How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert! Again and again they [v]temptedGod, and pained the Holy One of Israel. Psalm 78:40-41 NASB Tempted – We’re all familiar with James’ declaration: “No one is to say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He…
So He remembered that they were only flesh, a wind that passes and does not return. Psalm 78:39 NASB Only flesh – Human life is a fairy tale. Oh, I don’t mean it isn’t real. I mean it’s a “once upon a time” story. Every human life is a wind that passes and does not return. It’s…
But He, being compassionate, [s]forgave their wrongdoing and did not destroy them; and often He restrained His anger and did not stir up all His wrath. Psalm 78:38 NASB Forgave – I hope you noticed that there’s a little footnote attached to this translated verb. That footnote tells the reader that the verb is “atone,” that is, kāpar. But as…
And they remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer. But they flattered Him with their mouth and lied to Him with their tongue. For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, nor were they faithful with His covenant. Psalm 78:35-37 NASB Remembered – “To believe is to remember,” wrote Abraham Heschel. Asaph might not…
When He killed them, then they sought Him, and they returned and searched diligently for God; Psalm 78:34 NASB Sought – When do you seek God? Well, when do most people seek God? When things are bad. When we want a God-genie to fix things. When we’re suffering. The rest of the time, God is sort of…
In spite of all this they still sinned and did not believe in His wonderful works. Psalm 78:32 NASB Did not believe – This is quite an amazing statement by Asaph. In spite of all this! Those words are very hard to believe. What more could God have done? He demonstrates His power over all the Egyptian…
So they ate and were well filled, and He satisfied their longing. Yet before they had abandoned their longing, while their food was in their mouths, the anger of God rose against them and killed some of their strongest ones, and subdued the choice men of Israel. Psalm 78:29-31 NASB Killed – Verses like these make liberal theologians…
Man ate the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance. Psalm 78:25 NASB Bread of angels – If God provided you special nutrients directly from heaven’s kitchen, would you be satisfied? Asaph calls it לֶחֶם אַבִּירִים, translated here as “bread of angels.” But the translation is a later poetic interpolation. The words are literally…
Therefore the Lord heard and was full of wrath; and a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also mounted against Israel, because they did not believe in God and did not trust in His salvation. Psalm 78:21-22 NASB Did not believe in God – I believe in God. But that’s a mistake. Why? Because when I say, “I believe…
Then they spoke against God; they said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Psalm 78:19 NASB Hebrew Acronyms – BTW, FYI, CYA. We use them all the time. Acronyms. But did you know that the instructions about praying the Amidah in Hebrew also employ an acronym, a Hebrew acronym. Here’s what it looks…
