Psalms 78
DOYLYVer. 2. — parable:] See notes at Numb. xxiii. 7; Job xxvii. 1.
— dark sayings: The original word means, a pointed or obscure saying; such as requires, either for the conception or understanding of it, considerable ingenuity. Bp. Lowth. But there is nothing obscure in this Psalm, which contains instructive historical truths. Therefore the expression should be rendered “pointed truths.” Street.
Psalms 78:5
- — a testimony] Or solemn charge. Mudge.
Psalms 78:9
- The children of Ephraim, &c.] The history here referred to is that of the Israelites going up, contrary to God’s command, to take possession of the land of Canaan, when they were smitten before their enemies. See Deut. i. 42. The Ephraimites are here specified, probably, as being the most warlike tribe, and as having led on, perhaps, the rest of the tribes to the battle. Green.
Psalms 78:12
- — in the field of Zoan.] In the territories that belong to Zoan, a chief city of Egypt, and the court of Pharaoh, where those miraculous works would be so much more noted. Bp. Hall.
d Heb. throwing forth. c Exod. 14. 21. d Exod. 13. 21. & 14. 24. e Exod. 17. 6. Numb. 20. 11. Ps. 105. 41. 1 Cor. 10. 4. The story of God’s wrath against the incredulous and disobedient.
Psalms 78:18
- — they tempted God &c.] They were not content with the bountiful provision which God had made for them, but murmured against Him, and demanded meat to satisfy their craving appetite. Bp. Patrick, Travell.
Psalms 78:19
- Thy way is &c.] God walked before his people through the sea, though He left no footsteps of Himself behind Him. Mudge.
A weak man cannot rightly judge of the actions of a man wiser than himself, of whose views and designs he is not master: much less can man judge of the ways of God, to whose counsels he is not admitted, and to whose secrets he is a stranger. In complaining, the Psalmist followed the natural impressions of passion and impatience: in acknowledging the folly of his complaint, he spoke not only the language of grace, but of sense and reason. But this good man, being well grounded in religion, was able so far to get the better of his doubts and fears, as to pass a right judgment in his own case, and to call to his assistance the proper reflections which the great works of Providence administered for the support and confirmation of his hope and confidence towards God. Here then was his comfort; here the cure of all his grief. Bp. Sherlock.
Psalm LXXVIII. This Psalm pursues the history of the Israelites from the time of their departure from Egypt to the reign of David, particularizing and illustrating all the leading events. The style is simple and uniform, but the structure is poetical, and the sentiments occasionally splendid. The historical, or rather chronological, order cannot be said to be exactly pre-
Psalms 78:21
- — a fire was kindled against Jacob.] See note at Numb. xi. 1.
Psalms 78:25
- Man did eat angels’ food.] That is, manna, which may be called angels’ food, as coming from the clouds of heaven, the habitation of angels. Dr. Wells. Or rather, the rendering should be, as in the margin,
Psalms 78:30
- They were not estranged from their lust.] They obtained the object of their wishes.
Psalms 78:33
- Therefore their days &c.] Therefore He never suffered them to come into that land, but made them wander up and down in the wilderness to no purpose, and consumed them by various plagues. Travell.
Psalms 78:41
- — and limited the Holy One of Israel.] This The story of God’s wrath against the incredulous and disobedient.
Psalms 78:49
- He cast upon them &c.] Some of the Egyptian plagues having been specified in the foregoing verses, others of them are here thrown together, and the whole scene is affirmed to have been a full display of wrath and vengeance, executed upon the oppressors of the church by “evil angels, agents, or messengers;” whether by this expression we understand the material instruments of Divine displeasure; or angels employed as ministers of vengeance; or the actual appearance and ministration of evil spirits, suffered to torment the wicked in this world, as they certainly will do in the next. Tradition seems to have favoured this last opinion, since the author of the Book of Wisdom describes the Egyptian darkness as a kind of temporary hell, Wisd. xvii. Bp. Horne.
Psalms 78:51
- — Ham:] The father of the Egyptians. Bp. Wilson.
Psalms 78:54
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— this mountain,] Zion, which He took from the Jebusites by the hand of David. Bp. Wilson.
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Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, St. Paul says, with reference to the same transactions, “Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted,” 1 Cor. x. 9. These texts do both relate to the same rebellious acts of the Israelites in the wilderness. In the former of them, the Person they tempted is called the Most High God; in the latter, He is called
anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
Psalms 78:61
- — delivered his strength &c.] That is, the ark of the covenant, which was the token of God’s power and glory, was delivered up to the Philistines, 1 Sam. iv. 11. 22; and v. 1. Green.
Psalms 78:67
- — he refused &c.] When the ark was brought back, God did not permit it to be placed again in Shiloh, which was in the tribe of Ephraim, the son of Joseph. Bp. Patrick.
Psalms 78:69
- And he built &c.] On this hill Solomon built him a stately temple, which was not moveable, like his former habitation, but remained perpetually fixed, like the earth on which it stood. Travell.
We cannot exercise our devotions more usefully upon any part of the Old Testament, than upon the history of God’s wonderful loving-kindness to, and miraculous deliverances of, his own chosen people, the Jews. There we find all the most heightened acts of power, all the transcendent kindness, and bounty, and affection, which the most exalted imagination of man can suppose possible to result from Divinity itself; and there we find the most inexpressible ingratitude and baseness of spirit, the foulest enormities and transgressions, and the most barefaced contempt of that Power which had preserved and protected them, which the malice of the devil himself can infuse into the heart of man. Again, we find, on the one hand, the patience and mercy of God contending to be too hard for that malice, check-