Psalms 78
PATbered, indeed, how kind God had been unto us in former tiroes; but this only gave me the greater trouble, when I compared it with our present miseries; and the moro I mused on it, the more my spirit was disturbed, and miserably afflicted. MascJiil of Asaph. When God gave his law to the Israelites, he commanded them not only to be careful to study it themselves, but to inculcate it upon their children, (as the Psalmist here remembers, ver. 5.) that they might propagate the knowledge of it to all future generations: (Deut. iv. 9. vi. 7, 8, &c. xi. 18, 10, &c.) and particularly to instruct them in the reason of their feasts; which were appointed for the commemoration of several benefits, which he would •not have forgotten, (Exod. xiii. 8. 14.) In prosecution of which end, as Theodoret well observes, this Psalm was indited, by the prophetical grace (as his words are); that they and all their posterity might preserve in mind the wonderful works of God. An epitome of which (for the help of their memory) he here presents them withal; • from the time of their coming out of Egypt, till David’s promotion to the throne. Where this narration concluding, it makes it probable this Psalm was composed by that Asaph, so often mentioned, as one of the principal singers in those days; who, setting before the people’s eyes, as in a table, the benefits their fathers had received, with their shameful ingratitude, and the punishments inflicted upon them for it, teaches and instructs them who succeeded (for which reason some will have it called Maschil, see Psal.xxxiL) to learn greater gratitude and fidelity to their Benefactor; for fear they should incur his higher displeasure, if they did not beware by such sad examples. [psalm lxxvih. them drink as out of the great depths.] And when they wanted water in the wilderness, he brought it out of the rocks (which he commanded Moses to smite more than once); first at Rephidim, (Exod. xvii. 6.) and then in Kadesh, (Numb. xx. 8. 11.) and they had it in such plenty, both for themselves and their cattle, as if it had been a great pond or lake. lented, indeed, sometimes, and when God cut off some of them, the rest began to deprecate his displeasure: (Numb, xiv. 39, 40.) and, by promising amendment, most earnestly sought to recover his favour. their folds, (not so much as a dog moving Iris tongue against them, Exod. xi. 7.) and then directed them the way they should go in the wilderness, (Exod. xiii. 18. 21.) where ho graciously provided for them. 1C1 built him a stately temple, which, as it was a high and lofty fabric, so was not moveable like his former habitation; but remained perpetually fixed, like the earth on which it stood. * -
Psalms 78:1
\jrIVE ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. Attend reverently, O my countrymen, for whom I have a particular affection, unto the admonition which now I intend to give you: listen diligently, I beseech you, to the following instruction.
Psalms 78:2
I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old. It is no vulgar lesson which I would have you learn; nor will I be sparing in my instruction: but I will abundantly inform you in the most remarkable passages of God’s providence in former times; which are more worthy your knowledge, than the skill of resolving the darkest riddles.
Psalms 78:3
Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. And I will not report uncertain or doubtful things to you; or things done in another nation: but such as are of unquestionable credit; which you have heard and known to be recorded in your holy books: and our forefathers, who were eye-witnesses of them, have faithfully registered and transmitted unto us.
Psalms 78:4
Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. Insomuch that I could not close my eyes, to take a wink of sleep; nor open my mouth (such, was my perturbation and astonishment) to express the heaviness of my grief. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.] Who will not be so treacherous as to lose the memory of them in our days; but diligently propagate them to posterity: endeavouring that all future generations may understand, how much the Lord deserves to be praised, for the mighty and stupendous works which he bath done in former ages.
Psalms 78:5
I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. All that I could do, was to recount thy merciful providences over our forefathers in times past; and ponder seriously what wonders thou didst for them many ages agone. Ver. G. i" call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart; and my spirit made diligent search.] I called to mind all the songs I had indited, to’celebrate the memory of those ancient benefits: and spent whole nights in silent meditations, and diligent inquiries, which I revolved to and fro in my mind; why he who had taken such care of our ancestors, had so long rejected us. For he established a testimonij in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded oar fathers, that they should make them known to their children.] And, indeed, when God gave us the law, he strictly charged our forefathers, and made a particular injunction about it, which he frequently repeated (Deut. iv. vi. xi. see the Argument); that they should be careful to leave the knowledge of these things as a sacred legacy, or inheritance, unto their children. • Ver. G. TJiat the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born, who should arise and declare them to their children.] In order to the conveying them, by their hands, to the next generation; who were then unborn: who should be taught also, when they were grown up, to deliver them with.the same diligence to their descendants; and so preserve the memory of them to all succeeding generations.
