Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 78:9

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 78:9. The children of Ephraim - turned back — This refers to some defeat of the Ephraimites; and some think to that by the men of Gath, mentioned 1 Chronicles 7:21. R. D. Kimchi says this defeat of the Ephraimites was in the desert; and although the story be not mentioned in the law, yet it is written in the Books of the Chronicles, where we read, on the occasion of "Zabad the Ephraimite, and Shuthelah, c., whom the men of Gath, who were born in the land, slew and Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him," 1 Chronicles 7:20-22: but to what defeat of the Ephraimites this refers is not certainly known; probably the Israelites after the division of the two kingdoms are intended.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 78:0 Lessons from history

Being a true teacher, the psalmist is concerned for the spiritual condition of his people. His present intention is to comment on events in the history of Israel so that people of future generations may take heed (1-4). God gave his law to his people to guide them. The record of his faithfulness will be an encouragement, the record of Israel’s failures a warning (5-8).

The first reminder is of the stubbornness of the tribe of Ephraim in one of Israel’s early battles (9-11. The psalmist does not name the particular battle). By contrast God was always faithful to Israel. For example, he freed the people from Egypt and provided for their needs miraculously (12-16; see Exodus 13:21; Exodus 14:21; Exodus 17:6). But as soon as the people began to taste the hardships of desert life, they complained bitterly. They challenged God to prove his kindness and power by giving them the food they wanted (17-22). Again God graciously provided for them (23-28), but their greed became the means of their punishment (29-31; see Exodus 16:1-36; Exodus 17:1-7; Numbers 11:1-35).

Israel’s constant lack of faith was well demonstrated in the people’s refusal to believe that God could give them victory over the Canaanites. In punishment they suffered disaster and death over the next forty years (32-37). Yet in his mercy God did not destroy the rebellious nation (38-41; see Numbers 14:1-35). By his great power he saved the Israelites from the terrible judgments he sent upon Egypt, both its land and its people (42-51; see Exodus 7:1-31). He cared for his people as they travelled through harsh countryside, from the Red Sea to the borders of Canaan. Finally, he brought them into the land he had promised them (52-55; see Joshua 24:12-13).

Soon, however, the people forgot all that God had done for them. They turned away from the true God to follow the false gods of the Canaanites (56-58; see Judges 2:11-15). This led in turn to the destruction of their place of worship at Shiloh and the loss of the ark of the covenant to the Philistines (59-64; see 1 Samuel 4:1-11; Jeremiah 7:12,Jeremiah 7:14).

Again God saved his people, this time by using a man from the tribe of Judah to stir them up and lead them triumphantly (65-68). This man, David, established the sanctuary on Mount Zion and placed within it the ark of the covenant, the symbol of God’s presence. In this way David showed his determination that God should be the centre of Israel’s national life. Israel’s history had been one of constant failure, but God in his mercy had not forsaken his people. In the symbol of the ark he dwelt among them and through the rule of his chosen king he cared for them (69-72; see 2 Samuel 5:6-10; 2 Samuel 6:1-19).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

EPHRAIM, A TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF INFIDELITY

“The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle. They kept not the covenant of God, And refused to walk in his law; And they forgat his doings, and his wondrous works that he had showed them.”

“Ephraim… turned back in the day of battle” Dahood interpreted this to mean that, “Despite the Ephraimites having been selected as Yahweh’s elite bowmen, the Ephraimites were later rejected for cowardice.”Mitchell Dahood in The Anchor Bible, Vol. II, p. 239. Some able scholars, however, reject that view. “There is no Biblical record of any cowardice on their part; and the words here are probably a powerful metaphor meaning exactly what is more literally stated in the next two verses.”Derek Kidner, op. cit., p. 282. Maclaren also understood the passage as metaphorical.

The prominence of the Ephraimites as the largest tribe had been aided by Moses’ appointment of Joshua, an Ephraimite, as his successor to lead the people into Canaan.

It was natural that Joshua, an Ephraimite, should have located the tabernacle in Ephraim’s territory, effectively making that tribe, in a sense, `the capital’ of all Israel. However, the great failure of Ephraim was not the rapture of the kingdom after the reign of Solomon, but their wickedness during the period of the Judges, a wickedness that eventually led to the removal of the tabernacle in Ephraim’s territory (at Shiloh), and to the transfer of the leadership of the kingdom to the Davidic dynasty, as well as the relocation of the tabernacle in Jerusalem. What is in view here is not a single event, such as the rebellion against the son of Solomon, but a reference to, “The ill success of Israel under the leadership of Ephraim during the whole period of the Judges.”The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 8-B, p. 124.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

