Psalms 78:40

38 ^aBut He, being full of ^bcompassion, forgave their iniquity,
And did not destroy them.
Yes, many a time ^cHe turned His anger away,
And ^ddid not stir up all His wrath;

39 For ^aHe remembered ^bthat they were but flesh,
^cA breath that passes away and does not come again.

40 How often they ^aprovoked Him in the wilderness,
And grieved Him in the desert!

41 Yes, ^aagain and again they tempted God,
And limited the Holy One of Israel.

42 They did not remember His¹ 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;

44 ^aTurned their rivers into blood,
And their streams, that they could not drink.

45 ^aHe sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them,
And ^bfrogs, which destroyed them.

46 He also gave their crops to the caterpillar,
And their labor to the ^alocust.

47 ^aHe destroyed their vines with hail,
And their sycamore trees with frost.

48 He also gave up their ^acattle to the hail,
And their flocks to fiery¹ 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 gave¹ their life over to the plague,

51 And destroyed all the ^afirstborn in Egypt,
The first of their strength in the tents of Ham.

52 But He ^amade His own people go forth like sheep,
And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;

53 And He ^aled them on safely, so that they did not fear;
But the sea ^boverwhelmed their enemies.

54 And He brought them to His ^aholy border,
This mountain ^bwhich His right hand had acquired.

55 ^aHe also drove out the nations before them,
^bAllotted them an inheritance by¹ survey,
And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.

56 ^aYet they tested and provoked the Most High God,
And did not keep His testimonies,

57 But ^aturned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers;
They were turned aside ^blike a deceitful bow.

58 ^aFor they provoked Him to anger with their ^bhigh places,
And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.

59 When God heard this, He was furious,
And greatly abhorred Israel,

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
What is the Forerunner Commentary?

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Psalms 78:41 >>

What Does Psalms 78:40 Mean?

Psalm 78:1-58

Psalm 78 gives a clear and concise history of Israel's relationship with God. The psalmist illustrates four steps that led to their rebellion:

1. They forgot God's goodness (verse 11).

2. They tested God by insisting that He satisfy their lusts (verses 18-19).

3. They played moral hide-and-seek with God, which is hypocrisy; they served Him only when they discovered for the moment they could not escape Him (verses 35-37).

4. Finally, they substituted idols for God at the center of their lives (verses 57-58).

Israel never got the true picture. Because they were walking by sight, and not by faith, they were so impressed with what they saw that they limited God's ability to create His heart and mind in them (verse 41).

John W. Ritenbaugh
Preparing for the Feast

Psalm 78:40-42

Provoked means "rebelled against." Their disrespect and irreverence produced the fruit of limiting His willingness and power to provide for them in any situation. In their minds, they set boundaries upon what they thought He would or could do. The psalmist does not mean they literally hogtied God to keep Him from doing things, though the practical result of their relationship virtually amounted to that. However, in their lack of faith and fear of God and their failure to make practical use of His sovereignty over His creation and His willingness to help His people, they mentally drew lines, concluding that God could not or would not provide for them in their circumstance. Thus, they chose to arrive at their own solutions that resulted in sin and death. They were obviously not living by faith but by sight. Hebrews 4:1-2 confirms this was at the base of Israel's failure in the wilderness

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Sovereignty of God and Human Responsibility: Part Eleven

Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Psalms 78:40:

Exodus 20:4-6
Psalm 50:22

<< Psalms 78:39

Psalms 78:41 >>

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What Does Psalms 78:40 Mean?

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