Psalms 78:7
Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?. Will the Lord, thought I, abandon us for ever? Is he so incensed against us, that he will never be reconciled, nor intend to shew us any more favour? Tliat they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God; but keep his commandments.] To the end, that they might learn by such wonderful instances of his powerful goodness,4o adhere unto him, and confide in him alone; and, by the constant commemoration of his benefits, be provoked religiously to observe his precepts.
Psalms 78:8
Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore?. Is his infinite mercy, which is the fountain of all his benefits, quite exhausted? and will he never hereafter speak a word of comfort to us? And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright: and whose spirit was not steadfast with God.] And’ take warning by the punishments inflicted on them, not to imitate the ingratitude of their forefathers, who were not only a refractory generation, but so fickle, that they fell off from God to the worship of idols, presently after they came out of Egypt: for they did not lay to heart what he had’ done for them, and so were never rightly disposed to his service; or if in a good fit they were inclined to it, they soon revolted from him.
Psalms 78:9
Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.) Hath God, whose property it is to shew mercy, quite laid aside all thoughts of exercising his clemency towards us? or have we so highly provoked him to anger, that he hath no regard at all unto our miseries? The children ofEphraim, being armed, and carrying bows^ turned back in the day of battle.] What could be more shameful, than their base refusal to go and engage the Canaanites, when they were so well appointed for the fight; and were commanded by God, in whose power they had no confidence, to go up and take possession of the land? (Deut. i. 26.) unless it were their foul cowardice when they did engage them against his command; (ver. 43, 44.) and the Ephraimites themselves, though a valiant tribe, and excellent archers, ran away, and were chased in a shameful manner by their enemies.
Psalms 78:10
And I said, Tliis is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High. But having thus complained, and said within myself, Thisis the thing which sorely afflicts me, to see such alterations in the proceedings of the Most High, that the same hand which formerly protected us now severely scourges us; They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his laic] For they brake their word with God, (who therefore would, not be with them, Numb. xiv. 43.) and would not be governed by his will, but by their own. -
Psalms 78:11
I will remember the works of the Lord; surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I presently considered, that there might be a change again; and resolved to comfort myself with the remembrance of the former works of the Lord; and to go back as far as the miracle thou didst for us (in bringing us up out of the land of Egypt), when our deserts were as small as in these days. Andforgat his toorks, and his wonders that he had shewed them.] Never thinking of the illustrious works which their eyes had seen; and so distrusting his power, notwithstanding all the miracles, whereby he had demonstrated the greatness of it to them.
Psalms 78:12
I will meditate also of all thy works, and talk of thy doings. Of all the ensuing wonders I will think, rather than on our present miseries: I will not omit one of them; but, instead of these complaints, make thejn the constant subject of my discourse. Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the field ofZoan.] Nor were the next generation any better; though the memory was then fresh of that heap of wonders, which their fathers saw him do publicly: not in a corner, but in all the land of’ Egypt; yea, in and about the principal city of the kingdom.
Psalms 78:13
Tliy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?. From which I cannot but conclude, that the method of thy providence, O God, is not only perfectly holy and just, but quite out of our reach: nor is thy power inferior; but, as thou dost not proceed in the common way of our thoughts, so none can resist what thy incomparable majesty thinks fit to effect. He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as a heap.] From whence when he had delivered them, and they were in great distress at the Red Sea, he made it give way to them, that they might walk through it on dry ground: the fluid water swelling into little hills, (Exod. xv. 8.) which stood like a solid wall on either hand, to secure them in that dangerous passage, (Exod. xiv. 22.)
Psalms 78:14
TIiou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people. For thou art tho mighty God, who canst do miracles as easily as this most ordinary works: and hast made all the world sensible, that thy power exceeds both the strength and the opinion qf all creatures. In the day-time also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.] Through which he conducted them, as he did at all other times, by a glorious cloud: whose dark side served also in the day-time, for a shadow from the scorching rays of the sun; and its bright side in the night, for a torch to guide them when they travelled; or if they rested, to light them in their tents. •
Psalms 78:15
Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. Having delivered thy people, descended from Jacob, and miraculously preserved by Joseph, from tho Egyptian bondage, by a long series of stupendous judgments upon Pharaoh and his servants, (Exod. vi. G. Dcut. vi. 21, 22. vii. 8.) Ver. 1G. The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saio thee; they were afraid: the deptlts also were troubled.] Which were followed presently with a greater wonder, when the waters of the Red Sea felt thy power, O God: they felt thy power to the very bottom of them; which so disturbed them, that they retreated, as if they had been affrighted at thy presence, and left a plain way for thy people to march through upon dry ground: He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave
Psalms 78:16
He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run doioii like rivers. And yet it was no standing, but a flowing water; which ran continually out of the dry rock as out of its fountain, in several streams; or rather, like unto rivers; which followed them in their travels.