The children of Ephraim - The sons of Ephraim; that is, the descendants of Ephraim; the tribe of Ephraim. Ephraim was one of the “largest” of the tribes of Israel, and was the “chief” tribe in the rebellion, and hence, the term is often used to denote the “ten” tribes, or the kingdom of Israel, in contradistinction from that of Judah. See Isaiah 7:2, Isaiah 7:5,Isaiah 7:8-9, Isaiah 7:17; Isaiah 11:13; Isaiah 28:1. The word is evidently used in this sense here, not as denoting that one tribe only, but that tribe as the head of the revolted kingdom; or, in other words, the name is used as representing the kingdom of that name after the revolt. See 1 Kings 12:0. This verse evidently contains the gist or the main idea of the psalm - to wit, that Ephraim, or the ten tribes, had turned away from the worship of the true God, and that, in consequence of that apostasy, the government had been transferred to another tribe - the tribe of Judah. See Psalms 78:67-68.

Being armed - The idea in this phrase is, that they had abundant means for maintaining their independence in connection with the other tribes, or as a part of the nation, but that they refused to cooperate with their brethren.

And carrying bows - Margin, “throwing forth.” Literally, “lifting up.” The idea is, that they were armed with bows; or, that they were fully armed.

Turned back in the day of battle - That is, they did not stand by their brethren, or assist them in defending their country. There is probably no reference here to any particular battle, but the idea is, that in the wars of the nation - in those wars which were waged for national purposes - they refused to join with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin in defense of the lawful government.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

9.The children of Ephraim being armed, and shooting with the bow. The sacred writer sets before us an example of this unfaithfulness in the children of Ephraim. As those who are pertinaciously set upon doing evil are not easily led to repentance and reformation by simple instruction, the punishments with which God visited the children of Ephraim are brought forward, and by these it is proved that they were reprobates. Since they were a warlike people, it was an evidence of the divine displeasure for them to turn their backs in battle. And it is expressly declared, that they were skillful in shooting with the bow; ⁽³¹⁷⁾ for it is an additional stigma to represent such as were armed with weapons to wound their enemies at a distance as fleeing through fear. From this, it is the more abundantly manifest that they had incurred the displeasure of God, who not only deprived them of his aid, but also made their hearts effeminate in the hour of danger.

Here the question may be raised, Why the children of Ephraim only are blamed, when we find a little before, all the tribes in general comprehended in the same sentence of condemnation? Some commentators refer this to the slaughter of the sons of Ephraim by the men of Gath, who came forth against them to recover their cattle of which they had been despoiled, 1 Chronicles 7:20. ⁽³¹⁸⁾ But this exposition is too restricted. Perhaps the kingdom of Israel had fallen into decay, and had been almost ruined when this psalm was composed. It is therefore better to follow the opinion of other interpreters, who think, that by the figure synecdoche, the children of Ephraim are put for the whole people. But these interpreters pass over without consideration the fact, which ought not to be overlooked, that the Ephraimites are purposely named because they were the means of leading others into that rebellion which took place when Jeroboam set up the calves, (1 Kings 12:25.) What we have already said must be borne in mind, that towards the close of the psalm, the rejection of the tribe of Ephraim is, not, without cause, contrasted with the election of the tribe of Judah. The children of Ephraim are also here spoken of by way of comparison, to warn the true children of Abraham from the example of those who cut themselves off from the Church, and yet boasted of the title of the Church without exhibiting holy fruits in their life. ⁽³¹⁹⁾ As they surpassed all the other tribes in number and wealth, their influence was too powerful in beguiling the simple; but of this the prophet now strips them, showing that they were deprived of the aid of God.

(317) Of the Ephraimites shooting with the bow, or being archers, we have an intimation in Genesis 49:24, where, in Jacob’s blessing on Joseph, the father of Ephraim, it is said, “His bow abode in strength.”

(318) Dr Morison supposes, that the history here referred to, is that of the Israelites going up contrary to the divine command to take possession of the promised land, when, for their temerity, they were smitten and humbled before their enemies. (Deuteronomy 1:42.) “The tribe of Ephraim,” he observes, “is doubtless specially singled out, because they were the most warlike of all the chosen tribes, and because, perhaps, they led on the other tribes to the fatal act of rebellion against the expressed will of the God of Israel.” This, perhaps, may be considered as receiving some support from comparing the number of the tribe of Ephraim (Numbers 2:19) when they came out of Egypt, with their number when taken in the plains of Moab, at the termination of their wanderings in the wilderness, (Numbers 26:37.) At the former period, they amounted to 40,500, at the latter, to 32,500, eight thousand less; whereas, during those forty years the other tribes had considerably increased.

