Maschil, [a.k.a. Maskil] of Asaph. |
Psalm 78:1-72 Book# 3 of Psalms [in Smaller Chunks] |
O people, [lend your] ear [& listen] to My Law. [Lean] your ears to the words of My mouth. * I will open My mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old; which we have heard & known & our [forefathers] have told us. |
[* Matthew 13:33-35 Another parable He [spoke] to them; The kingdom of heaven is [similar] to [yeast,] which a woman took & hid in 3 measures of [flour, until] the whole [dough] was leavened. All these things, Jesus [spoke] to the multitude in parables. |
He [didn't speak] without a parable to them: [so] that it might be fulfilled, [what] was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open My mouth in parables. I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.] |
We won't hide them from their children, [declaring] to the generation to come, the praises of the Lord, His strength & His wonderful works that He has done. [Exodus 13:14-15 And it shall be when your son asks you in [times] to come, saying, What is this? That you shall say to him, [The] strength of the hand of the Lord, brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage. |
And it [happened,] when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man & [animals]. Therefore, I sacrifice to the Lord all [first born] males, but all the firstborn of My children, I redeem.] |
For He established a Testimony in Jacob & appointed a Law in Israel, which He commanded our [forefathers, so] that they should make them known to their children. [So,] that the generation to come might know them, even the children [to] be born, who should arise & declare them to their children. |
[So,] that they might [put] their hope in God & not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments & might not be [like] their [forefathers,] a stubborn, rebellious generation. A generation that [doesn't correctly focus] their [hearts] & whose spirit wasn't [constantly] with God. |
The children [people] of Ephraim, armed & carrying bows, turned back [on] the day of battle. They [didn't. keep] the covenant [contract] of God & refused to [follow] in His Law. [2 Kings 17:16-18 And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God & made [themselves molded] images, even 2 calves, made a grove & worshiped all the [stars & constellations] of heaven & served Baal. |
And they caused their sons & daughters to pass through the fire & [they] used divination, enchantments & sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. Therefore, the Lord was very angry with Israel & removed them out of His sight. There [were] none left, [except] only the tribe of Judah.] |
And [they forgot] His works & wonders that He [showed] them. Marvelous things He did in the sight of their [forefathers,] in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. He divided the [Red] Sea & caused them to pass through & He made the waters stand [like a] heap. |
Also, in the daytime, He led them with a cloud & all the night with a light of fire. He [split] the rocks in the wilderness & gave them [to] drink out of the great depths. He also brought streams out of the rock & caused waters to run down like rivers. |
And they [still] sinned more against Him by provoking the Most High in the wilderness. And they [tested] God in their heart by asking [for] meat [to fill their lusts.] [Yes,] they [spoke] against God. They said, Can God furnish a table [of food] in the wilderness? |
[Look,] He [struck] the rock, [so] that waters gushed out & the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Can He provide [meat] for His people? Therefore, the Lord heard this & was [angry:] so a fire [grew] against Jacob & anger also came up against Israel; because they [didn't] believe in His Salvation. |
[Although] He had commanded the clouds from above & opened the doors of heaven & it rained down manna upon them to eat. [God] had given them [bread] from heaven. Man did eat Angel's food & He sent them meat [until they were] full. |
He caused an east wind to blow in heaven & by His power He brought in the south wind. He also rained [meat] upon them [like] dust & feathered [quail] like the sand of the sea. And He let it fall in the [middle] of their camp, [around] their [dwellings.] |
So, they did eat & were [very full:] for He gave them their own desire. They were not [turned away] from their [lusts.] But while the meat was [still] in their mouths, the [anger] of God came upon them & [attacked the most husky] of them & [struck] down the chosen men of Israel. |
[After] all this, they still sinned & [didn't] believe His wondrous works. Therefore, He [consumed] their days in vanity & their years in trouble. [Numbers 14:35-38 I, the Lord, have said, I will surely do it to all this evil congregation, [who] are gathered together against Me in this wilderness. |
They shall be consumed & shall die there. And the men, [whom] Moses sent to [spy out] the land, who returned & made all the congregation [grumble] against him, by bringing up a [false report about] the land. |
Even those men [who] did bring up the [bad] report upon the land, died before the Lord. But [only] Joshua, [Nun's] son & Caleb, [Jephunneh's] son, still lived [of those] men [who searched] the land.] |
When He [killed] them, then they sought Him & they returned & [inquired] early after God. And they remembered that God was their Rock & the High God, their Redeemer. [However,] they [flattered] Him with their [mouths] & they lied to Him with their tongues. |
For their heart was not [honest] with Him & neither were they [faithful] in His covenant. But He, being full of compassion, forgave their [sin & didn't] destroy them. [Yes,] many [times,] He turned His anger away & didn't stir up all His [fury.] |
[Isaiah 48:9-11 For My Name's sake, I will [hold off] My anger & for My praise, I will [withhold it] for you, [so] I [don't] cut you off. [Look,] I have refined you, but not with silver. I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction. For [My] Own sake, I will do it: for How [could] My Name be [defiled?] And I won't give My glory to another.] |
For He remembered that they were, [only] flesh [of humans: like] a wind that [blows] away & [doesn't] come again. How [often] did they provoke Him in the wilderness & grieve Him in the desert! [Yet,] turned back & [tested] God & [had] limited [faith in] the Holy One of Israel. |
[Numbers 14:22-23 Because all those men [who] have seen My glory & My miracles, [that] I did in Egypt & in the wilderness, have [tested] Me now, these 10 times & haven't [paid attention] to My voice. Surely, they shall not see the land [that] I [swore] to their [forefathers] & neither shall any see it of [those who] provoked Me.] |