Psalms 78:17
The clouds poured out water; the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows abo went abroad. But returned again upon the Egyptians (who pursued after us), accompanied with a terrible storm of rain, and thunder, and hailstones; which flew about their ears, and brake the very wheels of their chariots, (Exod. xiv. 24, 25.) And they sinned yet more against him, by provoking the Most High in the wilderness.] But allthese miraculous works did not alter their depraved nature, which broke out into new and greater provocations; in that very place, where, without the singular providence of their most high Benefactor, they had all been starved.
Psalms 78:18
Tlte voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and, shook. The noise of this thunder filled all the air thereabout; and so did the lightning that flashed in their faces; which, together with a dreadful earthquake, made the very inhabitants of Canaan tremble, (Josh. ii. 10, 11.) And they tempted God in their Heart, by asking meat for their lust.] For they were not content with the bountiful provision which he had made for them, (Exod. xvi.) but* muttered within themselves against him: and wished, if he was so powerful and kind as was pretended, that he would give them a new proof of it; by sending" them meat to satisfy their wanton appetite.
Psalms 78:19
Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known. We might well say then, that thy way is quite out of our reach; (ver. 13.) who madest a passage through the sea, abroad path through the boisterous waters: which, as none ever" trod before or after, so they cannot trace the footsteps, which the waters have overflown and obliterated, (Exod. xiv. 26, 27.) Yea, they spake against God: they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?] And, at last, they openly declared that distrust of his power which was in their hearts; saying, Is God able to make us a feast here in this barren wilderness? (Numb. xi. 4, 5, &c.) yer. 20. Behold, he smote the roek, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?] It is true, he hath brought water out of a rock for us in great abundance (which perhaps was lodged there before in the ca-: verns of it, and might have flowed out of itself); but can he give us more substantial bread, (not such light stuff as. this manna is, which he also hath sent us, Numb. xi. 6.) here where no corn grows? and make an ample provision for all this multitude, of such flesh as this place doth not afford?.
Psalms 78:20
TIiou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. Nor did thy care over thy people end there; but, by the ministry of thy servants, Moses and Aaron, thou didst conduct them with the same tenderness that a good shepherd doth his sheep, through a horrid wilderness, in which thou feddest them, till they came to Canaan. [And thither the same power can, and the same goodness will, I hope, restore us: though now we seem neglected by thee, as our fathers were, for a time, in the land of Egypt.]
Psalms 78:21
Therefore the Lord heard this, and tvas wroth: so afire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel. Which rude and insolent language highly incensed the Divine displeasure: so that he sent lightning from heaven (Numb. xi. 1.) to consume those whom he had before cherished: and he resolved also to punish them more severely, before he had done with them, (ver. 33.)
Psalms 78:22
Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation. Because they had so mean an opinion of him, that they jdurst not confide in him, and commend themselves to his good providence; to preserve and conduct them safe to Canaan.
Psalms 78:23
Tlwugh he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven. No, not after such extraordinary benefits as they had received from him: “for he had undertaken in a miraculous manncT (as is fit to be more particularly remembered) to dispense food to them from above, and to make the clouds the granary, whose doors ho opened to them.
Psalms 78:24
And had rained down manna upon them to eat, andhad t given them of the corn of heaven. And, instead of rain (to make the earth with long labour become fruitful), to send showers of manna out of the air, (Exod. xvi. 4.) which was a kind of corn ready prepared for them, (Numb. xi. 8, 9.)
Psalms 78:25
Man did eat angels foodi he sent them meat to the full. There was not a man among that vast multitude, but was fed with that strong and hearty, or rather princely, food; brought to them from the habitation, and by the ministry, of angels. This was their daily entertainment, as long as their travels in the wilderness lasted; and they had it in such abundance, that none of them could pretend they were not sufficed, (Exod. xvi, 16, 17. 35.)
