Psalms 106

Psalms 106:1

Warning

Against the background of His coming reign, warnings follow addressed to the boastful and the wicked (Psalms 75:4). It is, as it were, a final call to reflect on their boasting and belief in their own strength. The boastful are advised not to boast by taking a haughty attitude against God. The wicked He tells not to lift up their horn, the symbol of strength.

Let them not lift up their horns on high, i.e. to God (Psalms 75:5). It is supreme folly to contend with God for power (cf. Psalms 2:1-4). They will also do well to “not speak with insolent pride [literally: neck]”. In their haughtiness toward God, they stretch out their necks to appear greater.

They must remember that “exaltation” does not come from some place on earth (Psalms 75:6). It comes “not from the east, nor from the west, nor from the desert”. ‘The desert is the south. The north is not mentioned. Possibly that direction is not mentioned because from that direction come the judgments as the disciplinary rod of God, which mean humiliation and not exaltation.

In any case, exaltation does not come from any agency or man on earth, but from God, for “God is the Judge” (Psalms 75:7). Both humiliation and exaltation come from Him and are done on the basis of a judicial decision of Him. “He puts down one” because He as Judge decides it. By virtue of that same capacity as Judge, He “exalts another”. He acts according to right, not in preference or at will.

Those who exalt themselves He humbles (Luke 14:11; Luke 18:14b). This is what the presumptuous wicked will experience. “A cup is in the hand of the LORD”, a cup filled with the judgment of the Judge (Psalms 75:8). The wine of judgment “foams” and is “well mixed”. This indicates the impetuosity and sharpness of judgment (cf. Revelation 14:10; Revelation 16:19).

God pours out of the cup. He pours it out completely. “All the wicked of the earth must drain [and] drink down its dregs” (cf. Isaiah 51:17; Jeremiah 25:15). The cup contains nothing but the anger of God over the sinful lives of the wicked. Every sip from this cup is completely deserved. Therefore, they must drink it down to the last drop; there will be no residue left in the cup. Reduction of sentence is not possible.

When the time comes to judge, there is no escape. Nor is there any mitigation possible. Even the dregs must be drunk, that is, even the king of the North will ultimately be destroyed (Daniel 11:45). The judgments come sparing nothing and completely on all the wicked. None of the wicked will escape them. “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).

Psalms 106:2

Warning

Against the background of His coming reign, warnings follow addressed to the boastful and the wicked (Psalms 75:4). It is, as it were, a final call to reflect on their boasting and belief in their own strength. The boastful are advised not to boast by taking a haughty attitude against God. The wicked He tells not to lift up their horn, the symbol of strength.

Let them not lift up their horns on high, i.e. to God (Psalms 75:5). It is supreme folly to contend with God for power (cf. Psalms 2:1-4). They will also do well to “not speak with insolent pride [literally: neck]”. In their haughtiness toward God, they stretch out their necks to appear greater.

They must remember that “exaltation” does not come from some place on earth (Psalms 75:6). It comes “not from the east, nor from the west, nor from the desert”. ‘The desert is the south. The north is not mentioned. Possibly that direction is not mentioned because from that direction come the judgments as the disciplinary rod of God, which mean humiliation and not exaltation.

In any case, exaltation does not come from any agency or man on earth, but from God, for “God is the Judge” (Psalms 75:7). Both humiliation and exaltation come from Him and are done on the basis of a judicial decision of Him. “He puts down one” because He as Judge decides it. By virtue of that same capacity as Judge, He “exalts another”. He acts according to right, not in preference or at will.

Those who exalt themselves He humbles (Luke 14:11; Luke 18:14b). This is what the presumptuous wicked will experience. “A cup is in the hand of the LORD”, a cup filled with the judgment of the Judge (Psalms 75:8). The wine of judgment “foams” and is “well mixed”. This indicates the impetuosity and sharpness of judgment (cf. Revelation 14:10; Revelation 16:19).

God pours out of the cup. He pours it out completely. “All the wicked of the earth must drain [and] drink down its dregs” (cf. Isaiah 51:17; Jeremiah 25:15). The cup contains nothing but the anger of God over the sinful lives of the wicked. Every sip from this cup is completely deserved. Therefore, they must drink it down to the last drop; there will be no residue left in the cup. Reduction of sentence is not possible.

When the time comes to judge, there is no escape. Nor is there any mitigation possible. Even the dregs must be drunk, that is, even the king of the North will ultimately be destroyed (Daniel 11:45). The judgments come sparing nothing and completely on all the wicked. None of the wicked will escape them. “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).

Psalms 106:3

The Messiah Honors God

The end result is sung by the Messiah (Psalms 75:9). Singing is the consequence of redemption. There is no doubt about the redemption. He will proclaim what God has done in the judgment of the wicked and the deliverance of His people forever. He will also “sing praises to the God of Jacob”.

God is the God of Jacob. This points to the connection between the mighty God and the weak Jacob. God fulfills all His promises to a people who so often behaved like Jacob by going their own ways. Therefore, the God of Jacob is the God of election and the God of grace. The life of Jacob is an illustration of the school of God in the life of a believer, how God transforms Jacob from a heel-holder into Israel, which means the prince of God.

The wicked have continually boasted on their own strength – horns are a symbol of strength (Psalms 75:10; cf. Revelation 17:12). The Messiah will “cut off” their horns, as Psalms 75:4; 5 warn of. He will break their strength.

In contrast, what happens to the horns of the righteous: they “will be lifted up”. The strength of the righteous is not his own, but he derives his strength from the strong God. He is his strength. He lifts up his horns as a heave offering in order to offer it to God. By doing so, he indicates that he owes his strength to Him alone.

The LORD will also use the righteous, that is, the faithful remnant, that is, give them strength to defeat the enemy (cf. Zechariah 12:6; cf. Joshua 10:24; Romans 16:20).

Psalms 106:4

The Messiah Honors God

The end result is sung by the Messiah (Psalms 75:9). Singing is the consequence of redemption. There is no doubt about the redemption. He will proclaim what God has done in the judgment of the wicked and the deliverance of His people forever. He will also “sing praises to the God of Jacob”.

God is the God of Jacob. This points to the connection between the mighty God and the weak Jacob. God fulfills all His promises to a people who so often behaved like Jacob by going their own ways. Therefore, the God of Jacob is the God of election and the God of grace. The life of Jacob is an illustration of the school of God in the life of a believer, how God transforms Jacob from a heel-holder into Israel, which means the prince of God.

The wicked have continually boasted on their own strength – horns are a symbol of strength (Psalms 75:10; cf. Revelation 17:12). The Messiah will “cut off” their horns, as Psalms 75:4; 5 warn of. He will break their strength.

In contrast, what happens to the horns of the righteous: they “will be lifted up”. The strength of the righteous is not his own, but he derives his strength from the strong God. He is his strength. He lifts up his horns as a heave offering in order to offer it to God. By doing so, he indicates that he owes his strength to Him alone.

The LORD will also use the righteous, that is, the faithful remnant, that is, give them strength to defeat the enemy (cf. Zechariah 12:6; cf. Joshua 10:24; Romans 16:20).

Psalms 106:6

Introduction

This psalm is about God breaking the power of the enemy. It is about the breaking of the power of Assyria or the king of the North, by the appearance of the LORD, that is the Lord Jesus. The presence of the Lord Jesus in the city of the great King (Matthew 5:35) is the response of God to the power of the enemy. From that time on Jerusalem is given the name Yahweh Shammah, which means ‘the LORD is there’ (Ezekiel 48:35).

To what historical event the psalm refers is not given. The defeat of the Assyrians does give an impression of what is represented in the psalm (2 Kings 19:32-35; Isaiah 37:36). This impression is supported by the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. In the title of this psalm, the Septuagint mentions “on the Assyrians”. In any case, God will rescue His people in the future from the encirclement of hostile nations by breaking the power of those nations.

God Is Known in Judah

For “for the choir director” (Psalms 76:1a) see at Psalms 4:1.

For “on stringed instruments” see at Psalms 4:1.

For “a Psalm of Asaph” see at Psalms 50:1.

This psalm is also “a Song”, meaning it is a song of praise.

By the extermination of the enemies of His people – that is, Judah, the two tribes, and Israel, the ten tribes, that is, all twelve tribes (cf. Ezekiel 37:15-16) – God has made Himself known “in Judah” (Psalms 76:1b). Now He is not known there yet, He is not known, but rejected. This will change as soon as the Son of God, the Messiah, returns to Judah.

By His action in judgment against the heathen kings, “His Name is great in Israel”. He is coming for all Israel, which will consist of the righteous (Isaiah 60:21), for the apostates have been judged by Him. It is the day of His power, the day when His people will be a willing people (Psalms 110:3).

“In Salem”, that is in Jerusalem (Genesis 14:18; Hebrews 7:1-2), is “His tabernacle” [literally: shelter] (Psalms 76:2). Calling Jerusalem by its shortened name emphasizes its meaning. Salem means ‘peace’. He makes sure that His people can dwell in peace. The name Salem emphasizes that Christ is now truly King of peace (Hebrews 7:2). Now that the Prince of peace reigns, there is truly peace on earth.

And He dwells with His people in “His tabernacle”, or His shelter, indicating that He protects them with His presence (cf. Psalms 27:5). The psalmist adds that “His dwelling place”, that is, His temple, is “in Zion”. Zion is the part of Jerusalem where God’s dwelling place stands. The relationship with the people of Israel is now restored. Jerusalem is now called Yahweh Shammah, which means ‘the LORD is there’ (Ezekiel 48:35) and the temple has been rebuilt. The realm of peace can begin.

There, at Jerusalem, where He dwells, He has broken “the flaming arrows” Psalms 76:3). He has also rendered useless the other weapons of attack, “the shield” and “the sword”. God has deprived the enemy of his effectiveness. Thus He has put an end to “war”. The ending of the war is not due to skillful defending by the defenders of the city, but due to God’s action. The LORD is back in Jerusalem, the war is over (Isaiah 2:4b).

As a result, the long-despised LORD is now “resplendent, more majestic than the mountains of prey” (Psalms 76:4). ‘The mountains of prey’ – mountains represent mighty kingdoms – are a symbol of mighty rulers bent on robbery (cf. Ezekiel 38:12-13). ‘Mountains of prey’ is difficult to translate. We can think of powerful rulers, such as the king of the North. We can also think of the rapacious Assyrians who were killed by the angel of the LORD on the mountains around Jerusalem.

Opposite the mountains of prey, Mount Zion radiates light by which it shines. This radiance of light is the result of the presence of God Who is light. God dwells there. That is why this mountain is more powerful than all earthly predatory powers. We can also think of the great mountain that will fill the whole earth (Daniel 2:35), a kingdom that will not perish in eternity (Daniel 2:44).

Psalms 106:7

Introduction

This psalm is about God breaking the power of the enemy. It is about the breaking of the power of Assyria or the king of the North, by the appearance of the LORD, that is the Lord Jesus. The presence of the Lord Jesus in the city of the great King (Matthew 5:35) is the response of God to the power of the enemy. From that time on Jerusalem is given the name Yahweh Shammah, which means ‘the LORD is there’ (Ezekiel 48:35).

To what historical event the psalm refers is not given. The defeat of the Assyrians does give an impression of what is represented in the psalm (2 Kings 19:32-35; Isaiah 37:36). This impression is supported by the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. In the title of this psalm, the Septuagint mentions “on the Assyrians”. In any case, God will rescue His people in the future from the encirclement of hostile nations by breaking the power of those nations.

God Is Known in Judah

For “for the choir director” (Psalms 76:1a) see at Psalms 4:1.

For “on stringed instruments” see at Psalms 4:1.

For “a Psalm of Asaph” see at Psalms 50:1.

This psalm is also “a Song”, meaning it is a song of praise.

By the extermination of the enemies of His people – that is, Judah, the two tribes, and Israel, the ten tribes, that is, all twelve tribes (cf. Ezekiel 37:15-16) – God has made Himself known “in Judah” (Psalms 76:1b). Now He is not known there yet, He is not known, but rejected. This will change as soon as the Son of God, the Messiah, returns to Judah.

By His action in judgment against the heathen kings, “His Name is great in Israel”. He is coming for all Israel, which will consist of the righteous (Isaiah 60:21), for the apostates have been judged by Him. It is the day of His power, the day when His people will be a willing people (Psalms 110:3).

“In Salem”, that is in Jerusalem (Genesis 14:18; Hebrews 7:1-2), is “His tabernacle” [literally: shelter] (Psalms 76:2). Calling Jerusalem by its shortened name emphasizes its meaning. Salem means ‘peace’. He makes sure that His people can dwell in peace. The name Salem emphasizes that Christ is now truly King of peace (Hebrews 7:2). Now that the Prince of peace reigns, there is truly peace on earth.

And He dwells with His people in “His tabernacle”, or His shelter, indicating that He protects them with His presence (cf. Psalms 27:5). The psalmist adds that “His dwelling place”, that is, His temple, is “in Zion”. Zion is the part of Jerusalem where God’s dwelling place stands. The relationship with the people of Israel is now restored. Jerusalem is now called Yahweh Shammah, which means ‘the LORD is there’ (Ezekiel 48:35) and the temple has been rebuilt. The realm of peace can begin.

There, at Jerusalem, where He dwells, He has broken “the flaming arrows” Psalms 76:3). He has also rendered useless the other weapons of attack, “the shield” and “the sword”. God has deprived the enemy of his effectiveness. Thus He has put an end to “war”. The ending of the war is not due to skillful defending by the defenders of the city, but due to God’s action. The LORD is back in Jerusalem, the war is over (Isaiah 2:4b).

As a result, the long-despised LORD is now “resplendent, more majestic than the mountains of prey” (Psalms 76:4). ‘The mountains of prey’ – mountains represent mighty kingdoms – are a symbol of mighty rulers bent on robbery (cf. Ezekiel 38:12-13). ‘Mountains of prey’ is difficult to translate. We can think of powerful rulers, such as the king of the North. We can also think of the rapacious Assyrians who were killed by the angel of the LORD on the mountains around Jerusalem.

Opposite the mountains of prey, Mount Zion radiates light by which it shines. This radiance of light is the result of the presence of God Who is light. God dwells there. That is why this mountain is more powerful than all earthly predatory powers. We can also think of the great mountain that will fill the whole earth (Daniel 2:35), a kingdom that will not perish in eternity (Daniel 2:44).

Psalms 106:8

Introduction

This psalm is about God breaking the power of the enemy. It is about the breaking of the power of Assyria or the king of the North, by the appearance of the LORD, that is the Lord Jesus. The presence of the Lord Jesus in the city of the great King (Matthew 5:35) is the response of God to the power of the enemy. From that time on Jerusalem is given the name Yahweh Shammah, which means ‘the LORD is there’ (Ezekiel 48:35).

To what historical event the psalm refers is not given. The defeat of the Assyrians does give an impression of what is represented in the psalm (2 Kings 19:32-35; Isaiah 37:36). This impression is supported by the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. In the title of this psalm, the Septuagint mentions “on the Assyrians”. In any case, God will rescue His people in the future from the encirclement of hostile nations by breaking the power of those nations.

God Is Known in Judah

For “for the choir director” (Psalms 76:1a) see at Psalms 4:1.

For “on stringed instruments” see at Psalms 4:1.

For “a Psalm of Asaph” see at Psalms 50:1.

This psalm is also “a Song”, meaning it is a song of praise.

By the extermination of the enemies of His people – that is, Judah, the two tribes, and Israel, the ten tribes, that is, all twelve tribes (cf. Ezekiel 37:15-16) – God has made Himself known “in Judah” (Psalms 76:1b). Now He is not known there yet, He is not known, but rejected. This will change as soon as the Son of God, the Messiah, returns to Judah.

By His action in judgment against the heathen kings, “His Name is great in Israel”. He is coming for all Israel, which will consist of the righteous (Isaiah 60:21), for the apostates have been judged by Him. It is the day of His power, the day when His people will be a willing people (Psalms 110:3).

“In Salem”, that is in Jerusalem (Genesis 14:18; Hebrews 7:1-2), is “His tabernacle” [literally: shelter] (Psalms 76:2). Calling Jerusalem by its shortened name emphasizes its meaning. Salem means ‘peace’. He makes sure that His people can dwell in peace. The name Salem emphasizes that Christ is now truly King of peace (Hebrews 7:2). Now that the Prince of peace reigns, there is truly peace on earth.

And He dwells with His people in “His tabernacle”, or His shelter, indicating that He protects them with His presence (cf. Psalms 27:5). The psalmist adds that “His dwelling place”, that is, His temple, is “in Zion”. Zion is the part of Jerusalem where God’s dwelling place stands. The relationship with the people of Israel is now restored. Jerusalem is now called Yahweh Shammah, which means ‘the LORD is there’ (Ezekiel 48:35) and the temple has been rebuilt. The realm of peace can begin.

There, at Jerusalem, where He dwells, He has broken “the flaming arrows” Psalms 76:3). He has also rendered useless the other weapons of attack, “the shield” and “the sword”. God has deprived the enemy of his effectiveness. Thus He has put an end to “war”. The ending of the war is not due to skillful defending by the defenders of the city, but due to God’s action. The LORD is back in Jerusalem, the war is over (Isaiah 2:4b).

As a result, the long-despised LORD is now “resplendent, more majestic than the mountains of prey” (Psalms 76:4). ‘The mountains of prey’ – mountains represent mighty kingdoms – are a symbol of mighty rulers bent on robbery (cf. Ezekiel 38:12-13). ‘Mountains of prey’ is difficult to translate. We can think of powerful rulers, such as the king of the North. We can also think of the rapacious Assyrians who were killed by the angel of the LORD on the mountains around Jerusalem.

Opposite the mountains of prey, Mount Zion radiates light by which it shines. This radiance of light is the result of the presence of God Who is light. God dwells there. That is why this mountain is more powerful than all earthly predatory powers. We can also think of the great mountain that will fill the whole earth (Daniel 2:35), a kingdom that will not perish in eternity (Daniel 2:44).

Psalms 106:9

Introduction

This psalm is about God breaking the power of the enemy. It is about the breaking of the power of Assyria or the king of the North, by the appearance of the LORD, that is the Lord Jesus. The presence of the Lord Jesus in the city of the great King (Matthew 5:35) is the response of God to the power of the enemy. From that time on Jerusalem is given the name Yahweh Shammah, which means ‘the LORD is there’ (Ezekiel 48:35).

To what historical event the psalm refers is not given. The defeat of the Assyrians does give an impression of what is represented in the psalm (2 Kings 19:32-35; Isaiah 37:36). This impression is supported by the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. In the title of this psalm, the Septuagint mentions “on the Assyrians”. In any case, God will rescue His people in the future from the encirclement of hostile nations by breaking the power of those nations.

God Is Known in Judah

For “for the choir director” (Psalms 76:1a) see at Psalms 4:1.

For “on stringed instruments” see at Psalms 4:1.

For “a Psalm of Asaph” see at Psalms 50:1.

This psalm is also “a Song”, meaning it is a song of praise.

By the extermination of the enemies of His people – that is, Judah, the two tribes, and Israel, the ten tribes, that is, all twelve tribes (cf. Ezekiel 37:15-16) – God has made Himself known “in Judah” (Psalms 76:1b). Now He is not known there yet, He is not known, but rejected. This will change as soon as the Son of God, the Messiah, returns to Judah.

By His action in judgment against the heathen kings, “His Name is great in Israel”. He is coming for all Israel, which will consist of the righteous (Isaiah 60:21), for the apostates have been judged by Him. It is the day of His power, the day when His people will be a willing people (Psalms 110:3).

“In Salem”, that is in Jerusalem (Genesis 14:18; Hebrews 7:1-2), is “His tabernacle” [literally: shelter] (Psalms 76:2). Calling Jerusalem by its shortened name emphasizes its meaning. Salem means ‘peace’. He makes sure that His people can dwell in peace. The name Salem emphasizes that Christ is now truly King of peace (Hebrews 7:2). Now that the Prince of peace reigns, there is truly peace on earth.

And He dwells with His people in “His tabernacle”, or His shelter, indicating that He protects them with His presence (cf. Psalms 27:5). The psalmist adds that “His dwelling place”, that is, His temple, is “in Zion”. Zion is the part of Jerusalem where God’s dwelling place stands. The relationship with the people of Israel is now restored. Jerusalem is now called Yahweh Shammah, which means ‘the LORD is there’ (Ezekiel 48:35) and the temple has been rebuilt. The realm of peace can begin.

There, at Jerusalem, where He dwells, He has broken “the flaming arrows” Psalms 76:3). He has also rendered useless the other weapons of attack, “the shield” and “the sword”. God has deprived the enemy of his effectiveness. Thus He has put an end to “war”. The ending of the war is not due to skillful defending by the defenders of the city, but due to God’s action. The LORD is back in Jerusalem, the war is over (Isaiah 2:4b).

As a result, the long-despised LORD is now “resplendent, more majestic than the mountains of prey” (Psalms 76:4). ‘The mountains of prey’ – mountains represent mighty kingdoms – are a symbol of mighty rulers bent on robbery (cf. Ezekiel 38:12-13). ‘Mountains of prey’ is difficult to translate. We can think of powerful rulers, such as the king of the North. We can also think of the rapacious Assyrians who were killed by the angel of the LORD on the mountains around Jerusalem.

Opposite the mountains of prey, Mount Zion radiates light by which it shines. This radiance of light is the result of the presence of God Who is light. God dwells there. That is why this mountain is more powerful than all earthly predatory powers. We can also think of the great mountain that will fill the whole earth (Daniel 2:35), a kingdom that will not perish in eternity (Daniel 2:44).

Psalms 106:10

God’s Majesty and Power

When Messiah comes, He will rob the “stouthearted” of their weapons (Psalms 76:5). Their stoutheartedness doesn’t mean anything. He will rob them while “they sank into sleep”, that is, in the night (cf. Psalms 121:4). They think they can gain an easy victory, but then are caught unawares. Together with their weapons, the strength in their hands is also gone.

