But they tempted and provoked God, the Most High, and kept not his testimonies,
Psalm 78 has just described God settling Israel in the land He promised. Verse 56 turns the story. The people who received all this tested Him and would not keep what He had entrusted to them.
Where this failure happened matters as much as what it was.
It is a very significant fact, and a word of warning to us, that the greatest failure of this nation came, in the end, when they were in the land. That is a very solemn thing. The greatest failure happened when they held all their God-given privileges. They had divine power available to them. They were under the leadership God Himself had appointed, in the land flowing with milk and honey.
Israel tested God in the wilderness too. What did that testing sound like?
Testing Jehovah in the desert meant saying, "Is Jehovah among us or not?" This may seem to unbelievers a small offence; in the eyes of God and of faith it is an outrage. Had He not broken the pride and power of Egypt on behalf of His poor unworthy people? Had He not brought them out of the house of slavery in triumph, as their Guide and their Rearguard, to live among them and be their God?
The verse gives God a title here: Most High. That name carries weight.
I have been looking into the force of the Hebrew words for Most High. It is clear that in the end the title refers to God in the millennium, as the supreme God then displayed, with everything false shut out. That is the force of the word. He alone holds the place of the one true God, above all others and shutting out all others. He is exalted as supreme in government. Jehovah is, as we know, the God who is in relationship with Israel, but He is the supreme God, the Most High.
God had cared for His people. Their sin against that care had two sides.
Yet despite such clear and gracious care on God's part for the welfare of His people, they dared to test and provoke the Most High God. On the negative side, they did not keep His commandments (v. 56). On the positive side, they deliberately turned back and acted unfaithfully, as their fathers had.
All these offences grow from one root. The record of them is a warning.
They saw His works and quickly forgot them. God fed them by miracle every day, yet they constantly tested Him through unbelief. They disbelieved both His salvation and His wonders. They did not keep His testimonies… Verse 22 uncovers the root of all this evil: "they did not believe in God." And again in verse 37: "their heart was not steadfast toward Him." … No heart is right with Him that is not born of Him — that is not established by faith in His saving grace. Meanwhile the Church gets the warning she needs, because the Spirit has recorded what happened to that faithless generation.
Why did Israel sink so low and lose to its enemies? These verses give the reason.
From this passage we learn that the secret of their low condition, and their defeat at the hands of their enemies, lies in their disobedience and idolatry. They "did not keep His testimonies." … Then follows the solemn statement, "When God heard this, He was angry and greatly abhorred Israel." From 1 Samuel 2:17 we learn that "man abhorred the offering of the LORD"; now we learn that the Lord abhorred idolatrous Israel.
The ESV says that God "utterly rejected Israel," and that the men treated the offering "with contempt." The older wording used here shows the parallel more plainly.
The psalm does not end at the failure.
Sovereign grace is the only resource of God, if He is to bless man. All His dealings, however gracious, fail to reach their goal. He loves His people, but He has no resource for blessing them except His own grace… But when everything was at its worst, He awakes in love for His people, moved by their misery and by His love to them. Then He accomplishes the purpose of His own grace in His own way.
- Privilege — the worst failure came not in the desert but in the land, with every God-given advantage in hand.
- Provocation — testing God means asking whether He is among us, after He has already proved He is.
- Person — the One provoked is the Most High, the supreme God above every rival, exalted as supreme in government.
- Root — unbelief lies behind it all: a heart not steadfast toward Him. The record still warns us.
- Resource — when all His dealings had failed, God's own grace was still His way to bless.
And they drew back and dealt treacherously like their fathers they turned like a deceitful bow.
Psalm 78 retells Israel's story so that a later generation would learn from it, and this verse reaches their life in the land — settled, provided for, and unfaithful anyway. Two questions follow: why compare them to a bow, and why insist they were doing just what their fathers did?
The fall was not sudden. One writer traces the steps through the verses around this one.
The departure is now told in the shortest way. There is nothing new in what they did, except the new chances the high places of the land gave them. The departure is, first, plain rebellion — they "did not keep His testimonies." Then, more openly and decisively, they "turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers; they twisted like a deceitful bow." The next verse shows a direct attack on the central worship. The high places, which the one sanctuary was meant to replace, rose up again, and carved images stirred the Lord to jealousy.
A bow is only as good as the moment someone draws it.
"A deceitful bow" describes a man who fails just when his help is most needed, as when a bow suddenly breaks.
Another writer presses the picture further. The failure is not only useless. It does damage.
They have returned, but not to the Most High. They are like a deceitful bow: it springs aside and wounds the hand that bends it.
The verse says they "acted treacherously," which is stronger than weakness. One commentator sets the two sides of their conduct side by side.
On the negative side, they did not keep His commandments (v. 56). On the positive side, they deliberately turned back to act unfaithfully as their fathers did. Though pretending to honour God, they were guilty of cold-hearted deceit.
This verse says they were like their fathers. One writer explains why that is no surprise.
The history that follows shows that the children were like their fathers. The flesh learns nothing from its own failure, or from the failure of past generations; it never changes.
God answers such treachery. The same writer also names what should have kept them from it.
God breaks all outward links with the people who have forsaken Him. God had carried out His purposes despite all the unbelief and rebellion of His people. That should have led them to obey the Lord and worship Him only.
One writer applies this turning back to the difference between copying other people's faith and dealing with God yourself.
When a trial comes, if we have not had this personal dealing with God, we often find that we have only been imitators of others. Then, like the Ephraimites, we are "armed with the bow" and we "turn back on the day of battle." But if we have been in the habit of bringing God in, we will turn to Him in the day of battle. Turning to Him is not turning our back to the enemy.
The psalm does not stop at this failure. One writer points to where it ends.
The raising up of David to be king marked a distinct turning point in God's dealings with Israel. It was an extraordinary display of His grace, when the whole nation had turned away from God and everything had been forfeited and lost. Read Psalm 78:56-72 and this becomes very plain. The psalm pictures God acting like a giant waking from sleep and roused with great power. The Philistines had carried off the ark. But "He chose David His servant," and through him He rolled back the tide of disaster, and there was safety, food and guidance for His people.
- Neglect first. It starts small — they stop keeping His testimonies. Then comes open unfaithfulness, then idols.
- Then treachery. Next comes not weakness but deliberate unfaithfulness, while they still pretend to honour God.
- The bow. A deceitful bow fails at the very moment you need it — worse, it springs aside and wounds the hand drawing it.
- Always the same flesh. They copied their fathers because the flesh learns nothing — not from its own failure, not from an earlier generation's.
- Yet grace answers. God broke His outward links with a people who had forsaken Him, and then chose David — grace acting when everything was already lost.
And they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
Psalm 78 retells Israel's story, and this verse marks the turn: life in the promised land became open offence against God. It names two things — "high places" and "idols", which older translations call "carved images" — and both mean worship that people chose for themselves.
The psalm traces Israel from Egypt, through the desert, and into the land. One commentator points out where the worst collapse falls in that sequence:
Here is a very significant fact, and a word of warning to us. The greatest failure of this nation came when they were in the land. That is a very solemn thing. The greatest failure happened while they held their God-given privileges. They had divine power available to them. They were under the leadership God Himself appointed, in the land flowing with milk and honey.
A "high place" was a shrine on high ground, picked by the worshippers themselves. God had already named the one place where His people were to come.
The LORD would choose His own centre, and His people had to come there with their offerings. The Israelites were to destroy all the high places of the other nations... The time soon came when Israel chose high places for themselves. Some were for idol worship, and some for the worship of the LORD. But all the high places, whatever the motives of those who set them up, were offensive in His sight. They were the expression of the creature's self-will, of hearts not subject to His commandments.
The verse sets the high places beside the idols. One writer asks what drove people up those hills:
Why the high places? It speaks of the proud desire of people to claim a higher position than others in their professed worship. They will not take the lowly place of unworthy but thankful worshippers of God... They may say at first that it is really God they are worshipping. But they almost at once add the "carved images" spoken of in the same verse. This was idolatry, not the worship of God at all. Because of this, God had every right to be moved to jealousy, for they were robbing Him of His glory!