Psalms 78:26
He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven; and by his power he brought in the south wind. And therefore it was not to satisfy their hunger, but to reprove their unbelief, that he was pleased to comply with their desires; and,* when the wind blew violently out of the east, turned it by his power into the south:
Psalms 78:27
He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea. Which brought a great cloud of quails(a delicious bird) from the coasts about the Red Sea: which (either tired with long flight, or beaten down with the wind) came pouring down like showeTS of rain; and lay on the ground, as thick as the dust or the sand on the sea-shore, from whence they came, (Numb. xi. 31.)
Psalms 78:28
And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations. There was no need of labour, or of any art, to catch them; neither needed they go far to take them up: for they dropped down in the midst of their camp; and lay also many miles round it, in such heaps, that they, who would, might fetch enough to serve them for a whole month, (Numb. xi. 20. 31.)
Psalms 78:29
So they did eat, and were well filled: for lie gave them their own desire. So they had not only a tasteof his liberality, but were glutted and crammed with them: for he satisfied their longings to the full.
Psalms 78:30
Tliey were not estranged from their lust: but while the meat was yet in tlieir moutlis. And they were not hindered from eating as much as they pleased;, nor was this diet become at all nauseous to them; but they greedily feasted on these birds to the end of the month: and at that very time had these sweet morsels in their mouths, (Numb, xi. 33.)
Psalms 78:31
Tlie wrath of God came upon them, und slew the fattest of thctn, and smote dotvn the chosen men of Israel. When the Divine vengeance seized on them, by a very great pestilence, (Numb. xi. 33.) which swept away the strongest and goodliest persons that were in Israel.
Psalms 78:32
For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous ivorks. But these punishments wrought no more change in their hearts than his benefits, for they added new sins to all the former; and were not moved by any of his wonderful works, to believe that he was able to bring them into the land of promise, (Numb. xiv. 2—4.)
Psalms 78:33
Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble. For which cause he resolved they should never come thither, but be consumed in the wilderness: (Numb. xiv. 28. 33, &c.) where, though they travelled up and down very much and long, yet it was to no purpose; for they were never the nearer to their journey’s end, nor were ever free from one plague or other, till they wctc utterly destroyed.
Psalms 78:34
Wlien he slew them, then they sought him; ami they returned and inquired early after God. They re-
Psalms 78:35
And they remembered that God was their Rock, and the high God their Redeemer,. And. professed that they would trust in God hereafter for safety and deliverance: who they acknowledged was superior to all other gods, and had been their mighty redeemer.
Psalms 78:36
Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues. But all this was little more than speaking him fair, while they lay under his correcting hand: and they did not sincerely intend to do as they promised, when it was removed..
Psalms 78:37
For their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his covenant. For their hearts were not rightly disposed, nor firmly resolved to adhere unto him; as appears by their frequent revolts from their engagements; which they never faithfully observed, but as constantly broke, as they renewed their Covenant with him, (Numb. xvi. 3. xx. 3, 4. xxi. 5. 7. xxv.l, 2, &c.)
Psalms 78:38
But he, beingfull of compassion, for gave their iniquity, and destroyed them not; yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. Yet he was so full of compassion, that after he had threatened utterly to destroy them, (Numb. xiv. 11, 12.) he remitted very much of the severity of the sentence; and did not cut them off at once, (ver. 15. 17, 18.) but very often spared them when they deserved to be punished; or when he punished them, did it less than their deserts.
Psalms 78:39
For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again. For he considered how frail they were, and that they could not continue long (though he did not snatch them away), but would moulder of themselves into dust; and vanish like a blast of wind, which makes a bustle and noise for a little time, and then is dispersed and heard of no more.
Psalms 78:40
How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert?. How many times, before this terrible threatening, did they provoke him to anger in the wilderness? (Numjj.xiv. 22.) and afterward did things exceeding offensive to him, in other parts of the desert? (Numb. xvi. xx. xxi. xxv.)
Psalms 78:41
Yea, they turned back, and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. Being so vilely ungrateful, as to talk of returning into Egypt; (Numb. xiv. 4.) or requiring, upon every occasion, new proofs of his power: nay, questioning whether it could do all things, though he had wrought so many wonders; and appointing him, who had so often shewn himself to be incomparably greater than all other gods, what he should do, (as I said before, ver. 19,20.) if he intended to have them believe on him.
Psalms 78:42
They remembered not his hand, nor the day wlien lie delivered them from the enemy. For they quite forgot (this was the reason of their naughtiness, ver. 11, 12, which is fit again to bo repeated), or never laid to heart, the mighty things he had done for them: especially that mipmorable time, when he, by his power alone, delivered them from the tyranny of Pharaoh, who most miserably oppressed them.
