The Book of Psalms

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- Chapter 78 -

I will open my mouth in parables

(Matthew 13:34-35)

The understanding of Asaph. O my people, attend to my law. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

I will open my mouth in parables. I will speak about concepts that are from the beginning.(a)

We have heard and known such great things, as our fathers have described to us.

These things have not been hidden from their sons in any generation: declaring the praises of the Lord, and his virtues, and the wonders that he has done.

And he has received testimony with Jacob, and he has set a law within Israel. Such great things, he has commanded our fathers, so as to make these things known to their sons,

so that another generation might know them, and so that the sons, who will be born and who will grow up, shall describe them to their sons.

So then, may they put their hope in God, and may they not forget the works of God, and may they seek his commandments.

May they not become like their fathers, a perverse and exasperating generation: a generation that does not straighten their heart and whose spirit is not trustworthy with God.

The sons of Ephraim, who bend and shoot the bow, have been turned back in the day of battle.

They have not kept the covenant of God. And they were not willing to walk in his law.

And they have been forgetful of his benefits, and of his miracle, which he revealed to them.

He performed miracles in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Tanis.

He broke the sea and he led them through. And he stationed the waters, as if in a vessel.

And he led them with a cloud by day, and with illumination by fire throughout the night.

He broke through the rock in the wasteland, and he gave them to drink, as if from the great abyss.

He brought forth water from the rock, and he conducted the waters, as if they were rivers.

And yet, they continued to sin against him. In a waterless place, they provoked the Most High with resentment.(b)

And they tempted God in their hearts, by asking for food according to their desires.

And they spoke badly about God. They said, “Would God be able to prepare a table in the desert?

He struck the rock, and so waters flowed and the torrents flooded, but would even he be able to provide bread, or provide a table, for his people?”

Therefore, the Lord heard, and he was dismayed, and a fire was kindled within Jacob, and an anger ascended into Israel.

For they neither put their trust in God, nor did they hope in his salvation.

And he commanded the clouds from above, and he opened the doors of heaven.

And he rained down manna upon them to eat, and he gave them the bread of heaven.

Man ate the bread of Angels. He sent them provisions in abundance.

He transferred the south wind from heaven, and, in his virtue, he brought in the Southwest wind.

And he rained down flesh upon them, as if it were dust, and feathered birds, as if they were the sand of the sea.

And they fell down in the midst of their camp, encircling their tabernacles.

And they ate until they were greatly satisfied, and he brought to them according to their desires.

They were not cheated out of what they wanted. Their food was still in their mouth,

and then the wrath of God came upon them. And he slew the fat ones among them, and he impeded the elect of Israel.

In all these things, they continued to sin, and they were not trustworthy with his miracles.

And their days faded away into vanity, and their years with haste.

When he slew them, then they sought him. And they returned, and they drew near to him in the early morning.

And they were mindful that God is their helper and that the Most High God is their redeemer.

And they chose him with their mouth, and then they lied to him with their tongue.

For their heart was not upright with him, nor have they been living faithfully in his covenant.

Yet he is merciful, and he will pardon their sins. And he will not destroy them. And he has abundantly turned aside his own wrath. And he did not enflame his wrath entirely.

And he remembered that they are flesh: with a spirit that goes forth and does not return.(c)

How often did they provoke him in the desert and stir him to wrath in a waterless place?

And they turned back and tempted God, and they exasperated the Holy One of Israel.

They did not remember his hand, in the day that he redeemed them from the hand of the one troubling them.

Thus, he positioned his signs in Egypt and his wonders in the field of Tanis.

And he turned their rivers into blood, along with their rain showers, so that they could not drink.

He sent among them the common fly, and it devoured them, and the frog, and it scattered them.

And he gave up their fruits to mold and their labors to the locust.

And he slew their vineyards with hail and their mulberry trees with severe frost.

And he delivered their cattle to the hail and their possessions to fire.

And he sent the wrath of his indignation among them: indignation and wrath and tribulation, sent forth by evil angels.

He made way for the path of his anger. He did not spare their souls from death. And he enclosed their beasts of burden in death.

And he struck all the first-born in the land of Egypt: the first-fruits of all their labor in the tabernacles of Ham.

And he took away his own people like sheep, and he led them through the wilderness like a flock.

And he led them out in hope, and they did not fear. And the sea covered their enemies.

And he led them to the mountain of his sanctification: the mountain that his right hand had acquired. And he cast out the Gentiles before their face. And he divided their land by lot to them, with a line of distribution.

And he caused the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tabernacles.

Yet they tempted and aggravated God Most High, and they did not keep his testaments.

And they turned themselves aside, and they did not serve the covenant. In the same manner as their fathers, they were turned backwards, like a crooked bow.

They impelled him to anger on their hills, and they provoked him to rivalry with their graven images.

God listened, and he spurned them, and he reduced Israel greatly, almost to nothing.

And he rejected the tabernacle of Shiloh, his tabernacle where he had dwelt among men.

And he delivered their virtue into captivity, and their beauty into the hands of the enemy.

And he enclosed his people with the sword, and he spurned his inheritance.