(319) “Sans en monstrer les fruicts en leur vie.” — Fr.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 78:1-72

Psalms 78:1-72 is a psalm that rehearses the history of God's people. And the psalm was written in order to remind the children, the coming generation, of the works of the Lord. One of the important obligations that we have is that we not see a move of God and then see it die with the passing generation. But unfortunately, rarely does a work of God continue into a second generation. Unfortunately, we begin to get our eyes upon the things that God has done, upon the great monuments. And it turns into a monument rather than keeping our eyes upon God who is doing the work to begin with. And it's always a tragedy when the work of God turns into a memorial. Somehow we need to communicate to our children that glorious work and consciousness of God so it goes on and on and on. And the children of Israel sought to do this, but they failed. And so many times you find that from one generation to the next the work of God was forgotten. Case of Hezekiah, followed by Manasseh, his son. Hezekiah, marvelous, righteous king; Manasseh, an evil, wicked king. Somehow his father did not relate well to Manasseh his faith, his trust, his confidence in God. So,

Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline 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 the children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works which he has done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children [passing it on to the children]: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; whom would arise and declare them to their children: that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments ( Psalms 78:1-7 ):

So the transmission of truth from generation to generation.

And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God. The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle ( Psalms 78:8-9 ).

They did not stand up against the enemy; they retreated.

They kept not the covenant of God, they refused to walk in his law ( Psalms 78:10 );

That is why they turned back in battle.

And they forgot his works, and his wonders that he had showed them ( Psalms 78:11 ).

The forgetfulness.

Marvelous things he did in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. He divided the sea, caused them to pass through; made the waters stand up as a heap. In the daytime he led them by the cloud, and night with a light of fire. He broke the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink out of the great depths. He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run like rivers. And yet they sinned against him by provoking the Most High in the wilderness. And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust. Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Behold, he smote the rock, the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh to his people? Therefore the LORD heard this, he was angry: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, anger came up against Israel; because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation ( Psalms 78:12-22 ):

God's anger because of unbelief. The Bible says without faith it is impossible to please God.

Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, he rained down manna upon them to eat, he had given them the corn of heaven. Man did eat angles' food: he sent them meat to their full. He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought the south wind. He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like the sand of the sea: And he let it fall in the middle of their camp, round about their houses. So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire; But they were not estranged from their lust ( Psalms 78:23-30 ):

Even though they were filled, they were still filled with lust. In other words, you lust, but lust cannot really be satisfied. And though they were filled, still they were hungry.

but while their meat was in their mouths, [the anger] the wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel. For all of this they continued to sin, and believed not his wondrous works. Therefore their days were spent in emptiness, their years in trouble. And when he slew them, they sought him: and returned and inquired early after God. And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer. Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, but they lied unto him with their tongues. For their heart was not right with him, and neither were they steadfast in his covenant ( Psalms 78:30-37 ).

How many times people are doing the same thing, lying to God. Flattering with their mouth, but their hearts are really far from God.

But being full of compassion, he forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time he turned his anger away, and did not stir up all of his wrath. For he remembered that they were but flesh ( Psalms 78:38-39 );

Thank God for the mercies wherewith He deals with us and He remembers that we are but flesh. Now sometimes we think we are supermen. We think we are a rock of Gibraltar. We think were so strong; we're so powerful. "I am so strong I can stand against... " Oh, how I cringe when I see some of these young Christians. They come up and they say, I really want to go out and I serve God in a mission field." "Well, how long have you been a Christian?" "Two months now. I feel God is calling me to a mission field. I am ready to conquer the world." You feel so strong, but God knows you are just dust. And it's good when we find out that we are just dust too, and we trust not in the arm of our flesh, but we learn to trust the Lord completely.

God remembers that they were but flesh.

a wind that passes away, and comes not again ( Psalms 78:39 ).

People have always asked, "What scripture can you give me against reincarnation?" Well, here is one. You might mark it. Your life is spoken of as a wind that passes away and comes not again. That's talking about your breath of life. It is something that is gonna pass, but it won't come again. So you are not going to come back. But who in the world would want to? When I read the predictions for the year 2000, I don't want to be around. To come back again and have to go through this. Under the conditions that will exist in the year 2000, or even the year 2020 is even going to be worse. No thanks!

Now,

How often they provoked him in the wilderness and they grieved him in the desert! Yes, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel ( Psalms 78:40-41 ).

Here is a very interesting verse, and that is that God can be limited by the unbelief of people. When Jesus was in Nazareth, it said, "He did not many works there because of their unbelief." Your unbelief can actually limit the work that God is wanting to do in your life. The children of Israel put limitations on God, and man today is often putting limitations on God.