Psalms 78:43
How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wondersin the field of Zoan.* They did not seriously ponder the evident demonstration he gave of his uncontrollable power, in the miraculous judgments which he sent upon the Egyptians; even upon the court of Pharaoh, and the principal city of the kingdom.
Psalms 78:44
And had turned their rivers into blood, and their floods, that they could not drinkJ. When, for instance, he left them no water to quench their thirst; by turning the river Nile, (Exod. vii. 17. 19, 20.) with all the streams that were derived from it, and all their ponds and pools of water, into blood.
Psalms 78:45
He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them. And sent an infinite swarm of the most pestilent, and to them the most odious sort of flies, (Exod. viii. 21, 22.) which bit the Egyptians, as they used to do their dogs: as not long before he had sent such an army of frogs to invade all places, (ver. 3. 8, 9, &c.) and so to spoil their meat and drink, and every thing else, that if this plague had lasted, they must have left their country, or not have lived.
Psalms 78:46
He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labour unto the locust. Alter which he exposed the fruits of the earth, for which they had taken long pains, to be devoured by various kinds of locusts; with which the whole country was so overspread, that nothing else but they were to be seenuponthefaceofthe earth. (Exod. x. 5.)
Psalms 78:47
He destroyed the vines with hail, and their sycamore-trees with frost. Which had been miserably harassed before, by storms of hail, both small and great: whereby not only the grapes and such-like fruit were smitten dow T n, but the trees themselves (for instance, the vines, and the wild fig-trees) quite killed, and corrupted at the very root, (Exod. ix. 18,19.25.)
Psalms 78:48
He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunder-bolts. For there was a dreadful thunder, and lightning mixed together with it; which let no living creature escape, but destroyed even the cattle and the flocks, which were left abroad in the field, (Exod. ix. 22, 23, &c.)
Psalms 78:49
He cast upon them the fierceness of Ms anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them. Many other ways he plagued them, which were tokens of his severest displeasure; by a grievous murrain, by fiery boils, by a most dismal darkness, (Exod. ix. 10.) till at length he sent evil angels, (who had frighted them in that darkness, Wisd. xvii. 3.) as the ministers of his heavy wrath.
Psalms 78:50
He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death,’ but gave their life over to the pestilence. Which irresistibly and speedily seized on them, wheresoever he found them; and spared not their lives: but took away the first-born of all their cattle by a pestilential disease, (Exod. xii. 30.)
Psalms 78:51
And, smote all the first-born in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham. As w r ell as the first-born of all their children (the prop of their families, in whom the hope of future succession was principally laid), throughout the dwellings of the posterity of Cham, the father of the Egyptians, (Gen. x. G. Exod. xii. 30.)
Psalms 78:52
But made his: own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. And by that means brought forth his people from among them, (Exod. xii. 31.) as peaceably as a shepherd doth bis sheep out of
Psalms 78:53
Arid he led them on safely, so that they feared not; but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. He conducted them securely, even through the Red Sea, without any apprehension of danger, (Exod. xiv. 19. 22.) but overwhelmed Pharaoh and his followers, in that very path where they (ravelled in safety.
Psalms 78:54
And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased-. And never ceased his care over them (notwithstanding all their provocations), till he brought them into Iris holy land; and (in the issue) to this Mount Zion: which, not their prowess, but his mighty power, by the hand of David, won for them, (2 Sam. v. 6, &c.)
Psalms 78:55
He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. And after he had expelled the old inhabitants, who were not able to stand before them, (Josh, xii.) he distributed, by lot, to every tribe their portion of land, which they should inherit, (Josh, xiv.) and settled them in a quiet possession of it, (Josh. xxi. 43, 44.)
Psalms 78:56
Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies. Yet, after so many, and so great benefits, they behaved themselves no better, in that good land, than they had done in the wilderness: but as soon as Joshua and the ciders were dead, (Judg. ii. 7. 10.) they disbelieved the threatenings of their law, and would make a trial whether they were true or not; provoking the great Lord of all the world, by slighting his commandments, which he had so strictly enjoined them to observe.
Psalms 78:57
But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow. They imitated their forefathers, both in their frequent apostacies from God, and in their falseness to their promises, when they pretended to repent of them; (Judg. ii. 13.18,19. iii. 7, &c.) having depraved minds and hearts, which (like an* ill-made bow, that never sends the arrow to the mark) would turn aside into crooked ways, and not be directed according to the will of God.