“None of the warriors” is yet able to fight. In the past, of the Assyrians 185,000 men were slain by the Angel of the LORD in one night (2 Kings 19:35). In the future, Assyria, the king of the North, will suffer the same fate.

The punishment inflicted upon them comes from the “God of Jacob” (Psalms 76:6). Judah and Israel have no strength to defend themselves. By God’s punishment, the enemy’s entire military strength is eliminated forever (cf. Exodus 14:23-28). The “dead sleep” is the sleep of death, the sleep that ends in death (cf. Judges 4:21). No more threat emanates from them. They need have no more fear of the enemy.

The only One Who inspires awe is God (Psalms 76:7). To emphasize this the sentence begins with an emphatic “You, even You”. How awesome He has shown Himself in eliminating the enemy. This automatically raises the question: “Who may stand in Your presence when once You are angry?” (cf. Hebrews 12:29; Hebrews 10:27-31). There is only one conceivable answer to this question: no one.

In the presence of Him Who has made His judgment heard from heaven, the earth is in fear, and it becomes still (Psalms 76:8). This means that the LORD will come, not only as a formidable Warrior, but also as the Judge Who will judge everyone. He is the One Who can say: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18).

That He makes His judgment heard “from heaven” emphasizes His exaltation above all else. From His throne in heaven He governs the universe. On earth everything and everyone is hushed up at the hearing of His voice. No one dares to stir his tongue anymore. “Every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God” (Romans 3:19b; cf. Matthew 22:12b).

God has not only made His voice heard from heaven, but He has also risen “in judgment to save all the humble of the earth” (Psalms 76:9). The meek, or humble, are all those who belong to the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. From Him they have learned to be meek, or gentle (Matthew 11:29). They are being redeemed to receive the promise He pronounced in the ‘beatitudes’: they, the humble, or gentle, shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5).

All the actions and feelings of all men are under God’s control and contribute to His glorification, often against their will. Thus, even “the wrath of men shall praise” Him (Psalms 76:10). The clearest evidence of this is the greatest sin ever committed by man. He crucified the Son of God in blind anger, while God used this sin to fulfill His counsel to the praise of His glory (Acts 2:23; Ephesians 1:7-12).

The “remnant of wrath”, all the anger that man still expresses under the inspiration of satan against His own, He will use for this purpose as well. For He will restrain that anger. He defines the limit of it. In this He reveals His power. Everything in which He reveals Himself, means His glorification. Prophetically, it points to God’s restraint of Assyria when it has done what God wanted. The end is the destruction of Assyria.

Psalms 106:11

God’s Majesty and Power

When Messiah comes, He will rob the “stouthearted” of their weapons (Psalms 76:5). Their stoutheartedness doesn’t mean anything. He will rob them while “they sank into sleep”, that is, in the night (cf. Psalms 121:4). They think they can gain an easy victory, but then are caught unawares. Together with their weapons, the strength in their hands is also gone.

“None of the warriors” is yet able to fight. In the past, of the Assyrians 185,000 men were slain by the Angel of the LORD in one night (2 Kings 19:35). In the future, Assyria, the king of the North, will suffer the same fate.

The punishment inflicted upon them comes from the “God of Jacob” (Psalms 76:6). Judah and Israel have no strength to defend themselves. By God’s punishment, the enemy’s entire military strength is eliminated forever (cf. Exodus 14:23-28). The “dead sleep” is the sleep of death, the sleep that ends in death (cf. Judges 4:21). No more threat emanates from them. They need have no more fear of the enemy.

The only One Who inspires awe is God (Psalms 76:7). To emphasize this the sentence begins with an emphatic “You, even You”. How awesome He has shown Himself in eliminating the enemy. This automatically raises the question: “Who may stand in Your presence when once You are angry?” (cf. Hebrews 12:29; Hebrews 10:27-31). There is only one conceivable answer to this question: no one.

In the presence of Him Who has made His judgment heard from heaven, the earth is in fear, and it becomes still (Psalms 76:8). This means that the LORD will come, not only as a formidable Warrior, but also as the Judge Who will judge everyone. He is the One Who can say: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18).

That He makes His judgment heard “from heaven” emphasizes His exaltation above all else. From His throne in heaven He governs the universe. On earth everything and everyone is hushed up at the hearing of His voice. No one dares to stir his tongue anymore. “Every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God” (Romans 3:19b; cf. Matthew 22:12b).

God has not only made His voice heard from heaven, but He has also risen “in judgment to save all the humble of the earth” (Psalms 76:9). The meek, or humble, are all those who belong to the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. From Him they have learned to be meek, or gentle (Matthew 11:29). They are being redeemed to receive the promise He pronounced in the ‘beatitudes’: they, the humble, or gentle, shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5).

All the actions and feelings of all men are under God’s control and contribute to His glorification, often against their will. Thus, even “the wrath of men shall praise” Him (Psalms 76:10). The clearest evidence of this is the greatest sin ever committed by man. He crucified the Son of God in blind anger, while God used this sin to fulfill His counsel to the praise of His glory (Acts 2:23; Ephesians 1:7-12).

The “remnant of wrath”, all the anger that man still expresses under the inspiration of satan against His own, He will use for this purpose as well. For He will restrain that anger. He defines the limit of it. In this He reveals His power. Everything in which He reveals Himself, means His glorification. Prophetically, it points to God’s restraint of Assyria when it has done what God wanted. The end is the destruction of Assyria.

Psalms 106:12

God’s Majesty and Power

When Messiah comes, He will rob the “stouthearted” of their weapons (Psalms 76:5). Their stoutheartedness doesn’t mean anything. He will rob them while “they sank into sleep”, that is, in the night (cf. Psalms 121:4). They think they can gain an easy victory, but then are caught unawares. Together with their weapons, the strength in their hands is also gone.

“None of the warriors” is yet able to fight. In the past, of the Assyrians 185,000 men were slain by the Angel of the LORD in one night (2 Kings 19:35). In the future, Assyria, the king of the North, will suffer the same fate.

The punishment inflicted upon them comes from the “God of Jacob” (Psalms 76:6). Judah and Israel have no strength to defend themselves. By God’s punishment, the enemy’s entire military strength is eliminated forever (cf. Exodus 14:23-28). The “dead sleep” is the sleep of death, the sleep that ends in death (cf. Judges 4:21). No more threat emanates from them. They need have no more fear of the enemy.

The only One Who inspires awe is God (Psalms 76:7). To emphasize this the sentence begins with an emphatic “You, even You”. How awesome He has shown Himself in eliminating the enemy. This automatically raises the question: “Who may stand in Your presence when once You are angry?” (cf. Hebrews 12:29; Hebrews 10:27-31). There is only one conceivable answer to this question: no one.

In the presence of Him Who has made His judgment heard from heaven, the earth is in fear, and it becomes still (Psalms 76:8). This means that the LORD will come, not only as a formidable Warrior, but also as the Judge Who will judge everyone. He is the One Who can say: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18).

That He makes His judgment heard “from heaven” emphasizes His exaltation above all else. From His throne in heaven He governs the universe. On earth everything and everyone is hushed up at the hearing of His voice. No one dares to stir his tongue anymore. “Every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God” (Romans 3:19b; cf. Matthew 22:12b).

God has not only made His voice heard from heaven, but He has also risen “in judgment to save all the humble of the earth” (Psalms 76:9). The meek, or humble, are all those who belong to the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. From Him they have learned to be meek, or gentle (Matthew 11:29). They are being redeemed to receive the promise He pronounced in the ‘beatitudes’: they, the humble, or gentle, shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5).

All the actions and feelings of all men are under God’s control and contribute to His glorification, often against their will. Thus, even “the wrath of men shall praise” Him (Psalms 76:10). The clearest evidence of this is the greatest sin ever committed by man. He crucified the Son of God in blind anger, while God used this sin to fulfill His counsel to the praise of His glory (Acts 2:23; Ephesians 1:7-12).

The “remnant of wrath”, all the anger that man still expresses under the inspiration of satan against His own, He will use for this purpose as well. For He will restrain that anger. He defines the limit of it. In this He reveals His power. Everything in which He reveals Himself, means His glorification. Prophetically, it points to God’s restraint of Assyria when it has done what God wanted. The end is the destruction of Assyria.

Psalms 106:13

God’s Majesty and Power

When Messiah comes, He will rob the “stouthearted” of their weapons (Psalms 76:5). Their stoutheartedness doesn’t mean anything. He will rob them while “they sank into sleep”, that is, in the night (cf. Psalms 121:4). They think they can gain an easy victory, but then are caught unawares. Together with their weapons, the strength in their hands is also gone.

“None of the warriors” is yet able to fight. In the past, of the Assyrians 185,000 men were slain by the Angel of the LORD in one night (2 Kings 19:35). In the future, Assyria, the king of the North, will suffer the same fate.

The punishment inflicted upon them comes from the “God of Jacob” (Psalms 76:6). Judah and Israel have no strength to defend themselves. By God’s punishment, the enemy’s entire military strength is eliminated forever (cf. Exodus 14:23-28). The “dead sleep” is the sleep of death, the sleep that ends in death (cf. Judges 4:21). No more threat emanates from them. They need have no more fear of the enemy.

The only One Who inspires awe is God (Psalms 76:7). To emphasize this the sentence begins with an emphatic “You, even You”. How awesome He has shown Himself in eliminating the enemy. This automatically raises the question: “Who may stand in Your presence when once You are angry?” (cf. Hebrews 12:29; Hebrews 10:27-31). There is only one conceivable answer to this question: no one.

In the presence of Him Who has made His judgment heard from heaven, the earth is in fear, and it becomes still (Psalms 76:8). This means that the LORD will come, not only as a formidable Warrior, but also as the Judge Who will judge everyone. He is the One Who can say: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18).

That He makes His judgment heard “from heaven” emphasizes His exaltation above all else. From His throne in heaven He governs the universe. On earth everything and everyone is hushed up at the hearing of His voice. No one dares to stir his tongue anymore. “Every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God” (Romans 3:19b; cf. Matthew 22:12b).

God has not only made His voice heard from heaven, but He has also risen “in judgment to save all the humble of the earth” (Psalms 76:9). The meek, or humble, are all those who belong to the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. From Him they have learned to be meek, or gentle (Matthew 11:29). They are being redeemed to receive the promise He pronounced in the ‘beatitudes’: they, the humble, or gentle, shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5).

All the actions and feelings of all men are under God’s control and contribute to His glorification, often against their will. Thus, even “the wrath of men shall praise” Him (Psalms 76:10). The clearest evidence of this is the greatest sin ever committed by man. He crucified the Son of God in blind anger, while God used this sin to fulfill His counsel to the praise of His glory (Acts 2:23; Ephesians 1:7-12).

The “remnant of wrath”, all the anger that man still expresses under the inspiration of satan against His own, He will use for this purpose as well. For He will restrain that anger. He defines the limit of it. In this He reveals His power. Everything in which He reveals Himself, means His glorification. Prophetically, it points to God’s restraint of Assyria when it has done what God wanted. The end is the destruction of Assyria.

Psalms 106:14

God’s Majesty and Power

When Messiah comes, He will rob the “stouthearted” of their weapons (Psalms 76:5). Their stoutheartedness doesn’t mean anything. He will rob them while “they sank into sleep”, that is, in the night (cf. Psalms 121:4). They think they can gain an easy victory, but then are caught unawares. Together with their weapons, the strength in their hands is also gone.

“None of the warriors” is yet able to fight. In the past, of the Assyrians 185,000 men were slain by the Angel of the LORD in one night (2 Kings 19:35). In the future, Assyria, the king of the North, will suffer the same fate.

The punishment inflicted upon them comes from the “God of Jacob” (Psalms 76:6). Judah and Israel have no strength to defend themselves. By God’s punishment, the enemy’s entire military strength is eliminated forever (cf. Exodus 14:23-28). The “dead sleep” is the sleep of death, the sleep that ends in death (cf. Judges 4:21). No more threat emanates from them. They need have no more fear of the enemy.

The only One Who inspires awe is God (Psalms 76:7). To emphasize this the sentence begins with an emphatic “You, even You”. How awesome He has shown Himself in eliminating the enemy. This automatically raises the question: “Who may stand in Your presence when once You are angry?” (cf. Hebrews 12:29; Hebrews 10:27-31). There is only one conceivable answer to this question: no one.

In the presence of Him Who has made His judgment heard from heaven, the earth is in fear, and it becomes still (Psalms 76:8). This means that the LORD will come, not only as a formidable Warrior, but also as the Judge Who will judge everyone. He is the One Who can say: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18).

That He makes His judgment heard “from heaven” emphasizes His exaltation above all else. From His throne in heaven He governs the universe. On earth everything and everyone is hushed up at the hearing of His voice. No one dares to stir his tongue anymore. “Every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God” (Romans 3:19b; cf. Matthew 22:12b).

God has not only made His voice heard from heaven, but He has also risen “in judgment to save all the humble of the earth” (Psalms 76:9). The meek, or humble, are all those who belong to the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. From Him they have learned to be meek, or gentle (Matthew 11:29). They are being redeemed to receive the promise He pronounced in the ‘beatitudes’: they, the humble, or gentle, shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5).

All the actions and feelings of all men are under God’s control and contribute to His glorification, often against their will. Thus, even “the wrath of men shall praise” Him (Psalms 76:10). The clearest evidence of this is the greatest sin ever committed by man. He crucified the Son of God in blind anger, while God used this sin to fulfill His counsel to the praise of His glory (Acts 2:23; Ephesians 1:7-12).

The “remnant of wrath”, all the anger that man still expresses under the inspiration of satan against His own, He will use for this purpose as well. For He will restrain that anger. He defines the limit of it. In this He reveals His power. Everything in which He reveals Himself, means His glorification. Prophetically, it points to God’s restraint of Assyria when it has done what God wanted. The end is the destruction of Assyria.

Psalms 106:15

God’s Majesty and Power

When Messiah comes, He will rob the “stouthearted” of their weapons (Psalms 76:5). Their stoutheartedness doesn’t mean anything. He will rob them while “they sank into sleep”, that is, in the night (cf. Psalms 121:4). They think they can gain an easy victory, but then are caught unawares. Together with their weapons, the strength in their hands is also gone.

“None of the warriors” is yet able to fight. In the past, of the Assyrians 185,000 men were slain by the Angel of the LORD in one night (2 Kings 19:35). In the future, Assyria, the king of the North, will suffer the same fate.

The punishment inflicted upon them comes from the “God of Jacob” (Psalms 76:6). Judah and Israel have no strength to defend themselves. By God’s punishment, the enemy’s entire military strength is eliminated forever (cf. Exodus 14:23-28). The “dead sleep” is the sleep of death, the sleep that ends in death (cf. Judges 4:21). No more threat emanates from them. They need have no more fear of the enemy.

The only One Who inspires awe is God (Psalms 76:7). To emphasize this the sentence begins with an emphatic “You, even You”. How awesome He has shown Himself in eliminating the enemy. This automatically raises the question: “Who may stand in Your presence when once You are angry?” (cf. Hebrews 12:29; Hebrews 10:27-31). There is only one conceivable answer to this question: no one.

In the presence of Him Who has made His judgment heard from heaven, the earth is in fear, and it becomes still (Psalms 76:8). This means that the LORD will come, not only as a formidable Warrior, but also as the Judge Who will judge everyone. He is the One Who can say: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18).

That He makes His judgment heard “from heaven” emphasizes His exaltation above all else. From His throne in heaven He governs the universe. On earth everything and everyone is hushed up at the hearing of His voice. No one dares to stir his tongue anymore. “Every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God” (Romans 3:19b; cf. Matthew 22:12b).

God has not only made His voice heard from heaven, but He has also risen “in judgment to save all the humble of the earth” (Psalms 76:9). The meek, or humble, are all those who belong to the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. From Him they have learned to be meek, or gentle (Matthew 11:29). They are being redeemed to receive the promise He pronounced in the ‘beatitudes’: they, the humble, or gentle, shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5).

All the actions and feelings of all men are under God’s control and contribute to His glorification, often against their will. Thus, even “the wrath of men shall praise” Him (Psalms 76:10). The clearest evidence of this is the greatest sin ever committed by man. He crucified the Son of God in blind anger, while God used this sin to fulfill His counsel to the praise of His glory (Acts 2:23; Ephesians 1:7-12).

The “remnant of wrath”, all the anger that man still expresses under the inspiration of satan against His own, He will use for this purpose as well. For He will restrain that anger. He defines the limit of it. In this He reveals His power. Everything in which He reveals Himself, means His glorification. Prophetically, it points to God’s restraint of Assyria when it has done what God wanted. The end is the destruction of Assyria.

Psalms 106:16

God Is Feared by the Kings

Deliverance has been accomplished. Now it is a matter of fulfilling the vows made in the distress “to the LORD your God” (Psalms 76:11a). This refers to the votive offering, a form of the peace offering (Leviticus 7:16). That is what the remnant is reminded of here.

The LORD is now their God. Like Elijah, whose name means ‘the LORD is my God’, the faithful remnant through the service of Elijah, the service of the maskilim, can now say ‘the LORD is my God’. They are addressed here as “all who are around Him”. They live around Him, He is in their midst. That makes the fulfillment of their vows all the more desirable.

Next, the surrounding peoples are also addressed (Psalms 76:11b). They are told to “bring gifts to Him who is to be feared”. They will be wise to acknowledge Him in His supremacy which He has proved in the judgment on His enemies. They can express their fear of Him, which includes the acknowledgment of His authority, by bringing Him gifts.

The spirit or breath of the princes of the surrounding nations is in His hand (Psalms 76:12; Daniel 5:23b). We see these princes in the two beasts of Revelation 13 – the beast coming out of the sea, which is the leader of the then restored Roman Empire, and the beast coming out of the earth, which is the antichrist –, in the king of the North, and in Gog and Magog.

God cuts off their spirit, i.e. their breath, with the ease with which one ‘cuts off grapes’ to throw them into the wine press to be trampled on (Psalms 2:1-6; cf. Revelation 14:18-20). “The kings of the earth” fear Him, for He is “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:5). To Him all kings must give an account. When the time of their sentencing comes, they will rightly fear Him.

Psalms 106:17

God Is Feared by the Kings

Deliverance has been accomplished. Now it is a matter of fulfilling the vows made in the distress “to the LORD your God” (Psalms 76:11a). This refers to the votive offering, a form of the peace offering (Leviticus 7:16). That is what the remnant is reminded of here.

The LORD is now their God. Like Elijah, whose name means ‘the LORD is my God’, the faithful remnant through the service of Elijah, the service of the maskilim, can now say ‘the LORD is my God’. They are addressed here as “all who are around Him”. They live around Him, He is in their midst. That makes the fulfillment of their vows all the more desirable.

Next, the surrounding peoples are also addressed (Psalms 76:11b). They are told to “bring gifts to Him who is to be feared”. They will be wise to acknowledge Him in His supremacy which He has proved in the judgment on His enemies. They can express their fear of Him, which includes the acknowledgment of His authority, by bringing Him gifts.

The spirit or breath of the princes of the surrounding nations is in His hand (Psalms 76:12; Daniel 5:23b). We see these princes in the two beasts of Revelation 13 – the beast coming out of the sea, which is the leader of the then restored Roman Empire, and the beast coming out of the earth, which is the antichrist –, in the king of the North, and in Gog and Magog.

God cuts off their spirit, i.e. their breath, with the ease with which one ‘cuts off grapes’ to throw them into the wine press to be trampled on (Psalms 2:1-6; cf. Revelation 14:18-20). “The kings of the earth” fear Him, for He is “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:5). To Him all kings must give an account. When the time of their sentencing comes, they will rightly fear Him.

Psalms 106:19

Introduction

This psalm is a retrospective look at the past, at the wrestling of the faithful remnant (Psalms 77:5). The people have been redeemed and are in the process (Psalms 77:4-10) of putting events in order (Psalms 77:11-13) with the result that they are magnifying God with great amazement (Psalms 77:14-20).

Cry Aloud and Despair

For “for the choir director” (Psalms 77:1a) see at Psalms 4:1.

The name “Jeduthun” is also found in the heading of Psalm 39 and Psalms 62 (Psalms 39:1; Psalms 62:1). See further at Psalms 39:1 and Psalms 62:1.

For “a Psalm of Asaph” see at Psalms 50:1.

Asaph, and in him the faithful remnant, begins this psalm by rising his voice to God (Psalms 77:1b). He cries aloud to Him. He lets his voice be heard in the certainty that God will hear him. The fact that he says this twice indicates the seriousness and depth of his need. At the same time he expresses the certainty that God will hear him. He trusts that his prayer will be heard by God.

Crying aloud to God with the voice is more than just wishing for something from Him. It is the expression of weakness and dependence on Him and the desire to resort to Him. Whoever does this proves that he has an upright heart. It is not a need that he can keep to himself, but a deep need to which he must give audible expression to everyone.

After his expression of confidence (Psalms 77:1b) the path follows which the psalmist has gone to arrive at this confidence. He begins by saying that he has sought “the Lord”, Adonai, “in the day of my trouble” (Psalms 77:2). This corresponds to the situation in Psalms 74. Prophetically, it is the time of the great tribulation caused by the antichrist and followed by the disciplinary rod of God, Assyria, which destroyed Israel and the temple.

He has been in great trouble. That he has sought the Lord is a good thing. The only question is with what mind of his heart he has sought. The sequel shows that he had profound doubts about God’s involvement in his situation, and that this resulted in a deep crisis in his life of faith. It speaks of a time when the faith of the remnant is purified (cf. Malachi 3:2-3).

