Psalm 78 Meaning Verse By Verse

Last Updated on July 27, 2021 by Pastor Ikechukwu Chinedum

Today we will be dealing with Psalm 78 meaning verse by verse. Without wasting much time due to the length of the Psalm, we will quickly do justice to it via the help of the holy spirit.

Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter [b]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 the Lord,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.

This is one of the many that talks about the law of the lord. It charges the people to give ears to the laws of the lord and passing the law of the lord from one generation to another. This is to ensure that each generation of people come to the realization of whom God is and what God commands us to do.

5 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;
6 That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,
7 That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;
8 And may not be like their fathers,
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that did not [c]set its heart aright,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

The children of Isrealites were known to be stiff-necked when it comes to obeying God and following His rule. A portion of this verse states that the law of the lord should be made known to generations yet to come. They must not be oblivious of the law of God so they won’t be like their fathers who were stubborn.

9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,
Turned back in the day of battle.
10 They did not keep the covenant of God;
They refused to walk in His law,
11 And forgot His works
And His wonders that He had shown them.
12 Marvelous things He did 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 stand up like a heap.
14 In the daytime also He led them with the cloud,
And all the night with a light of fire.
15 He split the rocks in the wilderness,
And gave them drink in abundance like the depths.
16 He also brought streams out of the rock,
And caused waters to run down like rivers.

The covenant of the lord God’s children is victory. The scripture made us understand that God has given us authority in Christ Jesus. However, we can only activate this authority by coming to the realization of who Christ is and the efficacy of His powers.
The children of Ephraim lost the battle because they refuse to keep the commandments of God.

17 But they sinned even more against Him
By rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.
18 And they tested God in their heart
By asking for the food of their fancy.
19 Yes, they spoke against God:
They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20 Behold, He struck the rock, So that the waters gushed out, And the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Can He provide meat for His people?”
21 Therefore the Lord heard this and was furious; So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also came up against Israel,
22 Because they did not believe in God, And did not trust in His salvation.
23 Yet He had commanded the clouds above, And opened the doors of heaven,
24 Had rained down manna on them to eat, And given them of the [e]bread of heaven.
25 Men ate angels’ food; He sent them food to the full.

God only appreciate our faith in Him. He parted the sea for the children of Isreal, he used a pillar of light to lead them in the dark, made a way in the wilderness and causes water to gush out of the dessert. He even fed them with manner just so they don’t due of hunger. Despite all of these, the children of Isreal still doubted in their minds and the anger of God was kindled against them.
This only shows that we must learn to trust God always.

26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens; And by His power He brought in the south wind.
27 He also rained meat on them like the dust, Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas;
28 And He let them fall in the midst of their camp, All around their dwellings.
29 So they ate and were well filled,
For He gave them their own desire.
30 They were not deprived of their craving;
But while their food was still in their mouths,
31 The wrath of God came against them, And slew the stoutest of them,
And struck down the choice men of Israel.
32 In spite of this they still sinned,
And did not believe in His wondrous works.
33 Therefore their days He consumed in futility, And their years in fear.

These verses only further express how God can punish anyone who refuses to believe in his wondrous works despite all evidences. God is great and He alone is powerful.

34 When He slew them, then they sought Him; And they returned and sought earnestly for God.
35 Then they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer.
36 Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, And they lied to Him with their tongue;
37 For their heart was not steadfast with Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
38 But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, And did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, And did not stir up all His wrath;
39 For He remembered that they were but flesh, A breath that passes away and does not come again.
40 How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert!
41 Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember His power: The day when He redeemed them from the enemy,
43 When He worked His signs in Egypt, And His wonders in the field of Zoan;

God is merciful. The scripture says His mercy endures forever. Even at the face of anger, God is still merciful. He often remember His covenant that he sworn to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and most times, He desist from reprimanding the children of Isreal further.
Similarly in our lives, the covenant of grace that was made through the blood of Christ most times save us from the wrath of God.

44 Turned their rivers into blood,
And their streams, that they could not drink.
45 He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them, And frogs, which destroyed them.
46 He also gave their crops to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail,
And their sycamore trees with frost.
48 He also gave up their cattle to the hail, And their flocks to fiery lightning.
49 He cast on them the fierceness of His anger, Wrath, indignation, and trouble,
By sending angels of destruction among them.
50 He made a path for His anger;
He did not spare their soul from death, But gave their life over to the plague,
51 And destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt, The first of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52 But He made His own people go forth like sheep, And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;
53 And He led them on safely, so that they did not fear; But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 And He brought them to His holy border, This mountain which His right hand had acquired.
55 He also drove out the nations before them, Allotted them an inheritance by survey, And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.

These verses just reiterate the things God did to the children of Egypt because of the Isrealites. The love his have for the children of Isreal is unquantifiable, and He could go any length to ensure that they are safe. When Pharoah refused to let the children of Isreal go, God dwelt with Pharoah by inflicting the children of Egypt with terrible plague.

56 Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God, And did not keep His testimonies,
57 But turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers; They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
58 For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.
59 When God heard this, He was furious, And greatly abhorred Israel,
60 So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent He had placed among men,
61 And delivered His strength into captivity, And His glory into the enemy’s hand.
62 He also gave His people over to the sword, And was furious with His inheritance.
63 The fire consumed their young men, And their maidens were not given in marriage.
64 Their priests fell by the sword,
And their widows made no lamentation.
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine.
66 And He beat back His enemies;
He put them to a perpetual reproach.

God wants a generation of people who will devote their time into serving Him. A battalion of the lord’s army that will obey all His instructions. That why God is clamouring that the laws of the lord be passed from one generation to another, so that the new generation would have the fear of the Lord.

67 Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 But chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion which He loved.
69 And He built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has established forever.
70 He also chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds;
71 From following the ewes that had young He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance.
72 So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

The love of God knows no bounds and it is with no bias. God loved mount Zion and He choose Judah for it. God loved Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and he blessed the children of Isreal because of His love. He made David the greatest king to rule Isreal because of his love for Judah.