Psalms 78:43

How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! -The Israelites in the time of the Judges tempted God by forgetting His judgments in Egypt in Israel's behalf, which are here detailed, as also His love in bringing Israel into Canaan. Verse 40. HOW OFT DID THEY PROVOKE ... AND GRIEVE HIM IN THE DESERT! - (Psalms 95:9: Isaiah 63:10.) "They vexed His Holy Spirit," Ephesians 4:30; Ezekiel 16:43, 'thou hast fretted me.' Verse 41. YEA, THEY TURNED BACK, AND TEMPTED GOD - Hebrew idiom, 'They tempted God anew.' The rebellio...

40-55. Let not those that receive mercy from God, be thereby made bold to sin, for the mercies they receive will hasten its punishment; yet let not those who are under Divine rebukes for sin, be discouraged from repentance. The Holy One of Israel will do what is most for his own glory, and what is most for their good. Their forgetting former favours, led them to limit God for the future. God made his own people to go forth like sheep; and guided them in the wilderness, as a shepherd his flock, with all care and tenderness. Thus the true Joshua, even Jesus, brings his church out of the wilderness; but no earthly Canaan, no worldly advantages, should make us forget that the church is in the wilderness while in this world, and that there remaineth a far more glorious rest for the people of God....

HOW HE HAD WROUGHT HIS SIGNS IN EGYPT - Margin, set. The Hebrew word means to set or place. The word signs here refers to miracles as signs or indications of God’s power and favor. The things which he did were of such a nature as to show that he was almighty, and at the same time to assure them of his disposition to protect them. AND HIS WONDERS IN THE FIELD OF ZOAN - The wonderful things which he did; the things suited to excite amazement, or astonishment. On the word Zoan, see the notes at Psalms 78:12....

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

HOW HE HAD WROUGHT HIS SIGNS IN EGYPT,.... The plagues which he brought upon the Egyptians, for refusing to let Israel go: AND HIS WONDERS IN THE FIELD OF ZOAN, or in the country of Zoan, that is, Tanis, as the Targum renders it; so the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions; see Psalms 78:12, an enumeration of these signs and wonders follows; but not of all, nor in the order in which they were: only seven are mentioned, with which compare the seven vials or last plagues, Revelation 6:1....

This story of the children of Israel, after they came out of Egypt, is like a looking-glass in which we may, with great sadness, see ourselves reflected. Psalms 78:9. _The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle._ They had every opportunity of serving their God; he had provided them with fit weapons for the war, but they were cowardly, so they «turned back in the day of battle.» Psalms 78:10. _They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law; and forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them._ Let each one of us ask, «Does the psalmist describe me?» Psalms 78:12. Marvellous t

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....

SIGNS IN EGYPT. The Psalm, verses: Psalms 78:44, does not profess to give. list of the "ten plagues"; so that there is no ground for the assumption as to only. "Jehovist" document being known to the writer. He selects according to his special purpose. He names the first and the last, and omits the third (lice), fifth (murrain), sixth (boils), and the ninth (darkness)....

But as God multiplied His mercies, Israel multiplied its acts of rebellion: and in order to set the heinousness of their ingratitude in a still stronger light, the Psalmist goes back to recount the miracles which preceded and prepared for the Exodus....