Not only during the day did he stretch out his hand to God as a sign of helplessness asking for His help. He continued with it during the night. No slackening occurred. He continued to cry out for help. And it did not come. Therefore his “soul refused to be comforted”. It means that he was not able to accept the situation.

The Hebrew word for comfort means to sigh deeply, in this case of relief. It was impossible for him to feel relief. He continued to wrestle day and night in prayer. A person who refuses comfort is deeply discouraged and severely disappointed in God. He sees no way out. Life has become dark and meaningless. All words of comfort are rejected by a heart that feels rejected by God.

He did think of God, but instead of the thought of God comforting him, he was disturbed (Psalms 77:3). It has only made his suffering worse. God, in his experience, is not a Helper, but Someone Who does nothing about his misery, Someone Who leaves him to his fate. The psalmist speaks for the remnant when he remembers the time when he wrestled because of the great trouble. He had forgotten what God had done in the past.

He pondered over it, but he could not understand it. On the contrary, he had fallen into a vicious circle, which had caused his spirit to faint. He had fallen into a total depression. People can talk all they want about God and His goodness. But when God is silent, all the talking of people and all their own thinking only increases the inner pain.

Overwhelmed by the difficulties and problems, disappointed by the fact that God had not yet answered, his soul became exhausted and began to complain. The spirit too became exhausted by the difficulties. Perhaps the memory of past faults came to mind and the question arose: Does God still judge past but confessed transgressions (Psalms 77:9)? The thoughts went around in a circle. It was a downward spiral. It got darker and darker and the prospect of a solution disappeared.

Psalms 106:20

Introduction

This psalm is a retrospective look at the past, at the wrestling of the faithful remnant (Psalms 77:5). The people have been redeemed and are in the process (Psalms 77:4-10) of putting events in order (Psalms 77:11-13) with the result that they are magnifying God with great amazement (Psalms 77:14-20).

Cry Aloud and Despair

For “for the choir director” (Psalms 77:1a) see at Psalms 4:1.

The name “Jeduthun” is also found in the heading of Psalm 39 and Psalms 62 (Psalms 39:1; Psalms 62:1). See further at Psalms 39:1 and Psalms 62:1.

For “a Psalm of Asaph” see at Psalms 50:1.

Asaph, and in him the faithful remnant, begins this psalm by rising his voice to God (Psalms 77:1b). He cries aloud to Him. He lets his voice be heard in the certainty that God will hear him. The fact that he says this twice indicates the seriousness and depth of his need. At the same time he expresses the certainty that God will hear him. He trusts that his prayer will be heard by God.

Crying aloud to God with the voice is more than just wishing for something from Him. It is the expression of weakness and dependence on Him and the desire to resort to Him. Whoever does this proves that he has an upright heart. It is not a need that he can keep to himself, but a deep need to which he must give audible expression to everyone.

After his expression of confidence (Psalms 77:1b) the path follows which the psalmist has gone to arrive at this confidence. He begins by saying that he has sought “the Lord”, Adonai, “in the day of my trouble” (Psalms 77:2). This corresponds to the situation in Psalms 74. Prophetically, it is the time of the great tribulation caused by the antichrist and followed by the disciplinary rod of God, Assyria, which destroyed Israel and the temple.

He has been in great trouble. That he has sought the Lord is a good thing. The only question is with what mind of his heart he has sought. The sequel shows that he had profound doubts about God’s involvement in his situation, and that this resulted in a deep crisis in his life of faith. It speaks of a time when the faith of the remnant is purified (cf. Malachi 3:2-3).

Not only during the day did he stretch out his hand to God as a sign of helplessness asking for His help. He continued with it during the night. No slackening occurred. He continued to cry out for help. And it did not come. Therefore his “soul refused to be comforted”. It means that he was not able to accept the situation.

The Hebrew word for comfort means to sigh deeply, in this case of relief. It was impossible for him to feel relief. He continued to wrestle day and night in prayer. A person who refuses comfort is deeply discouraged and severely disappointed in God. He sees no way out. Life has become dark and meaningless. All words of comfort are rejected by a heart that feels rejected by God.

He did think of God, but instead of the thought of God comforting him, he was disturbed (Psalms 77:3). It has only made his suffering worse. God, in his experience, is not a Helper, but Someone Who does nothing about his misery, Someone Who leaves him to his fate. The psalmist speaks for the remnant when he remembers the time when he wrestled because of the great trouble. He had forgotten what God had done in the past.

He pondered over it, but he could not understand it. On the contrary, he had fallen into a vicious circle, which had caused his spirit to faint. He had fallen into a total depression. People can talk all they want about God and His goodness. But when God is silent, all the talking of people and all their own thinking only increases the inner pain.

Overwhelmed by the difficulties and problems, disappointed by the fact that God had not yet answered, his soul became exhausted and began to complain. The spirit too became exhausted by the difficulties. Perhaps the memory of past faults came to mind and the question arose: Does God still judge past but confessed transgressions (Psalms 77:9)? The thoughts went around in a circle. It was a downward spiral. It got darker and darker and the prospect of a solution disappeared.

Psalms 106:21

Introduction

This psalm is a retrospective look at the past, at the wrestling of the faithful remnant (Psalms 77:5). The people have been redeemed and are in the process (Psalms 77:4-10) of putting events in order (Psalms 77:11-13) with the result that they are magnifying God with great amazement (Psalms 77:14-20).

Cry Aloud and Despair

For “for the choir director” (Psalms 77:1a) see at Psalms 4:1.

The name “Jeduthun” is also found in the heading of Psalm 39 and Psalms 62 (Psalms 39:1; Psalms 62:1). See further at Psalms 39:1 and Psalms 62:1.

For “a Psalm of Asaph” see at Psalms 50:1.

Asaph, and in him the faithful remnant, begins this psalm by rising his voice to God (Psalms 77:1b). He cries aloud to Him. He lets his voice be heard in the certainty that God will hear him. The fact that he says this twice indicates the seriousness and depth of his need. At the same time he expresses the certainty that God will hear him. He trusts that his prayer will be heard by God.

Crying aloud to God with the voice is more than just wishing for something from Him. It is the expression of weakness and dependence on Him and the desire to resort to Him. Whoever does this proves that he has an upright heart. It is not a need that he can keep to himself, but a deep need to which he must give audible expression to everyone.

After his expression of confidence (Psalms 77:1b) the path follows which the psalmist has gone to arrive at this confidence. He begins by saying that he has sought “the Lord”, Adonai, “in the day of my trouble” (Psalms 77:2). This corresponds to the situation in Psalms 74. Prophetically, it is the time of the great tribulation caused by the antichrist and followed by the disciplinary rod of God, Assyria, which destroyed Israel and the temple.

He has been in great trouble. That he has sought the Lord is a good thing. The only question is with what mind of his heart he has sought. The sequel shows that he had profound doubts about God’s involvement in his situation, and that this resulted in a deep crisis in his life of faith. It speaks of a time when the faith of the remnant is purified (cf. Malachi 3:2-3).

Not only during the day did he stretch out his hand to God as a sign of helplessness asking for His help. He continued with it during the night. No slackening occurred. He continued to cry out for help. And it did not come. Therefore his “soul refused to be comforted”. It means that he was not able to accept the situation.

The Hebrew word for comfort means to sigh deeply, in this case of relief. It was impossible for him to feel relief. He continued to wrestle day and night in prayer. A person who refuses comfort is deeply discouraged and severely disappointed in God. He sees no way out. Life has become dark and meaningless. All words of comfort are rejected by a heart that feels rejected by God.

He did think of God, but instead of the thought of God comforting him, he was disturbed (Psalms 77:3). It has only made his suffering worse. God, in his experience, is not a Helper, but Someone Who does nothing about his misery, Someone Who leaves him to his fate. The psalmist speaks for the remnant when he remembers the time when he wrestled because of the great trouble. He had forgotten what God had done in the past.

He pondered over it, but he could not understand it. On the contrary, he had fallen into a vicious circle, which had caused his spirit to faint. He had fallen into a total depression. People can talk all they want about God and His goodness. But when God is silent, all the talking of people and all their own thinking only increases the inner pain.

Overwhelmed by the difficulties and problems, disappointed by the fact that God had not yet answered, his soul became exhausted and began to complain. The spirit too became exhausted by the difficulties. Perhaps the memory of past faults came to mind and the question arose: Does God still judge past but confessed transgressions (Psalms 77:9)? The thoughts went around in a circle. It was a downward spiral. It got darker and darker and the prospect of a solution disappeared.

Psalms 106:22

Has God Forgotten to Be Gracious?

The anguish of the God-fearing has been so great that he has not been able to sleep (Psalms 77:4). ‘You have done this’, he has said to God. It is not an expression of resignation, but more of an accusation. It was also a wrestling with the question: How could God redeem before, while He now rejects us? Therefore, there was disquiet and no trust. Because of his shaken trust in God, his disappointment in Him, his sleeplessness had been further proof that God did not care about him.

Further on he will come to even stronger statements that indicate how much his trust in God had been shaken. He had kept his mouth shut about it. What should he say about his deep trouble, and to whom? After all, there was no one who understood him.

In reflecting on his circumstances he had gone back in his mind to “the days of old, the years of long ago” (Psalms 77:5). This was not to remember how God had helped then. Then his trust in God would have been restored and praise would have risen to Him. That was not the case here. He had not come to God as His refuge in need. It seems that he had been thinking of the past with nostalgia because he had lived in prosperity and happiness.

He has thought of his “song in the night” (Psalms 77:6). He remembered the times when he joyfully praised God. But what did the thought of past joys help in seeking a solution to present woes if you don’t end up with God? If we keep digging into the past to deal with problems in the present, we sink deeper and deeper into depression. We must learn to look up and ahead. Then we will see that God, Who was there yesterday, is also there today and will be there tomorrow.

During the night he meditated with his heart on the vexing questions that had brought him to his state of disillusionment. He meditated on those questions with his “heart”. Every stone should be turned over, as it were, to find the answers to his profound questions of life.

These are not theological questions, but experiential questions. They are about the experience of God’s presence in the life of the believer, while that believer doubts this very much because of the incomprehensible misery in which he finds himself. It is the wrestling of the prophet Habakkuk, who had to learn not to look at the circumstances, but to trust in God despite all adversity.

He has asked six questions about God. These questions can be answered in a theologically correct way. But then we do not take the need seriously, and we demonstrate inability to suffer with the suffering. We could even say that a believer who knows Who God is should not ask such questions. Then we are blaming the believer, while God does not. In both cases we show our lack of self-knowledge. Nor is there any realization that only the grace of God has kept us from such circumstances and such questions until now.

The six questions are: 1. “Will the Lord reject forever?” (Psalms 77:7a). 2. “And will He never be favorable again?” (Psalms 77:7b). 3. “Has His lovingkindness ceased forever?” (Psalms 77:8a). 4. “Has [His] promise come to an end forever?” (Psalms 77:8b). 5. “Has God forgotten to be gracious,”? (Psalms 77:9a). 6. “Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion?” (Psalms 77:9b).

The first question of the troubled mind is whether “the Lord rejects forever” (Psalms 77:7a). This question corresponds to two similar questions in Psalms 74 (Psalms 74:1; 10). The question is not so much the rejection itself, but the question is whether God has definitively rejected. Is it over and out? Or is there still hope? Has the lovingkindness of God – literally Adonai, His covenant faithfulness (Psalms 77:8a) – now ceased?

This question expresses the deep lack of God’s nearness. It also indicates that he saw no solution. We can know that God will never reject anyone who has taken refuge in Him. We can remind a desperate believer of this time and again, without accusing him of unbelief. It is about a believer who, for whatever reason, feels rejected by God. He is desperately seeking God, but feels rejected by Him.

The second question, whether the Lord would “never be favorable again” (Psalms 77:7b), is directly related to the first. Whoever has the feeling of being ‘rejected forever’, no longer experiences the favor of God. This is mainly about God’s inner Self, what is in His heart. Whoever thinks that God is not any longer interested in him, has lost sight of what is in God’s heart.

The cause of this is to float on the miserable feelings he has and the disappointing experiences he has had with God. Then a believer thinks that God is not favorable to him when things are not going well for him. The important thing is that we continue to trust God, even when everything in our lives is going against us. If we think that God is only good to us when things are going well, the thought can quickly arise that God is no longer good to us when things are going badly. The same applies to God’s lovingkindness, grace and mercy, about which the psalmist also has his questions.

From doubting God’s favor toward the believer follows naturally the question whether “His lovingkindness ceased forever” (Psalms 77:8a). That God is well-minded to the believer is evidenced by His lovingkindness. Lovingkindness is a feature of love (1 Corinthians 13:4a). In Psalms it is often said that His lovingkindness is forever (Psalms 136:1-26), which refers to the realm of peace.

When everything is dark for the believer, he no longer thinks about that, but wonders if God’s lovingkindness – Adonai, that is the faithfulness to the covenant – has ceased forever. This is exactly the opposite of what the covenant is about. This covenant is the basis of the people’s existence. If there would be an end to the covenant, it would mean the end of the existence of the people.

The question that connects to this is whether God’s “promise” has “come to an end forever” (Psalms 77:8b). The psalmist wrestled with the promise of God’s statements. Those who make their feelings the standard for their relationship to God also doubt God’s promises. There is no trust in the Word of God, which is unchanging for all generations. If we no longer find support in it, we become a plaything for our feelings.

In his fifth question, the desperate believer suggests that perhaps God has “forgotten to be gracious” (Psalms 77:9a). This question indicates how far the believer is from a proper view of God. How could God possibly forget to be gracious? That the believer experiences it this way indicates the depth of his depression. If there is no gracious God, the believer is doomed to die in darkness and hopelessness.

His final question is whether God has “in anger withdrawn His compassion” (Psalms 77:9b). Here He sees God as an angry God. But God is compassionate. Compassion means being moved by the suffering of another. However, God cannot show this because His anger is predominant.

Here the believer has reached the lowest point of his depression. He imagines that God is angry toward him and therefore cannot show him compassion. It sounds logical, but it is human logic. We cannot have two opposing feelings at the same time, but God can be angry and compassionate at the same time (cf. Habakkuk 3:2c).

Psalms 106:23

Has God Forgotten to Be Gracious?

The anguish of the God-fearing has been so great that he has not been able to sleep (Psalms 77:4). ‘You have done this’, he has said to God. It is not an expression of resignation, but more of an accusation. It was also a wrestling with the question: How could God redeem before, while He now rejects us? Therefore, there was disquiet and no trust. Because of his shaken trust in God, his disappointment in Him, his sleeplessness had been further proof that God did not care about him.

Further on he will come to even stronger statements that indicate how much his trust in God had been shaken. He had kept his mouth shut about it. What should he say about his deep trouble, and to whom? After all, there was no one who understood him.

In reflecting on his circumstances he had gone back in his mind to “the days of old, the years of long ago” (Psalms 77:5). This was not to remember how God had helped then. Then his trust in God would have been restored and praise would have risen to Him. That was not the case here. He had not come to God as His refuge in need. It seems that he had been thinking of the past with nostalgia because he had lived in prosperity and happiness.

He has thought of his “song in the night” (Psalms 77:6). He remembered the times when he joyfully praised God. But what did the thought of past joys help in seeking a solution to present woes if you don’t end up with God? If we keep digging into the past to deal with problems in the present, we sink deeper and deeper into depression. We must learn to look up and ahead. Then we will see that God, Who was there yesterday, is also there today and will be there tomorrow.

During the night he meditated with his heart on the vexing questions that had brought him to his state of disillusionment. He meditated on those questions with his “heart”. Every stone should be turned over, as it were, to find the answers to his profound questions of life.

These are not theological questions, but experiential questions. They are about the experience of God’s presence in the life of the believer, while that believer doubts this very much because of the incomprehensible misery in which he finds himself. It is the wrestling of the prophet Habakkuk, who had to learn not to look at the circumstances, but to trust in God despite all adversity.

He has asked six questions about God. These questions can be answered in a theologically correct way. But then we do not take the need seriously, and we demonstrate inability to suffer with the suffering. We could even say that a believer who knows Who God is should not ask such questions. Then we are blaming the believer, while God does not. In both cases we show our lack of self-knowledge. Nor is there any realization that only the grace of God has kept us from such circumstances and such questions until now.

The six questions are: 1. “Will the Lord reject forever?” (Psalms 77:7a). 2. “And will He never be favorable again?” (Psalms 77:7b). 3. “Has His lovingkindness ceased forever?” (Psalms 77:8a). 4. “Has [His] promise come to an end forever?” (Psalms 77:8b). 5. “Has God forgotten to be gracious,”? (Psalms 77:9a). 6. “Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion?” (Psalms 77:9b).

The first question of the troubled mind is whether “the Lord rejects forever” (Psalms 77:7a). This question corresponds to two similar questions in Psalms 74 (Psalms 74:1; 10). The question is not so much the rejection itself, but the question is whether God has definitively rejected. Is it over and out? Or is there still hope? Has the lovingkindness of God – literally Adonai, His covenant faithfulness (Psalms 77:8a) – now ceased?

This question expresses the deep lack of God’s nearness. It also indicates that he saw no solution. We can know that God will never reject anyone who has taken refuge in Him. We can remind a desperate believer of this time and again, without accusing him of unbelief. It is about a believer who, for whatever reason, feels rejected by God. He is desperately seeking God, but feels rejected by Him.

The second question, whether the Lord would “never be favorable again” (Psalms 77:7b), is directly related to the first. Whoever has the feeling of being ‘rejected forever’, no longer experiences the favor of God. This is mainly about God’s inner Self, what is in His heart. Whoever thinks that God is not any longer interested in him, has lost sight of what is in God’s heart.

The cause of this is to float on the miserable feelings he has and the disappointing experiences he has had with God. Then a believer thinks that God is not favorable to him when things are not going well for him. The important thing is that we continue to trust God, even when everything in our lives is going against us. If we think that God is only good to us when things are going well, the thought can quickly arise that God is no longer good to us when things are going badly. The same applies to God’s lovingkindness, grace and mercy, about which the psalmist also has his questions.

From doubting God’s favor toward the believer follows naturally the question whether “His lovingkindness ceased forever” (Psalms 77:8a). That God is well-minded to the believer is evidenced by His lovingkindness. Lovingkindness is a feature of love (1 Corinthians 13:4a). In Psalms it is often said that His lovingkindness is forever (Psalms 136:1-26), which refers to the realm of peace.

When everything is dark for the believer, he no longer thinks about that, but wonders if God’s lovingkindness – Adonai, that is the faithfulness to the covenant – has ceased forever. This is exactly the opposite of what the covenant is about. This covenant is the basis of the people’s existence. If there would be an end to the covenant, it would mean the end of the existence of the people.

The question that connects to this is whether God’s “promise” has “come to an end forever” (Psalms 77:8b). The psalmist wrestled with the promise of God’s statements. Those who make their feelings the standard for their relationship to God also doubt God’s promises. There is no trust in the Word of God, which is unchanging for all generations. If we no longer find support in it, we become a plaything for our feelings.

In his fifth question, the desperate believer suggests that perhaps God has “forgotten to be gracious” (Psalms 77:9a). This question indicates how far the believer is from a proper view of God. How could God possibly forget to be gracious? That the believer experiences it this way indicates the depth of his depression. If there is no gracious God, the believer is doomed to die in darkness and hopelessness.

His final question is whether God has “in anger withdrawn His compassion” (Psalms 77:9b). Here He sees God as an angry God. But God is compassionate. Compassion means being moved by the suffering of another. However, God cannot show this because His anger is predominant.

Here the believer has reached the lowest point of his depression. He imagines that God is angry toward him and therefore cannot show him compassion. It sounds logical, but it is human logic. We cannot have two opposing feelings at the same time, but God can be angry and compassionate at the same time (cf. Habakkuk 3:2c).

Psalms 106:24

Has God Forgotten to Be Gracious?

The anguish of the God-fearing has been so great that he has not been able to sleep (Psalms 77:4). ‘You have done this’, he has said to God. It is not an expression of resignation, but more of an accusation. It was also a wrestling with the question: How could God redeem before, while He now rejects us? Therefore, there was disquiet and no trust. Because of his shaken trust in God, his disappointment in Him, his sleeplessness had been further proof that God did not care about him.

Further on he will come to even stronger statements that indicate how much his trust in God had been shaken. He had kept his mouth shut about it. What should he say about his deep trouble, and to whom? After all, there was no one who understood him.

In reflecting on his circumstances he had gone back in his mind to “the days of old, the years of long ago” (Psalms 77:5). This was not to remember how God had helped then. Then his trust in God would have been restored and praise would have risen to Him. That was not the case here. He had not come to God as His refuge in need. It seems that he had been thinking of the past with nostalgia because he had lived in prosperity and happiness.

He has thought of his “song in the night” (Psalms 77:6). He remembered the times when he joyfully praised God. But what did the thought of past joys help in seeking a solution to present woes if you don’t end up with God? If we keep digging into the past to deal with problems in the present, we sink deeper and deeper into depression. We must learn to look up and ahead. Then we will see that God, Who was there yesterday, is also there today and will be there tomorrow.

During the night he meditated with his heart on the vexing questions that had brought him to his state of disillusionment. He meditated on those questions with his “heart”. Every stone should be turned over, as it were, to find the answers to his profound questions of life.

These are not theological questions, but experiential questions. They are about the experience of God’s presence in the life of the believer, while that believer doubts this very much because of the incomprehensible misery in which he finds himself. It is the wrestling of the prophet Habakkuk, who had to learn not to look at the circumstances, but to trust in God despite all adversity.

He has asked six questions about God. These questions can be answered in a theologically correct way. But then we do not take the need seriously, and we demonstrate inability to suffer with the suffering. We could even say that a believer who knows Who God is should not ask such questions. Then we are blaming the believer, while God does not. In both cases we show our lack of self-knowledge. Nor is there any realization that only the grace of God has kept us from such circumstances and such questions until now.

