God’s Kindness to Rebellious Israel
A Ps. 74:titleContemplation of Asaph.
1 Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a Matt. 13:34, 35parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
3 Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
4 Ex. 12:26, 27; Deut. 4:9; 6:7; Job 15:18; Is. 38:19; Joel 1:3We will not hide them from their children,
Ex. 13:8, 14Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
5 For Ps. 147:19He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That Deut. 4:9; 11:19they should make them known to their children;
6 Ps. 102:18That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,
7 That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;
8 And 2 Kin. 17:14; 2 Chr. 30:7; Ezek. 20:18may not be like their fathers,
Ex. 32:9; Deut. 9:7, 24; 31:27; Judg. 2:19; Is. 30:9A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation Job 11:13; Ps. 78:37that did not set its heart aright,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,
Turned back in the day of battle.
10 2 Kin. 17:15They did not keep the covenant of God;
They refused to walk in His law,
11 And Ps. 106:13forgot His works
And His wonders that He had shown them.
12 Ex. 7—12Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers,
In the land of Egypt, Num. 13:22; Is. 19:11; 30:4; Ezek. 30:14in the field of Zoan.
13 Ex. 14:21He divided the sea and caused them to pass through;
And Ex. 15:8He made the waters stand up like a heap.
14 Ex. 13:21In the daytime also He led them with the cloud,
And all the night with a light of fire.
15 Ex. 17:6; Num. 20:11; Is. 48:21; (1 Cor. 10:4)He split the rocks in the wilderness,
And gave them drink in abundance like the depths.
16 He also brought Num. 20:8, 10, 11streams out of the rock,
And caused waters to run down like rivers.
17 But they sinned even more against Him
By Deut. 9:22; Is. 63:10; Heb. 3:16rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.
18 And Ex. 16:2they tested God in their heart
By asking for the food of their fancy.
19 Ex. 16:3; Num. 11:4; 20:3; 21:5Yes, they spoke against God:
They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20 Num. 20:11Behold, He struck the rock,
So that the waters gushed out,
And the streams overflowed.
Can He give bread also?
Can He provide meat for His people?"
21 Therefore the Lord heard this and Num. 11:1was furious;
So a fire was kindled against Jacob,
And anger also came up against Israel,
22 Because they Deut. 1:32; 9:23; (Heb. 3:18)did not believe in God,
And did not trust in His salvation.
23 Yet He had commanded the clouds above,
Gen. 7:11; (Mal. 3:10)And opened the doors of heaven,
24 Ex. 16:4Had rained down manna on them to eat,
And given them of the bread of John 6:31heaven.
25 Men ate angels’ food;
He sent them food to the full.
26 Num. 11:31He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens;
And by His power He brought in the south wind.
27 He also rained meat on them like the dust,
Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas;
28 And He let them fall in the midst of their camp,
All around their dwellings.
29 Num. 11:19, 20So they ate and were well filled,
For He gave them their own desire.
30 They were not deprived of their craving;
But Num. 11:33while their food was still in their mouths,
31 The wrath of God came against them,
And slew the stoutest of them,
And struck down the choice men of Israel.
32 In spite of this Num. 14:16, 17they still sinned,
And Num. 14:11; Ps. 78:11, 22did not believe in His wondrous works.
33 Num. 14:29, 35Therefore their days He consumed in futility,
And their years in fear.
34 Num. 21:7; (Hos. 5:15)When He slew them, then they sought Him;
And they returned and sought earnestly for God.
35 Then they remembered that (Deut. 32:4, 15)God was their rock,
And the Most High God (Ex. 15:13); Deut. 7:8; Is. 41:14; 44:6; 63:9their Redeemer.
36 Nevertheless they Ex. 24:7, 8; Ezek. 33:31flattered Him with their mouth,
And they lied to Him with their tongue;
37 For their heart was not steadfast with Him,
Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
38 (Num. 14:18–20)But He, being full of Ex. 34:6compassion, forgave their iniquity,
And did not destroy them.
Yes, many a time (Is. 48:9)He turned His anger away,
And 1 Kin. 21:29did not stir up all His wrath;
39 For Job 10:9; Ps. 103:14–16He remembered John 3:6that they werebut flesh,
(Job 7:7, 16; James 4:14)A breath that passes away and does not come again.
40 How often they Ps. 95:8–10; (Eph. 4:30); Heb. 3:16provoked Him in the wilderness,
And grieved Him in the desert!
41 Yes, Num. 14:22; Deut. 6:16again and again they tempted God,
And limited the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember His power:
The day when He redeemed them from the enemy,
43 When He worked His signs in Egypt,
And His wonders in the field of Zoan;
44 Ex. 7:20Turned their rivers into blood,
And their streams, that they could not drink.
45 Ex. 8:24He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them,
And Ex. 8:6frogs, which destroyed them.
46 He also gave their crops to the caterpillar,
And their labor to the Ex. 10:14locust.
47 Ex. 9:23–25He destroyed their vines with hail,
And their sycamore trees with frost.
48 He also gave up their Ex. 9:19cattle to the hail,
And their flocks to fiery lightning.
49 He cast on them the fierceness of His anger,
Wrath, indignation, and trouble,
By sending angels of destruction amongthem.
50 He made a path for His anger;
He did not spare their soul from death,
But gave their life over to the plague,
51 And destroyed all the Ex. 12:29, 30firstborn in Egypt,
The first of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52 But He Ps. 77:20made His own people go forth like sheep,
And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;
53 And He Ex. 14:19, 20led them on safely, so that they did not fear;
But the sea Ex. 14:27, 28overwhelmed their enemies.
54 And He brought them to His Ex. 15:17holy border,
This mountain Ps. 44:3which His right hand had acquired.
55 Josh. 11:16–23; Ps. 44:2He also drove out the nations before them,
Josh. 13:7; 19:51; 23:4Allotted them an inheritance by survey,
And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
56 Judg. 2:11–13Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God,
And did not keep His testimonies,
57 But Ezek. 20:27, 28turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers;
They were turned aside Hos. 7:16like a deceitful bow.
58 Deut. 32:16, 21; Judg. 2:12; 1 Kin. 14:9; Is. 65:3For they provoked Him to anger with their Deut. 12:2high places,
And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.
59 When God heard this, He was furious,
And greatly abhorred Israel,
60 1 Sam. 4:11; Jer. 7:12–14; 26:6–9So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,
The tent He had placed among men,
61 Judg. 18:30And delivered His strength into captivity,
And His glory into the enemy’s hand.
62 Judg. 20:21; 1 Sam. 4:10He also gave His people over to the sword,
And was furious with His inheritance.
63 The fire consumed their young men,
And Jer. 7:34; 16:9; 25:10their maidens were not given in marriage.
64 1 Sam. 4:17; 22:18Their priests fell by the sword,
And Job 27:15; Ezek. 24:23their widows made no lamentation.
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
Is. 42:13Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine.
66 And 1 Sam. 5:6He beat back His enemies;
He put them to a perpetual reproach.
67 Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 But chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion (Ps. 87:2)which He loved.
69 And He built His 1 Kin. 6:1–38sanctuary like the heights,
Like the earth which He has established forever.
70 1 Sam. 16:11, 12; 2 Sam. 7:8He also chose David His servant,
And took him from the sheepfolds;
71 From following 2 Sam. 7:8; (Is. 40:11)the ewes that had young He brought him,
2 Sam. 5:2; 1 Chr. 11:2To shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel His inheritance.
72 So he shepherded them according to the 1 Kin. 9:4integrity of his heart,
And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.