One of the limitations that we so often place upon God are dispensational limitations. The dispensation of the apostles, you know. The dispensation of the Holy Spirit. It all ended with the apostles. God doesn't work anymore. God doesn't heal anymore. God doesn't work miracles anymore. The gifts of the Spirit are not in operation anymore. They all ceased with the apostles. And we put limits on God, not because God won't, not because God doesn't want to, but because of our unbelief, our failing to believe God to do it now. And it is still possible for us to be putting limitations on the work that God wants to do in our lives.

When I come to God, I say, "God, help me to be totally open to anything and everything You want to do in my life." I don't want to put any restraints on that which God is wanting to do in or through me. By presuppositions, by my own cultural upbringing, by the things that have been planted in my mind by the past, by my education, or anything else. I don't want anything there that would restrict or limit that which God wants to do. They limited the Holy One of Israel by their unbelief.

They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy: He wrought the signs in Egypt, and turned the rivers into blood; and the floods, that they couldn't drink. He sent the flies and the frogs. And gave the increase of their fields to the caterpillar, and to the locust. And destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost. And gave their cattle also to the hail, and the flocks to the hot thunderbolts. He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, and wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them ( Psalms 78:42-49 ).

No doubt reference to the slaying of the firstborn.

He made way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to pestilence; and smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength the tabernacles of Ham: but he made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. He led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. And brought them to the border of the sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased. And cast the heathen also before them, divided them the inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. And yet they tempted and provoked the most high, and did not keep his testimonies: But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they provoked him to anger by building the places of false worship, they moved him to jealousy with their graven images. When God heard this, he was angry, and abhorred Israel: So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he had placed among men ( Psalms 78:50-60 );

The tabernacle, of course, originally was in the area of Shiloh, which was in the portion that was given to the tribe of Ephraim.

He delivered his strength into captivity, his glory into the enemy's hand. He gave his people over to the sword; and was angry with his inheritance. Fire consumed their young men; the maidens were not given to marriage. Their priests fell by the sword; the widows made no lamentation. Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine. And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put then to perpetual reproach. Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim ( Psalms 78:61-67 ):

When God chose then a leader, he refused to take the tribe of Ephraim, or of Joseph, which would have also been Manasseh.

But he chose the tribe of Judah, [and rather than Shiloh] Mount Zion which he loved. And there he built his sanctuary like the high places, like the earth which he established for ever. He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands ( Psalms 78:68-72 ).

A beautiful rehearsal of their history to remind them of the work of God in their past. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 78

This didactic psalm teaches present and future generations to learn from the past, and it stresses the grace of God. Didactic psalms offer wisdom to the reader. Some have called this a history psalm (cf. Psalms 105, 106, 114, 135, , 136). [Note: Wiersbe, The . . . Wisdom . . ., p. 230.]

"This could be sub-titled, in view of Psalms 78:12; Psalms 78:68, From Zoan to Zion, for it reviews the turbulent adolescence of Israel from its time of slavery in Egypt to the reign of David. Like the parting song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32) it is meant to search the conscience; it is history that must not repeat itself. At the same time, it is meant to warm the heart, for it tells of great miracles, of a grace that persists through all the judgments, and of the promise that displays its tokens in the chosen city and chosen king." [Note: Kidner, Psalms 73-150, p. 280.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. A notable defection 78:9-11

It is difficult to identify with certainty the occasion that these verses describe. Ephraim was not only the name of one tribe in Israel. It was also the name of the northern nation of Israel after the United Kingdom split in Rehoboam’s day. Assuming the writer was a contemporary of David, Ephraim the tribe appears to be in view here. In any case, the writer used this incident as a bad example that his hearers should avoid.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

The children of Ephraim being armed, and carrying bows,.... Or "casting" arrows out of the "bow" a; they went out well armed to meet the enemy, and they trusted in their armour, and not in the Lord; and being skilful in throwing darts, or shooting arrows, promised themselves victory:

but turned back in the day of battle; fled from the enemy, could not stand their ground when the onset was made: what this refers to is not easy to determine; some think this with what follows respects the defection of the ten tribes in Rehoboam's time, which frequently go under the name of Ephraim; but we have no account of any battle then fought, and lost by them; and besides the history of this psalm reaches no further than the times of David; others are of opinion that it regards the time of Eli, when the Israelites were beaten by the Philistines, the ark of God was taken, Eli's two sons slain, and thirty thousand more, 1 Samuel 4:1. Ephraim being put for the rest of the tribes, the ark being in that tribe; others suppose that the affair between the Gileadites and Ephraimites, in the times of Jephthah, is referred to, when there fell of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand,

