A Generation That Lost Its Trust

A maskil of Asaph.Give ear, my people, to my teaching,turn your ear to what I say. I will expound a theme,hold forth on the lessons of the past— things we have heard and known,that our ancestors have told us. We will not withhold them from their children,telling the coming generationthe praises of GOD and of divine might,and the wonders performed. [God] established a decree in Jacob,ordained a teaching in Israel,charging our ancestorsto make them known to their children, that a future generation might know—children yet to be born—and in turn tell their children that they might put their confidence in God,and not forget God’s great deeds,but observe the commandments, and not be like their ancestors,a wayward and defiant generation,a generation whose heart was inconstant,whose spirit was not true to God. Like the Ephraimite archerswho played false in the day of battle, they did not keep God’s covenant,they refused to follow divine instruction; they forgot what was done for themand the wonders they were shown. [God] performed marvels in the sight of their ancestors,in the land of Egypt, the plain of Zoan. [God] split the sea and took them through it—making the waters stand like a wall. [God] led them with a cloud by day,and throughout the night by the light of fire. [God] split rocks in the wildernessand gave them drink as if from the great deep. [God] brought forth streams from a rockand made them flow down like a river. But they went on sinning,defying the Most High in the parched land. To test God was in their mindwhen they demanded food for themselves. They spoke against God, saying,“Can God spread a feast in the wilderness? True, [God] struck the rock and waters flowed,streams gushed forth;but can [God] provide breadand supply meat for this people?” GOD heard and then raged;fire broke out against Jacob,anger flared up at Israel, because they did not put their trust in God,did not rely on divine deliverance. So [God] commanded the skies above,opened the doors of heaven and rained manna upon them for food,giving them heavenly grain. Each person ate a hero’s meal;they were sent provision in plenty. [God] set the east wind moving in heaven,and drove the south wind mightily. [God] rained meat on them like dust,winged birds like the sands of the sea, making them come down inside God’s camp,around the divine dwelling-place. They ate till they were sated;they were given what they craved. They had not yet wearied of what they craved,the food was still in their mouths when God’s anger flared up at them.[God] slew their sturdiest,struck down the youth of Israel. Nonetheless, they went on sinningand had no faith in God’s wonders. Their days were made to end in futility,their years in sudden death. When stricken, they returned,and sought God once again. They remembered that God was their rock,God Most High, their Redeemer. Yet they deceived [God] with their speech,and lied with their words. Their hearts were inconstant;they were untrue to the covenant. But [God], being merciful, forgave iniquityand would not destroy—restraining wrath time and againand not giving full vent to such fury— remembering that they were but flesh,a passing breath that does not return. How often did they act defiantly in the wilderness,then cause grief in the wasteland! Again and again they tested God,vexed the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember God’s strength,or the day they were redeemed from the foe; how [God] displayed signs in Egypt,and wonders in the plain of Zoan. [God first] turned their rivers into blood—making their waters undrinkable; then inflicted upon them swarms of insects to devour them,frogs to destroy them; then gave their crops over to grubs,their produce to locusts; then killed their vines with hail,their sycamores with frost; then gave their beasts over to hail,their cattle to lightning bolts; and inflicted a burning anger upon them—wrath, indignation, trouble,a band of deadly messengers. [God] cleared a path for that anger,and did not stop short of slaying them,but gave them over to pestilence. [God] struck every [male] first-born in Egypt,the first fruits of their vigor in the tents of Ham. God’s own people were set moving like sheep,driven like a flock in the wilderness. [God] led them in safety; they were unafraid;as for their enemies, the sea covered them. [God] brought them to the holy realm, the mountain God’s right hand had acquired. [God] expelled nations before them,settled the tribes of Israel in their tents,allotting them their portion by the line. Yet they defiantly tested God Most High,and did not observe divine decrees. They fell away, disloyal like their ancestors;they played false like a treacherous bow. They provoked anger with their high places;they kindled wrath with their idols. God heard it and was enraged—utterly rejecting Israel. [God] forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,the tent that had been set among mortals. God’s might was allowed to go into captivity,that glory into the hands of the foe. T

Psalm 78:1-20 is a didactic maskil of Asaph that frames Israel's history as a lesson in faith and forgetfulness. The psalm opens by calling the covenant community to listen, then immediately sets the purpose of that listening: that coming generations may put their confidence in God, keep His commandments, and not become like the wayward, inconstant Ephraimite generation that broke the covenant, forgot God's wonders, and tested the Most High in the wilderness.