God had forbidden such objects, and they did not stay harmless.
They would no doubt say that these things were there to remind them of God. But God had forbidden such things. Using them always lowered God in their eyes, until the things themselves became the objects of their worship.
Jealousy sounds like a flaw until you see whose jealousy it is and what it protects.
He is jealous because He cannot allow any rival a place in the hearts of those He loves. He must have the whole heart, because He alone is worthy of it, and He alone can fill and satisfy it for ever. And if His people turn away from Him and go after idols of their own making, He must leave them to reap the bitter fruit of their own doing.
The verses just after this one show God leaving Shiloh, where the tabernacle then stood. One writer points out who supplies the explanation for that collapse:
The Spirit of God has given us His commentary on this solemn time in Psalm 78:56-64. From this passage we learn the secret of their low condition and the defeat that followed at the hands of their enemies: their disobedience and idolatry... From 1 Samuel 2:17 we learn that "the men treated the offering of the LORD with contempt"; now we learn that the Lord treated idolatrous Israel with contempt.
The loss went further than a battle. The ark, the sign of God's presence, passed into enemy hands.
God had departed from Israel in every visible sign of relationship... Every formal link between them was broken. God might still speak by a prophet, and in fact He did. That rested on grace that was sovereign with Him — a right no one could take from Him, to use whenever He pleased. But the established order of things was at an end. The ark did not return to its place until David's time.
The application is not confined to hilltops and statues.
Anything that supplants Christ in the heart of a Christian is an idol, and ought to be judged and put far from us.
- Place. Israel's worst failure came not in the desert but in the land, surrounded by every God-given privilege.
- Pride. The high places were worship done Israel's own way, on ground they picked instead of the place God named.
- Pretence. Images kept to remind people of God became the things they worshipped, robbing Him of His glory.
- Passion. God's jealousy is love refusing a rival; He claims the whole heart because He alone can satisfy it.
- Price. The cost was Shiloh, the ark and every visible link with God. Yet His sovereign grace still spoke.
God heard, and was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel
Asaph's long retelling of Israel's story reaches its darkest turn here. God hears what His people have become in the land He gave them, and His answer is wrath and rejection — against the very nation He had brought out of Egypt. (Where the commentators below say "abhorred," the ESV says "utterly rejected.")
One writer sets the word "abhorred" beside an earlier line in Israel's history.
The Spirit of God has given us His commentary on this solemn time in Psalm 78:56-64. From this passage we learn that the secret of their low condition, and the defeat that followed at the hands of their enemies, is found in their disobedience and idolatry. They "did not keep His testimonies." "They provoked Him to anger with their high places, and moved Him to jealousy with their carved images." Then comes the solemn statement: "When God heard this, He was angry and greatly abhorred Israel." From 1 Samuel 2:17 we learn that "man abhorred the offering of the Lord"; now we learn that the Lord abhorred idolatrous Israel.
Another commentator asks why it was high places, and finds pride in the answer.
These were places of worship — supposedly the worship of God at first, but contrary to God. Why the high places? It speaks of people's proud desire to claim a higher position than others in their professed worship. They refuse the lowly place of unworthy but thankful worshippers of God. It is just like people today who are proud of the highest steeple they can put up on a so-called "church." They may say at first that it is really God they are worshipping, but they almost at once add the "carved images" spoken of in the same verse. This was idolatry, not the worship of God at all. Because of this God certainly had a right to be moved to jealousy, for they were robbing Him of His glory!
One writer marks where in Israel's history this failure came.
It is a very significant fact, and a word of warning to us, that the greatest failure of this nation came when they were in the land. That is a very solemn thing. Their greatest failure happened when they held all their God-given privileges, when they had divine power available to them, and when they were under God's appointed leadership in the land flowing with milk and honey.
God's anger took visible form. One writer follows what happened to Shiloh and to the ark.
Shiloh is given up, and the tent He had in wonderful loving-kindness pitched among men. He gave His strength — "the ark of His strength" (Psalm 132:8) — into captivity among the Philistines. He gave His beauty, or splendour, which is still the ark seen from another side, into the hand of Israel's oppressor. So God had left Israel in every visible sign of relationship, and "Ichabod" was written on the whole nation, just as the dying wife of Phinehas said. Every properly ordered link was snapped apart. God might still speak by a prophet, and in fact did so, for that depended on a grace that was sovereign with Him. But the established order of things was at an end.
Israel still had the ark and expected it to hold them up.
God will have reality. If Israel thought that the ark, which was the outward pledge of God's presence, could or would support them in their sinful state, they were greatly mistaken. God will be no party to what is not true and real, so He says, "I will let my ark go."
Another writer names what lay behind it: evil among God's people that no one judged.
"If we judged ourselves, we would not be judged by the Lord." Israel — yes, Eli too — failed to give glory to God in this way. So God had to vindicate His own glory, as we have seen, by delivering it into the enemy's hand… Such are the awful results of unjudged evil in the house, and among the people, of God.
The psalm does not end at verse 59. One writer shows what the ruin makes way for.
God has fully tested man — by His testimony, by His mighty works, by His dealings in government, and by His mercy. It was all in vain. Man ruins himself completely and forfeits every claim to blessing on the ground of carrying out his responsibilities. So it is plain that if man is to be blessed, everything must depend on God. Man's complete ruin makes way for God to show His love and power for His people. But if God steps in for a people who have hopelessly ruined themselves, it cannot be on the ground of what they are for God, but wholly because of what God is for the people.
- Heard. God's wrath answers what He heard: high places and carved images in the land He gave them.
- Abhorred. Men had treated the Lord's offering with contempt; now the Lord abhorred idolatrous Israel.
- Forsook. Shiloh given up, the ark in enemy hands, "Ichabod" written over the nation, every visible link snapped.
- Refused. God will have reality. He would not let a symbol prop up a sinful people, so He let the ark go.
- Chose. Man's ruin makes way for grace: blessing rests not on what Israel is for God, but on what God is for His people.
And he forsook the tabernacle at Shiloh, the tent where he had dwelt among men,
For centuries after Israel entered the land, the tabernacle stood at Shiloh. This verse records the moment God walked away from a tent He Himself had pitched among people — so why would He leave the home He chose?
The words point back to a remarkable act of kindness before they announce a judgment. God had come down to live in a tent among His people. Every visible sign that tied Him to them was bound up in that one place.
God's repayment follows in the next two sections of the psalm. First He removes the defiled sanctuary. He gives up Shiloh, and the tent He had pitched among men in wonderful loving-kindness. And He gave His strength — "the ark of His strength" (Ps. 132:8) — into captivity among the Philistines. He gave His beauty, or splendour — still the ark, but seen from another side — into the hand of Israel's oppressor. So in every visible sign of relationship, God had departed from Israel.
Israel expected to win their battle because they had the ark. Instead God let the ark go, and one writer explains why.
Israel hoped the Philistines would be defeated, and the Philistines feared the same. The very opposite happened. As a Psalm says, God "forsook His dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where He dwelt among mankind, and delivered His power to captivity, His glory to the hand of the foe" (Ps. 78:60-61). Do you know why that was? God will have reality. If Israel thought that the Ark, which was the external pledge of God's presence, could or would support them in their sinful state, they were badly mistaken.
Eli was the priest at Shiloh. One writer traces the whole disaster back to sin that nobody there dealt with.
Israel — and Eli in particular — failed to judge themselves, and so failed to give glory to God. That is why God had to vindicate His own glory, as we have seen, by delivering it into the enemy's hand. Such are the terrible results of unjudged evil in the house and among the people of God.
The word "forsook" is final. Israel got the ark back from the Philistines, but Shiloh never got it back.