The six questions are: 1. “Will the Lord reject forever?” (Psalms 77:7a). 2. “And will He never be favorable again?” (Psalms 77:7b). 3. “Has His lovingkindness ceased forever?” (Psalms 77:8a). 4. “Has [His] promise come to an end forever?” (Psalms 77:8b). 5. “Has God forgotten to be gracious,”? (Psalms 77:9a). 6. “Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion?” (Psalms 77:9b).

The first question of the troubled mind is whether “the Lord rejects forever” (Psalms 77:7a). This question corresponds to two similar questions in Psalms 74 (Psalms 74:1; 10). The question is not so much the rejection itself, but the question is whether God has definitively rejected. Is it over and out? Or is there still hope? Has the lovingkindness of God – literally Adonai, His covenant faithfulness (Psalms 77:8a) – now ceased?

This question expresses the deep lack of God’s nearness. It also indicates that he saw no solution. We can know that God will never reject anyone who has taken refuge in Him. We can remind a desperate believer of this time and again, without accusing him of unbelief. It is about a believer who, for whatever reason, feels rejected by God. He is desperately seeking God, but feels rejected by Him.

The second question, whether the Lord would “never be favorable again” (Psalms 77:7b), is directly related to the first. Whoever has the feeling of being ‘rejected forever’, no longer experiences the favor of God. This is mainly about God’s inner Self, what is in His heart. Whoever thinks that God is not any longer interested in him, has lost sight of what is in God’s heart.

The cause of this is to float on the miserable feelings he has and the disappointing experiences he has had with God. Then a believer thinks that God is not favorable to him when things are not going well for him. The important thing is that we continue to trust God, even when everything in our lives is going against us. If we think that God is only good to us when things are going well, the thought can quickly arise that God is no longer good to us when things are going badly. The same applies to God’s lovingkindness, grace and mercy, about which the psalmist also has his questions.

From doubting God’s favor toward the believer follows naturally the question whether “His lovingkindness ceased forever” (Psalms 77:8a). That God is well-minded to the believer is evidenced by His lovingkindness. Lovingkindness is a feature of love (1 Corinthians 13:4a). In Psalms it is often said that His lovingkindness is forever (Psalms 136:1-26), which refers to the realm of peace.

When everything is dark for the believer, he no longer thinks about that, but wonders if God’s lovingkindness – Adonai, that is the faithfulness to the covenant – has ceased forever. This is exactly the opposite of what the covenant is about. This covenant is the basis of the people’s existence. If there would be an end to the covenant, it would mean the end of the existence of the people.

The question that connects to this is whether God’s “promise” has “come to an end forever” (Psalms 77:8b). The psalmist wrestled with the promise of God’s statements. Those who make their feelings the standard for their relationship to God also doubt God’s promises. There is no trust in the Word of God, which is unchanging for all generations. If we no longer find support in it, we become a plaything for our feelings.

In his fifth question, the desperate believer suggests that perhaps God has “forgotten to be gracious” (Psalms 77:9a). This question indicates how far the believer is from a proper view of God. How could God possibly forget to be gracious? That the believer experiences it this way indicates the depth of his depression. If there is no gracious God, the believer is doomed to die in darkness and hopelessness.

His final question is whether God has “in anger withdrawn His compassion” (Psalms 77:9b). Here He sees God as an angry God. But God is compassionate. Compassion means being moved by the suffering of another. However, God cannot show this because His anger is predominant.

Here the believer has reached the lowest point of his depression. He imagines that God is angry toward him and therefore cannot show him compassion. It sounds logical, but it is human logic. We cannot have two opposing feelings at the same time, but God can be angry and compassionate at the same time (cf. Habakkuk 3:2c).

Psalms 106:25

Has God Forgotten to Be Gracious?

The anguish of the God-fearing has been so great that he has not been able to sleep (Psalms 77:4). ‘You have done this’, he has said to God. It is not an expression of resignation, but more of an accusation. It was also a wrestling with the question: How could God redeem before, while He now rejects us? Therefore, there was disquiet and no trust. Because of his shaken trust in God, his disappointment in Him, his sleeplessness had been further proof that God did not care about him.

Further on he will come to even stronger statements that indicate how much his trust in God had been shaken. He had kept his mouth shut about it. What should he say about his deep trouble, and to whom? After all, there was no one who understood him.

In reflecting on his circumstances he had gone back in his mind to “the days of old, the years of long ago” (Psalms 77:5). This was not to remember how God had helped then. Then his trust in God would have been restored and praise would have risen to Him. That was not the case here. He had not come to God as His refuge in need. It seems that he had been thinking of the past with nostalgia because he had lived in prosperity and happiness.

He has thought of his “song in the night” (Psalms 77:6). He remembered the times when he joyfully praised God. But what did the thought of past joys help in seeking a solution to present woes if you don’t end up with God? If we keep digging into the past to deal with problems in the present, we sink deeper and deeper into depression. We must learn to look up and ahead. Then we will see that God, Who was there yesterday, is also there today and will be there tomorrow.

During the night he meditated with his heart on the vexing questions that had brought him to his state of disillusionment. He meditated on those questions with his “heart”. Every stone should be turned over, as it were, to find the answers to his profound questions of life.

These are not theological questions, but experiential questions. They are about the experience of God’s presence in the life of the believer, while that believer doubts this very much because of the incomprehensible misery in which he finds himself. It is the wrestling of the prophet Habakkuk, who had to learn not to look at the circumstances, but to trust in God despite all adversity.

He has asked six questions about God. These questions can be answered in a theologically correct way. But then we do not take the need seriously, and we demonstrate inability to suffer with the suffering. We could even say that a believer who knows Who God is should not ask such questions. Then we are blaming the believer, while God does not. In both cases we show our lack of self-knowledge. Nor is there any realization that only the grace of God has kept us from such circumstances and such questions until now.

The six questions are: 1. “Will the Lord reject forever?” (Psalms 77:7a). 2. “And will He never be favorable again?” (Psalms 77:7b). 3. “Has His lovingkindness ceased forever?” (Psalms 77:8a). 4. “Has [His] promise come to an end forever?” (Psalms 77:8b). 5. “Has God forgotten to be gracious,”? (Psalms 77:9a). 6. “Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion?” (Psalms 77:9b).

The first question of the troubled mind is whether “the Lord rejects forever” (Psalms 77:7a). This question corresponds to two similar questions in Psalms 74 (Psalms 74:1; 10). The question is not so much the rejection itself, but the question is whether God has definitively rejected. Is it over and out? Or is there still hope? Has the lovingkindness of God – literally Adonai, His covenant faithfulness (Psalms 77:8a) – now ceased?

This question expresses the deep lack of God’s nearness. It also indicates that he saw no solution. We can know that God will never reject anyone who has taken refuge in Him. We can remind a desperate believer of this time and again, without accusing him of unbelief. It is about a believer who, for whatever reason, feels rejected by God. He is desperately seeking God, but feels rejected by Him.

The second question, whether the Lord would “never be favorable again” (Psalms 77:7b), is directly related to the first. Whoever has the feeling of being ‘rejected forever’, no longer experiences the favor of God. This is mainly about God’s inner Self, what is in His heart. Whoever thinks that God is not any longer interested in him, has lost sight of what is in God’s heart.

The cause of this is to float on the miserable feelings he has and the disappointing experiences he has had with God. Then a believer thinks that God is not favorable to him when things are not going well for him. The important thing is that we continue to trust God, even when everything in our lives is going against us. If we think that God is only good to us when things are going well, the thought can quickly arise that God is no longer good to us when things are going badly. The same applies to God’s lovingkindness, grace and mercy, about which the psalmist also has his questions.

From doubting God’s favor toward the believer follows naturally the question whether “His lovingkindness ceased forever” (Psalms 77:8a). That God is well-minded to the believer is evidenced by His lovingkindness. Lovingkindness is a feature of love (1 Corinthians 13:4a). In Psalms it is often said that His lovingkindness is forever (Psalms 136:1-26), which refers to the realm of peace.

When everything is dark for the believer, he no longer thinks about that, but wonders if God’s lovingkindness – Adonai, that is the faithfulness to the covenant – has ceased forever. This is exactly the opposite of what the covenant is about. This covenant is the basis of the people’s existence. If there would be an end to the covenant, it would mean the end of the existence of the people.

The question that connects to this is whether God’s “promise” has “come to an end forever” (Psalms 77:8b). The psalmist wrestled with the promise of God’s statements. Those who make their feelings the standard for their relationship to God also doubt God’s promises. There is no trust in the Word of God, which is unchanging for all generations. If we no longer find support in it, we become a plaything for our feelings.

In his fifth question, the desperate believer suggests that perhaps God has “forgotten to be gracious” (Psalms 77:9a). This question indicates how far the believer is from a proper view of God. How could God possibly forget to be gracious? That the believer experiences it this way indicates the depth of his depression. If there is no gracious God, the believer is doomed to die in darkness and hopelessness.

His final question is whether God has “in anger withdrawn His compassion” (Psalms 77:9b). Here He sees God as an angry God. But God is compassionate. Compassion means being moved by the suffering of another. However, God cannot show this because His anger is predominant.

Here the believer has reached the lowest point of his depression. He imagines that God is angry toward him and therefore cannot show him compassion. It sounds logical, but it is human logic. We cannot have two opposing feelings at the same time, but God can be angry and compassionate at the same time (cf. Habakkuk 3:2c).

Psalms 106:26

Has God Forgotten to Be Gracious?

The anguish of the God-fearing has been so great that he has not been able to sleep (Psalms 77:4). ‘You have done this’, he has said to God. It is not an expression of resignation, but more of an accusation. It was also a wrestling with the question: How could God redeem before, while He now rejects us? Therefore, there was disquiet and no trust. Because of his shaken trust in God, his disappointment in Him, his sleeplessness had been further proof that God did not care about him.

Further on he will come to even stronger statements that indicate how much his trust in God had been shaken. He had kept his mouth shut about it. What should he say about his deep trouble, and to whom? After all, there was no one who understood him.

In reflecting on his circumstances he had gone back in his mind to “the days of old, the years of long ago” (Psalms 77:5). This was not to remember how God had helped then. Then his trust in God would have been restored and praise would have risen to Him. That was not the case here. He had not come to God as His refuge in need. It seems that he had been thinking of the past with nostalgia because he had lived in prosperity and happiness.

He has thought of his “song in the night” (Psalms 77:6). He remembered the times when he joyfully praised God. But what did the thought of past joys help in seeking a solution to present woes if you don’t end up with God? If we keep digging into the past to deal with problems in the present, we sink deeper and deeper into depression. We must learn to look up and ahead. Then we will see that God, Who was there yesterday, is also there today and will be there tomorrow.

During the night he meditated with his heart on the vexing questions that had brought him to his state of disillusionment. He meditated on those questions with his “heart”. Every stone should be turned over, as it were, to find the answers to his profound questions of life.

These are not theological questions, but experiential questions. They are about the experience of God’s presence in the life of the believer, while that believer doubts this very much because of the incomprehensible misery in which he finds himself. It is the wrestling of the prophet Habakkuk, who had to learn not to look at the circumstances, but to trust in God despite all adversity.

He has asked six questions about God. These questions can be answered in a theologically correct way. But then we do not take the need seriously, and we demonstrate inability to suffer with the suffering. We could even say that a believer who knows Who God is should not ask such questions. Then we are blaming the believer, while God does not. In both cases we show our lack of self-knowledge. Nor is there any realization that only the grace of God has kept us from such circumstances and such questions until now.

The six questions are: 1. “Will the Lord reject forever?” (Psalms 77:7a). 2. “And will He never be favorable again?” (Psalms 77:7b). 3. “Has His lovingkindness ceased forever?” (Psalms 77:8a). 4. “Has [His] promise come to an end forever?” (Psalms 77:8b). 5. “Has God forgotten to be gracious,”? (Psalms 77:9a). 6. “Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion?” (Psalms 77:9b).

The first question of the troubled mind is whether “the Lord rejects forever” (Psalms 77:7a). This question corresponds to two similar questions in Psalms 74 (Psalms 74:1; 10). The question is not so much the rejection itself, but the question is whether God has definitively rejected. Is it over and out? Or is there still hope? Has the lovingkindness of God – literally Adonai, His covenant faithfulness (Psalms 77:8a) – now ceased?

This question expresses the deep lack of God’s nearness. It also indicates that he saw no solution. We can know that God will never reject anyone who has taken refuge in Him. We can remind a desperate believer of this time and again, without accusing him of unbelief. It is about a believer who, for whatever reason, feels rejected by God. He is desperately seeking God, but feels rejected by Him.

The second question, whether the Lord would “never be favorable again” (Psalms 77:7b), is directly related to the first. Whoever has the feeling of being ‘rejected forever’, no longer experiences the favor of God. This is mainly about God’s inner Self, what is in His heart. Whoever thinks that God is not any longer interested in him, has lost sight of what is in God’s heart.

The cause of this is to float on the miserable feelings he has and the disappointing experiences he has had with God. Then a believer thinks that God is not favorable to him when things are not going well for him. The important thing is that we continue to trust God, even when everything in our lives is going against us. If we think that God is only good to us when things are going well, the thought can quickly arise that God is no longer good to us when things are going badly. The same applies to God’s lovingkindness, grace and mercy, about which the psalmist also has his questions.

From doubting God’s favor toward the believer follows naturally the question whether “His lovingkindness ceased forever” (Psalms 77:8a). That God is well-minded to the believer is evidenced by His lovingkindness. Lovingkindness is a feature of love (1 Corinthians 13:4a). In Psalms it is often said that His lovingkindness is forever (Psalms 136:1-26), which refers to the realm of peace.

When everything is dark for the believer, he no longer thinks about that, but wonders if God’s lovingkindness – Adonai, that is the faithfulness to the covenant – has ceased forever. This is exactly the opposite of what the covenant is about. This covenant is the basis of the people’s existence. If there would be an end to the covenant, it would mean the end of the existence of the people.

The question that connects to this is whether God’s “promise” has “come to an end forever” (Psalms 77:8b). The psalmist wrestled with the promise of God’s statements. Those who make their feelings the standard for their relationship to God also doubt God’s promises. There is no trust in the Word of God, which is unchanging for all generations. If we no longer find support in it, we become a plaything for our feelings.

In his fifth question, the desperate believer suggests that perhaps God has “forgotten to be gracious” (Psalms 77:9a). This question indicates how far the believer is from a proper view of God. How could God possibly forget to be gracious? That the believer experiences it this way indicates the depth of his depression. If there is no gracious God, the believer is doomed to die in darkness and hopelessness.

His final question is whether God has “in anger withdrawn His compassion” (Psalms 77:9b). Here He sees God as an angry God. But God is compassionate. Compassion means being moved by the suffering of another. However, God cannot show this because His anger is predominant.

Here the believer has reached the lowest point of his depression. He imagines that God is angry toward him and therefore cannot show him compassion. It sounds logical, but it is human logic. We cannot have two opposing feelings at the same time, but God can be angry and compassionate at the same time (cf. Habakkuk 3:2c).

Psalms 106:27

Has God Forgotten to Be Gracious?

The anguish of the God-fearing has been so great that he has not been able to sleep (Psalms 77:4). ‘You have done this’, he has said to God. It is not an expression of resignation, but more of an accusation. It was also a wrestling with the question: How could God redeem before, while He now rejects us? Therefore, there was disquiet and no trust. Because of his shaken trust in God, his disappointment in Him, his sleeplessness had been further proof that God did not care about him.

Further on he will come to even stronger statements that indicate how much his trust in God had been shaken. He had kept his mouth shut about it. What should he say about his deep trouble, and to whom? After all, there was no one who understood him.

In reflecting on his circumstances he had gone back in his mind to “the days of old, the years of long ago” (Psalms 77:5). This was not to remember how God had helped then. Then his trust in God would have been restored and praise would have risen to Him. That was not the case here. He had not come to God as His refuge in need. It seems that he had been thinking of the past with nostalgia because he had lived in prosperity and happiness.

He has thought of his “song in the night” (Psalms 77:6). He remembered the times when he joyfully praised God. But what did the thought of past joys help in seeking a solution to present woes if you don’t end up with God? If we keep digging into the past to deal with problems in the present, we sink deeper and deeper into depression. We must learn to look up and ahead. Then we will see that God, Who was there yesterday, is also there today and will be there tomorrow.

During the night he meditated with his heart on the vexing questions that had brought him to his state of disillusionment. He meditated on those questions with his “heart”. Every stone should be turned over, as it were, to find the answers to his profound questions of life.

These are not theological questions, but experiential questions. They are about the experience of God’s presence in the life of the believer, while that believer doubts this very much because of the incomprehensible misery in which he finds himself. It is the wrestling of the prophet Habakkuk, who had to learn not to look at the circumstances, but to trust in God despite all adversity.

He has asked six questions about God. These questions can be answered in a theologically correct way. But then we do not take the need seriously, and we demonstrate inability to suffer with the suffering. We could even say that a believer who knows Who God is should not ask such questions. Then we are blaming the believer, while God does not. In both cases we show our lack of self-knowledge. Nor is there any realization that only the grace of God has kept us from such circumstances and such questions until now.

The six questions are: 1. “Will the Lord reject forever?” (Psalms 77:7a). 2. “And will He never be favorable again?” (Psalms 77:7b). 3. “Has His lovingkindness ceased forever?” (Psalms 77:8a). 4. “Has [His] promise come to an end forever?” (Psalms 77:8b). 5. “Has God forgotten to be gracious,”? (Psalms 77:9a). 6. “Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion?” (Psalms 77:9b).

The first question of the troubled mind is whether “the Lord rejects forever” (Psalms 77:7a). This question corresponds to two similar questions in Psalms 74 (Psalms 74:1; 10). The question is not so much the rejection itself, but the question is whether God has definitively rejected. Is it over and out? Or is there still hope? Has the lovingkindness of God – literally Adonai, His covenant faithfulness (Psalms 77:8a) – now ceased?

This question expresses the deep lack of God’s nearness. It also indicates that he saw no solution. We can know that God will never reject anyone who has taken refuge in Him. We can remind a desperate believer of this time and again, without accusing him of unbelief. It is about a believer who, for whatever reason, feels rejected by God. He is desperately seeking God, but feels rejected by Him.

The second question, whether the Lord would “never be favorable again” (Psalms 77:7b), is directly related to the first. Whoever has the feeling of being ‘rejected forever’, no longer experiences the favor of God. This is mainly about God’s inner Self, what is in His heart. Whoever thinks that God is not any longer interested in him, has lost sight of what is in God’s heart.

The cause of this is to float on the miserable feelings he has and the disappointing experiences he has had with God. Then a believer thinks that God is not favorable to him when things are not going well for him. The important thing is that we continue to trust God, even when everything in our lives is going against us. If we think that God is only good to us when things are going well, the thought can quickly arise that God is no longer good to us when things are going badly. The same applies to God’s lovingkindness, grace and mercy, about which the psalmist also has his questions.

From doubting God’s favor toward the believer follows naturally the question whether “His lovingkindness ceased forever” (Psalms 77:8a). That God is well-minded to the believer is evidenced by His lovingkindness. Lovingkindness is a feature of love (1 Corinthians 13:4a). In Psalms it is often said that His lovingkindness is forever (Psalms 136:1-26), which refers to the realm of peace.

When everything is dark for the believer, he no longer thinks about that, but wonders if God’s lovingkindness – Adonai, that is the faithfulness to the covenant – has ceased forever. This is exactly the opposite of what the covenant is about. This covenant is the basis of the people’s existence. If there would be an end to the covenant, it would mean the end of the existence of the people.

The question that connects to this is whether God’s “promise” has “come to an end forever” (Psalms 77:8b). The psalmist wrestled with the promise of God’s statements. Those who make their feelings the standard for their relationship to God also doubt God’s promises. There is no trust in the Word of God, which is unchanging for all generations. If we no longer find support in it, we become a plaything for our feelings.

In his fifth question, the desperate believer suggests that perhaps God has “forgotten to be gracious” (Psalms 77:9a). This question indicates how far the believer is from a proper view of God. How could God possibly forget to be gracious? That the believer experiences it this way indicates the depth of his depression. If there is no gracious God, the believer is doomed to die in darkness and hopelessness.

His final question is whether God has “in anger withdrawn His compassion” (Psalms 77:9b). Here He sees God as an angry God. But God is compassionate. Compassion means being moved by the suffering of another. However, God cannot show this because His anger is predominant.

Here the believer has reached the lowest point of his depression. He imagines that God is angry toward him and therefore cannot show him compassion. It sounds logical, but it is human logic. We cannot have two opposing feelings at the same time, but God can be angry and compassionate at the same time (cf. Habakkuk 3:2c).

Psalms 106:28

God’s Way Is In the Sanctuary

In Psalms 77:10 comes the turning point. The God-fearing has been so preoccupied with his affliction and problems that he has lost faith in the goodness and grace of God. This changed the moment he saw what the real problem was: that he only had an eye for himself and his circumstances. Look how often the psalmist uses the words ‘I’ and ‘me’ in this psalm. By doing so he had lost sight of God.

When he became aware of this, his view of his situation changed completely. Then he discovers the cause, “it is my grieve”, that is, what wounds him inwardly, namely the thought “that the right hand of the Most High has changed”. That He is the Most High means that He is above everything and everyone.

Asaph thus acknowledges that the problem does not lie with God, but with himself, with his understanding of God’s actions. God’s right hand speaks of His powerful actions by which His power becomes visible. God has done this in the past to redeem His people. Apparently, so he thought then, God does not do that anymore.

Asaph thought that God is a changeable God. Indeed, God does not always act in the same way. His actions with us cannot always be traced and understood by us. However, He always acts with the same goal: He wants to have us closer to Himself, to connect us more closely to Himself, that is, that we may experience that closeness more and more.

