Background to Psalms 78

We will not hide them from their children,
    but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
    and the wonders that he has done. 

(English Standard Version)

While Psalm 78 recounts the story of God's good provisions for the Israelites during the formative years of their being, it also reminds the reader/hearer of another aspect of God.

God is not only the God of the faithful (God's followers), but God is the God of all creation. God rained the manna down upon the people in the wilderness by "commanding the skies above" and "opening the doors of heaven" (Psalm 78:23). God directed the quail to them by "causing the east wind to blow in the heavens" and "leading out the south wind" (Psalm 78:26).

Thus, God is the God of creation and of good provision for God's people. But, the verses following our focus text in Psalm 78 remind us of still another aspect of God.

Psalm 78:29-31 echoes the story of God's giving of the manna and the quail in the book of Numbers, a story with a very different outcome from the one in Exodus 16. In Numbers 11, the Israelites cried out against Moses, saying, "If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at" (Numbers 11:4-6).

God's good provision of the manna was not enough, so quail arrived at the camp on "a wind from the LORD" (Numbers 11:31).  But  Numbers 11:33 says, "...the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people," and the LORD "struck the people with a very great plague."

The "teaching" of Psalm 78, the teaching to which the faithful should "give ear" (Psalm 78:1), is a teaching of hope in the goodness of God and a warning of the consequences of continual disobedience.

Taken from Nancy deClaissé-Walford's commentary.

Think about retelling biblical stories and continue to change us today. Try to retell as many stories of Moses as you can, now try the psalms and now the stories of Jesus. How did you go?