Telling the Generation to Come
1 A contemplation by Asaph. Hear my teaching, my people. Turn your ears to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old, 3 which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. 4 We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh, his strength, and his wondrous deeds that he has done. 5 For he established a covenant in Jacob, and appointed a teaching in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children; 6 that the generation to come might know, even the children who should be born; who should arise and tell their children, 7 that they might set their hope in God, and not forget God’s deeds, but keep his commandments, 8 and might not be as their fathers— a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that didn’t make their hearts loyal, whose spirit was not steadfast with God. 9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. 10 They didn’t keep God’s covenant, and refused to walk in his law. 11 They forgot his doings, his wondrous deeds that he had shown them. 12 He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. 13 He split the sea, and caused them to pass through. He made the waters stand as a heap. 14 In the daytime he also led them with a cloud, and all night with a light of fire. 15 He split rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths. 16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers. 17 Yet they still went on to sin against him, to rebel against the Most High in the desert. 18 They tempted God in their heart by asking food according to their desire. 19 Yes, they spoke against God. They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? 20 Behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out, and streams overflowed. Can he give bread also? Will he provide meat for his people?” 21 Therefore Yahweh heard, and was angry. A fire was kindled against Jacob, anger also went up against Israel, 22 because they didn’t believe in God, and didn’t trust in his salvation. 23 Yet he commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven. 24 He rained down manna on them to eat, and gave them food from the sky. 25 Man ate the bread of angels. He sent them food to the full. 26 He caused the east wind to blow in the sky. By his power he guided the south wind. 27 He also rained meat on them as the dust, winged birds as the sand of the seas. 28 He let them fall in the middle of their camp, around their habitations. 29 So they ate, and were well filled. He gave them their own desire. 30 They didn’t turn from their cravings. Their food was yet in their mouths, 31 when the anger of God went up against them, killed some of their strongest, and struck down the young men of Israel.
A history lesson written so that children will not repeat it, and its first episode is a nation asking whether God can set a table.
1 A contemplation by Asaph. Hear my teaching, my people. Turn your ears to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old,
The second-longest psalm, and it is a history of Israel told for a stated purpose. Matthew quotes the second verse of Jesus teaching in parables Matthew 13:35.
We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh, his strength, and his wondrous deeds that he has done.
The transmission chain is then set out in full: God commanded the fathers to make it known to their children, that the generation to come might know, even the children who should be born; who should arise and tell their children Psalms 78:5–6. Four generations named in two verses, and each one's job is to pass it on.
that they might set their hope in God, and not forget God’s deeds, but keep his commandments,
Three results, in order: hope, memory, obedience. The psalm is explicit that the point of teaching history is not information but confidence, and that forgetting is what produces disobedience.
The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.
A specific failure, otherwise unrecorded, and it is diagnosed in the next verse: they didn't keep God's covenant... They forgot his doings Psalms 78:10–11. Armed men who ran, and the psalm says the equipment was never the problem.
13 He split the sea, and caused them to pass through. He made the waters stand as a heap. 14 In the daytime he also led them with a cloud, and all night with a light of fire. 15 He split rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.
The recital begins with what they had actually seen. Then the charge.
18 They tempted God in their heart by asking food according to their desire. 19 Yes, they spoke against God. They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
The question is quoted because it is the psalm's exhibit. They had watched a sea open, and their question was whether God could manage a meal. And they make the argument themselves: behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out... Can he give bread also? Psalms 78:20 — reasoning from a miracle to a doubt.
24 He rained down manna on them to eat, and gave them food from the sky. 25 Man ate the bread of angels. He sent them food to the full.
The answer to the question is yes, and it is given in the most extravagant terms the psalm can manage. God sets the table. He does it while they are still complaining.
29 So they ate, and were well filled. He gave them their own desire. 30 They didn’t turn from their cravings. Their food was yet in their mouths,
The verse that carries the sting. He gave them exactly what they asked for, and it changed nothing — because the wanting itself had become the problem, and satisfying it only proved that.
30 They didn’t turn from their cravings. Their food was yet in their mouths, 31 when the anger of God went up against them, killed some of their strongest, and struck down the young men of Israel.
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