Judges 12:1, many of the Jewish b writers take it to be the history of a fact that was done in Egypt before the children of Israel came out from thence; see 1 Chronicles 7:20, so the Targum,

"when they dwelt in Egypt, the children of Ephraim grew proud, they appointed the end (or term of going out of Egypt), and they erred, and went out thirty years before the end, with warlike arms, and mighty men carrying bows, turned back, and were slain in the day of battle;''

though it seems most likely to have respect to what was done in the wilderness, as Kimchi observes, after they were come out of Egypt, and had seen the wonders of God there, and at the Red sea, and in the wilderness; and perhaps reference is had to the discomfiture of the Israelites by the Amalekites, when they went up the hill they were forbid to do, and in which, it may be, the Ephraimites were most forward, and suffered most; see Numbers 14:40.

a רומי קשת "jacientes arcu", Pagninus, Montanus; "jaculantes arcu", Tigurine version, Musculus, Junius & Tremellius, Gejerus, Michaelis. b See Pirke Eliezer, c. 48. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 7. 2.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      9 The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.   10 They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;   11 And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had showed them.   12 Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.   13 He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as a heap.   14 In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.   15 He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.   16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.   17 And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.   18 And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.   19 Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?   20 Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?   21 Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;   22 Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:   23 Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,   24 And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.   25 Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full.   26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind.   27 He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea:   28 And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations.   29 So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire;   30 They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths,   31 The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.   32 For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.   33 Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.   34 When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God.   35 And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.   36 Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.   37 For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.   38 But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.   39 For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

      In these verses,

      I. The psalmist observes the late rebukes of Providence that the people of Israel had been under, which they had brought upon themselves by their dealing treacherously with God, Psalms 78:9-11; Psalms 78:9-11. The children of Ephraim, in which tribe Shiloh was, though they were well armed and shot with bows, yet turned back in the day of battle. This seems to refer to that shameful defeat which the Philistines gave them in Eli's time, when they took the ark prisoner, 1 Samuel 4:10; 1 Samuel 4:11. Of this the psalmist here begins to speak, and, after a long digression, returns to it again, Psalms 78:61; Psalms 78:61. Well might that event be thus fresh in mind in David's time, above forty years after, for the ark, which in that memorable battle was seized by the Philistines, though it was quickly brought out of captivity, was never brought out of obscurity till David fetched it from Kirjath-jearim to his own city. Observe, 1. The shameful cowardice of the children of Ephraim, that warlike tribe, so famed for valiant men, Joshua's tribe; the children of that tribe, though as well armed as ever, turned back when they came to face the enemy. Note, Weapons of war stand men in little stead without a martial spirit, and that is gone if God be gone. Sin dispirits men and takes away the heart. 2. The causes of their cowardice, which were no less shameful; and these were, (1.) A shameful violation of God's law and their covenant with him (Psalms 78:10; Psalms 78:10); they were basely treacherous and perfidious, for they kept not the covenant of God, and basely stubborn and rebellious (as they were described, Psalms 78:8; Psalms 78:8), for they peremptorily refused to walk in his law, and, in effect, told him to his face they would not be ruled by him. (2.) A shameful ingratitude to God for the favours he had bestowed upon them: They forgot his works and his wonders, his works of wonder which they ought to have admired, Psalms 78:11; Psalms 78:11. Note, Our forgetfulness of God's works is at the bottom of our disobedience to his laws.

      II. He takes occasion hence to consult precedents and to compare this with the case of their fathers, who were in like manner unmindful of God's mercies to them and ungrateful to their founder and great benefactor, and were therefore often brought under his displeasure. The narrative in these verses is very remarkable, for it relates a kind of struggle between God's goodness and man's badness, and mercy, at length, rejoices against judgment.