Fire consumed their young men, and their virgins were not lamented.

Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows did not weep.

And the Lord was awakened, as if out of sleep, and like a powerful man impaired by wine.

And he struck his enemies on the back. He gave them over to everlasting disgrace.

And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph, and he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.

But he chose the tribe of Judah: mount Zion, which he loved.

And he built up his sanctuary, like a single-horned beast, in the land that he founded for all ages.(d)

(e)

And he chose his servant David, and he took him from the flocks of the sheep: he received him from following the ewes with their young,

in order to pasture Jacob his servant and Israel his inheritance.

And he fed them with the innocence of his heart. And he led them with the understanding of his hands.

Footnotes

(a)77:2 Propositions:Deep and mysterious sayings. By this it appears that the historical facts of ancient times, commemorated in this psalm, were deep and mysterious: as being figures of great truths appertaining to the time of the New Testament.(Challoner)

(b)77:17 They were angry and resentful that they were led to a waterless place by God.(Conte)

(c)77:39 In the ancient view, man is body, spirit, and soul. The spirit of man is not a third part, but merely the quality of being alive, when body and soul are united. At death, body and soul are separated, and spirit (the breath of life) seems to cease to exist, but only because it is a quality, not a thing.(Conte)

(d)77:69 The word ‘horn’ in the Old Testament often is used metaphorically to refer to power or a source of power, or leadership or a particular leader.(Conte)

(e)77:69 As of unicorns:That is, firm and strong like the horn of the unicorn. This is one of the chiefest of the propositions of this psalm, foretelling the firm establishment of the one, true, and everlasting sanctuary of God, in his church.(Challoner)

I will open my mouth in parables

(Matthew 13:34-35)

Hear my teaching, my people. Turn your ears to the words of my mouth.

I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old,

which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.

We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, his strength, and his wondrous deeds that he has done.

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;

that the generation to come might know, even the children who should be born; who should arise and tell their children,

that they might set their hope in God, and not forget God’s deeds, but keep his commandments,

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.

The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.

They didn’t keep God’s covenant, and refused to walk in his law.

They forgot his doings, his wondrous deeds that he had shown them.

He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

He split the sea, and caused them to pass through. He made the waters stand as a heap.

In the daytime he also led them with a cloud, and all night with a light of fire.

He split rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.

He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

Yet they still went on to sin against him, to rebel against the Most High in the desert.

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?

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?”

Therefore the LORD heard, and was angry. A fire was kindled against Jacob, anger also went up against Israel,

because they didn’t believe in God, and didn’t trust in his salvation.

Yet he commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven.

He rained down manna on them to eat, and gave them food from the sky.

Man ate the bread of angels. He sent them food to the full.

He caused the east wind to blow in the sky. By his power he guided the south wind.

He also rained meat on them as the dust, winged birds as the sand of the seas.

He let them fall in the middle of their camp, around their habitations.

So they ate, and were well filled. He gave them their own desire.

They didn’t turn from their cravings. Their food was yet in their mouths,

when the anger of God went up against them, killed some of their strongest, and struck down the young men of Israel.

For all this they still sinned, and didn’t believe in his wondrous works.

Therefore he consumed their days in vanity, and their years in terror.

When he killed them, then they inquired after him. They returned and sought God earnestly.

They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God, their redeemer.

But they flattered him with their mouth, and lied to him with their tongue.

For their heart was not right with him, neither were they faithful in his covenant.

But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn’t destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, and didn’t stir up all his wrath.

He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes away, and doesn’t come again.

How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness, and grieved him in the desert!

They turned again and tempted God, and provoked the Holy One of Israel.

They didn’t remember his hand, nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary;

how he set his signs in Egypt, his wonders in the field of Zoan,

he turned their rivers into blood, and their streams, so that they could not drink.

He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.

He also gave their increase to the caterpillar, and their labor to the locust.

He destroyed their vines with hail, their sycamore fig trees with frost.

He also gave over their livestock to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.

He threw on them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, indignation, and trouble, and a band of angels of evil.

He made a path for his anger. He didn’t spare their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence,

and struck all the firstborn in Egypt, the chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.

But he led out his own people like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

He led them safely, so that they weren’t afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

He brought them to the border of his sanctuary, to this mountain, which his right hand had taken.

He also drove out the nations before them, allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God, and didn’t keep his testimonies,

but turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. They were twisted like a deceitful bow.

For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their engraved images.

When God heard this, he was angry, and greatly abhorred Israel,

so that he abandoned the tent of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men,

and delivered his strength into captivity, his glory into the adversary’s hand.

He also gave his people over to the sword, and was angry with his inheritance.

Fire devoured their young men. Their virgins had no wedding song.

Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows couldn’t weep.

Then the Lord awakened as one out of sleep, like a mighty man who shouts by reason of wine.

He struck his adversaries backward. He put them to a perpetual reproach.

Moreover he rejected the tent of Joseph, and didn’t choose the tribe of Ephraim,

But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved.

He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which he has established forever.

He also chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds;

from following the ewes that have their young, he brought him to be the shepherd of Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.

So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.