Once Asaph has discovered that the problem is with himself, thinking about himself is over. From now on he “shall remember the deeds of the LORD” (Psalms 77:11). He speaks here about “the LORD”, the God of the covenant and the promises, with Whom he has a relationship and Whom he can trust. The light breaks through in the darkness of his thoughts and feelings.

In the midst of his wrestling of faith, the psalmist decides to turn his thoughts to what God has revealed in the past. For us, it is to focus our thoughts on what God has done in the past, that He “did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all” (Romans 8:32). This helps us to remember in the midst of our wrestling of faith “that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28).

God is trustworthy. All His deeds prove it. He wants to think about those deeds. With this he can mean God’s acts of creation, but he will especially think of His acts to redeem His people. He wants to think of His “wonders of old”, such as the redemption of His people from slavery in Egypt.

When the afflicted believer has risen above his distress and focusses on God again, he is able to “meditate on all Your work” and to “muse on Your deeds” (Psalms 77:12). His thoughts no longer circle around himself, but go out to God. And thinking about God is thinking about His works. God reveals Himself in His works, which here especially refers to His works in the redemption of His own.

God takes care of His creation. Thereby the value of His own far exceeds the value of creation (Matthew 6:26; Matthew 10:31; Matthew 12:12). The believer can speak of God’s acts of care for him from his birth to his conversion and as long as he lives after that. He has gained an eye for the true character of life, that God governs everything. How He does that, he does not always understand, but he trusts God, that He will govern everything in a way that leads to wonder and worship. He testifies of this to others.

Asaph is at the point where he can say to God: “Your way, O God, is holy” (Psalms 77:13a). That God’s way is a holy way, a way that works sanctification of His Name. Literally it is: “Your way is in the sanctuary” (cf. Psalms 73:17). That means that the ways and actions of God are higher than our ways.

His ways are marked by wisdom, power and majesty. Therefore, this is followed with an exclamation of wonder: “What god is great like our God?” (Psalms 77:13b) This section is about the way of God when He delivered Israel from Egypt (Psalms 77:13-20). The same cry of wonder is uttered in the song of Moses (Exodus 15:11).

It’s God’s way. That is the best way. We may think differently about it if that way sometimes leads us into difficulties. When we come to the point that we agree with God’s way as the best way for us, there will be peace in our hearts.

We then ask the question in amazement: “What god is great like our God?” He governs everything in His holy sanctuary. No one can be compared to Him, not in His power and not in His government. Any attempt at comparison with anything or anyone is in fact folly. There is no other living God. God is infinitely superior to the dead idols from whom men expect their help and who are worshiped by them.

Psalms 106:29

God’s Way Is In the Sanctuary

In Psalms 77:10 comes the turning point. The God-fearing has been so preoccupied with his affliction and problems that he has lost faith in the goodness and grace of God. This changed the moment he saw what the real problem was: that he only had an eye for himself and his circumstances. Look how often the psalmist uses the words ‘I’ and ‘me’ in this psalm. By doing so he had lost sight of God.

When he became aware of this, his view of his situation changed completely. Then he discovers the cause, “it is my grieve”, that is, what wounds him inwardly, namely the thought “that the right hand of the Most High has changed”. That He is the Most High means that He is above everything and everyone.

Asaph thus acknowledges that the problem does not lie with God, but with himself, with his understanding of God’s actions. God’s right hand speaks of His powerful actions by which His power becomes visible. God has done this in the past to redeem His people. Apparently, so he thought then, God does not do that anymore.

Asaph thought that God is a changeable God. Indeed, God does not always act in the same way. His actions with us cannot always be traced and understood by us. However, He always acts with the same goal: He wants to have us closer to Himself, to connect us more closely to Himself, that is, that we may experience that closeness more and more.

Once Asaph has discovered that the problem is with himself, thinking about himself is over. From now on he “shall remember the deeds of the LORD” (Psalms 77:11). He speaks here about “the LORD”, the God of the covenant and the promises, with Whom he has a relationship and Whom he can trust. The light breaks through in the darkness of his thoughts and feelings.

In the midst of his wrestling of faith, the psalmist decides to turn his thoughts to what God has revealed in the past. For us, it is to focus our thoughts on what God has done in the past, that He “did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all” (Romans 8:32). This helps us to remember in the midst of our wrestling of faith “that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28).

God is trustworthy. All His deeds prove it. He wants to think about those deeds. With this he can mean God’s acts of creation, but he will especially think of His acts to redeem His people. He wants to think of His “wonders of old”, such as the redemption of His people from slavery in Egypt.

When the afflicted believer has risen above his distress and focusses on God again, he is able to “meditate on all Your work” and to “muse on Your deeds” (Psalms 77:12). His thoughts no longer circle around himself, but go out to God. And thinking about God is thinking about His works. God reveals Himself in His works, which here especially refers to His works in the redemption of His own.

God takes care of His creation. Thereby the value of His own far exceeds the value of creation (Matthew 6:26; Matthew 10:31; Matthew 12:12). The believer can speak of God’s acts of care for him from his birth to his conversion and as long as he lives after that. He has gained an eye for the true character of life, that God governs everything. How He does that, he does not always understand, but he trusts God, that He will govern everything in a way that leads to wonder and worship. He testifies of this to others.

Asaph is at the point where he can say to God: “Your way, O God, is holy” (Psalms 77:13a). That God’s way is a holy way, a way that works sanctification of His Name. Literally it is: “Your way is in the sanctuary” (cf. Psalms 73:17). That means that the ways and actions of God are higher than our ways.

His ways are marked by wisdom, power and majesty. Therefore, this is followed with an exclamation of wonder: “What god is great like our God?” (Psalms 77:13b) This section is about the way of God when He delivered Israel from Egypt (Psalms 77:13-20). The same cry of wonder is uttered in the song of Moses (Exodus 15:11).

It’s God’s way. That is the best way. We may think differently about it if that way sometimes leads us into difficulties. When we come to the point that we agree with God’s way as the best way for us, there will be peace in our hearts.

We then ask the question in amazement: “What god is great like our God?” He governs everything in His holy sanctuary. No one can be compared to Him, not in His power and not in His government. Any attempt at comparison with anything or anyone is in fact folly. There is no other living God. God is infinitely superior to the dead idols from whom men expect their help and who are worshiped by them.

Psalms 106:30

God’s Way Is In the Sanctuary

In Psalms 77:10 comes the turning point. The God-fearing has been so preoccupied with his affliction and problems that he has lost faith in the goodness and grace of God. This changed the moment he saw what the real problem was: that he only had an eye for himself and his circumstances. Look how often the psalmist uses the words ‘I’ and ‘me’ in this psalm. By doing so he had lost sight of God.

When he became aware of this, his view of his situation changed completely. Then he discovers the cause, “it is my grieve”, that is, what wounds him inwardly, namely the thought “that the right hand of the Most High has changed”. That He is the Most High means that He is above everything and everyone.

Asaph thus acknowledges that the problem does not lie with God, but with himself, with his understanding of God’s actions. God’s right hand speaks of His powerful actions by which His power becomes visible. God has done this in the past to redeem His people. Apparently, so he thought then, God does not do that anymore.

Asaph thought that God is a changeable God. Indeed, God does not always act in the same way. His actions with us cannot always be traced and understood by us. However, He always acts with the same goal: He wants to have us closer to Himself, to connect us more closely to Himself, that is, that we may experience that closeness more and more.

Once Asaph has discovered that the problem is with himself, thinking about himself is over. From now on he “shall remember the deeds of the LORD” (Psalms 77:11). He speaks here about “the LORD”, the God of the covenant and the promises, with Whom he has a relationship and Whom he can trust. The light breaks through in the darkness of his thoughts and feelings.

In the midst of his wrestling of faith, the psalmist decides to turn his thoughts to what God has revealed in the past. For us, it is to focus our thoughts on what God has done in the past, that He “did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all” (Romans 8:32). This helps us to remember in the midst of our wrestling of faith “that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28).

God is trustworthy. All His deeds prove it. He wants to think about those deeds. With this he can mean God’s acts of creation, but he will especially think of His acts to redeem His people. He wants to think of His “wonders of old”, such as the redemption of His people from slavery in Egypt.

When the afflicted believer has risen above his distress and focusses on God again, he is able to “meditate on all Your work” and to “muse on Your deeds” (Psalms 77:12). His thoughts no longer circle around himself, but go out to God. And thinking about God is thinking about His works. God reveals Himself in His works, which here especially refers to His works in the redemption of His own.

God takes care of His creation. Thereby the value of His own far exceeds the value of creation (Matthew 6:26; Matthew 10:31; Matthew 12:12). The believer can speak of God’s acts of care for him from his birth to his conversion and as long as he lives after that. He has gained an eye for the true character of life, that God governs everything. How He does that, he does not always understand, but he trusts God, that He will govern everything in a way that leads to wonder and worship. He testifies of this to others.

Asaph is at the point where he can say to God: “Your way, O God, is holy” (Psalms 77:13a). That God’s way is a holy way, a way that works sanctification of His Name. Literally it is: “Your way is in the sanctuary” (cf. Psalms 73:17). That means that the ways and actions of God are higher than our ways.

His ways are marked by wisdom, power and majesty. Therefore, this is followed with an exclamation of wonder: “What god is great like our God?” (Psalms 77:13b) This section is about the way of God when He delivered Israel from Egypt (Psalms 77:13-20). The same cry of wonder is uttered in the song of Moses (Exodus 15:11).

It’s God’s way. That is the best way. We may think differently about it if that way sometimes leads us into difficulties. When we come to the point that we agree with God’s way as the best way for us, there will be peace in our hearts.

We then ask the question in amazement: “What god is great like our God?” He governs everything in His holy sanctuary. No one can be compared to Him, not in His power and not in His government. Any attempt at comparison with anything or anyone is in fact folly. There is no other living God. God is infinitely superior to the dead idols from whom men expect their help and who are worshiped by them.

Psalms 106:31

God’s Way Is In the Sanctuary

In Psalms 77:10 comes the turning point. The God-fearing has been so preoccupied with his affliction and problems that he has lost faith in the goodness and grace of God. This changed the moment he saw what the real problem was: that he only had an eye for himself and his circumstances. Look how often the psalmist uses the words ‘I’ and ‘me’ in this psalm. By doing so he had lost sight of God.

When he became aware of this, his view of his situation changed completely. Then he discovers the cause, “it is my grieve”, that is, what wounds him inwardly, namely the thought “that the right hand of the Most High has changed”. That He is the Most High means that He is above everything and everyone.

Asaph thus acknowledges that the problem does not lie with God, but with himself, with his understanding of God’s actions. God’s right hand speaks of His powerful actions by which His power becomes visible. God has done this in the past to redeem His people. Apparently, so he thought then, God does not do that anymore.

Asaph thought that God is a changeable God. Indeed, God does not always act in the same way. His actions with us cannot always be traced and understood by us. However, He always acts with the same goal: He wants to have us closer to Himself, to connect us more closely to Himself, that is, that we may experience that closeness more and more.

Once Asaph has discovered that the problem is with himself, thinking about himself is over. From now on he “shall remember the deeds of the LORD” (Psalms 77:11). He speaks here about “the LORD”, the God of the covenant and the promises, with Whom he has a relationship and Whom he can trust. The light breaks through in the darkness of his thoughts and feelings.

In the midst of his wrestling of faith, the psalmist decides to turn his thoughts to what God has revealed in the past. For us, it is to focus our thoughts on what God has done in the past, that He “did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all” (Romans 8:32). This helps us to remember in the midst of our wrestling of faith “that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28).

God is trustworthy. All His deeds prove it. He wants to think about those deeds. With this he can mean God’s acts of creation, but he will especially think of His acts to redeem His people. He wants to think of His “wonders of old”, such as the redemption of His people from slavery in Egypt.

When the afflicted believer has risen above his distress and focusses on God again, he is able to “meditate on all Your work” and to “muse on Your deeds” (Psalms 77:12). His thoughts no longer circle around himself, but go out to God. And thinking about God is thinking about His works. God reveals Himself in His works, which here especially refers to His works in the redemption of His own.

God takes care of His creation. Thereby the value of His own far exceeds the value of creation (Matthew 6:26; Matthew 10:31; Matthew 12:12). The believer can speak of God’s acts of care for him from his birth to his conversion and as long as he lives after that. He has gained an eye for the true character of life, that God governs everything. How He does that, he does not always understand, but he trusts God, that He will govern everything in a way that leads to wonder and worship. He testifies of this to others.

Asaph is at the point where he can say to God: “Your way, O God, is holy” (Psalms 77:13a). That God’s way is a holy way, a way that works sanctification of His Name. Literally it is: “Your way is in the sanctuary” (cf. Psalms 73:17). That means that the ways and actions of God are higher than our ways.

His ways are marked by wisdom, power and majesty. Therefore, this is followed with an exclamation of wonder: “What god is great like our God?” (Psalms 77:13b) This section is about the way of God when He delivered Israel from Egypt (Psalms 77:13-20). The same cry of wonder is uttered in the song of Moses (Exodus 15:11).

It’s God’s way. That is the best way. We may think differently about it if that way sometimes leads us into difficulties. When we come to the point that we agree with God’s way as the best way for us, there will be peace in our hearts.

We then ask the question in amazement: “What god is great like our God?” He governs everything in His holy sanctuary. No one can be compared to Him, not in His power and not in His government. Any attempt at comparison with anything or anyone is in fact folly. There is no other living God. God is infinitely superior to the dead idols from whom men expect their help and who are worshiped by them.

Psalms 106:32

God’s Way Was In the Sea

God is “the God who works wonders” (Psalms 77:14). This refers to the wonders that are made known among the nations, in this case the wonders by which Israel was delivered from Egypt (Psalms 77:15-19). We also find this in the song of Moses (Exodus 15:14-16).

God does things that work amazement. They are things that man cannot do and cannot understand. His wonders show of what He is capable. This can only be seen in retrospect, when He has done a wonder. We see it in creation, in His government of the world, and especially in the redemption of His own. He keeps all things alive, He, “who is the Savior [i.e. Maintainer] of all men, especially of believers” (1 Timothy 4:10b).

Well, in the deliverance of His people God made known His “strength among the peoples”. The peoples have heard of it (Joshua 2:9-10). God will make His strength known again in the future, when Christ will deliver His people from the power of their enemies by judging those enemies.

Asaph speaks to God about the redemption of His people (Psalms 77:15). He now looks back to the past as God wants the believer to look back to it. Then he remembers again that God redeemed His people by His strong arm – that is Christ (Exodus 6:6b; Exodus 15:16). The believer, and we too, may say this to Him with a thankful heart. It is also an encouragement for the hopeless situation in which we may find ourselves.

The people of God are here called “the sons of Jacob and Joseph”. This is the only time in the Bible that God’s people are so called. The reason is that it is prophetically emphasized here that at its fulfillment in the future, not only Judah but also the ten tribes will be redeemed (Ezekiel 37:15-22). Jacob is the patriarch from whom the twelve tribes originated. Joseph is mentioned because he is the most excellent among the twelve brothers. He is also the man through whom God sustained His people and who reigned in Egypt.

In Psalms 77:16-18, Asaph describes in an impressive and poetic way how God has paved the way of His people to deliverance. He speaks of “the waters” as hostile persons who wanted to block the way of God’s people to deliverance. But then they saw their Creator and “were in anguish” (Psalms 77:16; cf. Habakkuk 3:10). “The deeps also” responded to the power of their Creator: they “also trembled”. Asaph says twice that the waters saw God.

The ‘waters’ are also a picture of the nations (Isaiah 17:12-13). With ‘the deep waters’ we can think of demonic powers that stir up the nations in their hatred of God’s people. Of the demons we read, as of the deep waters here, that they ‘shudder’ before God (James 2:19). Satan and his demons can only dispose of the elements of nature as far as God allows. We see this in Job (Job 1:12; 19). The supreme authority always rests with God or Christ, Who is God (Mark 4:39).

God’s appearance and its effect on the waters is followed by His performance (Psalms 77:17-18). He rules the waters on earth and in the clouds. The clouds release the water at His command and pour it out on the earth. This is accompanied by a noise from heaven, or the sound of God’s thunder. Thereby God’s arrows, that is lightning, “flashed here and there” and illuminate the world. Underneath them the earth trembles and shakes. The entire creation, waters and earth, will tremble and shake when God appears in majesty on behalf of His people. This happens when the Lord Jesus appears to redeem His people.

After the imposing performance of God, His people have been brought into the rest. The great distress and trials are behind them. Now they can look back and reflect on the manner God has delivered them. They say to Him: “Your way was in the sea” (Psalms 77:19). It’s “Your way”, it’s the way God has gone. He not only mapped out that way for them, but He went before them through the Red Sea. His paths were also “in the mighty waters”. They have been in the midst of great waters of distress and affliction. There, too, He has been with them (Isaiah 43:2a).

We cannot know in advance the way and the path of God for His people, for us. Even when we are on the way, we do not see His footprints, they are not known. Often we do not understand His way. God does not always explain to us why we get into difficulties. Just as there are no footprints at the bottom of the sea, we cannot see the way God is going with us. We may go in confidence that He does know and see the way and where that way ends up: with Him.

On the way He takes us by the hand and leads us. The psalmist reminds us of this in the last verse. The psalm ends with a retrospective glance at the wondrous dealings of God with Israel from the exodus from Egypt to the end of the wilderness journey (Psalms 77:20). He, Who led His people as a flock “by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (cf. Genesis 48:15), will do so again in the future.

It is one of those amazing facts that He carried and cared for a people of millions through the wilderness for forty years. Never did the people lack anything. Always there has been water and food, despite all the unbelief and failure of the people. God has remained faithful.

Both Moses and Aaron are mentioned here for the first time in Psalms. Moses is mentioned seven more times and Aaron eight more times after this. “Moses and Aaron” together are a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus as the Apostle (Moses) and High Priest (Aaron) of our confession (Hebrews 3:1). Moses is a picture of the Lord Jesus as the Teacher of righteousness Who spoke the Word of God to the people. Aaron is a picture of the Lord Jesus as the High Priest Who has compassion on the weaknesses of His people (Hebrews 4:12-16).

“The hand” of the Lord Jesus indicates that He took His people by the hand with His hand. Thus He has led them and led them safely through the wilderness. This is elaborated and explained in the next psalm, Psalms 78.

The psalmist, and in him the remnant, has come from the despair that controlled him at the beginning of the psalm to hope. In the psalm he has described the feelings he has gone through to get to this point. Likewise, we too may tell our distress and hopelessness and our why-questions to God. To whom can we better tell them than to Him? Then we will experience that He Himself is the answer to those questions and we will come to rest in His faithfulness and love (Romans 8:35-39).

Psalms 106:33

God’s Way Was In the Sea

God is “the God who works wonders” (Psalms 77:14). This refers to the wonders that are made known among the nations, in this case the wonders by which Israel was delivered from Egypt (Psalms 77:15-19). We also find this in the song of Moses (Exodus 15:14-16).

God does things that work amazement. They are things that man cannot do and cannot understand. His wonders show of what He is capable. This can only be seen in retrospect, when He has done a wonder. We see it in creation, in His government of the world, and especially in the redemption of His own. He keeps all things alive, He, “who is the Savior [i.e. Maintainer] of all men, especially of believers” (1 Timothy 4:10b).

Well, in the deliverance of His people God made known His “strength among the peoples”. The peoples have heard of it (Joshua 2:9-10). God will make His strength known again in the future, when Christ will deliver His people from the power of their enemies by judging those enemies.

Asaph speaks to God about the redemption of His people (Psalms 77:15). He now looks back to the past as God wants the believer to look back to it. Then he remembers again that God redeemed His people by His strong arm – that is Christ (Exodus 6:6b; Exodus 15:16). The believer, and we too, may say this to Him with a thankful heart. It is also an encouragement for the hopeless situation in which we may find ourselves.

The people of God are here called “the sons of Jacob and Joseph”. This is the only time in the Bible that God’s people are so called. The reason is that it is prophetically emphasized here that at its fulfillment in the future, not only Judah but also the ten tribes will be redeemed (Ezekiel 37:15-22). Jacob is the patriarch from whom the twelve tribes originated. Joseph is mentioned because he is the most excellent among the twelve brothers. He is also the man through whom God sustained His people and who reigned in Egypt.

In Psalms 77:16-18, Asaph describes in an impressive and poetic way how God has paved the way of His people to deliverance. He speaks of “the waters” as hostile persons who wanted to block the way of God’s people to deliverance. But then they saw their Creator and “were in anguish” (Psalms 77:16; cf. Habakkuk 3:10). “The deeps also” responded to the power of their Creator: they “also trembled”. Asaph says twice that the waters saw God.

The ‘waters’ are also a picture of the nations (Isaiah 17:12-13). With ‘the deep waters’ we can think of demonic powers that stir up the nations in their hatred of God’s people. Of the demons we read, as of the deep waters here, that they ‘shudder’ before God (James 2:19). Satan and his demons can only dispose of the elements of nature as far as God allows. We see this in Job (Job 1:12; 19). The supreme authority always rests with God or Christ, Who is God (Mark 4:39).

God’s appearance and its effect on the waters is followed by His performance (Psalms 77:17-18). He rules the waters on earth and in the clouds. The clouds release the water at His command and pour it out on the earth. This is accompanied by a noise from heaven, or the sound of God’s thunder. Thereby God’s arrows, that is lightning, “flashed here and there” and illuminate the world. Underneath them the earth trembles and shakes. The entire creation, waters and earth, will tremble and shake when God appears in majesty on behalf of His people. This happens when the Lord Jesus appears to redeem His people.

After the imposing performance of God, His people have been brought into the rest. The great distress and trials are behind them. Now they can look back and reflect on the manner God has delivered them. They say to Him: “Your way was in the sea” (Psalms 77:19). It’s “Your way”, it’s the way God has gone. He not only mapped out that way for them, but He went before them through the Red Sea. His paths were also “in the mighty waters”. They have been in the midst of great waters of distress and affliction. There, too, He has been with them (Isaiah 43:2a).