In the words of Psalm 78, "He forsook His dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where He dwelt among mankind." To that tent He never returns. The ark stays at Kiriath-jearim, in the house of Abinadab, all through the days of Samuel and Saul. We find the tabernacle later at Gibeon, but it is empty.
Centuries later God told His people to go and look at the ruin of Shiloh.
The ruins of Shiloh show that Jehovah's holiness never changes. That empty place is powerful proof of God's displeasure when people turn away from Him. "Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel" (Jer. 7:12). Yet the ark stayed there for more than three hundred and fifty years. Every one of those years declares the Lord's great patience with His rebellious people! God will always keep His truth, but He has put it in the care of His people. If they dishonour Him, He will scatter them, and they will lose their place of trust.
The ruin was not the end of the story. What came next rested on God's own grace, not on Israel keeping its side.
Israel's responsibility, even under the mercy declared through Moses, ended when the Philistines captured the ark. There could be no day of atonement, no blood on the mercy-seat. One word now marked everything: Ichabod, "the glory has departed." God had delivered His strength into captivity, His glory into the enemies' hands. Sovereign grace raised up Samuel the prophet, and then David. David did not bring the ark into the tabernacle at all. He brought it to Mount Zion, which in this way became the seat of sovereign grace in power, in contrast with Sinai.
- Gift — God pitched a tent among people at Shiloh in loving-kindness. The privilege came before the loss.
- Cause — evil left unjudged in God's own house forced Him to vindicate His glory by handing it to the enemy.
- Reality — the outward pledge of His presence will not prop up a people whose state contradicts it.
- Finality — He never returned to that tent; the ark stayed away, and the tabernacle at Gibeon stood empty.
- Grace — Israel's failure closed one door, and God's own grace opened another: Samuel, David, and Zion instead of Shiloh.
And gave his strength into captivity, and his glory into the hand of the oppressor;
Psalm 78 retells Israel's whole story as a lesson. Here the story hits bottom: God lets the ark — the sign of His own presence among His people — fall into enemy hands. Why would God hand over His own glory? And what can follow that?
Both phrases in this verse name one object. One writer traces each word back to the ark, and shows what the loss cost and how long it lasted.
He gave His strength — "the ark of His strength" (Ps. 132:8) — into captivity among the Philistines. He gave His beauty (or splendour) into the hand of the oppressor of Israel. That is still the ark, seen from another side. So God, in every visible sign of relationship, had departed from Israel. God might still speak by a prophet, and He did, because that rested on a grace that was sovereign with Him. But the established order of things was at an end. The ark did not return to its place until David's time (1 Chron. 13:3; Ps. 132:6).
(The ESV reads "his glory" where this older version reads "beauty" or "splendour".)
The psalm does not say the Philistines seized the ark; it says God delivered it. A commentator links that act to sin God's people refused to judge in themselves.
It was because Israel — yes, because Eli — failed to give glory to God, that God had to vindicate His own glory, as we have seen: to vindicate it by delivering it into the enemy's hand. … Such are the terrible results of evil left unjudged in the house, and among the people of God.
Israel expected the ark to carry them to victory. One writer explains why it did not.
Israel hoped to defeat the Philistines, and the Philistines feared the same. The very opposite happened. God will have reality. If Israel thought that the ark, which was the outward pledge of God's presence, could or would support them in their sinful state, they were completely wrong. God will be no party to what is not true and real, so He says, "I will let my ark go."
Losing the ark was not losing a piece of furniture. It left the people with no way to approach God at all.
Israel was corrupt in all their ways. They were reckless in their dealings with God, because they had forgotten His majesty and His holiness. They try to make the Lord one with them in their unfaithful condition, as He had been when they were in their original state. They do not come before Him to learn why He had forsaken His people. God will neither acknowledge nor help them. On the contrary, the enemy takes the ark of the covenant, the sign and the seat of His relationship with the people. His throne no longer stands among the people. His tabernacle is empty. Every ordered tie with Him stops. Where can they offer sacrifice? Where can they draw near to the Lord their God?
Handing the ark over was not God losing control of His reputation. Here a writer sees Him gaining two ends at once, and asks whether the church's story has run the same way.
God never allowed the ark to return to Shiloh; it was His judgment on the nation, and on the house of Eli. Has it not been the same with the church of God? The church fell into ruin and decay, because it left its first love. God did not let it return to the unity and power that marked it at the beginning, and He has not let it return since. In allowing the ark to fall into the enemy's hands, God secured His glory in the judgment of His people, and also of their enemies.
The psalm does not end at verse 61. After the collapse God acts, and a commentator names the only ground He acts on.
Sovereign grace is the only resource of God, if He is to bless man. All His dealings, however gracious, fail of their object. He loves His people, but He has no resource for blessing them except His own grace. If He acted on the effect of His dealings, He gives them up; they only turned aside like a deceitful bow. So it always is. But when everything was at its worst, He wakes in His love to His people, because of their misery and His love to them. Then He accomplishes the purpose of His own grace in His own way. He "chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion, which he loved… he chose David his servant."
- Glory named. "His strength" and "His glory" both mean the ark. When it went, every visible sign of God's relationship with Israel went with it.
- Glory surrendered. God Himself handed it over, because evil among His people and in Eli's house went unjudged.
- Glory refused. Carrying the symbol into battle while living in sin could not work — God will have reality, not a charm.
- Glory guarded. Even in enemy hands, God secured His own glory. He judged His people and their enemies alike, and the ark never went back to Shiloh.
- Glory regained. After total ruin God woke in love and chose Judah, Zion and David. Sovereign grace is His only resource for blessing anyone.
And delivered up his people unto the sword, and was very wroth with his inheritance
Psalm 78 retells Israel's story: God kept showing kindness, and the people kept rebelling. Here His anger falls on Israel itself, not on Israel's enemies. Two things make the words hard. God hands the sword to the enemy, and the people it strikes are the portion He calls His own.
Israel called the land God gave them their inheritance. Commentators note that God uses the same word of the people themselves.
The Bible again and again calls the land of promise the inheritance of Israel. God gave them that land flowing with milk and honey. Deut. 4:21; Ps. 105:11, etc. ... Along with this, God calls Israel His inheritance: He has chosen them for His own inheritance. Ps. 33:12; Ps. 78:62, etc.
So the shock is deliberate. His anger falls on what belongs to Him.
One writer traces the sequence: idolatry, then the abandoned sanctuary, then the people struck down.
When Israel openly practised idolatry, God's fury woke. So we read the terrible words: He "utterly rejected Israel," and He left the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent where He had set His name (vv. 59-60). Until then His strength had shown itself in His power on Israel's behalf. Now He handed that strength over to captivity (v. 61), and gave Israel, His glory, into the enemy's hand. Of course, this refers to the captivity of Israel and Judah at the end of the history of the kings. At this time He gave His people over to the sword. They suffered terribly at the hands of their enemies, because God was furious with His own inheritance (v. 62).
Commentators differ on which disaster the psalm has in view. Some read it of the captivity at the end of the kings. Others tie it to the day the Philistines captured the ark.
One writer presses a further cause: evil among God's people that nobody judged. Eli failed here as much as the nation did.
"If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged by the Lord." Israel failed to give glory to God in this way, and so did Eli. That is why God had to defend His own glory, as we have seen. He defended it by handing it over to the enemy. ... These are the terrible results of evil left unjudged in the house of God, and among His people.
Israel carried the ark into battle expecting it to work for them. One writer explains why God let the enemy take it.
Israel hoped the Philistines would be defeated, and the Philistines feared it. The opposite happened. ... Do you know why that was? God will have reality. Did Israel think the ark, the outward pledge of God's presence, could support them while they stayed in their sin? Then they were badly mistaken. God will be no party to what is not true and real. So He says, "I will let my ark go."
Losing the ark might have been shrugged off if daily life had stayed comfortable. One commentator reads the sword of this verse as God refusing to let the loss go unfelt — and finds ownership inside the blow.