They [didn't] remember His hand, nor the day when He delivered them from the enemy. How He had [performed] His signs in Egypt & His wonders in the field of Zoan & had turned their rivers into blood & their [streams, so] they couldn't drink. [Psalm 105:29 He turned their waters into blood & [killed] their fish.] |
He sent [various] sorts of flies among them, which devoured them. [Psalm 105:31 He [spoke] & there came [various] sorts of flies & lice [on] all their coasts.] And frogs, which destroyed them. [Psalm 105:30 Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the [rooms] of their kings.] |
He also gave the increase [of their produce] to the caterpillar & their labor to the locust. [Psalm 105:34-35 He [spoke] & the locusts came & the caterpillars, without number & they [ate] up all the [vegetation] in their land & devoured the fruit of their ground.] |
He destroyed their vines with hail & their sycamore trees with frost. [Psalm 105:32-33 He gave them hail for rain & flaming fire in their land. He [struck] their vines & also their fig trees & [broke] the trees of their coasts.] He also gave up their [livestock] to the hail & their flocks to hot thunderbolts. |
[Exodus 9:23-26 And Moses stretched [out] his rod toward heaven & the Lord sent thunder & hail. And the fire ran along upon the ground & the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. So there was hail and [the] fire [was mixed] with the hail, very [grievously,] such as there [has been] none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. |
And the hail [struck] throughout all the land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man & [animals.] The hail [struck down] every herb of the field & [broke] every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the children [people] of Israel were, there was no hail.] |
He cast on them, the fierceness of His anger, [fury,] indignation & trouble, by sending evil angels among them. [Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil & Satan, [who] deceives the whole world. He was cast out into the earth & his angels were cast out with him.] |
He made a [pathway for] His anger & He [didn't] spare their soul from death, but gave their life over to the [plagues] & [struck] all [Egypt's] firstborn, the [1st] of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham. But made His Own people go [out] like sheep & guided them in the wilderness like a flock. |
And He led them on safely, so that they [weren't afraid:] but the [Red] Sea overwhelmed their enemies. And He brought them to the corner of His Sanctuary, even to this mountain, which His right hand had purchased. |
[Exodus 15:17-18 You shall bring them in & plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, in the place, O Lord, [that] You have made for You to dwell in. In the Sanctuary, O Lord, [that] Your hands have established. The Lord shall [rule] forever & ever.] |
Also, He cast out the heathen before them & divided them an inheritance by [lot] & made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents. [Joshua 23:3-5 And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations, because of you. For the Lord your God is He, [Who] has fought for you. |
[Look,] I have divided unto you, by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even westward to the [Mediterranean] Sea. And the Lord your God, He shall [remove] them from [in front of] you & drive them out from your sight. And you shall possess their land, [like] the Lord your God has promised to you.] |
[Still,] they [tested] & provoked the Most High God & [didn't] keep His [covenant] [contract.] But [they] [returned] back & dealt unfaithfully like their [forefathers.] [Deuteronomy 12:2-3 You shall [totally] destroy all the places, [where] the nations [that] you shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains & upon the hills & under every green tree. |
And you shall overthrow their altars & break their pillars & burn their groves with fire. And you shall [cut] down the [carved] images of their gods & destroy the names of them out of that place.] |
They [went astray] like [an arrow from] a deceitful bow. For they provoked Him to anger with their high places & moved Him to jealousy with their [carved] images. When God heard this, He was [furious] & greatly [loathed] Israel. So, that He [abandoned] the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent [that] He placed among men. |
[1 Samuel 4:11 And the Ark of God was taken & the 2 sons of Eli, Hophni & Phinehas, were killed.] |
And delivered His strength & His glory into the enemy's hand, into captivity. [Judges 18:30-31 And the children [people] of Dan, [put] up a [carved] image. And Jonathan, [Gershom's] son, the son of Manasseh, he & his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. And they [put] up Micah's [carved] image, [that] he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.] |
He also gave His people over to the sword & was [furious] with His inheritance. [1 Samuel 4:10 And the Philistines fought & Israel was [defeated] & every man fled into his tent. And there was a very [large] slaughter of 30,000 footmen of Israel [who] fell.] |
The fire consumed their young men & their maidens weren't given [in] marriage. Their priests fell by the sword & their widows [didn't mourn.] Then, the Lord [arose like someone] out of sleep & like a mighty man [who] shouts, [because] of wine. And He [struck] His enemies in the [hidden] parts & He put them in perpetual [disgrace.] |
[1 Samuel 5:6-7 But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon [those] of Ashdod & He destroyed them & [struck them with tumors,] even Ashdod & [its] coasts. And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The Ark of the God of Israel shall not [stay] with us: for His hand is [excruciating] upon us & upon Dagon, our god.] |
[Additionally,] He refused the tabernacle of Joseph & [didn't choose] the tribe of Ephraim; but chose Mount Zion & the tribe of Judah, which He loved. And He built His sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which He has established forever. |
[1 Kings 6:1 And it [happened,] in the 480th year after the children [people] of Israel [had] come out of the land of Egypt, in the 4th year Solomon [ruled] over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the 2nd month, that [Solomon] began to build the house of the Lord.] |
Also, [prior to that:] He chose David, His servant & took him from the [sheep pens.] From following the [pregnant sheep] with [the] young & He brought him to feed Jacob, His people & Israel, His inheritance. |
[2 Samuel 7:8 There you shall now say to My servant, David, the Lord of Hosts says [this,] I took you from the [sheep pens,] from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel.] So, [David] fed them according to the integrity of his heart & guided them by the [skill] of his hands. |