We cannot know in advance the way and the path of God for His people, for us. Even when we are on the way, we do not see His footprints, they are not known. Often we do not understand His way. God does not always explain to us why we get into difficulties. Just as there are no footprints at the bottom of the sea, we cannot see the way God is going with us. We may go in confidence that He does know and see the way and where that way ends up: with Him.

On the way He takes us by the hand and leads us. The psalmist reminds us of this in the last verse. The psalm ends with a retrospective glance at the wondrous dealings of God with Israel from the exodus from Egypt to the end of the wilderness journey (Psalms 77:20). He, Who led His people as a flock “by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (cf. Genesis 48:15), will do so again in the future.

It is one of those amazing facts that He carried and cared for a people of millions through the wilderness for forty years. Never did the people lack anything. Always there has been water and food, despite all the unbelief and failure of the people. God has remained faithful.

Both Moses and Aaron are mentioned here for the first time in Psalms. Moses is mentioned seven more times and Aaron eight more times after this. “Moses and Aaron” together are a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus as the Apostle (Moses) and High Priest (Aaron) of our confession (Hebrews 3:1). Moses is a picture of the Lord Jesus as the Teacher of righteousness Who spoke the Word of God to the people. Aaron is a picture of the Lord Jesus as the High Priest Who has compassion on the weaknesses of His people (Hebrews 4:12-16).

“The hand” of the Lord Jesus indicates that He took His people by the hand with His hand. Thus He has led them and led them safely through the wilderness. This is elaborated and explained in the next psalm, Psalms 78.

The psalmist, and in him the remnant, has come from the despair that controlled him at the beginning of the psalm to hope. In the psalm he has described the feelings he has gone through to get to this point. Likewise, we too may tell our distress and hopelessness and our why-questions to God. To whom can we better tell them than to Him? Then we will experience that He Himself is the answer to those questions and we will come to rest in His faithfulness and love (Romans 8:35-39).

Psalms 106:34

God’s Way Was In the Sea

God is “the God who works wonders” (Psalms 77:14). This refers to the wonders that are made known among the nations, in this case the wonders by which Israel was delivered from Egypt (Psalms 77:15-19). We also find this in the song of Moses (Exodus 15:14-16).

God does things that work amazement. They are things that man cannot do and cannot understand. His wonders show of what He is capable. This can only be seen in retrospect, when He has done a wonder. We see it in creation, in His government of the world, and especially in the redemption of His own. He keeps all things alive, He, “who is the Savior [i.e. Maintainer] of all men, especially of believers” (1 Timothy 4:10b).

Well, in the deliverance of His people God made known His “strength among the peoples”. The peoples have heard of it (Joshua 2:9-10). God will make His strength known again in the future, when Christ will deliver His people from the power of their enemies by judging those enemies.

Asaph speaks to God about the redemption of His people (Psalms 77:15). He now looks back to the past as God wants the believer to look back to it. Then he remembers again that God redeemed His people by His strong arm – that is Christ (Exodus 6:6b; Exodus 15:16). The believer, and we too, may say this to Him with a thankful heart. It is also an encouragement for the hopeless situation in which we may find ourselves.

The people of God are here called “the sons of Jacob and Joseph”. This is the only time in the Bible that God’s people are so called. The reason is that it is prophetically emphasized here that at its fulfillment in the future, not only Judah but also the ten tribes will be redeemed (Ezekiel 37:15-22). Jacob is the patriarch from whom the twelve tribes originated. Joseph is mentioned because he is the most excellent among the twelve brothers. He is also the man through whom God sustained His people and who reigned in Egypt.

In Psalms 77:16-18, Asaph describes in an impressive and poetic way how God has paved the way of His people to deliverance. He speaks of “the waters” as hostile persons who wanted to block the way of God’s people to deliverance. But then they saw their Creator and “were in anguish” (Psalms 77:16; cf. Habakkuk 3:10). “The deeps also” responded to the power of their Creator: they “also trembled”. Asaph says twice that the waters saw God.

The ‘waters’ are also a picture of the nations (Isaiah 17:12-13). With ‘the deep waters’ we can think of demonic powers that stir up the nations in their hatred of God’s people. Of the demons we read, as of the deep waters here, that they ‘shudder’ before God (James 2:19). Satan and his demons can only dispose of the elements of nature as far as God allows. We see this in Job (Job 1:12; 19). The supreme authority always rests with God or Christ, Who is God (Mark 4:39).

God’s appearance and its effect on the waters is followed by His performance (Psalms 77:17-18). He rules the waters on earth and in the clouds. The clouds release the water at His command and pour it out on the earth. This is accompanied by a noise from heaven, or the sound of God’s thunder. Thereby God’s arrows, that is lightning, “flashed here and there” and illuminate the world. Underneath them the earth trembles and shakes. The entire creation, waters and earth, will tremble and shake when God appears in majesty on behalf of His people. This happens when the Lord Jesus appears to redeem His people.

After the imposing performance of God, His people have been brought into the rest. The great distress and trials are behind them. Now they can look back and reflect on the manner God has delivered them. They say to Him: “Your way was in the sea” (Psalms 77:19). It’s “Your way”, it’s the way God has gone. He not only mapped out that way for them, but He went before them through the Red Sea. His paths were also “in the mighty waters”. They have been in the midst of great waters of distress and affliction. There, too, He has been with them (Isaiah 43:2a).

We cannot know in advance the way and the path of God for His people, for us. Even when we are on the way, we do not see His footprints, they are not known. Often we do not understand His way. God does not always explain to us why we get into difficulties. Just as there are no footprints at the bottom of the sea, we cannot see the way God is going with us. We may go in confidence that He does know and see the way and where that way ends up: with Him.

On the way He takes us by the hand and leads us. The psalmist reminds us of this in the last verse. The psalm ends with a retrospective glance at the wondrous dealings of God with Israel from the exodus from Egypt to the end of the wilderness journey (Psalms 77:20). He, Who led His people as a flock “by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (cf. Genesis 48:15), will do so again in the future.

It is one of those amazing facts that He carried and cared for a people of millions through the wilderness for forty years. Never did the people lack anything. Always there has been water and food, despite all the unbelief and failure of the people. God has remained faithful.

Both Moses and Aaron are mentioned here for the first time in Psalms. Moses is mentioned seven more times and Aaron eight more times after this. “Moses and Aaron” together are a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus as the Apostle (Moses) and High Priest (Aaron) of our confession (Hebrews 3:1). Moses is a picture of the Lord Jesus as the Teacher of righteousness Who spoke the Word of God to the people. Aaron is a picture of the Lord Jesus as the High Priest Who has compassion on the weaknesses of His people (Hebrews 4:12-16).

“The hand” of the Lord Jesus indicates that He took His people by the hand with His hand. Thus He has led them and led them safely through the wilderness. This is elaborated and explained in the next psalm, Psalms 78.

The psalmist, and in him the remnant, has come from the despair that controlled him at the beginning of the psalm to hope. In the psalm he has described the feelings he has gone through to get to this point. Likewise, we too may tell our distress and hopelessness and our why-questions to God. To whom can we better tell them than to Him? Then we will experience that He Himself is the answer to those questions and we will come to rest in His faithfulness and love (Romans 8:35-39).

Psalms 106:35

God’s Way Was In the Sea

God is “the God who works wonders” (Psalms 77:14). This refers to the wonders that are made known among the nations, in this case the wonders by which Israel was delivered from Egypt (Psalms 77:15-19). We also find this in the song of Moses (Exodus 15:14-16).

God does things that work amazement. They are things that man cannot do and cannot understand. His wonders show of what He is capable. This can only be seen in retrospect, when He has done a wonder. We see it in creation, in His government of the world, and especially in the redemption of His own. He keeps all things alive, He, “who is the Savior [i.e. Maintainer] of all men, especially of believers” (1 Timothy 4:10b).

Well, in the deliverance of His people God made known His “strength among the peoples”. The peoples have heard of it (Joshua 2:9-10). God will make His strength known again in the future, when Christ will deliver His people from the power of their enemies by judging those enemies.

Asaph speaks to God about the redemption of His people (Psalms 77:15). He now looks back to the past as God wants the believer to look back to it. Then he remembers again that God redeemed His people by His strong arm – that is Christ (Exodus 6:6b; Exodus 15:16). The believer, and we too, may say this to Him with a thankful heart. It is also an encouragement for the hopeless situation in which we may find ourselves.

The people of God are here called “the sons of Jacob and Joseph”. This is the only time in the Bible that God’s people are so called. The reason is that it is prophetically emphasized here that at its fulfillment in the future, not only Judah but also the ten tribes will be redeemed (Ezekiel 37:15-22). Jacob is the patriarch from whom the twelve tribes originated. Joseph is mentioned because he is the most excellent among the twelve brothers. He is also the man through whom God sustained His people and who reigned in Egypt.

In Psalms 77:16-18, Asaph describes in an impressive and poetic way how God has paved the way of His people to deliverance. He speaks of “the waters” as hostile persons who wanted to block the way of God’s people to deliverance. But then they saw their Creator and “were in anguish” (Psalms 77:16; cf. Habakkuk 3:10). “The deeps also” responded to the power of their Creator: they “also trembled”. Asaph says twice that the waters saw God.

The ‘waters’ are also a picture of the nations (Isaiah 17:12-13). With ‘the deep waters’ we can think of demonic powers that stir up the nations in their hatred of God’s people. Of the demons we read, as of the deep waters here, that they ‘shudder’ before God (James 2:19). Satan and his demons can only dispose of the elements of nature as far as God allows. We see this in Job (Job 1:12; 19). The supreme authority always rests with God or Christ, Who is God (Mark 4:39).

God’s appearance and its effect on the waters is followed by His performance (Psalms 77:17-18). He rules the waters on earth and in the clouds. The clouds release the water at His command and pour it out on the earth. This is accompanied by a noise from heaven, or the sound of God’s thunder. Thereby God’s arrows, that is lightning, “flashed here and there” and illuminate the world. Underneath them the earth trembles and shakes. The entire creation, waters and earth, will tremble and shake when God appears in majesty on behalf of His people. This happens when the Lord Jesus appears to redeem His people.

After the imposing performance of God, His people have been brought into the rest. The great distress and trials are behind them. Now they can look back and reflect on the manner God has delivered them. They say to Him: “Your way was in the sea” (Psalms 77:19). It’s “Your way”, it’s the way God has gone. He not only mapped out that way for them, but He went before them through the Red Sea. His paths were also “in the mighty waters”. They have been in the midst of great waters of distress and affliction. There, too, He has been with them (Isaiah 43:2a).

We cannot know in advance the way and the path of God for His people, for us. Even when we are on the way, we do not see His footprints, they are not known. Often we do not understand His way. God does not always explain to us why we get into difficulties. Just as there are no footprints at the bottom of the sea, we cannot see the way God is going with us. We may go in confidence that He does know and see the way and where that way ends up: with Him.

On the way He takes us by the hand and leads us. The psalmist reminds us of this in the last verse. The psalm ends with a retrospective glance at the wondrous dealings of God with Israel from the exodus from Egypt to the end of the wilderness journey (Psalms 77:20). He, Who led His people as a flock “by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (cf. Genesis 48:15), will do so again in the future.

It is one of those amazing facts that He carried and cared for a people of millions through the wilderness for forty years. Never did the people lack anything. Always there has been water and food, despite all the unbelief and failure of the people. God has remained faithful.

Both Moses and Aaron are mentioned here for the first time in Psalms. Moses is mentioned seven more times and Aaron eight more times after this. “Moses and Aaron” together are a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus as the Apostle (Moses) and High Priest (Aaron) of our confession (Hebrews 3:1). Moses is a picture of the Lord Jesus as the Teacher of righteousness Who spoke the Word of God to the people. Aaron is a picture of the Lord Jesus as the High Priest Who has compassion on the weaknesses of His people (Hebrews 4:12-16).

“The hand” of the Lord Jesus indicates that He took His people by the hand with His hand. Thus He has led them and led them safely through the wilderness. This is elaborated and explained in the next psalm, Psalms 78.

The psalmist, and in him the remnant, has come from the despair that controlled him at the beginning of the psalm to hope. In the psalm he has described the feelings he has gone through to get to this point. Likewise, we too may tell our distress and hopelessness and our why-questions to God. To whom can we better tell them than to Him? Then we will experience that He Himself is the answer to those questions and we will come to rest in His faithfulness and love (Romans 8:35-39).

Psalms 106:36

God’s Way Was In the Sea

God is “the God who works wonders” (Psalms 77:14). This refers to the wonders that are made known among the nations, in this case the wonders by which Israel was delivered from Egypt (Psalms 77:15-19). We also find this in the song of Moses (Exodus 15:14-16).

God does things that work amazement. They are things that man cannot do and cannot understand. His wonders show of what He is capable. This can only be seen in retrospect, when He has done a wonder. We see it in creation, in His government of the world, and especially in the redemption of His own. He keeps all things alive, He, “who is the Savior [i.e. Maintainer] of all men, especially of believers” (1 Timothy 4:10b).

Well, in the deliverance of His people God made known His “strength among the peoples”. The peoples have heard of it (Joshua 2:9-10). God will make His strength known again in the future, when Christ will deliver His people from the power of their enemies by judging those enemies.

Asaph speaks to God about the redemption of His people (Psalms 77:15). He now looks back to the past as God wants the believer to look back to it. Then he remembers again that God redeemed His people by His strong arm – that is Christ (Exodus 6:6b; Exodus 15:16). The believer, and we too, may say this to Him with a thankful heart. It is also an encouragement for the hopeless situation in which we may find ourselves.

The people of God are here called “the sons of Jacob and Joseph”. This is the only time in the Bible that God’s people are so called. The reason is that it is prophetically emphasized here that at its fulfillment in the future, not only Judah but also the ten tribes will be redeemed (Ezekiel 37:15-22). Jacob is the patriarch from whom the twelve tribes originated. Joseph is mentioned because he is the most excellent among the twelve brothers. He is also the man through whom God sustained His people and who reigned in Egypt.

In Psalms 77:16-18, Asaph describes in an impressive and poetic way how God has paved the way of His people to deliverance. He speaks of “the waters” as hostile persons who wanted to block the way of God’s people to deliverance. But then they saw their Creator and “were in anguish” (Psalms 77:16; cf. Habakkuk 3:10). “The deeps also” responded to the power of their Creator: they “also trembled”. Asaph says twice that the waters saw God.

The ‘waters’ are also a picture of the nations (Isaiah 17:12-13). With ‘the deep waters’ we can think of demonic powers that stir up the nations in their hatred of God’s people. Of the demons we read, as of the deep waters here, that they ‘shudder’ before God (James 2:19). Satan and his demons can only dispose of the elements of nature as far as God allows. We see this in Job (Job 1:12; 19). The supreme authority always rests with God or Christ, Who is God (Mark 4:39).

God’s appearance and its effect on the waters is followed by His performance (Psalms 77:17-18). He rules the waters on earth and in the clouds. The clouds release the water at His command and pour it out on the earth. This is accompanied by a noise from heaven, or the sound of God’s thunder. Thereby God’s arrows, that is lightning, “flashed here and there” and illuminate the world. Underneath them the earth trembles and shakes. The entire creation, waters and earth, will tremble and shake when God appears in majesty on behalf of His people. This happens when the Lord Jesus appears to redeem His people.

After the imposing performance of God, His people have been brought into the rest. The great distress and trials are behind them. Now they can look back and reflect on the manner God has delivered them. They say to Him: “Your way was in the sea” (Psalms 77:19). It’s “Your way”, it’s the way God has gone. He not only mapped out that way for them, but He went before them through the Red Sea. His paths were also “in the mighty waters”. They have been in the midst of great waters of distress and affliction. There, too, He has been with them (Isaiah 43:2a).

We cannot know in advance the way and the path of God for His people, for us. Even when we are on the way, we do not see His footprints, they are not known. Often we do not understand His way. God does not always explain to us why we get into difficulties. Just as there are no footprints at the bottom of the sea, we cannot see the way God is going with us. We may go in confidence that He does know and see the way and where that way ends up: with Him.

On the way He takes us by the hand and leads us. The psalmist reminds us of this in the last verse. The psalm ends with a retrospective glance at the wondrous dealings of God with Israel from the exodus from Egypt to the end of the wilderness journey (Psalms 77:20). He, Who led His people as a flock “by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (cf. Genesis 48:15), will do so again in the future.

It is one of those amazing facts that He carried and cared for a people of millions through the wilderness for forty years. Never did the people lack anything. Always there has been water and food, despite all the unbelief and failure of the people. God has remained faithful.

Both Moses and Aaron are mentioned here for the first time in Psalms. Moses is mentioned seven more times and Aaron eight more times after this. “Moses and Aaron” together are a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus as the Apostle (Moses) and High Priest (Aaron) of our confession (Hebrews 3:1). Moses is a picture of the Lord Jesus as the Teacher of righteousness Who spoke the Word of God to the people. Aaron is a picture of the Lord Jesus as the High Priest Who has compassion on the weaknesses of His people (Hebrews 4:12-16).

“The hand” of the Lord Jesus indicates that He took His people by the hand with His hand. Thus He has led them and led them safely through the wilderness. This is elaborated and explained in the next psalm, Psalms 78.

The psalmist, and in him the remnant, has come from the despair that controlled him at the beginning of the psalm to hope. In the psalm he has described the feelings he has gone through to get to this point. Likewise, we too may tell our distress and hopelessness and our why-questions to God. To whom can we better tell them than to Him? Then we will experience that He Himself is the answer to those questions and we will come to rest in His faithfulness and love (Romans 8:35-39).

Psalms 106:37

God’s Way Was In the Sea

God is “the God who works wonders” (Psalms 77:14). This refers to the wonders that are made known among the nations, in this case the wonders by which Israel was delivered from Egypt (Psalms 77:15-19). We also find this in the song of Moses (Exodus 15:14-16).

God does things that work amazement. They are things that man cannot do and cannot understand. His wonders show of what He is capable. This can only be seen in retrospect, when He has done a wonder. We see it in creation, in His government of the world, and especially in the redemption of His own. He keeps all things alive, He, “who is the Savior [i.e. Maintainer] of all men, especially of believers” (1 Timothy 4:10b).

Well, in the deliverance of His people God made known His “strength among the peoples”. The peoples have heard of it (Joshua 2:9-10). God will make His strength known again in the future, when Christ will deliver His people from the power of their enemies by judging those enemies.

Asaph speaks to God about the redemption of His people (Psalms 77:15). He now looks back to the past as God wants the believer to look back to it. Then he remembers again that God redeemed His people by His strong arm – that is Christ (Exodus 6:6b; Exodus 15:16). The believer, and we too, may say this to Him with a thankful heart. It is also an encouragement for the hopeless situation in which we may find ourselves.

The people of God are here called “the sons of Jacob and Joseph”. This is the only time in the Bible that God’s people are so called. The reason is that it is prophetically emphasized here that at its fulfillment in the future, not only Judah but also the ten tribes will be redeemed (Ezekiel 37:15-22). Jacob is the patriarch from whom the twelve tribes originated. Joseph is mentioned because he is the most excellent among the twelve brothers. He is also the man through whom God sustained His people and who reigned in Egypt.

In Psalms 77:16-18, Asaph describes in an impressive and poetic way how God has paved the way of His people to deliverance. He speaks of “the waters” as hostile persons who wanted to block the way of God’s people to deliverance. But then they saw their Creator and “were in anguish” (Psalms 77:16; cf. Habakkuk 3:10). “The deeps also” responded to the power of their Creator: they “also trembled”. Asaph says twice that the waters saw God.

The ‘waters’ are also a picture of the nations (Isaiah 17:12-13). With ‘the deep waters’ we can think of demonic powers that stir up the nations in their hatred of God’s people. Of the demons we read, as of the deep waters here, that they ‘shudder’ before God (James 2:19). Satan and his demons can only dispose of the elements of nature as far as God allows. We see this in Job (Job 1:12; 19). The supreme authority always rests with God or Christ, Who is God (Mark 4:39).

God’s appearance and its effect on the waters is followed by His performance (Psalms 77:17-18). He rules the waters on earth and in the clouds. The clouds release the water at His command and pour it out on the earth. This is accompanied by a noise from heaven, or the sound of God’s thunder. Thereby God’s arrows, that is lightning, “flashed here and there” and illuminate the world. Underneath them the earth trembles and shakes. The entire creation, waters and earth, will tremble and shake when God appears in majesty on behalf of His people. This happens when the Lord Jesus appears to redeem His people.

After the imposing performance of God, His people have been brought into the rest. The great distress and trials are behind them. Now they can look back and reflect on the manner God has delivered them. They say to Him: “Your way was in the sea” (Psalms 77:19). It’s “Your way”, it’s the way God has gone. He not only mapped out that way for them, but He went before them through the Red Sea. His paths were also “in the mighty waters”. They have been in the midst of great waters of distress and affliction. There, too, He has been with them (Isaiah 43:2a).

We cannot know in advance the way and the path of God for His people, for us. Even when we are on the way, we do not see His footprints, they are not known. Often we do not understand His way. God does not always explain to us why we get into difficulties. Just as there are no footprints at the bottom of the sea, we cannot see the way God is going with us. We may go in confidence that He does know and see the way and where that way ends up: with Him.

On the way He takes us by the hand and leads us. The psalmist reminds us of this in the last verse. The psalm ends with a retrospective glance at the wondrous dealings of God with Israel from the exodus from Egypt to the end of the wilderness journey (Psalms 77:20). He, Who led His people as a flock “by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (cf. Genesis 48:15), will do so again in the future.