      1. God did great things for his people Israel when he first incorporated them and formed them into a people: Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, and not only in their sight, but in their cause, and for their benefit, so strange, so kind, that one would think they should never be forgotten. What he did for them in the land of Egypt is only just mentioned here (Psalms 78:12; Psalms 78:12), but afterwards resumed, Psalms 78:43; Psalms 78:43. He proceeds here to show, (1.) How he made a lane for them through the Red Sea, and caused them, gave them courage, to pass through, though the waters stood over their heads as a heap, Psalms 78:13; Psalms 78:13. See Isaiah 63:12; Isaiah 63:13, where God is said to lead them by the hand, as it were, through the deep that they should not stumble. (2.) How he provided a guide for them through the untrodden paths of the wilderness (Psalms 78:14; Psalms 78:14); he led them step by step, in the day time by a cloud, which also sheltered them from the heat, and all the night with a light of fire, which perhaps warmed the air; at least it made the darkness of night less frightful, and perhaps kept off wild beasts, Zechariah 2:5. (3.) How he furnished their camp with fresh water in a dry and thirsty land where no water was, not by opening the bottles of heaven (that would have been a common way), but by broaching a rock (Psalms 78:15; Psalms 78:16): He clave the rocks in the wilderness, which yielded water, though they were not capable of receiving it either from the clouds above or the springs beneath. Out of the dry and hard rock he gave them drink, not distilled as out of an alembic, drop by drop, but in streams running down like rivers, and as out of the great depths. God gives abundantly, and is rich in mercy; he gives seasonably, and sometimes makes us to feel the want of mercies that we may the better know the worth of them. This water which God gave Israel out of the rock was the more valuable because it was spiritual drink. And that rock was Christ.

      2. When God began thus to bless them they began to affront him (Psalms 78:17; Psalms 78:17): They sinned yet more against him, more than they had done in Egypt, though there they were bad enough, Ezekiel 20:8. They bore the miseries of their servitude better than the difficulties of their deliverance, and never murmured at their taskmasters so much as they did at Moses and Aaron; as if they were delivered to do all these abominations,Jeremiah 7:10. As sin sometimes takes occasion by the commandment, so at other times it takes occasion by the deliverance, to become more exceedingly sinful. They provoked the Most High. Though he is most high, and they knew themselves an unequal match for him, yet they provoked him and even bade defiance to his justice; and this in the wilderness, where he had them at his mercy and therefore they were bound in interest to please him, and where he showed them so much mercy and therefore they were bound in gratitude to please him; yet there they said and did that which they knew would provoke him: They tempted God in their heart,Psalms 78:18; Psalms 78:18. Their sin began in their heart, and thence it took its malignity. They do always err in their heart,Hebrews 3:10. Thus they tempted God, tried his patience to the utmost, whether he would bear with them or no, and, in effect, bade him do his worst. Two ways they provoked him:-- (1.) By desiring, or rather demanding, that which he had not thought fit to give them: They asked meat for their lust. God had given them meat for their hunger, in the manna, wholesome pleasant food and in abundance; he had given them meat for their faith out of the heads of leviathan which he broke in pieces,Psalms 74:14. But all this would not serve; they must have meat for their lust, dainties and varieties to gratify a luxurious appetite. Nothing is more provoking to God than our quarrelling with our allotment and indulging the desires of the flesh. (2.) By distrusting his power to give them what they desired. This was tempting God indeed. They challenged him to give them flesh; and, if he did not, they would say it was because he could not, not because he did not see it fit for them (Psalms 78:19; Psalms 78:19): They spoke against God. Those that set bounds to God's power speak against him. It was as injurious a reflection as could be cat upon God to say, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? They had manna, but the did not think they had a table furnished unless they had boiled and roast, a first, a second, and a third course, as they had in Egypt, where they had both flesh and fish, and sauce too (Exodus 16:3; Numbers 11:5), dishes of meat and salvers of fruit. What an unreasonable insatiable thin is luxury! Such a mighty thing did these epicures think a table well furnished to be that they thought it was more than God himself could give them in that wilderness; whereas the beasts of the forest, and all the fowls of the mountains, are his, Psalms 50:10; Psalms 50:11. Their disbelief of God's power was so much the worse in that they did at the same time own that he had done as much as that came to (Psalms 78:20; Psalms 78:20): Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, which they and their cattle drank of. And which is easier, to furnish a table in the wilderness, which a rich man can do, or to fetch water out of a rock, which the greatest potentate on the earth cannot do? Never did unbelief, though always unreasonable, ask so absurd a question: "Can he that melted down a rock into streams of water give bread also? Or can he that has given bread provide flesh also?" Is any thing too hard for Omnipotence? When once the ordinary powers of nature are exceeded God has made bare his arm, and we must conclude that nothing is impossible with him. Be it ever so great a thing that we ask, it becomes us to own, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst.