If everything else went well, a man might hardly feel the loss of his great treasure. But God will not leave them like that, so chastening they could feel had to follow. So in the very act of owning that in the thoughts of His heart they were still His people, He handed them over to the sword.
The verse is not the end of the account. The arrangement that tested Israel ends here. What follows is something God begins Himself.
God had governed them under law, under testimony, and with compassionate mercy. On that ground Israel was given up completely: the tabernacle left, the ark handed over to captivity and to the enemy. The people too were given over to judgment. But the Lord's love to His people in grace was not weakened. The sorrow they came into called out that love.
The psalm then names the instrument of that love. God chose David, when the nation had nothing left to claim:
It was an extraordinary display of His grace, at a time when the whole nation had turned away from God and forfeited and lost everything. ... The Philistines had carried the ark away captive. But "He chose David also, His servant." Through him God turned back the tide of disaster, and there was safety, food, and guidance for His people.
- His own. God calls Israel His inheritance. The anger here falls on what belongs to Him. It is severe because the bond is real.
- The cause. Idolatry in the land, and evil in God's house that nobody judged, woke the anger. Had they judged themselves, the Lord would not have judged them.
- No shelter. The ark could not cover an unreal condition. God will have reality, so He let the pledge of His presence be carried off rather than back a lie.
- The proof. He struck instead of walking away. The sword was chastening, and chastening means that in His heart they were still His people.
- The outcome. The ruin did not weaken His love. Their sorrow drew it out, and He chose David. Grace starts again where everything has been lost.
The fire consumed their young men, and their maidens were not praised in [nuptial] song;
Psalm 78 retells Israel's story so the next generation would not repeat it, and this verse sits at its darkest point: Shiloh is abandoned, the ark is in enemy hands, and now the judgment reaches the nation's young. Why would God strike His own people at the very point where their future lay?
Older translations read "their maidens were not given to marriage" — the young women were left unwed.
This was not random destruction. One writer calls the fire God's own anger, and the unwed young women its direct result:
Sadly, if all else went well, man might hardly feel the loss of his great treasure. But God will not give them up to that, so chastening they could feel had to follow. Even as He acknowledged that in the thoughts of His heart they were still His people, He gave them up to the sword. The fire of His anger consumed their young men, so the young women went unwed.
Comfortable circumstances would have let Israel shrug off the loss of God's presence. The blow falls because He refuses to leave them numb.
Another writer notes the reversal: the men who should have defended the nation are the ones destroyed.
Fire consumed their young men, who should have been protecting the nation, and left the young women without hope of marriage.
Why did God allow it? One writer finds the answer in Israel's trust in the ark while their own state was sinful:
Israel hoped the Philistines would be defeated, and the Philistines themselves feared it. The very opposite happened. As a Psalm says, God "forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which He placed among men; and delivered His strength into captivity, and His glory into the enemy's hand" (Ps. 78:60, 61). Do you know why that was? God will have reality. The Ark was the outward pledge of God's presence. But if Israel thought it could or would support them in their sinful state, they were greatly mistaken. God will be no party to what is not true and real, so He says, I will let my ark go.
The fire in this verse presses the same principle further: God will not prop up a relationship His people treat as a formality.
This was not one isolated disaster. With the sanctuary gone and the ark taken, nothing outwardly marked Israel as God's people:
So God had departed from Israel in every visible sign of relationship. As the dying wife of Phinehas declared, Ichabod was written over the whole nation. Every formal link was broken. God might still speak through a prophet, and in fact He did. That rested on a grace which was sovereign with Him — His own unchallengeable right, to use whenever He chose. But the established order of things was finished.
(Ichabod means "no glory" — the name Phinehas' dying wife spoke when the enemy took the ark.)
The psalm exists to pass truth on to children, which makes the loss of a generation sharper still. One writer traces its shape:
There was not only a redemption long ago, which faith looked back to. There was also a testimony given, and a law to guide Israel's ways, which they were to make known to their children. But the fathers had been a stubborn and rebellious generation. God gave the law and the testimony so that the children would not be like their fathers. But they were like them, and their history is set out here. So God chastened them; there was direct, open government over their ways.
The psalm does not end in the ashes. Commentators read the collapse as the background for what God does next, out of Himself alone:
Sovereign grace is God's only resource, if He is to bless man. All His dealings, however gracious, fail of their aim. If He acted on the results of His dealings, He would give them up. But when everything was at its worst, He wakes in His love to His people, because of their misery and His love for them.
Man's complete ruin makes way for God to show His love and power for His people. But if God steps in for a people who have ruined themselves beyond hope, it cannot rest on what they are for God. It rests entirely on what God is for them.
- Cause — Israel leaned on the ark while living in sin. "God will have reality," so He would not back what was not true.
- Consequence — fire took the young men, the nation's defence, and left the young women with no marriage. The future itself was gone.
- Purpose — God struck while still owning them as His people. Comfort would have let them feel nothing.
- Extent — every formal link broke, and Ichabod, "no glory," stood over the nation. Only sovereign grace still spoke, through a prophet.
- Outcome — ruin made room for grace. At the worst moment He woke in love, and blessing rests on what God is for His people, not what they are for Him.
Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.
Psalm 78 retells Israel's story: God carried, fed and rescued this people, and they still ended up with a captured ark and dead priests. This verse is the low point, and it raises two questions — why did God let His own priests die, and why did their widows not weep?
The verse looks back to the collapse at Shiloh. There the Philistines, Israel's neighbours and enemies, defeated Israel and seized the ark — the gold-covered chest that marked God's presence among His people. One writer sets out the whole chain of loss:
Meanwhile, the ruin is complete. The Philistines come up against Israel and strike them. In their superstition they send for the ark of God to deliver them — the ark of the covenant they had so often broken! They are struck down again. Hophni and Phinehas are killed, and the ark is taken. Eli falls backward at the news and breaks his neck. As she dies, Phinehas' wife gives her son a name that expresses the people's terrible condition. "And she named the child Ichabod, saying, 'The glory has departed from Israel.'" The priesthood, as the link between God and Israel, had come to its final end.
One writer sets the sword beside the loss of the sanctuary. God would not let Israel lose Him and feel nothing:
Shiloh is given up, and the tent He had pitched among men in wonderful loving-kindness... If everything else had gone well, a person might hardly feel the loss of his great treasure. But God will not leave them like that, so chastening they could actually feel had to follow. In the very act of owning that in the thoughts of His heart they were still His people, He handed them over to the sword. The fire of His anger consumed their young men, so the young women never married. Their priests also fell by the sword, which left the sanctuary twice desolate. Their widows were silent with a grief that went beyond the grief of widowhood.
Commentators differ on both the date and the reason. One puts the verse in the much later captivity, and traces the silence to a conscience that had stopped feeling God's hand:
Of course, this refers to the captivity of Israel and Judah at the end of the history of the kings... Their priests too fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation. This was because the people had become so insensitive to God's dealings that they could no longer think clearly (vv. 63-64). Terrible affliction!
Another writer finds the despair too deep to come from the death of Eli's two sons alone. He blames King Saul, who set Doeg the Edomite on the priests:
The last lines reveal such a state of despair in those who were once the most honoured in the nation that we cannot think they refer only to the death of Hophni and Phinehas. Saul was surely the author of this crowning disaster... Doeg had stirred up his worst passions. Saul summoned Ahimelech the priest and all his father's house before him on a charge of conspiring with David. He ordered this Edomite to fall upon them, "who killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod." That was not all. Saul had spared Agag, king of the Amalekites, against God's express command. Now he gave the whole city of the priests to the sword... This unexpected, crushing blow fell without pity on hearts already broken by the killing of their husbands. It turned their sorrow to despair. They made no lamentation!
None of this came without warning. God had already spoken against Eli's household, and the fallen priests are that word coming true:
How literally the solemn words of judgment on Eli's house came true (1 Sam. 2:31-33; 1 Sam. 22:17-19; 1 Kings 2:27). Yet the Lord Himself would bring their deliverance, as He carried out His purposes: royalty in David, and worship in the temple built by David's son.
