Psalm 78

A maskil of Asaph.

1 My people, listen to my teaching.

Pay attention to what I say.

2 I will open my mouth and tell stories.

I will speak about things that were hidden.

They happened a long time ago.

3 We have heard about them and we know them.

Our people who lived before us have told us about them.

4 We won’t hide them from our children.

We will tell them to those who live after us.

We will tell them about what the Lord has done that is worthy of praise.

We will talk about his power and the wonderful things he has done.

5 He gave laws to the people of Jacob.

He gave Israel their law.

He commanded our people who lived before us

to teach his laws to their children.

6 Then those born later would know his laws.

Even their children yet to come would know them.

And they in turn would tell their children.

7 Then they would put their trust in God.

They would not forget what he had done.

They would obey his commands.

8 They would not be like their people who lived before them.

Those people were stubborn. They refused to obey God.

Their hearts were not true to him.

Their spirits were not faithful to him.

9 The soldiers of Ephraim were armed with bows.

But they ran away on the day of battle.

10 They didn’t keep the covenant God had made with them.

They refused to live by his law.

11 They forgot what he had done.

They didn’t remember the wonders he had shown them.

12 He did miracles right in front of our people who lived long ago.

At that time they were living in the land of Egypt, in the area of Zoan.

13 God parted the Red Sea and led them through it.

He made the water stand up like a wall.

14 He guided them with the cloud during the day.

He led them with the light of a fire all night long.

15 He broke the rocks open in the desert.

He gave them as much water as there is in the oceans.

16 He brought streams out of a rocky cliff.

He made water flow down like rivers.

17 But they continued to sin against him.

In the desert they refused to obey the Most High God.

18 They were stubborn and put God to the test.

They ordered him to give them the food they longed for.

19 They spoke against God. They said,

“Can God put food on a table in the desert?

20 When he struck the rock, streams of water poured out.

Huge amounts of water flowed down.

But can he also give us food?

Can he supply meat for his people?”

21 When the Lord heard what they said, he was very angry.

His anger broke out like fire against the people of Jacob.

He became very angry with Israel.

22 That was because they didn’t believe in God.

They didn’t trust in his power to save them.

23 But he gave a command to the skies above.

He opened the doors of the heavens.

24 He rained down manna for the people to eat.

He gave them the grain of heaven.

25 Mere men ate the bread of angels.

He sent them all of the food they could eat.

26 He made the east wind blow from the heavens.

By his power he caused the south wind to blow.

27 He rained meat down on them like dust.

He sent them birds like sand on the seashore.

28 He made the birds come down inside their camp.

The birds fell all around their tents.

29 People ate until they had more than enough.

He gave them what they had longed for.

30 But even before they had finished eating, God acted.

He did it while the food was still in their mouths.

31 His anger rose up against them.

He put to death the strongest among them.

He struck down Israel’s young men.

32 But even after all that, they kept on sinning.

Even after they had seen the miracles he did, they still didn’t believe.

33 So he brought their days to an end like a puff of smoke.

He ended their years with terror.

34 Every time God killed some of them, the others would look to him.

They gladly turned back to him again.

35 They remembered that God was their Rock.

They remembered that God Most High had set them free.

36 But they didn’t mean it when they praised him.

They lied to him when they spoke.

37 Their hearts were not true to him.

They weren’t faithful to the covenant he had made with them.

38 But he was full of tender love.

He forgave their sins

and didn’t destroy his people.

Time after time he held back his anger.

He didn’t let all of his burning anger blaze out.

39 He remembered that they were only human.

He remembered they were only a breath of air

that drifts by and doesn’t return.

40 How often they refused to obey him in the desert!

How often they caused him sorrow in that dry and empty land!

41 Again and again they put God to the test.

They made the Holy One of Israel sad and angry.

42 They didn’t remember his power.

They forgot the day he set them free

from those who had beaten them down.

43 They forgot how he had shown them his miraculous signs in Egypt.

They forgot his miracles in the area of Zoan.

44 He turned the rivers of Egypt into blood.

The people of Egypt couldn’t drink water from their streams.

45 He sent large numbers of flies that bit them.

He sent frogs that destroyed their land.

46 He gave their crops to the grasshoppers.

He gave their food to the locusts.

47 He destroyed their vines with hail.

He destroyed their fig trees with sleet.

48 He killed their cattle with hail.

Their livestock were struck by lightning.

49 He brought great trouble on Egypt by pouring out his blazing anger.

In his hot anger he sent destroying angels against them.

50 God prepared a path for his anger.

He didn’t spare their lives.

He gave them over to the plague.

51 He killed the oldest son of each family in Egypt.

He struck down the oldest son in every house in the land of Ham.

52 But he brought his people out like a flock.

He led them like sheep through the desert.

53 He guided them safely, and they weren’t afraid.

But the Red Sea swallowed up their enemies.

54 He brought his people to the border of his holy land.

He led them to the central hill country he had taken by his power.

55 He drove the nations out to make room for his people.

He gave to each family a piece of land to pass on to their children.

He settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

56 But they put God to the test.

They refused to obey the Most High God.

They didn’t keep his laws.

57 Like their people who lived before them,

they turned away from him and were not faithful.

They were like a bow that doesn’t shoot straight.

They couldn’t be trusted.

58 They made God angry by going to their high places.

They made him jealous by worshiping the statues of their gods.

59 When God saw what the people were doing, he was very angry.

He turned away from them completely.

60 He deserted the holy tent at Shiloh.

He left the tent he had set up among his people.

61 He allowed the ark to be captured.

Into the hands of his enemies he sent the ark where his glory rested.

62 He let his people be killed with swords.

He was very angry with them.

63 Fire destroyed their young men.

Their young women had no one to get married to.

64 Their priests were killed with swords.

Their widows weren’t able to cry.

65 Then the Lord woke up as if he had been sleeping.

He was like a man waking up from the deep sleep caused by wine.

66 He drove his enemies back.

He put them to shame that will last forever.

67 He turned his back on the tents of the people of Joseph.

He didn’t choose to live in the tribe of Ephraim.

68 Instead, he chose to live in the tribe of Judah.

He chose Mount Zion, which he loved.

69 There he built his holy place as secure as the heavens.

He built it to last forever, like the earth.

70 He chose his servant David.

He took him from the sheep pens.

71 He brought him from tending sheep

to be the shepherd of his people Jacob.

He made him the shepherd of Israel, his special people.

72 David cared for them with a faithful and honest heart.

With skilled hands he led them.