Psalms 78:58
For they provoked him to anger with their high places, andmoved him to jealousy with their graven images. For they highly incensed him, by their altars and images, (Judg. vi. 25.) which they built after the manner of the heathen, (Numb. xxii. 41.) in the high places; where they worshipped a number of false gods, (Judg. x. 6.) to his great offence and dishonour.
Psalms 78:59
When God heard this, he teas wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel. Which was so notorious, that the Judge of the world could not but take notice of it, and severely punish it; by abandoning that people, for whom he had done such wonders, into the hands of the Syrians, the Moabites, the Midianites, Philistines, and the children of Amnion (see the book of Judges), who made them as contemptible unto others, as they were loathsome unto him. Ver. GO. So that he forsook the tabernacle ofShiloh, the tent which he placed among men.] Insomuch that, at last, he quite forsook the city of Shiloh, where, in his tabernacle, he had been graciously pleased to be present with them, (1 Sam. iv. 3, 4.) and would never return unto it any more, (Jer. vii. 12. and see Argument of Psal. Ixviii.)
Psalms 78:61
And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemies 9 hand. Nay, he let the ark of the covenant, the special token of his presence with them, from whence his power was wont to appear most gloriously for them, not only fall into their hands; but be carried away captive by the Philistines, (1 Sam. iv. 11. 22. v. 1.)
Psalms 78:62
lie gave his people over also to the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance. Whose sword slew a great number of his people; (ISam. iv. 10.) so exceeding angry was he with those, whom he had formerly taken into his special care, above all other nations, (Deut. xxxii. 8, 9.)
Psalms 78:63
Tlie fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage^. For it was by his Divine vengeance, more than the Philistines’ valour, that they lost abundance of brave young men; the very flower of their army: by which means many of their virgins were constrained to remain unmarried; and they that found husbands were fain to omit all tokens of joy; in a time of public sorrow. Ver. G4. Their priests fell by the sivord; and their widows made no lamentation.] For some of their priests, who were peculiarly consecrated to God’s service, were slain in this battle, (1 Sam. iv. 11.) and their wives, oppressed with grief, did not long survive, to make any public funeral for them, (ver. 20.)
Psalms 78:65
Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine. The Lord himself also (who was wont to fight for us) seemed no more concerned in all these calamities, which befel both us and our religion, than a mighty commander is at that w r hichis done to his army when he is asleep, or overcome with wine: till at last, like such a great warrior (who being awaked calls for his arms, and charges the enemy with greater fury), he vindicated his honour in a terrible manner, and made a very great destruction among them, (1 Sam. v. 9.11.) Ver. 66* And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts; he put them to a perpetual reproach.] For, besides the fall of Dagon before the ark, he smote several cities of the Philistines, with a grievous sort of hemorrhoids; whereof many died, and the rest languished under most miserable torments: (1 Sam. v. 6. 9. 12.) the monuments of which they themselves were forced to make, and send back with the ark; to his great glory, and their eternal reproach, (vi. 3, 4. 9.) ■,
Psalms 78:67
Moreover, he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim. Yet he would not return to Shiloh again (which was in the tribe of Ephraim, the son of Joseph), nor have the ark of his presence placed there any more.
Psalms 78:68
But chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion, which he loved. But first it was brought to Kirjathaim, (1 Sam. vi. 21.) a city of the tribe of Judah, (Josh. xv. 6.) where he resolved hereafter to have his special residence: and so from thence (after a’ short stay at the house of Obed-Edom) unto Mount Zion, (1 Chron. xiii. 6. xvi.l. 3. 29.) which he preferred before the hill of Kirjathaim, (1 Sam. vii. 1.) or any other place in all the country..
Psalms 78:69
And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever. There Solomon
Psalms 78:70
He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheep-folds. For as he had rejected Shiloh, and chosen Zion for the place of his dwelling; so he had likewise rejected Saul, and chosen David (the father of Solomon) to be the king of his people: a mau, who served him as faithfully in that office, as he had done his father in keeping of his sheep.
Psalms 78:71
From following the ewes great with young he broiight him to fe n d Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. From that -mean employment he took him, and raised him to the highest charge and dignity; that the care he had employed in looking after the ew T es,- and their lambs when they should fall, he might exercise in governing his people; and endeavouring that they, whom he had chosen for his own peculiar inheritance, did no’way miscarry.
Psalms 78:72
So lie fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfithiess of his hands. And he did not deceive his expectation; but governed them with equal integrity and prudence: never designing anything but their good; and dexterously accomplishing whatsoever he designed.