The priests were the appointed link to God, so their death closed an era. What follows in the psalm is not a fresh test of Israel:
This is the end, in fact, of the legal covenant, in one important aspect of it. The people had failed under it as first given — they failed completely at Sinai itself. Priesthood was then a resource... they were put under law a second time, in the hands of a mediator: first Moses, then the family of Aaron. Now these too had completely failed, and all was gone once more... Man is "flesh," and with man in the flesh this is the end. David does follow in this psalm, but this is not presented as a new trial. David is only the expression of a grace in God — a grace that will need Another to show it properly. But the grace is here.
- Ruin. Shiloh fell: the ark captured, Eli dead, and "the priesthood, as the link between God and Israel," at "its final end."
- Silence. Commentators read the widows' silence two ways: consciences too numb to "think clearly," or sorrow crushed into despair.
- Sentence. The priests' death was no accident. God's judgment on Eli's house came true to the letter.
- End. Law failed, then priesthood failed. With "man in the flesh" there was nothing left to build on.
- Grace. At the lowest point the Lord Himself brings deliverance — royalty in David, and worship in the temple built by David's son. Grace, not a new trial.
Then the Lord awoke as one out of sleep, like a mighty man that shouteth aloud by reason of wine;
By verse 65, Israel's story has hit bottom: the tabernacle abandoned, the ark in enemy hands, the people cut down. Then God wakes — and the picture raises three questions: was He asleep, what stirred Him, and what did He do next?
One commentator traces the collapse that leads up to verse 65, then marks the turn:
Psalm 78 gives the account of Israel's complete failure on the ground of responsibility. Everything is lost once it rests on their own works. The tabernacle is abandoned (verse 60); the ark goes into captivity (verse 61); judgment falls on the land, and the people are destroyed (verses 62-64). Then, in verse 65, the people's situation changes completely — a change brought about entirely by Jehovah.
Losing the ark was not one setback among many. It shut down the whole system God had given them:
Losing the ark to the Philistines was a deeply serious situation. It would stop the yearly Day of Atonement. There could be no forgiveness of sins, no priesthood at work, no sin offering. This was the consequence of their rejection of God.
The image describes how God's delay felt to people living through it, not a truth about God Himself.
This is a remarkable statement. It is as though He were unaware of the whole matter, or did not care about it. His people in that situation could certainly conclude that God had forsaken them. But thank God, in these verses we see His sovereign right to act at the very time when man has wasted himself, like the prodigal son.
The second half of the verse borrows its picture from human excitement. One writer also notes which name for God stands here:
The Lord here is not Jehovah, but Adonai, the Sovereign Lord. He awakes, as the strong figure puts it, as one out of sleep, and His full strength is with Him at once. He is "like a strong man shouting because of wine." It takes the excited energy of a man to supply the picture.
This is not Israel rallying to win back what it lost:
It is also, as we know, a beautiful trumpet-call of victory after defeat — but the Lord's victory, not man's.
Nothing in Israel caused it. God's dealings had left their hearts unchanged.
Sovereign grace is the only resource of God, if He is to bless man. All His dealings, however gracious, fail to reach their goal. He loves His people, but He has no resource for blessing them except His own grace. If He acted on the results of His dealings, He would give them up; they only turned aside like a bow that cannot be trusted. It is always so. But when all was at the worst, He wakes in His love to His people, because of their misery and His love to them.
He did not rebuild what had failed. He chose afresh — Judah, Mount Zion, David — and the choice held.
Scripture links Zion with David and his rule. It links it just as plainly with the sovereign grace of God. Everything entrusted to man in Israel had failed: the priesthood had broken down, and the ark had gone into captivity in the enemy's land... Everything looked lost, but it was not... And this was no temporary choice. As a later psalm adds, "For the Lord has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his dwelling place: 'This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.'" (Ps. 132:13-14.)
Commentators differ on where this pattern finds its fullest meaning. One reads the waking as fulfilled at the cross:
This is what the cross means. This is what it means to strip the rulers and authorities and display them openly (Col. 2:15). Here is the Lord Jesus — not seized by wicked hands, but drawing His enemies and all who hate Him into open conflict in order to rout them completely.
Another points to a rescue still future:
But the intervention of the Lord Jesus at the end of the Great Tribulation will be sudden and not expected by the world. He will beat back His enemies and put them to everlasting shame.
- Bottom — The ark was gone. Sacrifice and priesthood had stopped. Israel's own record gave God no reason to act.
- Sleep — God had not slept; He had seemed to. The picture describes how His silence felt to people who thought He had abandoned them.
- Shout — The waking is instant and at full strength. Only the picture of a roaring strong man can carry it.
- Grace — What roused Him was their misery and His own love, not their improvement. Sovereign grace is God's only resource for blessing people.
- Choice — He rose and chose: Judah, Zion, David. The old order had failed; this choice He never took back.
And he smote his adversaries in the hinder part, and put them to everlasting reproach.
The psalm has just described Israel at her lowest — the ark of God in enemy hands, her priests fallen by the sword. Then the tone changes, and this verse raises a question: why does God's blow fall on the enemy, and not on the people who provoked Him?
One writer hears a note of triumph here, and says whose triumph it is:
It is also, as we know, a beautiful trumpet-note of victory after defeat — but the Lord's victory, and not man's. And its opening words declare exactly that.
He then points to God's title here, and to the picture of a man roused by wine:
The Lord — not Jehovah, but Adonai, the Sovereign Lord — awakes, as the strong figure puts it, as one out of sleep; and His full strength appears at once with Him. He is "like a mighty man who shouts because of wine." It takes the excited energy of man to supply that picture: "He struck His adversaries backward; an everlasting reproach He inflicted upon them."
The blow lands at the nation's lowest point, and Israel could not have struck it:
Israel could hardly have been in a state of greater confusion and ruin than when David set up his throne on Mount Zion. The sanctuary was defiled, the priesthood corrupted, the ark of God in captivity, and "Ichabod" written on the whole scene — the glory had departed. For this terrible state of things there was no hope, no resource, in Israel. But God in mercy steps in.
Commentators tie these words to the Philistines, who had captured the ark of God. One writer reads the psalm as heaven's own account of what happened to them:
How solemn the divine commentary of Psalm 78 on the events of this chapter. Having said of Israel, "Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation," the Psalmist states, "Then the Lord awakened as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man who shouts because of wine. And He struck His enemies backward; He put them to lasting shame." If man, in his folly, seeks to identify the glory of God with idols, God will maintain His glory by judgment.
Another writer notes the sharpness of the insult. The Philistines paraded the ark and mocked it, as they had mocked the blind and chained Samson. Now they were dealing with Samson's God, and they "pay dearly for the insult offered to Him who is able to vindicate Himself" (C Knapp).
One writer sets two destinies side by side:
The enemy, the Gentile, must come to this, and then he will be put to lasting shame. That shame is never Israel's portion. She may have been cast off for a time because of her sins, yet she will be like a "wife of youth" (though an adulteress), when she was despised.
One writer hears this same awakening at the cross. He starts with how God's silence feels to the people living under it:
It is as though He were unaware of the whole matter, or did not care. No doubt His people in that situation could conclude that God had forsaken them… Like Israel, we have brought ourselves into the place of this governmental judgment. But "the Lord awoke as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man who shouts because of wine," and He will destroy His enemies. This is what the cross means. This is what stripping principalities and powers and making a show of them openly means (Col. 2:15). This is the Lord Jesus — not seized by wicked hands, but drawing His enemies and all who hate Him into open conflict, in order to rout them completely.
Others look forward, and commentators differ over which fulfilment is mainly in view. One applies the verse to the Lord's return:
Israel's condition has proved hopeless. So the time comes for the Lord to step in, in absolute sovereign grace, and the victory is soon won — not by Israel, but by the Lord of Israel alone… But the intervention of the Lord Jesus at the end of the Great Tribulation will be sudden and not expected by the world. He will beat back His enemies and put them to perpetual reproach.
