Biblion Bible Commentary
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Telling the Generation to Come
Psalms 78:1-31
1 A contemplation by Asaph. Hear my teaching, my people. Turn your ears to the words of my mouth. · WEB
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.
Hear my teaching, my people... I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old Psalms 78:1–2.
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 Psalms 78:4.
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 Psalms 78:7.
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 Psalms 78:9.
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.
He split the sea, and caused them to pass through... He split rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly Psalms 78:13–15.
The recital begins with what they had actually seen. Then the charge.
They tempted God in their heart by asking food according to their desire. Yes, they spoke against God. They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?" Psalms 78:18–19.
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.
He rained down manna on them to eat, and gave them food from the sky. Man ate the bread of angels Psalms 78:24–25.
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.
So they ate, and were well filled. He gave them their own desire. They didn't turn from their cravings Psalms 78:29–30.
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.
Their food was yet in their mouths, when the anger of God went up against them Psalms 78:30–31.
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