose Mount Zion, the place he loves.
Psalms 78 : 69 (ERVEN)
He built his holy Temple high on that mountain. Like the earth, God built his Temple to last forever.
Psalms 78 : 70 (ERVEN)
He chose David to be his special servant. He took him from the sheep pens.
Psalms 78 : 71 (ERVEN)
He took him away from the job of caring for sheep and gave him the job of caring for the descendants of Jacob�Israel, his chosen people.
Psalms 78 : 72 (ERVEN)
And David led them with a pure heart and guided them very wisely.
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