Another writer makes the Philistine story the pattern for that future stroke. Golden memorials of their plague remained "as a perpetual witness of their shame (1 Sam. 5:6)," and "with a still more deadly and irreparable blow, Jehovah's arm will descend in judgment" on the armies gathered at the end (A. Pridham).
- Awakening — God seemed asleep. His people could conclude He had forsaken them, yet the silence ends in action, not abandonment.
- Sovereign — The title here is Adonai, the Sovereign Lord. What follows is a trumpet-note of victory after defeat — His victory, not man's.
- Backward — The enemies driven back are the Philistines who paraded the captured ark. When men tie God's glory to idols, He defends that glory by judgment.
- Everlasting — Lasting disgrace is the oppressor's portion, never Israel's. God may set her aside for a time, but He takes her back like a wife of youth.
- Again — The same pattern appears at the cross, where Christ put the powers on open display. It waits for one final blow, when the Lord steps in for a people with no resource of their own.
And he rejected the tent of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim,
Psalm 78 retells Israel's whole story, and by this point enemies have carried off the ark and Shiloh lies abandoned. This verse names what God did next: He set aside the tribe that had held the leading place, and the question is why.
Joseph and Ephraim were not minor names. The right of the firstborn had passed to them, and God's sanctuary stood on their ground at Shiloh.
After that, Shiloh lost the standing among the tribes that it had held since the days of Joshua — more than three hundred years. Jacob had given Ephraim the place of firstborn over his brother Manasseh — the place of privilege. But the tribe failed, so God's sanctuary left Ephraim's territory, where it had stood, and settled at last in Judah's inheritance, at Jerusalem. "Our Lord was descended from Judah." Here we see a truth found everywhere in Scripture. When the first man fails, and everything trusted to him falls into ruin, God steps in and brings in Christ, "the second Man." Under His headship, and in His hands, everything is secured for ever.
Ephraim had turned back in battle. Nothing was missing on God's side.
They were equipped, and so they could have stood. God had not failed them. Circumstances were not too strong for them. They had every assurance of success. They stood on ground that God's own promise had secured for them: "Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours." Yet despite all this, they turned back. This was no small slip: "they did not keep God's covenant, but refused to walk according to His law. They forgot His works and the wonders that He had shown them."
God did not repair the old arrangement. That is the force of "chose not."
But new grace must come with new experience. We must see that this is not a return to the old conditions. Once again God sets aside the firstborn, nature's own first place. The tent of Joseph is not restored. Taking up the tribe of Ephraim again as His dwelling would not display God's sovereign choice. His new relation rests on one thing only: the love in His own heart. So Zion becomes the unchanging seat appointed for His kingdom on earth, and Judah the tribe linked with it.
The names of the two tribes carry the contrast, and the same setting aside runs back through the family.
Ephraim's name speaks of the fruits of the life. Judah is the contrast: our Lord came from that tribe, and its name, "praise," points to the one thing God can dwell in: "You are enthroned on the praises of Israel." Praise for Christ is the only atmosphere in which God can stay. See how everything stresses the refusal of the flesh! Joseph himself displaced Reuben the firstborn. Ephraim, the younger brother, was chosen before Manasseh. So now again the tribe that had held the headship must be set aside — the tribe the nation's great leader Joshua came from. "The Lion of the tribe of Judah" is the only One who can prevail. All these changes press home a fact God has written all over His word: man cannot be relied on, the flesh is of no use, Christ is all.
The refusal of Ephraim comes with a choice — of a tribe, a mountain, and a man.
He refuses Ephraim and the strength of nature. He acts according to His own sovereign choice. In sovereignty He "chose" the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion for His sanctuary, and David to feed His people. So Zion becomes the symbol of grace, and David a picture of Christ, the One through whom all the grace comes to us.
If Ephraim lost the place by failing, one might assume Judah earned it. The record says otherwise.
Joseph and his son Ephraim (for whom the ten tribes were named) are displaced by Judah (vv. 67-68). Is this because of Judah's faithfulness? No indeed. Judah had been deeply guilty in selling Joseph into captivity. So he shows the total failure of the flesh. But later Judah broke down completely in repentance when Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. This shows that Israel can be blessed only when they give Christ His place of total authority and are humbled in broken repentance before Him.
- Privilege — Ephraim held the firstborn's place, and God's sanctuary stood at Shiloh on his ground. No tribe began with more.
- Failure — They were equipped and had God's promise. He never failed them. Still they turned back and forgot His works.
- Refusal — God did not rebuild the old order. He set nature's first claim aside; He did not repair it.
- Choice — God took up Judah and Zion, not for merit, but out of the love in His own heart. Zion becomes the symbol of grace.
- Christ — Where the first man fails, God brings in the second Man. The Lion of Judah alone prevails, and in His hands everything is secure.
But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved;
Psalm 78 has just told a long story of failure. Shiloh lost its place, the Philistines took the ark, and Israel's king and his sons were killed. Then, in one verse, everything turns on what God Himself chooses. Why did He pass by Ephraim, the tribe that held the birthright, and settle on Judah and on one hill He loved?
Here God starts again on a new basis, after the old one had collapsed.
Up to this point, God had dealt with Israel on the basis of their own works. But when they had brought themselves into complete ruin, He falls back on His sovereignty and acts on His own initiative for their blessing. So we read that He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loves, and again, that He chose David. This is the sovereignty of divine mercy, making a sovereign choice for the blessing of man. A mountain is a symbol of power. Mount Zion is a symbol of mighty power used in sovereign grace.
Jacob gave Ephraim the place of the firstborn, and the tabernacle stood in Ephraim's land at Shiloh for centuries. Then the tribe failed, and God moved His sanctuary south.
From that hour Shiloh lost the standing among the tribes that it had held since the days of Joshua — more than three hundred years… Jacob gave Ephraim the place of firstborn over his brother Manasseh — the place of privilege. But the failure of the tribe moved God's sanctuary out of Ephraim's territory, where it had been, and settled it at last in the inheritance of Judah, at Jerusalem. "Our Lord was descended from Judah." Here we see a truth found everywhere in Scripture. When the first man fails, and everything entrusted to him falls into ruin, God comes in and brings in Christ, "the second Man." Under His headship and in His hands everything is secured beyond change.
Psalm 78 keeps repeating one verb: God chose. That choice sets aside the rights that birth would have given.
After describing the ruin of Israel, Psalm 78 shows us Jehovah awaking. But it sets aside all rights of inheritance, and all witness to His earlier dealings with Israel. For, as 1 Chronicles 5 records, the birthright was Joseph's — yet He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loves. He chose David His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds.
Judah's own history rules out any thought of merit. It also shows the one thing God waits for before He blesses:
Is this because Judah was faithful? No indeed, for Judah had been badly guilty in selling Joseph into slavery. So Judah illustrates the total failure of the flesh. But Judah later broke down completely in repentance when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. This shows that Israel can be blessed only after they give Christ His place of total authority, humbled in broken repentance before Him. God loves Mount Zion because it stands for the pure blessing He will finally give His people Israel in the millennium.
The verse gives no reason for Zion beyond God's love for it.
What reason did God have to interest Himself in this place more than in another? There was no reason whatsoever except that He loved this city which had been under the power of the Jebusites, the enemies of Jehovah and of His anointed. His heart was attached to this place, because this is where He wanted to set up the throne of His grace on earth for good. "For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place: This is My resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it" (Ps. 132:13-14).
Scripture sets two mountains against each other.
No mountain in the Old Testament stood in such direct contrast with Sinai as Zion. The one was the unforgettable scene of the nation's responsibility to the law. The other was Jehovah stepping in with grace for His king when everything was in ruins. People and priests alike were wicked. The Philistines had taken the ark. Israel had said "Ichabod" — the glory has departed. Israel's king and his sons were killed. The Jebusites held the centre and stronghold of Jerusalem, and they were defiant and insulting. It was then that Jehovah, just as He chose David, also chose Mount Zion which He loved.
