Psalms 78

A History of Israel’s Rebellion

1 Listen to my law, my people; Bend your ears to the words of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth in a saying; I will talk about stories from the old days,

3 Which we heard and know, And our dads told us.

4 We will not hide them from their kids, Telling the next generation the praises of the Lord, And His strength, and His awesome moves that He did.

5 Because He set up a promise in Jacob, And put a law in Israel, Which He ordered our dads To teach their kids.

6 So the next generation would know, The kids who are yet to be born; They would get up and tell their own kids,

7 So they would put their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commands.

8 And they would not be like their dads, A stubborn and wilding generation, A generation that did not make their heart straight, And whose spirit was not loyal to God.

A Lament for God’s People

9 The sons of Ephraim, with bows, Turned back on the day of battle.

10 They did not keep the promise of God, And refused to walk in His law,

11 And they forgot His doings And His awesome moves that He showed them.

12 He did miracles in front of their dads, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

13 He split the sea and made them pass through, And made the waters stand like a wall.

14 He led them with a cloud in the day, And all night with the light of fire.

15 He split rocks in the desert And gave them drinks like from a deep sea.

16 He brought out streams also from the rock, And made waters run like rivers.

Their Rebellion Continues

17 But they kept on sinning against Him, Wilding against the Most High in the desert.

18 And they tested God in their hearts By asking for food for their cravings.

19 They talked against God, Saying, “Can God set up a table in the desert?”

20 Look, He hit the rock, and waters gushed out, And streams overflowed; “Can He also give bread, Can He provide meat for His people?”

21 So the Lord heard and was angry; And a fire got lit up against Jacob, And anger also went up against Israel,

22 Because they did not believe in God, And they did not trust in His rescue.

God’s Mercy

23 But He ordered the clouds from up high And opened the doors of the heavens,

24 And rained manna on them for food, And He gave them the grain of heaven.

25 A dude ate the bread of the mighty; He sent them food until they were full.

26 He made an east wind blow in the sky, And by His power He led a south wind;

27 He rained meat on them like dust, And birds like the sand of the seas,

28 And He made them fall in the middle of their camp, All around their homes.

29 So they ate and were super full; He gave them what they craved.

30 But they did not quit their craving; While their food was still in their mouths,

31 The anger of God came up against them And killed the fattest among them, And brought down the young men of Israel.

32 With all this, they kept on sinning And did not believe in His awesome moves.

Their Punishment and Hypocrisy

33 So He finished their days like a whisper, And their years in a flash.

34 When He killed them, they looked for Him; They came back and looked for God hard.

35 They remembered that God was their rock, And God Most High was their rescuer.

36 But they talked slick to Him with their mouth, And they lied to Him with their tongues.

37 Because their heart was not straight with Him, And they were not loyal to His promise.

38 But He was merciful, He forgave their sin and did not wipe them out. A bunch of times He held back His anger, And did not wake up all His wrath.

39 He remembered that they were just flesh, A wind that goes and do not come back.

God’s Goodness to Israel

40 How many times they wilding against Him in the desert And made Him sad in the wasteland!

41 And they went back and tested God, And made the Holy One of Israel mad.

42 They did not remember His hand, The day He rescued them from the enemy,

43 When He put His signs in Egypt, And His wonders in the field of Zoan.

44 He turned their rivers into blood, And their streams, so they could not drink.

45 He sent flies among them that ate them, And frogs that messed them up.

46 He also gave their crops to the grasshopper, And their hard work to the locust.

47 He killed their vines with hail, And their fig trees with frost.

48 He also handed over their animals to the hail, And their flocks to the lightning.

49 He sent on them His hot anger, Wrath, and rage, and trouble, A bunch of angels of doom.

50 He made a way for His anger; He did not hold back their soul from death, But handed over their life to the plague.

51 He hit every firstborn in Egypt, The first of their strength in the tents of Ham.

52 But He made His own people go out like sheep And led them like a flock in the desert.

53 He guided them safe, so they were not scared, But the sea covered their enemies.

54 He brought them to His holy border, This mountain His right hand got.

55 He also kicked out the nations in front of them, And gave them as an inheritance with a measuring line, And He made the families of Israel live in their tents.

Their Continued Rebellion

56 But they tested and wilding against God Most High, And did not keep His rules.

57 But they turned back and were fake like their dads; They were twisted like a bad bow.

58 Because they made Him mad with their high spots, And they made Him jealous with their carved idols.

59 God heard and was angry, And He looked down on Israel for real.

60 He left the home of Shiloh, The tent where He lived among humans,

61 And He handed over His strength to captivity, And His beauty into the hand of the enemy.

62 He also gave His people to the sword, And was mad at His inheritance.

63 Fire ate their young men, And their young women received no wedding songs.

64 Their priests fell by the sword, And their widows could not cry.

God’s Promise to David

65 Then the Lord woke up like a dude who was sleeping, Like a strong dude who shouts from wine.

66 And He hit His enemies in the back; He put a forever shame on them.

67 And He looked down on the tent of Joseph, And He did not pick the tribe of Ephraim,

68 But He picked the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loves.

69 And He built His holy spot like the high mountains, Like the earth which He set up forever.

70 He also picked David His servant, And got him from the sheep pens.

71 From following the ewes with lambs, He brought him To be a shepherd for Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance.

72 So he was their shepherd with a straight heart, And he guided them with skilled hands.