It is one of those amazing facts that He carried and cared for a people of millions through the wilderness for forty years. Never did the people lack anything. Always there has been water and food, despite all the unbelief and failure of the people. God has remained faithful.

Both Moses and Aaron are mentioned here for the first time in Psalms. Moses is mentioned seven more times and Aaron eight more times after this. “Moses and Aaron” together are a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus as the Apostle (Moses) and High Priest (Aaron) of our confession (Hebrews 3:1). Moses is a picture of the Lord Jesus as the Teacher of righteousness Who spoke the Word of God to the people. Aaron is a picture of the Lord Jesus as the High Priest Who has compassion on the weaknesses of His people (Hebrews 4:12-16).

“The hand” of the Lord Jesus indicates that He took His people by the hand with His hand. Thus He has led them and led them safely through the wilderness. This is elaborated and explained in the next psalm, Psalms 78.

The psalmist, and in him the remnant, has come from the despair that controlled him at the beginning of the psalm to hope. In the psalm he has described the feelings he has gone through to get to this point. Likewise, we too may tell our distress and hopelessness and our why-questions to God. To whom can we better tell them than to Him? Then we will experience that He Himself is the answer to those questions and we will come to rest in His faithfulness and love (Romans 8:35-39).

Psalms 106:38

God’s Way Was In the Sea

God is “the God who works wonders” (Psalms 77:14). This refers to the wonders that are made known among the nations, in this case the wonders by which Israel was delivered from Egypt (Psalms 77:15-19). We also find this in the song of Moses (Exodus 15:14-16).

God does things that work amazement. They are things that man cannot do and cannot understand. His wonders show of what He is capable. This can only be seen in retrospect, when He has done a wonder. We see it in creation, in His government of the world, and especially in the redemption of His own. He keeps all things alive, He, “who is the Savior [i.e. Maintainer] of all men, especially of believers” (1 Timothy 4:10b).

Well, in the deliverance of His people God made known His “strength among the peoples”. The peoples have heard of it (Joshua 2:9-10). God will make His strength known again in the future, when Christ will deliver His people from the power of their enemies by judging those enemies.

Asaph speaks to God about the redemption of His people (Psalms 77:15). He now looks back to the past as God wants the believer to look back to it. Then he remembers again that God redeemed His people by His strong arm – that is Christ (Exodus 6:6b; Exodus 15:16). The believer, and we too, may say this to Him with a thankful heart. It is also an encouragement for the hopeless situation in which we may find ourselves.

The people of God are here called “the sons of Jacob and Joseph”. This is the only time in the Bible that God’s people are so called. The reason is that it is prophetically emphasized here that at its fulfillment in the future, not only Judah but also the ten tribes will be redeemed (Ezekiel 37:15-22). Jacob is the patriarch from whom the twelve tribes originated. Joseph is mentioned because he is the most excellent among the twelve brothers. He is also the man through whom God sustained His people and who reigned in Egypt.

In Psalms 77:16-18, Asaph describes in an impressive and poetic way how God has paved the way of His people to deliverance. He speaks of “the waters” as hostile persons who wanted to block the way of God’s people to deliverance. But then they saw their Creator and “were in anguish” (Psalms 77:16; cf. Habakkuk 3:10). “The deeps also” responded to the power of their Creator: they “also trembled”. Asaph says twice that the waters saw God.

The ‘waters’ are also a picture of the nations (Isaiah 17:12-13). With ‘the deep waters’ we can think of demonic powers that stir up the nations in their hatred of God’s people. Of the demons we read, as of the deep waters here, that they ‘shudder’ before God (James 2:19). Satan and his demons can only dispose of the elements of nature as far as God allows. We see this in Job (Job 1:12; 19). The supreme authority always rests with God or Christ, Who is God (Mark 4:39).

God’s appearance and its effect on the waters is followed by His performance (Psalms 77:17-18). He rules the waters on earth and in the clouds. The clouds release the water at His command and pour it out on the earth. This is accompanied by a noise from heaven, or the sound of God’s thunder. Thereby God’s arrows, that is lightning, “flashed here and there” and illuminate the world. Underneath them the earth trembles and shakes. The entire creation, waters and earth, will tremble and shake when God appears in majesty on behalf of His people. This happens when the Lord Jesus appears to redeem His people.

After the imposing performance of God, His people have been brought into the rest. The great distress and trials are behind them. Now they can look back and reflect on the manner God has delivered them. They say to Him: “Your way was in the sea” (Psalms 77:19). It’s “Your way”, it’s the way God has gone. He not only mapped out that way for them, but He went before them through the Red Sea. His paths were also “in the mighty waters”. They have been in the midst of great waters of distress and affliction. There, too, He has been with them (Isaiah 43:2a).

We cannot know in advance the way and the path of God for His people, for us. Even when we are on the way, we do not see His footprints, they are not known. Often we do not understand His way. God does not always explain to us why we get into difficulties. Just as there are no footprints at the bottom of the sea, we cannot see the way God is going with us. We may go in confidence that He does know and see the way and where that way ends up: with Him.

On the way He takes us by the hand and leads us. The psalmist reminds us of this in the last verse. The psalm ends with a retrospective glance at the wondrous dealings of God with Israel from the exodus from Egypt to the end of the wilderness journey (Psalms 77:20). He, Who led His people as a flock “by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (cf. Genesis 48:15), will do so again in the future.

It is one of those amazing facts that He carried and cared for a people of millions through the wilderness for forty years. Never did the people lack anything. Always there has been water and food, despite all the unbelief and failure of the people. God has remained faithful.

Both Moses and Aaron are mentioned here for the first time in Psalms. Moses is mentioned seven more times and Aaron eight more times after this. “Moses and Aaron” together are a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus as the Apostle (Moses) and High Priest (Aaron) of our confession (Hebrews 3:1). Moses is a picture of the Lord Jesus as the Teacher of righteousness Who spoke the Word of God to the people. Aaron is a picture of the Lord Jesus as the High Priest Who has compassion on the weaknesses of His people (Hebrews 4:12-16).

“The hand” of the Lord Jesus indicates that He took His people by the hand with His hand. Thus He has led them and led them safely through the wilderness. This is elaborated and explained in the next psalm, Psalms 78.

The psalmist, and in him the remnant, has come from the despair that controlled him at the beginning of the psalm to hope. In the psalm he has described the feelings he has gone through to get to this point. Likewise, we too may tell our distress and hopelessness and our why-questions to God. To whom can we better tell them than to Him? Then we will experience that He Himself is the answer to those questions and we will come to rest in His faithfulness and love (Romans 8:35-39).

Psalms 106:40

Introduction

Psalms 78 works out what the last verse of Psalm 77 says: “You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (Psalms 77:20). The history of the people of Israel is used as an illustration to teach by learning from the ways of God with His people in the past. The goal is for the faithful remnant of Israel – the maskilim, the wise or understanding – to learn lessons from it. The journey of the people of Israel out of Egypt to the promised land is a type or example of the return of the ten tribes to Israel in the future, after the great tribulation (cf. Isaiah 11:16; Isaiah 51:9-11; Jeremiah 16:14; 15; Ezekiel 20:34-36; Matthew 24:31). The history and also the plagues in this psalm are not described chronologically, but thematically, in a spiritual order.

Psalms 73-77 asked questions about the incomprehensible way God is going with His people Israel. Psalms 78 answers them. The psalmist-prophet Asaph shows from history both the unfaithfulness of the people and the faithfulness of God as reasons why God has chosen the way He has gone with His people. The history of God’s people reveals their continuing unfaithfulness. God’s response shows His gracious election, through which He still carries out His plans of blessing for them. God loves and protects His people, which includes punishing and disciplining them when they deviate from Him.

The purpose of the psalm is to teach us lessons from the past. A mirror is held up to us in the history of God’s earthly people to show us what we are capable of (cf. James 1:22-24). This is to warn us not to fall into the same mistakes (1 Corinthians 10:6; 11). It is also to show us in this history what God is capable of despite our failures.

A division of the psalm: Psalms 78:1-4 Core message: call to wisdom. Psalms 78:5-8 Call to pass on from generation to generation. Psalms 78:9-16 Rebellion of man in contrast with the caring hand of God. Psalms 78:17-31 The failure of Israel and the faithfulness of God. Psalms 78:32-37 Superficial repentance. Psalms 78:38-64 The judgment on the nations and on Israel. Psalms 78:65-72 The answer of God: David as the type of the Lord Jesus, the Son of David.

Passing On What God Has Done

This is the tenth of a total of thirteen psalms that are “a maskil” (Psalms 78:1a), the so-called maskil-psalms (Psalms 32; 42, 44; 45; 52; 53; 54; 55; 74; 78; 88; 89; 142). Maskil-psalms involve teaching or instruction for the faithful remnant of Israel in the end time. See further at Psalms 32:1.

For “of Asaph” see at Psalms 50:1.

Asaph addresses God’s people as “my people” (Psalms 78:1b). With this he indicates that he is not outside of them, but part of them. He asks them to “listen” to his “instruction”, for he has important things to tell to them (cf. Deuteronomy 4:1; Isaiah 1:2). It is similar to what Moses did in Deuteronomy 32, where he uses the history of Israel through his song to instruct the people (Deuteronomy 32:5-18). Moses, like Asaph, begins with the call to hear “the words of my mouth” (Deuteronomy 32:1-2). Moses says this to heaven and earth, to be witnesses. Asaph says it to God’s people.

They shouldn’t just listen, but “incline” their “ears to the words” of his “mouth”. This refers to a mind to listen attentively with a willingness to do what is said.

After the first verse has called for attention, the second verse reflects the desire to make it clear to the listener/reader that the literal sense has a higher or deeper meaning. This can only be understood by those who delve into the psalm. There is a desire in Asaph to serve his people with “a parable” (Psalms 78:2; cf. Proverbs 1:6). The word for “parable” is mashal, which means teaching by comparison. It refers to “dark sayings of old” that are brought into light by him to teach a new generation. These hidden things are a rich treasure, which he will utter for them.

The distinctive feature of the mashal, the parable, in Psalms 78 is that the psalmist, inspired by the Holy Spirit, uses the ancient history of Israel as a parable to learn lessons from it. In other cases, a fictional story is usually used as a parable, whereas here it is a story that really took place, the history of redemption in the past.

The Lord Jesus fulfills this word of Asaph by using parables. God’s Spirit refers to this verse in Matthew 13 when He says of the Lord Jesus: “All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable. [This was] to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES; I WILL UTTER THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD“ (Matthew 13:34-35). In Matthew 13, the Lord places “things hidden” into the light in a new way and does so by using parables or comparisons. In this quotation we also see that Asaph is called a “prophet”.

The psalmist-prophet Asaph passes on the history of Israel from God’s perspective. For this he draws on what he has heard from “our fathers” (Psalms 78:3). Again he emphasizes his connection with his people, now by speaking of their common fathers, “our fathers”. He and they have heard it and know it. They are aware of it. Their fathers have told “us”, that is him and his contemporaries.

It is an important instruction for parents today to pass on to their children and grandchildren what they have learned from the Word of God in their dealings with God (cf. Exodus 12:26-27; Exodus 13:14-16). Passing it on makes it great again for the parents. They will continually praise and magnify God for it.

It makes all who have heard it responsible not to hide what they have heard “from their children”, that is, all who belong to God’s people (Psalms 78:4). The command is to “tell the generation to come” of God’s deeds. These deeds he calls “the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done”.

It is a joy to pass on all the various acts of God to those who come after us. God is worthy to be believed and praised because of all His deeds. They are truly ‘praiseworthy deeds’ or ‘deeds to be praised’. God reveals His power in those deeds. The wonders He has performed also bring His people to praise Him. Everything in which God reveals Himself, has this effect on those who have an eye for it.

Speaking to our children and grandchildren about this is not always easy in practical terms. What is especially important is that they see with us that faith is not a rational matter for us, but that it permeates our entire life. Our life of faith must be fresh, just like the manna that was freshly laid out each morning. Lambs cannot live on old grass, but on young, fresh grass shoots.

Psalms 106:41

Introduction

Psalms 78 works out what the last verse of Psalm 77 says: “You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (Psalms 77:20). The history of the people of Israel is used as an illustration to teach by learning from the ways of God with His people in the past. The goal is for the faithful remnant of Israel – the maskilim, the wise or understanding – to learn lessons from it. The journey of the people of Israel out of Egypt to the promised land is a type or example of the return of the ten tribes to Israel in the future, after the great tribulation (cf. Isaiah 11:16; Isaiah 51:9-11; Jeremiah 16:14; 15; Ezekiel 20:34-36; Matthew 24:31). The history and also the plagues in this psalm are not described chronologically, but thematically, in a spiritual order.

Psalms 73-77 asked questions about the incomprehensible way God is going with His people Israel. Psalms 78 answers them. The psalmist-prophet Asaph shows from history both the unfaithfulness of the people and the faithfulness of God as reasons why God has chosen the way He has gone with His people. The history of God’s people reveals their continuing unfaithfulness. God’s response shows His gracious election, through which He still carries out His plans of blessing for them. God loves and protects His people, which includes punishing and disciplining them when they deviate from Him.

The purpose of the psalm is to teach us lessons from the past. A mirror is held up to us in the history of God’s earthly people to show us what we are capable of (cf. James 1:22-24). This is to warn us not to fall into the same mistakes (1 Corinthians 10:6; 11). It is also to show us in this history what God is capable of despite our failures.

A division of the psalm: Psalms 78:1-4 Core message: call to wisdom. Psalms 78:5-8 Call to pass on from generation to generation. Psalms 78:9-16 Rebellion of man in contrast with the caring hand of God. Psalms 78:17-31 The failure of Israel and the faithfulness of God. Psalms 78:32-37 Superficial repentance. Psalms 78:38-64 The judgment on the nations and on Israel. Psalms 78:65-72 The answer of God: David as the type of the Lord Jesus, the Son of David.

Passing On What God Has Done

This is the tenth of a total of thirteen psalms that are “a maskil” (Psalms 78:1a), the so-called maskil-psalms (Psalms 32; 42, 44; 45; 52; 53; 54; 55; 74; 78; 88; 89; 142). Maskil-psalms involve teaching or instruction for the faithful remnant of Israel in the end time. See further at Psalms 32:1.

For “of Asaph” see at Psalms 50:1.

Asaph addresses God’s people as “my people” (Psalms 78:1b). With this he indicates that he is not outside of them, but part of them. He asks them to “listen” to his “instruction”, for he has important things to tell to them (cf. Deuteronomy 4:1; Isaiah 1:2). It is similar to what Moses did in Deuteronomy 32, where he uses the history of Israel through his song to instruct the people (Deuteronomy 32:5-18). Moses, like Asaph, begins with the call to hear “the words of my mouth” (Deuteronomy 32:1-2). Moses says this to heaven and earth, to be witnesses. Asaph says it to God’s people.

They shouldn’t just listen, but “incline” their “ears to the words” of his “mouth”. This refers to a mind to listen attentively with a willingness to do what is said.

After the first verse has called for attention, the second verse reflects the desire to make it clear to the listener/reader that the literal sense has a higher or deeper meaning. This can only be understood by those who delve into the psalm. There is a desire in Asaph to serve his people with “a parable” (Psalms 78:2; cf. Proverbs 1:6). The word for “parable” is mashal, which means teaching by comparison. It refers to “dark sayings of old” that are brought into light by him to teach a new generation. These hidden things are a rich treasure, which he will utter for them.

The distinctive feature of the mashal, the parable, in Psalms 78 is that the psalmist, inspired by the Holy Spirit, uses the ancient history of Israel as a parable to learn lessons from it. In other cases, a fictional story is usually used as a parable, whereas here it is a story that really took place, the history of redemption in the past.

The Lord Jesus fulfills this word of Asaph by using parables. God’s Spirit refers to this verse in Matthew 13 when He says of the Lord Jesus: “All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable. [This was] to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES; I WILL UTTER THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD“ (Matthew 13:34-35). In Matthew 13, the Lord places “things hidden” into the light in a new way and does so by using parables or comparisons. In this quotation we also see that Asaph is called a “prophet”.

The psalmist-prophet Asaph passes on the history of Israel from God’s perspective. For this he draws on what he has heard from “our fathers” (Psalms 78:3). Again he emphasizes his connection with his people, now by speaking of their common fathers, “our fathers”. He and they have heard it and know it. They are aware of it. Their fathers have told “us”, that is him and his contemporaries.

It is an important instruction for parents today to pass on to their children and grandchildren what they have learned from the Word of God in their dealings with God (cf. Exodus 12:26-27; Exodus 13:14-16). Passing it on makes it great again for the parents. They will continually praise and magnify God for it.

It makes all who have heard it responsible not to hide what they have heard “from their children”, that is, all who belong to God’s people (Psalms 78:4). The command is to “tell the generation to come” of God’s deeds. These deeds he calls “the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done”.

It is a joy to pass on all the various acts of God to those who come after us. God is worthy to be believed and praised because of all His deeds. They are truly ‘praiseworthy deeds’ or ‘deeds to be praised’. God reveals His power in those deeds. The wonders He has performed also bring His people to praise Him. Everything in which God reveals Himself, has this effect on those who have an eye for it.

Speaking to our children and grandchildren about this is not always easy in practical terms. What is especially important is that they see with us that faith is not a rational matter for us, but that it permeates our entire life. Our life of faith must be fresh, just like the manna that was freshly laid out each morning. Lambs cannot live on old grass, but on young, fresh grass shoots.

Psalms 106:42

Introduction

Psalms 78 works out what the last verse of Psalm 77 says: “You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (Psalms 77:20). The history of the people of Israel is used as an illustration to teach by learning from the ways of God with His people in the past. The goal is for the faithful remnant of Israel – the maskilim, the wise or understanding – to learn lessons from it. The journey of the people of Israel out of Egypt to the promised land is a type or example of the return of the ten tribes to Israel in the future, after the great tribulation (cf. Isaiah 11:16; Isaiah 51:9-11; Jeremiah 16:14; 15; Ezekiel 20:34-36; Matthew 24:31). The history and also the plagues in this psalm are not described chronologically, but thematically, in a spiritual order.

Psalms 73-77 asked questions about the incomprehensible way God is going with His people Israel. Psalms 78 answers them. The psalmist-prophet Asaph shows from history both the unfaithfulness of the people and the faithfulness of God as reasons why God has chosen the way He has gone with His people. The history of God’s people reveals their continuing unfaithfulness. God’s response shows His gracious election, through which He still carries out His plans of blessing for them. God loves and protects His people, which includes punishing and disciplining them when they deviate from Him.

The purpose of the psalm is to teach us lessons from the past. A mirror is held up to us in the history of God’s earthly people to show us what we are capable of (cf. James 1:22-24). This is to warn us not to fall into the same mistakes (1 Corinthians 10:6; 11). It is also to show us in this history what God is capable of despite our failures.

A division of the psalm: Psalms 78:1-4 Core message: call to wisdom. Psalms 78:5-8 Call to pass on from generation to generation. Psalms 78:9-16 Rebellion of man in contrast with the caring hand of God. Psalms 78:17-31 The failure of Israel and the faithfulness of God. Psalms 78:32-37 Superficial repentance. Psalms 78:38-64 The judgment on the nations and on Israel. Psalms 78:65-72 The answer of God: David as the type of the Lord Jesus, the Son of David.

Passing On What God Has Done

This is the tenth of a total of thirteen psalms that are “a maskil” (Psalms 78:1a), the so-called maskil-psalms (Psalms 32; 42, 44; 45; 52; 53; 54; 55; 74; 78; 88; 89; 142). Maskil-psalms involve teaching or instruction for the faithful remnant of Israel in the end time. See further at Psalms 32:1.

For “of Asaph” see at Psalms 50:1.

Asaph addresses God’s people as “my people” (Psalms 78:1b). With this he indicates that he is not outside of them, but part of them. He asks them to “listen” to his “instruction”, for he has important things to tell to them (cf. Deuteronomy 4:1; Isaiah 1:2). It is similar to what Moses did in Deuteronomy 32, where he uses the history of Israel through his song to instruct the people (Deuteronomy 32:5-18). Moses, like Asaph, begins with the call to hear “the words of my mouth” (Deuteronomy 32:1-2). Moses says this to heaven and earth, to be witnesses. Asaph says it to God’s people.

They shouldn’t just listen, but “incline” their “ears to the words” of his “mouth”. This refers to a mind to listen attentively with a willingness to do what is said.

After the first verse has called for attention, the second verse reflects the desire to make it clear to the listener/reader that the literal sense has a higher or deeper meaning. This can only be understood by those who delve into the psalm. There is a desire in Asaph to serve his people with “a parable” (Psalms 78:2; cf. Proverbs 1:6). The word for “parable” is mashal, which means teaching by comparison. It refers to “dark sayings of old” that are brought into light by him to teach a new generation. These hidden things are a rich treasure, which he will utter for them.

The distinctive feature of the mashal, the parable, in Psalms 78 is that the psalmist, inspired by the Holy Spirit, uses the ancient history of Israel as a parable to learn lessons from it. In other cases, a fictional story is usually used as a parable, whereas here it is a story that really took place, the history of redemption in the past.

The Lord Jesus fulfills this word of Asaph by using parables. God’s Spirit refers to this verse in Matthew 13 when He says of the Lord Jesus: “All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable. [This was] to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES; I WILL UTTER THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD“ (Matthew 13:34-35). In Matthew 13, the Lord places “things hidden” into the light in a new way and does so by using parables or comparisons. In this quotation we also see that Asaph is called a “prophet”.

The psalmist-prophet Asaph passes on the history of Israel from God’s perspective. For this he draws on what he has heard from “our fathers” (Psalms 78:3). Again he emphasizes his connection with his people, now by speaking of their common fathers, “our fathers”. He and they have heard it and know it. They are aware of it. Their fathers have told “us”, that is him and his contemporaries.