The choice of David points beyond David.
The crowning fact is His sovereign grace in choosing Judah, Mount Zion which He loved. Here we may well think of the Son of David, God's Anointed. In Him God makes His sovereign grace known, and He will yet feed Jacob and Israel His inheritance.
- Ruin first. Shiloh lost its place and the ark went to the enemy first. God chooses at the point where everything trusted to man has collapsed.
- Choice, not claim. Ephraim held the birthright and lost it; Judah had no better record. The verb "chose" cancels every natural right.
- Love as the reason. Nothing in Zion explains the choice. God loved it, desired it for His dwelling, and made it stand for the blessing He will yet give Israel.
- Zion against Sinai. Sinai stands for Israel's responsibility under law. Zion stands for God stepping in with grace after that failed.
- David, then David's Son. The choice of Judah and Zion prepares for the King who will yet feed Jacob as His inheritance.
And he built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which he hath founded for ever.
Psalm 78 has just told of a nation that failed again and again, of a God who left His tent at Shiloh, and of His glory falling into enemy hands. Verse 69 is the turn: God refuses Ephraim, chooses Judah and Mount Zion, and builds something meant to last as long as the earth.
The building described here does not happen at a high point in Israel's history. It happens at the lowest.
When David set up his throne on Mount Zion, Israel could hardly have been in worse confusion and ruin. Both the royal side and the priestly side of the nation were in great disorder. The sanctuary was defiled and the priesthood corrupted. The ark of God was in captivity. "Ichabod" stood written over the whole scene — the glory had departed. For this terrible state of things there was no hope, no resource, in Israel. But God in mercy steps in.
Nothing on Israel's side explains the choice of Judah, Zion, or David. The reason lies in God.
The Lord awakens as one out of sleep. The picture of a mighty man expresses the energy with which the Lord deals with all His enemies. He also refuses Ephraim and the strength of nature, and acts according to His sovereign choice. In sovereignty He "chose" the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion for His sanctuary, and David to feed His people. So Zion becomes the symbol of grace, and David a picture of Christ, the One through whom all the grace comes.
Zion stands for more than David's rule.
Zion is not only identified in Scripture with David and his sovereignty, but very plainly with the sovereign grace of God. In Israel everything entrusted to man had failed. The priesthood had broken down, and the ark had gone into captivity in the enemy's land... All might seem to have gone, but it was not so.
Translations differ here. Some read "like the high heavens"; others read "like the heights." Israel had its own "high places," and the comparison in this verse is with a height of another kind.
"Like the heights" speaks of what is superior to Israel's "high places," above the natural level, where yet He may dwell among His people. So it is like the land (Israel) which He has established forever. Of course, this is prophetic.
God does not restart the old arrangement. The move from a tent to a permanent building marks a change in the relationship behind it.
But the new grace must have new experience. We must see that this is not a return to the old conditions... His new relation depends only on the love in His own heart. So Zion becomes, for good, the appointed seat of His earthly kingdom, and Judah the tribe tied to it. In the same way, the "tent" now gives place to a permanent dwelling. He builds as for eternity.
Because the choice rests on God's own love, He will never reverse it:
This was no temporary choice. A later psalm adds: "The Lord has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his dwelling place: 'This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it'" (Ps. 132:13-14).
God's building has a purpose: worship. And worship has its own conditions.
Yet the Lord Himself would deliver them. He would carry out His purposes: royalty in David, and worship in the temple built by David's son... David himself had to pass through experience like the nation's, as many Psalms clearly show. The same was true of the One whom David pictured in a remarkable way. To bring God acceptable worship, a person must know blessing, and must know the Blesser. God has been pleased to reveal Himself as a Saviour God, and we must know Him in this way for the spirit of worship to awaken.
- Ruin first. God builds at the lowest point — sanctuary defiled, priesthood corrupted, ark captive, no resource left in Israel.
- Choice next. He refuses Ephraim and the strength of nature. He chooses Judah, Zion and David — so Zion becomes the symbol of grace.
- Higher ground. "Like the heights" marks a dwelling above the natural level, higher than Israel's own high places.
- Permanent. The tent gives way to a permanent dwelling. He builds as for eternity, on a relation that rests only on the love in His own heart.
- Worship. A lasting sanctuary exists for a worshipping people. Worship needs known blessing and a known Blesser — the God who reveals Himself as Saviour.
And he chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds
Psalm 78 looks back over Israel's history. Most of it records failure: a people who forgot what God had done and turned away again and again. Verse 70 is where the story turns: God makes a choice, and the choice falls on a young shepherd.
God's choice of David did not come at a high point in Israel's life. It came when the nation had nothing left.
Raising David to be king marked a distinct stage in God's dealings with Israel. The nation had turned away from God and lost everything. His grace in raising David up was extraordinary. This divine action is like a giant waking from sleep, powerfully stirred. The Philistines had carried off the ark. But "He chose David also, His servant," and through him God rolled back the tide of disaster. His people had safety, food, and guidance. That intervention of about three thousand years ago pictures the far greater intervention of God, through Christ, which is still to come.
The verse says God chose. That word matters. By the ordinary rules of inheritance, the honour belonged to Joseph's line.
After describing the ruin of Israel, Psalm 78 shows us Jehovah waking up. But it sets aside all rights of inheritance, and all testimony to His earlier dealings with Israel. For the birthright was Joseph's — yet "He CHOSE the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which He loved. He CHOSE David His servant." This psalm reaches further than the history we are looking at. Still, it applies election to David and to Zion.
Samuel had to learn this. At Jesse's house he first looked at David's older brother Eliab.
Samuel, deceived by appearances, thought Eliab was suited for the service of the Lord, the chosen ruler over God's inheritance. But he left Eliab where the Lord left him — "refused" — and the rest of Jesse's sons too. Then, at the Lord's command, they brought David in from the sheepfolds. His own family thought little of him and had not even called him to the sacrifice. God must be sovereign, or ruin would be universal and beyond remedy. God refuses, and God chooses, and there is no unrighteousness with Him. This was Samuel's lesson, and it is ours.
Each phrase carries weight: who chooses, what God calls David, and where God took him from.
"He chose David" — the Lord chooses the shepherds; they are not appointed by men. "David … His servant" — shepherds are servants of God. Christians talk a lot about "leadership" or even "servant-leadership". Scripture simply speaks about servants. "And took him from the sheepfolds" — the Lord found David where he was. Let us not forget where we came from, where the Lord has found us.
David's family gave him the job they valued least. God used it to prepare him.
The family treated minding the sheep as fit work for the youngest son. It was not even a large flock, but because he was "faithful in that which is least," God would entrust him with greater matters. Look at this young lad following his father's flock with a watchful, gentle eye on them. This marked him out as a man especially suited to be the "shepherd of Israel," a fitting picture of Him who was to be "the Shepherd of the sheep."
Because God took His king from a flock, the verse also tells us what kind of rule God approves of.
God's ideal king is neither selfish nor a tyrant. He is a wise shepherd of the people. He serves knowing that the people belong to God, and that he — the king — is only God's honoured servant in rule.
God's choice of David looks forward. The king He took from the sheepfolds was not the last word.
These passages show that God raised David to the rank of king by a special act of divine power. They also show that David was only an imperfect forecast of the infinitely greater One who was to come from his line as a man.
- Ruin first. God chose David after the nation had failed. The choice was pure grace, not a reward.
- Choice, not claim. The birthright belonged to Joseph's line. God set inheritance rights aside. He refuses and He chooses, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
- Sheepfold, not palace. The Lord found David doing the job his family valued least. God trusts the faithful in the least with more.
- Servant, not ruler. Shepherds are God's servants. The king is God's honoured servant in rule. The people belong to God, not to him.
- David, then Christ. The shepherd-king is only an imperfect forecast of the far greater One from his line — the true Shepherd of the sheep.