      3. God justly resented the provocation and was much displeased with them (Psalms 78:21; Psalms 78:21): The Lord heard this, and was wroth. Note, God is a witness to all our murmurings and distrusts; he hears them and is much displeased with them. A fire was kindled for this against Jacob; the fire of the Lord burnt among them,Numbers 11:1. Or it may be understood of the fire of God's anger which came up against Israel. To unbelievers our God is himself a consuming fire. Those that will not believe the power of God's mercy shall feel the power of his indignation, and be made to confess that it is a fearful thing to fall into his hands. Now here we are told, (1.) Why God thus resented the provocation (Psalms 78:22; Psalms 78:22): Because by this it appeared that they believed not in God; they did not give credit to the revelation he had made of himself to them, for they durst not commit themselves to him, nor venture themselves with him: They trusted not in the salvation he had begun to work for them; for then they would not thus have questioned its progress. Those cannot be said to trust in God's salvation as their felicity at last who cannot find in their hearts to trust in his providence for food convenient in the way to it. That which aggravated their unbelief was the experience they had had of the power and goodness of God, Psalms 78:23-25; Psalms 78:23-25. He had given them undeniable proofs of his power, not only on earth beneath, but in heaven above; for he commanded the clouds from above, as one that had created them and commanded them into being; he made what use he pleased of them. Usually by their showers they contribute to the earth's producing corn; but now, when God so commanded them, they showered down corn themselves, which is therefore called here the corn of heaven; for heaven can do the work without the earth, but not the earth without heaven. God, who has the key of the clouds, opened the doors of heaven, and that is more than opening the windows, which yet is spoken of as a great blessing, Malachi 3:10. To all that by faith and prayer ask, seek, and knock, these doors shall at any time be opened; for the God of heaven is rich in mercy to all that call upon him. He not only keeps a good house, but keeps open house. Justly might God take it ill that they should distrust him when he had been so very kind to them that he had rained down manna upon them to eat, substantial food, daily, duly, enough for all, enough for each. Man did eat angels' food, such as angels, if they had occasion for food, would eat and be thankful for; or rather such as was given by the ministry of angels, and (as the Chaldee reads it) such as descended from the dwelling of angels. Every one, even the least child in Israel, did eat the bread of the mighty (so the margin reads it); the weakest stomach could digest it, and yet it was so nourishing that it was strong meat for strong men. And, though the provision was so good, yet they were not stinted, nor ever reduced to short allowance; for he sent them meat to the full. If they gathered little, it was their own fault; and yet even then they had no lack, Exodus 16:18. The daily provision God makes for us, and has made ever since we came into the world, though it has not so much of miracle as this, has no less of mercy, and is therefore a great aggravation of our distrust of God. (2.) How he expressed his resentment of the provocation, not in denying them what they so inordinately lusted after, but in granting it to them. [1.] Did they question his power? He soon gave them a sensible conviction that he could furnish a table in the wilderness. Though the winds seem to blow where they list, yet, when he pleased, he could make them his caterers to fetch in provisions, Psalms 78:26; Psalms 78:26. He caused an east wind to blow and a south wind, either a south-east wind, or an east wind first to bring in the quails from that quarter and then a south wind to bring in more from that quarter; so that he rained flesh upon them, and that of the most delicate sort, not butchers' meat, but wild-fowl, and abundance of it, as dust, as the sand of the sea (Psalms 78:27; Psalms 78:27), so that the meanest Israelite might have sufficient; and it cost them nothing, no, not the pains of fetching it from the mountains, for he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitation,Psalms 78:28; Psalms 78:28. We have the account Numbers 11:31; Numbers 11:32. See how good God is even to the evil and unthankful, and wonder that his goodness does not overcome their badness. See what little reason we have to judge of God's love by such gifts of his bounty as these; dainty bits are no tokens of his peculiar favour. Christ gave dry bread to the disciples that he loved, but a sop dipped in the sauce to Judas that betrayed him. [2.] Did they defy his justice and boast that they had gained their point? He made them pay dearly for their quails; for, though he gave them their own desire, they were not estranged from their lust (Psalms 78:29; Psalms 78:30); their appetite was insatiable; they were well filled and yet they were not satisfied; for they knew not what they would have. Such is the nature of lust; it is content with nothing, and the more it is humoured the more humoursome it grows. Those that indulge their lust will never be estranged from it. Or it intimates that God's liberality did not make them ashamed of their ungrateful lustings, as it would have done if they had had any sense of honour. But what came of it? While the meat was yet in their mouth, rolled under the tongue as a sweet morsel, the wrath of God came upon them and slew the fattest of them (Psalms 78:31; Psalms 78:31), those that were most luxurious and most daring. See Numbers 11:33; Numbers 11:34. They were fed as sheep for the slaughter: the butcher takes the fattest first. We may suppose there were some pious and contented Israelites, that did eat moderately of the quails and were never the worse; for it was not the meat that poisoned them, but their own lust. Let epicures and sensualists here read their doom. The end of those who make a god of their belly is destruction,Philippians 3:19. The prosperity of fools shall destroy them, and their ruin will be the greater.

