Recap: In the first section of Psalm 78, the writer talked about the importance of teaching the next generations of children about the Lord - the wonders he had done for his people, his commandments, and to put their confidence in him.

He then talked about a time when “Ephraim” – that is, the northern tribes of Israel – forgot God’s covenant and his powerful deeds. From there, the writer starts relating the long story of Israel’s birth as a nation, from the time when God brought them out of Egypt and took them through the desert to the Promised Land. That story showed that Israel was rebellious and forgetful from the very start. The writer’s point is that the northern tribes of Israel – all except Judah – had continued in that sinful path of forgetting the Lord and abandoning his covenant.

Today we pick up the story of Israel’s origins from verse 17. As you read, keep in mind our two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

17 But they continued to sin against Him,
rebelling in the desert against the Most High.
18 They willfully tested God
by demanding the food they craved.
19 They spoke against God, saying,
“Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?
20 When He struck the rock, water gushed out
and torrents raged.
But can He also give bread
or supply His people with meat?”

21 Therefore the LORD heard
and was filled with wrath;
so a fire was kindled against Jacob,
and His anger flared against Israel,
22 because they did not believe God
or rely on His salvation.

23 Yet He commanded the clouds above
and opened the doors of the heavens.
24 He rained down manna for them to eat;
He gave them grain from heaven.
25 Man ate the bread of angels;
He sent them food in abundance.
26 He stirred the east wind from the heavens
and drove the south wind by His might.
27 He rained meat on them like dust,
and winged birds like the sand of the sea.
28 He felled them in the midst of their camp,
all around their dwellings.
29 So they ate and were well filled,
for He gave them what they craved.

30 Yet before they had filled their desire,
with the food still in their mouths,
31 God’s anger flared against them,
and He put to death their strongest
and subdued the young men of Israel.

32 In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;
despite His wonderful works, they did not believe.
33 So He ended their days in futility,
and their years in sudden terror.
34 When He slew them, they would seek Him;
they repented and searched for God.
35 And they remembered that God was their Rock,
that God Most High was their Redeemer.

36 But they deceived Him with their mouths,
and lied to Him with their tongues.
37 Their hearts were disloyal to Him,
and they were unfaithful to His covenant.

38 And yet He was compassionate;
He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them.
He often restrained His anger
and did not unleash His full wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh,
a passing breeze that does not return.

REFLECTIONS

Now think about the two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

Then pray, seeking to delight in God or to depend on God.