Psalms 78:4

Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. WHICH WE HAVE HEARD ... WE WILL NOT HIDE. See introductory remarks. Translate, 'What we have heard, etc., we will not hide (omit them) from their children,' etc. There is a change from the singular, in Psalms 78:1, to the plural, in Psalms 78:3, which shows that is not to be immediately connected in sense with , but with . In Psalms 78:1 God is speaking by the Psalmist. In...

4._We will not conceal them from their children in the generation to come. _Some take the verb נכחד, _nechached, _in the _nephil _conjugation, and translate it, _they are not concealed or hidden. _But it ought, according to the rules of grammar, to be resolved thus: — _We will not conceal them from our posterity, _implying, that what we have been taught by our ancestors we should endeavor to transmit to their children. By this means, all pretense of ignorance is removed; for it was the will of God that these things should be published from age to age without interruption; so that being transmitted from father to child in each family, they might reach even the last family of man. The end for which this was to be done is shown — that _they might celebrate the praises of Jehovah, in the wonderful works which he hath done _...

1-8 These are called dark and deep sayings, because they are carefully to be looked into. The law of God was given with a particular charge to teach it diligently to their children, that the church may abide for ever. Also, that the providences of God, both in mercy and in judgment, might encourage them to conform to the will of God. The works of God much strengthen our resolution to keep his commandments. Hypocrisy is the high road to apostacy; those that do not set their hearts right, will not be stedfast with God. Many parents, by negligence and wickedness, become murderers of their children. But young persons, though they are bound to submit in all things lawful, must not obey sinful orders, or copy sinful examples. #9-39. Sin dispirits men, and takes away the heart. Forgetfulness of God's works is the cause of disobedience to his laws. This narrative relates a struggle between God'...

Verse Psalms 78:4. _WE WILL NOT HIDE_ THEM] In those ancient times there was very _little reading_, because _books_ were exceedingly scarce; _tradition_ was therefore the only, or nearly the only, means of preserving the memory of past events. They were handed down from father to son by _parables_ or _pithy sayings_, and by _chronological_ _poems_. This very Psalm is of this kind, and must have been very useful to the Israelites, as giving instructions concerning their ancient history, and recounting the wonderful deeds of the Almighty in their behalf....

WE WILL NOT HIDE THEM FROM THEIR CHILDREN - From their descendants, however remote. We of this generation will be faithful in handing down these truths to future times. We stand between past generations and the generations to come. We are entrusted by those who have gone before us with great and important truths; truths to be preserved and transmitted in their purity to future ages. That trust committed to us we will faithfully discharge. These truths shall not suffer in passing from us to them. They shall not be stayed in their progress; they shall not be corrupted or impaired. This is the duty of each successive generation in the world, receiving, as a trust, from past generations, the result of their thoughts, their experience, their wisdom, their inventions, their arts, their sciences, and the records of their doings, to hand these down unimpaired to future ages, combined with all th...

EXPOSITION This, the first of the "historical psalms," though assigned by the rationalistic school (De Wette, Ewald, Koster, Hitzig) to a period subsequent to the Captivity, is generally allowed by more sober critics (Hengstenberg, Kay, Wordsworth, Canon Cook, Professor Alexander) to belong to the Davidical age—_i.e._ either to the reign of David or to that of Solomon. The abrupt conclusion when David's time is reached indicates that the writer cannot carry the lessons of history any further. The way in which David is spoken of (Psalms 78:72), and the (apparent) mention of the temple in Psalms 78:69, indicate that Solomon's reign was begun, and make "a few years after the accession of Solomon" the most probable date of the composition. There is thus no reason for rejecting the authors

WE WILL NOT HIDE THEM FROM THEIR CHILDREN,.... The children of the Jewish fathers, but faithfully publish and declare them, as Christ and his apostles did; or the children of God and Christ, their spiritual seed and offspring: SHOWING TO THE GENERATION TO COME; and so in all successive ages, by the ministration of the word, and the Spirit attending it; see Psalms 22:30, THE PRAISES OF THE LORD; what he has done in predestination, redemption, and effectual calling, which is to the praise of the glory of his grace, Ephesians 1:6, and so all other truths of the Gospel, which are to the praise of Father, Son, and Spirit, and engage men to show it forth: AND HIS STRENGTH DISPLAYED; in Christ, the man of his right hand, made strong for himse

PSALM 78-83 Psalms 78 A Historical Retrospect _ 1. The call to hear (Psalms 78:1)_ 2. Ephraim's failure (Psalms 78:9) 3. His dealings in power and mercy (Psalms 78:12) 4. The continued provocation (Psalms 78:56) 5. His sovereign grace in choosing David (Psalms 78:65) This historical retrospect needs no further comment. It is God speaking to the hearts of His people through their own history from Egypt to Da

LXXVIII. THE LESSON OF ISRAEL'S HISTORY. The northern tribes have been perverse from the first. Their wickedness has culminated in the schismatical religion of the Samaritans. God, on the contrary, has chosen Zion, the sanctuary of Judah. The Ps. must have been written before John Hyrcanus (134 B.C.) destroyed the Samaritan shrine on Mt. Gerizim (p. 608). PSALMS 78:1. Introduction. PSALMS 78:2. PARABLE: rather poem. DARK SAYINGS: rather enigmas in the history of Israel and Judah which the Psalmist explains. Psalms 78:4. Point with LXX, It was not hid from their children: they told it for the generation that was, etc....

CHILDREN. sons. SHEWING. Recounting. THE LORD. Hebrew. _Jehovah._ App-4. WONDERFUL WORKS. wonders. Compare Psalms 77:11; Psalms 77:14....