From following the suckling-ewes, he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
Psalm 78 spends seventy verses on Israel's ruin. Then it ends with a choice: God takes a young shepherd from among the nursing ewes and hands him a nation.
After all that failure, God does not repair the old order. He makes a fresh choice. One writer notes how the psalm sets aside every claim of natural right:
After describing the ruin of Israel, Psalm 78 shows us Jehovah awaking. But it sets aside all rights of inheritance, and all testimony to His former dealings with Israel. The birthright was Joseph's, and yet "He CHOSE the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved. He CHOSE David His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds." This psalm reaches further than our present history, but it applies God's election to David and to Zion.
Nothing was left to build on. The priesthood and the ark had both failed before God made this choice:
Scripture identifies Zion with David and his sovereignty. It also identifies Zion, very plainly, with the sovereign grace of God. This was at a time when everything entrusted to man had failed in Israel. The priesthood had broken down, and the ark had gone into captivity in the enemy's land... All might seem to have gone, but it was not so.
Each clause carries a lesson for anyone who cares for others:
"He chose David" — the Lord chooses the shepherds; they are not appointed by men. "David… His servant" — shepherds are servants of God. Christians say a lot about "leadership" or even "servant-leadership", but Scripture simply speaks about servants. "And took him from the sheepfolds" — the Lord found David where he was. Let us not forget where we came from, where the Lord has found us. "From following the nursing ewes" — David knew about special needs among his sheep. "To shepherd Jacob His people, Israel His inheritance" — never forget: the sheep are the Lord's sheep, not ours! "Feed my lambs… Shepherd my sheep… Feed my sheep" (John 21:15–17).
(Older translations read "the ewes great with young" and "to feed Jacob his people.")
Hidden service came before public service. Scripture repeats the pattern:
Joseph, in prison, learned to rule in obscurity before he governed in public, next to the mighty Pharaoh. Moses spent forty years at the back of the desert. Then he led God's people across that wild land for forty years more. David struck down the lion and the bear in secret before he killed the giant in public. He cared for his father's sheep in the wilderness before God called him to care for His people. From the sheepfold to the throne is the moral order in which God lifts a man up.
Another writer points out how small the flock was, and why that mattered:
Minding the sheep was considered fit service for the youngest of the family. Nor was it a large flock, but being "faithful in that which is least," God would entrust him with greater matters... This marked him out as a man specially suited to be the "shepherd of Israel," a fitting type of Him who was to be "the Shepherd of the sheep."
David came to the nation straight from a flock. That sets a standard for everyone who holds power:
God's ideal king is therefore neither selfish nor a tyrant. He is a wise shepherd of the people. He serves knowing that the people belong to God, and that he, the king, is only God's honoured servant in rule. In this spirit David prayed for the people when the plague was raging. He pleaded with Jehovah to spare the sheep, and punish him instead (2 Sam. 24:17).
One writer sees in this choice a greater Shepherd than David:
The crowning fact is His sovereign grace. He chose Judah and Mount Zion, which He loved, and built His sanctuary there. He chose David His servant to shepherd Jacob His people and Israel His inheritance. Here we may well think of the Son of David, God's Anointed. In Him God makes His sovereign grace known, and He will yet shepherd Jacob and Israel His inheritance.
Others draw the same line through the whole psalm's close:
In sovereignty He "chose" the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion for His sanctuary, and David to feed His people. Zion thus becomes the symbol of grace, and David the type of Christ, the One through whom all the grace is ministered.
- Chosen — the psalm ends in a choice, not a reward. God sets aside every right of inheritance and chooses Judah, Zion and David.
- Grace — the choice came at the lowest point, after priesthood and ark had failed. That is what makes Zion and David lasting pictures of grace.
- Sheepfold — God found David where he was, among ewes that needed special care. The hidden years were his training, and faithfulness with a small flock fitted him for a nation.
- Servants — Scripture calls those who care for God's people servants, not leaders. The flock is never theirs. The sheep belong to the Lord.
- Shepherd-King — shepherd-rule leaves no room for selfish or harsh power. David points on to the Son of David, who will yet shepherd Jacob and Israel, God's inheritance.
And he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and led them by the skilfulness of his hands.
Psalm 78 spends seventy-one verses tracing Israel's failure. Then it ends not with judgment, but with a shepherd on a throne. The closing line describes how David cared for the people. It answers the question the whole psalm has been building toward: what does God do when His people have failed Him completely?
The psalm's ending is not a reward for Israel's improvement. God found nothing in them to build on, so He turned to His own grace.
Psalm 78 is clearly a recap of Israel's history. It convicts them of their disobedience and unbelief, and shows how useless all God's dealings were as far as their hearts were concerned. Then, so magnificently, He turns to His own sovereign grace to bless. Sovereign grace is God's only resource if He is to bless man. All His dealings, however gracious, fail of their aim. He loves His people, but He has no way of blessing them except His own grace.
Israel's old order lay in ruins. God did not repair it.
The establishment of David upon Israel's throne was divine intervention in grace. God was setting up a new institution for the blessing of His people upon the ruins of the old.
The order matters. David cared for sheep before he ruled a nation.
Most vital of all is His choice of David as the ruler of His people. David — clearly a picture of Christ — was a shepherd before he was given the place of king. He was a servant before he became a ruler. His care for the sheep helped greatly to qualify him to be trusted with ruling the people. He learned to take and keep the lowly place of serving the people's needs instead of lording it over them.
The verse gives two measures of good shepherding, and they are not interchangeable. One is what a man is; the other is what he can do. The comment below quotes an older translation of the verse: "the integrity of his heart" and "the skilfulness of his hands".
'He chose David' — the Lord chooses the shepherds; they are not appointed by men. 'David … His servant' — shepherds are servants of God. Christians talk a lot about 'leadership' or even 'servant-leadership'. But Scripture simply speaks about servants. 'to feed Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance' — never forget: the sheep are the Lord's sheep, not ours! 'So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart' — the first requirement for shepherds is a right moral condition of heart. 'and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands' — a special skill is also needed for this work.
Shepherding is not a sentimental word. In David's life it meant rescue, protection, provision and welcome.
He was a gathering point for the distressed and discontented in Israel. He provided safety for those fleeing from Saul. David recovered everything. He rescued Israel's captives from the Amalekites. He gave a share of the spoil to those too exhausted to follow him. He fed the weak and recovered the lost. He brought the lame Mephibosheth to his table and fed him royally. He had the heart of a shepherd. To feed is to satisfy, to maintain, to protect and to provide.
The verse also shows what God looks for in a king.
God's ideal king is neither selfish nor tyrannical. He is a wise shepherd of the people. He serves in the awareness that the people belong to God, and that he — the king — is simply God's honoured servant in rule. In this spirit David prayed for the people when a plague was raging. He pleaded with the Lord to spare the sheep and punish him instead.
Authority and tenderness are not rivals here. Both belong to the same office.
David's authority was absolute, and he was to rule. He was to carry out judgment if and as needed, but also to feed his subjects and to guide them. His rule was to be absolute but wholly good for them.
What was said of David can be said of Christ, and said far more fully.
It is said of David that he fed the people according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them according to the skilfulness of his hands. How fully and perfectly the same can be said of David's Lord! Though He is now in glory, He takes account of every hair of our heads. He is never unmindful of the smallest need of any sheep of His pasture. How sweet to think of the unwearied activity of this tender and gracious Shepherd — so patient with us, so forbearing, so full of pity and wisdom!
- Ruin — all God's dealings failed to change Israel's heart. Grace was His only resource left.
- Choice — grace then acted. God chose David as His servant and shepherd; the Lord picks His shepherds, and men do not appoint them.
- Heart — a right heart is the first thing God asks of a shepherd. Character comes before skill.
- Hands — skill is still required. Right motives do not replace the skill needed to guide people well.
- Fulfilment — what was partly true of David is fully true of Christ. The sheep were always God's, never the shepherd's.