      4. The judgments of God upon them did not reform them, nor attain the end, any more than his mercies (Psalms 78:32; Psalms 78:32): For all this, they sinned still; they murmured and quarrelled with God and Moses as much as ever. Though God was wroth and smote them, yet they went on frowardly in the way of their heart (Isaiah 57:17); they believed not for his wondrous works. Though his works of justice were as wondrous and as great proofs of his power as his works of mercy, yet they were not wrought upon by them to fear God, nor convinced how much it was their interest to make him their friend. Those hearts are hard indeed that will neither be melted by the mercies of God nor broken by his judgments.

      5. They persisting in their sins, God proceeded in his judgments, but they were judgments of another nature, which wrought not suddenly, but slowly. He punished them not now with such acute diseases as that was which slew the fattest of them, but a lingering chronical distemper (Psalms 78:33; Psalms 78:33): Therefore their days did he consume in vanity in the wilderness and their years in trouble. By an irreversible doom they were condemned to wear out thirty-eight tedious years in the wilderness, which indeed were consumed in vanity; for in all those years there was not a step taken nearer Canaan, but they were turned back again, and wandered to and fro as in a labyrinth, not one stroke struck towards the conquest of it: and not only in vanity, but in trouble, for their carcases were condemned to fall in the wilderness and there they all perished but Caleb and Joshua. Note, Those that sin still must expect to be in trouble still. And the reason why we spend our days in so much vanity and trouble, why we live with so little comfort and to so little purpose, is because we do not live by faith.

      6. Under these rebukes they professed repentance, but they were not cordial and sincere in this profession. (1.) Their profession was plausible enough (Psalms 78:34; Psalms 78:35): When he slew them, or condemned them to be slain, then they sought him; they confessed their fault, and begged his pardon. When some were slain others in a fright cried to God for mercy, and promised they would reform and be very good; then they returned to God, and enquired early after him. So one would have taken them to be such as desired to find him. And they pretended to do this because, however they had forgotten it formerly, now they remembered that God was their rock and therefore now that they needed him they would fly to him and take shelter in him, and that the high God was their Redeemer, who brought them out of Egypt and to whom therefore they might come with boldness. Afflictions are sent to put us in mind of God as our rock and our redeemer; for, in prosperity, we are apt to forget him. (2.) They were not sincere in this profession (Psalms 78:36; Psalms 78:37): They did but flatter him with their mouth, as if they thought by fair speeches to prevail with him to revoke the sentence and remove the judgment, with a secret intention to break their word when the danger was over; they did not return to God with their whole heart, but feignedly,Jeremiah 3:10. All their professions, prayers, and promises, were extorted by the rack. It was plain that they did not mean as they said, for they did not adhere to it. They thawed in the sun, but froze in the shade. They did but lie to God with their tongues, for their heart was not with him, was not right with him, as appeared by the issue, for they were not stedfast in his covenant. They were not sincere in their reformation, for they were not constant; and, by thinking thus to impose upon a heart-searching God, they really put as great an affront upon him as by any of their reflections.

      7. God hereupon, in pity to them, put a stop to the judgments which were threatened and in part executed (Psalms 78:38; Psalms 78:39): But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity. One would think this counterfeit repentance should have filled up the measure of their iniquity. What could be more provoking than to lie thus to the holy God, than thus to keep back part of the price, the chief part? Acts 5:3. And yet he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity thus far, that he did not destroy them and cut them off from being a people, as he justly might have done, but spared their lives till they had reared another generation which should enter into the promised land. Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it,Isaiah 65:8. Many a time he turned his anger away (for he is Lord of his anger) and did not stir up all his wrath, to deal with them as they deserved: and why did he not? Not because their ruin would have been any loss to him, but, (1.) Because he was full of compassion and, when he was going to destroy them, his repentings were kindled together, and he said, How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, Israel?Hosea 11:8. (2.) Because, though they did not rightly remember that he was their rock, he remembered that they were but flesh. He considered the corruption of their nature, which inclined them to evil, and was pleased to make that an excuse for his sparing them, though it was really no excuse for their sin. See Genesis 6:3. He considered the weakness and frailty of their nature, and what an easy thing it would be to crush them: They are as a wind that passeth away and cometh not again. They may soon be taken off, but, when they are gone, they are gone irrecoverably, and then what will become of the covenant with Abraham? They are flesh, they are wind; whence it were easy to argue they may justly, they may immediately, be cut off, and there would be no loss of them: but God argues, on the contrary, therefore he will not destroy them; for the true reason is, He is full of compassion.