It is an important instruction for parents today to pass on to their children and grandchildren what they have learned from the Word of God in their dealings with God (cf. Exodus 12:26-27; Exodus 13:14-16). Passing it on makes it great again for the parents. They will continually praise and magnify God for it.

It makes all who have heard it responsible not to hide what they have heard “from their children”, that is, all who belong to God’s people (Psalms 78:4). The command is to “tell the generation to come” of God’s deeds. These deeds he calls “the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done”.

It is a joy to pass on all the various acts of God to those who come after us. God is worthy to be believed and praised because of all His deeds. They are truly ‘praiseworthy deeds’ or ‘deeds to be praised’. God reveals His power in those deeds. The wonders He has performed also bring His people to praise Him. Everything in which God reveals Himself, has this effect on those who have an eye for it.

Speaking to our children and grandchildren about this is not always easy in practical terms. What is especially important is that they see with us that faith is not a rational matter for us, but that it permeates our entire life. Our life of faith must be fresh, just like the manna that was freshly laid out each morning. Lambs cannot live on old grass, but on young, fresh grass shoots.

Psalms 106:43

Introduction

Psalms 78 works out what the last verse of Psalm 77 says: “You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (Psalms 77:20). The history of the people of Israel is used as an illustration to teach by learning from the ways of God with His people in the past. The goal is for the faithful remnant of Israel – the maskilim, the wise or understanding – to learn lessons from it. The journey of the people of Israel out of Egypt to the promised land is a type or example of the return of the ten tribes to Israel in the future, after the great tribulation (cf. Isaiah 11:16; Isaiah 51:9-11; Jeremiah 16:14; 15; Ezekiel 20:34-36; Matthew 24:31). The history and also the plagues in this psalm are not described chronologically, but thematically, in a spiritual order.

Psalms 73-77 asked questions about the incomprehensible way God is going with His people Israel. Psalms 78 answers them. The psalmist-prophet Asaph shows from history both the unfaithfulness of the people and the faithfulness of God as reasons why God has chosen the way He has gone with His people. The history of God’s people reveals their continuing unfaithfulness. God’s response shows His gracious election, through which He still carries out His plans of blessing for them. God loves and protects His people, which includes punishing and disciplining them when they deviate from Him.

The purpose of the psalm is to teach us lessons from the past. A mirror is held up to us in the history of God’s earthly people to show us what we are capable of (cf. James 1:22-24). This is to warn us not to fall into the same mistakes (1 Corinthians 10:6; 11). It is also to show us in this history what God is capable of despite our failures.

A division of the psalm: Psalms 78:1-4 Core message: call to wisdom. Psalms 78:5-8 Call to pass on from generation to generation. Psalms 78:9-16 Rebellion of man in contrast with the caring hand of God. Psalms 78:17-31 The failure of Israel and the faithfulness of God. Psalms 78:32-37 Superficial repentance. Psalms 78:38-64 The judgment on the nations and on Israel. Psalms 78:65-72 The answer of God: David as the type of the Lord Jesus, the Son of David.

Passing On What God Has Done

This is the tenth of a total of thirteen psalms that are “a maskil” (Psalms 78:1a), the so-called maskil-psalms (Psalms 32; 42, 44; 45; 52; 53; 54; 55; 74; 78; 88; 89; 142). Maskil-psalms involve teaching or instruction for the faithful remnant of Israel in the end time. See further at Psalms 32:1.

For “of Asaph” see at Psalms 50:1.

Asaph addresses God’s people as “my people” (Psalms 78:1b). With this he indicates that he is not outside of them, but part of them. He asks them to “listen” to his “instruction”, for he has important things to tell to them (cf. Deuteronomy 4:1; Isaiah 1:2). It is similar to what Moses did in Deuteronomy 32, where he uses the history of Israel through his song to instruct the people (Deuteronomy 32:5-18). Moses, like Asaph, begins with the call to hear “the words of my mouth” (Deuteronomy 32:1-2). Moses says this to heaven and earth, to be witnesses. Asaph says it to God’s people.

They shouldn’t just listen, but “incline” their “ears to the words” of his “mouth”. This refers to a mind to listen attentively with a willingness to do what is said.

After the first verse has called for attention, the second verse reflects the desire to make it clear to the listener/reader that the literal sense has a higher or deeper meaning. This can only be understood by those who delve into the psalm. There is a desire in Asaph to serve his people with “a parable” (Psalms 78:2; cf. Proverbs 1:6). The word for “parable” is mashal, which means teaching by comparison. It refers to “dark sayings of old” that are brought into light by him to teach a new generation. These hidden things are a rich treasure, which he will utter for them.

The distinctive feature of the mashal, the parable, in Psalms 78 is that the psalmist, inspired by the Holy Spirit, uses the ancient history of Israel as a parable to learn lessons from it. In other cases, a fictional story is usually used as a parable, whereas here it is a story that really took place, the history of redemption in the past.

The Lord Jesus fulfills this word of Asaph by using parables. God’s Spirit refers to this verse in Matthew 13 when He says of the Lord Jesus: “All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable. [This was] to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES; I WILL UTTER THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD“ (Matthew 13:34-35). In Matthew 13, the Lord places “things hidden” into the light in a new way and does so by using parables or comparisons. In this quotation we also see that Asaph is called a “prophet”.

The psalmist-prophet Asaph passes on the history of Israel from God’s perspective. For this he draws on what he has heard from “our fathers” (Psalms 78:3). Again he emphasizes his connection with his people, now by speaking of their common fathers, “our fathers”. He and they have heard it and know it. They are aware of it. Their fathers have told “us”, that is him and his contemporaries.

It is an important instruction for parents today to pass on to their children and grandchildren what they have learned from the Word of God in their dealings with God (cf. Exodus 12:26-27; Exodus 13:14-16). Passing it on makes it great again for the parents. They will continually praise and magnify God for it.

It makes all who have heard it responsible not to hide what they have heard “from their children”, that is, all who belong to God’s people (Psalms 78:4). The command is to “tell the generation to come” of God’s deeds. These deeds he calls “the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done”.

It is a joy to pass on all the various acts of God to those who come after us. God is worthy to be believed and praised because of all His deeds. They are truly ‘praiseworthy deeds’ or ‘deeds to be praised’. God reveals His power in those deeds. The wonders He has performed also bring His people to praise Him. Everything in which God reveals Himself, has this effect on those who have an eye for it.

Speaking to our children and grandchildren about this is not always easy in practical terms. What is especially important is that they see with us that faith is not a rational matter for us, but that it permeates our entire life. Our life of faith must be fresh, just like the manna that was freshly laid out each morning. Lambs cannot live on old grass, but on young, fresh grass shoots.

Psalms 106:44

Passing On What God Has Said

God has revealed Himself in His power and in His wonders. He has also revealed Himself in “a testimony” and “a law” which He has given to His people (Psalms 78:5). ‘Testimony’ is more directed to the people, to whom God’s law comes, for whom God’s law is intended. By ‘law’ it is more about God, Who has given the law, the authority of the law as coming from Him.

Everything God’s people do has its origin in God’s Word. Not experience determines our lives, but what God has “established” and “appointed”. The testimony is “established in Jacob”. This refers to the practice of the people, how the people can be a testimony of God to the nations around them. The law is “appointed … in Israel”. That refers to the position of the people, what the people mean to God, what He has made of them. It follows that they must live in accordance with it in order to be a joy to Him.

These two aspects were commanded by God to “our fathers that they should teach them to their children” (cf. Deuteronomy 6:7; Deuteronomy 4:9). The children are to learn how to testify of God and live to the glory of God and then pass this on to their children (Psalms 78:6). This is only possible by teaching them God’s Word.

Passing on God’s Word to the next generation is also an important task for us. Timothy, as a spiritual child of Paul, not only receives confirmation that what he has heard from Paul is the truth, but he is also to pass on that truth unchanged himself (2 Timothy 2:2). This is the ordinary way of passing on the truth.

Paul does not give Timothy any particular authority to preach. That authority is given by the Lord Himself (Matthew 28:19). Nor does Paul ordain him in any special way. The Bible has no such thing as an official right to preach, something that should only be done by people with theological training. Passing on the truth of God’s Word is the responsibility of every believer. This is especially true for parents toward their children and for grandparents toward their grandchildren.

Parents, by their example and teaching, must teach their children to “put their confidence in God” (Psalms 78:7; cf. Proverbs 22:19). What the children hear from parents sometimes sticks with them, sometimes it doesn’t; what they see from parents they will remember; what they experience with their parents in the exercise of faith they will understand and take to heart.

Those who put their hope in anything or anyone other than God are asking for misery. We avoid this when we do “not forget the works of God”. God’s works testify that hoping in Him never disappoints. Directly related to this is to “keep His commandments”. Hope or trust in God is justified only for those who listen to Him with the desire to do what He says.

By keeping God and His works and His commandments in mind, the children will be kept from becoming like their fathers (Psalms 78:8). Asaph holds up to the children how God judges their fathers: it is “a stubborn and rebellious generation”. The reason is that this generation “did not prepare its heart” and their “spirit was not faithful to God”.

The warning is taken from a clear example. He does not say: ‘That they should not be like the nations, who know not of God’, but: that they should “not be like their fathers”. Malignant domestic examples are far more pernicious than those of strangers. Let us learn from these verses that it is not advisable to follow in the footsteps of the fathers in all things.

If there is no trust in God in heart and spirit, rebellion and disobedience is the result. If the heart is set on God, then idolatry will be put away (1 Samuel 7:3), including insubordination (1 Samuel 15:23). The “heart” is the governing body of all life (Proverbs 4:23). The “spirit” is meant to have fellowship with God. However, the spirit can become preoccupied with many things other than God, become unfaithful, and become defiled (2 Corinthians 7:1). Therefore, God’s people must be on guard with their spirit, which the prophet Malachi says twice and therefore emphatically (Malachi 2:15-16).

Psalms 106:45

Passing On What God Has Said

God has revealed Himself in His power and in His wonders. He has also revealed Himself in “a testimony” and “a law” which He has given to His people (Psalms 78:5). ‘Testimony’ is more directed to the people, to whom God’s law comes, for whom God’s law is intended. By ‘law’ it is more about God, Who has given the law, the authority of the law as coming from Him.

Everything God’s people do has its origin in God’s Word. Not experience determines our lives, but what God has “established” and “appointed”. The testimony is “established in Jacob”. This refers to the practice of the people, how the people can be a testimony of God to the nations around them. The law is “appointed … in Israel”. That refers to the position of the people, what the people mean to God, what He has made of them. It follows that they must live in accordance with it in order to be a joy to Him.

These two aspects were commanded by God to “our fathers that they should teach them to their children” (cf. Deuteronomy 6:7; Deuteronomy 4:9). The children are to learn how to testify of God and live to the glory of God and then pass this on to their children (Psalms 78:6). This is only possible by teaching them God’s Word.

Passing on God’s Word to the next generation is also an important task for us. Timothy, as a spiritual child of Paul, not only receives confirmation that what he has heard from Paul is the truth, but he is also to pass on that truth unchanged himself (2 Timothy 2:2). This is the ordinary way of passing on the truth.

Paul does not give Timothy any particular authority to preach. That authority is given by the Lord Himself (Matthew 28:19). Nor does Paul ordain him in any special way. The Bible has no such thing as an official right to preach, something that should only be done by people with theological training. Passing on the truth of God’s Word is the responsibility of every believer. This is especially true for parents toward their children and for grandparents toward their grandchildren.

Parents, by their example and teaching, must teach their children to “put their confidence in God” (Psalms 78:7; cf. Proverbs 22:19). What the children hear from parents sometimes sticks with them, sometimes it doesn’t; what they see from parents they will remember; what they experience with their parents in the exercise of faith they will understand and take to heart.

Those who put their hope in anything or anyone other than God are asking for misery. We avoid this when we do “not forget the works of God”. God’s works testify that hoping in Him never disappoints. Directly related to this is to “keep His commandments”. Hope or trust in God is justified only for those who listen to Him with the desire to do what He says.

By keeping God and His works and His commandments in mind, the children will be kept from becoming like their fathers (Psalms 78:8). Asaph holds up to the children how God judges their fathers: it is “a stubborn and rebellious generation”. The reason is that this generation “did not prepare its heart” and their “spirit was not faithful to God”.

The warning is taken from a clear example. He does not say: ‘That they should not be like the nations, who know not of God’, but: that they should “not be like their fathers”. Malignant domestic examples are far more pernicious than those of strangers. Let us learn from these verses that it is not advisable to follow in the footsteps of the fathers in all things.

If there is no trust in God in heart and spirit, rebellion and disobedience is the result. If the heart is set on God, then idolatry will be put away (1 Samuel 7:3), including insubordination (1 Samuel 15:23). The “heart” is the governing body of all life (Proverbs 4:23). The “spirit” is meant to have fellowship with God. However, the spirit can become preoccupied with many things other than God, become unfaithful, and become defiled (2 Corinthians 7:1). Therefore, God’s people must be on guard with their spirit, which the prophet Malachi says twice and therefore emphatically (Malachi 2:15-16).

Psalms 106:46

Passing On What God Has Said

God has revealed Himself in His power and in His wonders. He has also revealed Himself in “a testimony” and “a law” which He has given to His people (Psalms 78:5). ‘Testimony’ is more directed to the people, to whom God’s law comes, for whom God’s law is intended. By ‘law’ it is more about God, Who has given the law, the authority of the law as coming from Him.

Everything God’s people do has its origin in God’s Word. Not experience determines our lives, but what God has “established” and “appointed”. The testimony is “established in Jacob”. This refers to the practice of the people, how the people can be a testimony of God to the nations around them. The law is “appointed … in Israel”. That refers to the position of the people, what the people mean to God, what He has made of them. It follows that they must live in accordance with it in order to be a joy to Him.

These two aspects were commanded by God to “our fathers that they should teach them to their children” (cf. Deuteronomy 6:7; Deuteronomy 4:9). The children are to learn how to testify of God and live to the glory of God and then pass this on to their children (Psalms 78:6). This is only possible by teaching them God’s Word.

Passing on God’s Word to the next generation is also an important task for us. Timothy, as a spiritual child of Paul, not only receives confirmation that what he has heard from Paul is the truth, but he is also to pass on that truth unchanged himself (2 Timothy 2:2). This is the ordinary way of passing on the truth.

Paul does not give Timothy any particular authority to preach. That authority is given by the Lord Himself (Matthew 28:19). Nor does Paul ordain him in any special way. The Bible has no such thing as an official right to preach, something that should only be done by people with theological training. Passing on the truth of God’s Word is the responsibility of every believer. This is especially true for parents toward their children and for grandparents toward their grandchildren.

Parents, by their example and teaching, must teach their children to “put their confidence in God” (Psalms 78:7; cf. Proverbs 22:19). What the children hear from parents sometimes sticks with them, sometimes it doesn’t; what they see from parents they will remember; what they experience with their parents in the exercise of faith they will understand and take to heart.

Those who put their hope in anything or anyone other than God are asking for misery. We avoid this when we do “not forget the works of God”. God’s works testify that hoping in Him never disappoints. Directly related to this is to “keep His commandments”. Hope or trust in God is justified only for those who listen to Him with the desire to do what He says.

By keeping God and His works and His commandments in mind, the children will be kept from becoming like their fathers (Psalms 78:8). Asaph holds up to the children how God judges their fathers: it is “a stubborn and rebellious generation”. The reason is that this generation “did not prepare its heart” and their “spirit was not faithful to God”.

The warning is taken from a clear example. He does not say: ‘That they should not be like the nations, who know not of God’, but: that they should “not be like their fathers”. Malignant domestic examples are far more pernicious than those of strangers. Let us learn from these verses that it is not advisable to follow in the footsteps of the fathers in all things.

If there is no trust in God in heart and spirit, rebellion and disobedience is the result. If the heart is set on God, then idolatry will be put away (1 Samuel 7:3), including insubordination (1 Samuel 15:23). The “heart” is the governing body of all life (Proverbs 4:23). The “spirit” is meant to have fellowship with God. However, the spirit can become preoccupied with many things other than God, become unfaithful, and become defiled (2 Corinthians 7:1). Therefore, God’s people must be on guard with their spirit, which the prophet Malachi says twice and therefore emphatically (Malachi 2:15-16).

Psalms 106:47

Passing On What God Has Said

God has revealed Himself in His power and in His wonders. He has also revealed Himself in “a testimony” and “a law” which He has given to His people (Psalms 78:5). ‘Testimony’ is more directed to the people, to whom God’s law comes, for whom God’s law is intended. By ‘law’ it is more about God, Who has given the law, the authority of the law as coming from Him.

Everything God’s people do has its origin in God’s Word. Not experience determines our lives, but what God has “established” and “appointed”. The testimony is “established in Jacob”. This refers to the practice of the people, how the people can be a testimony of God to the nations around them. The law is “appointed … in Israel”. That refers to the position of the people, what the people mean to God, what He has made of them. It follows that they must live in accordance with it in order to be a joy to Him.

These two aspects were commanded by God to “our fathers that they should teach them to their children” (cf. Deuteronomy 6:7; Deuteronomy 4:9). The children are to learn how to testify of God and live to the glory of God and then pass this on to their children (Psalms 78:6). This is only possible by teaching them God’s Word.

Passing on God’s Word to the next generation is also an important task for us. Timothy, as a spiritual child of Paul, not only receives confirmation that what he has heard from Paul is the truth, but he is also to pass on that truth unchanged himself (2 Timothy 2:2). This is the ordinary way of passing on the truth.

Paul does not give Timothy any particular authority to preach. That authority is given by the Lord Himself (Matthew 28:19). Nor does Paul ordain him in any special way. The Bible has no such thing as an official right to preach, something that should only be done by people with theological training. Passing on the truth of God’s Word is the responsibility of every believer. This is especially true for parents toward their children and for grandparents toward their grandchildren.

Parents, by their example and teaching, must teach their children to “put their confidence in God” (Psalms 78:7; cf. Proverbs 22:19). What the children hear from parents sometimes sticks with them, sometimes it doesn’t; what they see from parents they will remember; what they experience with their parents in the exercise of faith they will understand and take to heart.

Those who put their hope in anything or anyone other than God are asking for misery. We avoid this when we do “not forget the works of God”. God’s works testify that hoping in Him never disappoints. Directly related to this is to “keep His commandments”. Hope or trust in God is justified only for those who listen to Him with the desire to do what He says.

By keeping God and His works and His commandments in mind, the children will be kept from becoming like their fathers (Psalms 78:8). Asaph holds up to the children how God judges their fathers: it is “a stubborn and rebellious generation”. The reason is that this generation “did not prepare its heart” and their “spirit was not faithful to God”.

The warning is taken from a clear example. He does not say: ‘That they should not be like the nations, who know not of God’, but: that they should “not be like their fathers”. Malignant domestic examples are far more pernicious than those of strangers. Let us learn from these verses that it is not advisable to follow in the footsteps of the fathers in all things.

If there is no trust in God in heart and spirit, rebellion and disobedience is the result. If the heart is set on God, then idolatry will be put away (1 Samuel 7:3), including insubordination (1 Samuel 15:23). The “heart” is the governing body of all life (Proverbs 4:23). The “spirit” is meant to have fellowship with God. However, the spirit can become preoccupied with many things other than God, become unfaithful, and become defiled (2 Corinthians 7:1). Therefore, God’s people must be on guard with their spirit, which the prophet Malachi says twice and therefore emphatically (Malachi 2:15-16).

Psalms 106:48

Disobedient and Forgetful

Despite God’s works and God’s law, “the sons of Ephraim” have departed from God (Psalms 78:9). The sons of Ephraim are the ten tribes. Beginning in Psalms 78:12, they are associated with all the people of Israel. In other words, Ephraim’s behavior represents the behavior of all the people. When Reuben forfeited the firstborn right because of his behavior, Joseph, Rachel’s firstborn, received that right. Ephraim, the son of Joseph, the superior of Manasseh (Genesis 48:17-20), became the leader. When Israel took possession of the land of Canaan, it was under the leadership of Joshua, who was of the tribe of Ephraim. When the ark of the covenant was given a resting place in the land, it was at Shiloh, which was in Ephraim.

Ephraim was the most privileged tribe, but he failed time and again. The sons of Ephraim were “archers equipped with bows”, but at the time when they should have used their weapons and skill, that is, “in the day of battle”, they had turned back and fled. It is not known which event is involved here. Nor is it important. What is important is that the interests of God were not on their mind. They placed more value on their own lives than they on working for God and His people.

Their cowardly attitude in the day of battle was the result of a wrong mind of the heart. This was evident from the fact that they had not kept the covenant of God. This is evident from the accusation brought against them, that they “did not keep the covenant of God” (Psalms 78:10). When we do not keep something, it means that we become vulnerable to wrong choices or open ourselves up to calamity. ‘Not to keep’ also means ‘not to guard’, which means something can be damaged or taken away.

In addition to the culpable failure to observe God’s covenant, there was the deliberate refusal to “walk in His law”. The “law” here is “the teaching” of God. It is the same word as “maskil” in Psalms 78:1. Through teaching one learns to know the words of God and thereby His will.

Thus they had turned their backs on God; they had lost sight of Him and He was not in their heart any longer. God was not their hope (Psalms 78:7), so they “forgot His deeds and His miracles that He had shown them” (Psalms 78:11). In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses regularly holds up to the people what they had seen with their own eyes of God’s deeds and would yet see (Deuteronomy 4:3; 9; 34; Deuteronomy 7:19; 22; Deuteronomy 9:4; Deuteronomy 10:21; Deuteronomy 11:7; 23).

God shows us His deeds and His miracles to confirm His Word and strengthen our faith. However, if there is no personal relationship with Him, His deeds in the past no longer have any effect on us because faith is lacking. Those who forget the miracle of the cleansing of their past sins become blind and shortsighted (2 Peter 1:9).