Verse 11
I will remember the works of the Lord - I endeavor to recollect what thou hast done in behalf of our fathers in past times; in no case hast thou cast them off, when, with humbled hearts, they sought thy mercy.
Verse 13
Thy way - is in the sanctuary - See [Psa 73:17]. I must go to the sanctuary now to get comfort, as I went before to get instruction. What a mercy to have the privilege of drawing near to God in his ordinances! How many doubts have been solved, fears dissipated, hearts comforted, darknesses dispelled, and snares broken, while waiting on God in the means of grace!
Some understand the words, Thy way is in holiness - all thy dispensations, words, and works are holy, just and true. And as is thy majesty, so is thy mercy! O, who is so great a God as our God?
Verse 14
Thou - doest wonders - Every act of God, whether in nature or grace, in creation or providence, is wondrous; surpasses all power but his own; and can be comprehended only by his own wisdom. To the general observer, his strength is most apparent; to the investigator of nature, his wisdom; and to the genuine Christian, his mercy and love.
Verse 15
The son. of Jacob and Joseph - "The sons which Jacob begat and Joseph nourished." says the Chaldee. The Israelites are properly called the sons of Joseph as well as of Jacob, seeing Ephraim and Manasseh, his sons, were taken into the number of the tribes. All the latter part of this Psalm refers to the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt; and the psalmist uses this as an argument to excite the expectation of the captives. As God delivered our fathers from Egypt, so we may expect him to deliver us from Chaldea. It required his arm to do the former, and that arm is not shortened that it cannot save.
Verse 16
The waters saw thee - What a fine image! He represents God approaching the Red Sea; and the waters, seeing him, took fright, and ran off before him, dividing to the right and left to let him pass. I have not found any thing more majestic than this.
The depths also were troubled - Every thing appears here to have life and perception. The waters see the Almighty, do not wait his coming, but in terror flee away! The deeps, uncovered, are astonished at the circumstance; and as they cannot fly, they are filled with trouble and dismay. Under the hand of such a poet, inanimate nature springs into life; all thinks, speaks, acts; all is in motion, and the dismay is general.
Verse 17
The clouds poured out water - It appears from this that there was a violent tempest at the time of the passage of the Red Sea. There was a violent storm of thunder, lightning, and rain. These three things are distinctly marked here.
1. "The skies sent out a sound:" the Thunder.
2. "Thine arrows went abroad:" the Lightning.
3. "The clouds poured out water:" the Rain. In the next verse we have,
4. An Earthquake: "The earth trembled and shook," [Psa 77:18].
Verse 19
Thy way is in the sea - Thou didst walk through the sea, thy path was through a multitude of waters.
Thy footsteps are not known - It was evident from the effects that God was there: but his track could not be discovered; still he is the Infinite Spirit, without parts, limits, or passions. No object of sense.
Verse 20
Thou leddest thy people like a flock - This may refer to the pillar of cloud and fire. It went before them, and they followed it. So, in the eastern countries, the shepherd does not drape, but leads, his flock. He goes before them to find them pasture, and they regularly follow him.
By the hand of Moses and Aaron - They were God's agents; and acted, in civil and sacred things, just as directed by the Most High.
Introduction
An enumeration of the principal effects of the goodness of God to his people, vv. 1-16; of their rebellions and punishment, vv. 17-33; their feigned repentance, [Psa 78:34-37]; God's compassion towards them, [Psa 78:38], [Psa 78:39]; their backsliding, and forgetfulness of his mercy, [Psa 78:40-42]; the plagues which he brought upon the Egyptians, [Psa 78:43-51]; the deliverance of his own people, and their repeated ingratitude and disobedience, [Psa 78:52-58]; their punishment, [Psa 78:59-64]; God's wrath against their adversaries, [Psa 78:65], [Psa 78:66]; his rejection of the tribes of Israel abut his choice of the tribe of Judah, and of David to be king over his people, [Psa 78:67-72].
The title, Maschil of Asaph; or, according to the margin, A Psalm for Asaph to give instruction; contains nothing particular. The Arabic has, "A sermon from Asaph to the people." The Psalm was probably not written by David, but after the separation of the ten tribes of Israel, and after the days of Rehoboam, and before the Babylonish captivity, for the temple was still standing, [Psa 78:69]. Calmet supposes that it was written in the days of Asa, who had gained, by the aid of the Syrians, a great victory over the Israelites; and brought back to the pure worship of God many out of the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon. See 2 Chronicles 15 and [2Chr 16:1-14].
Verse 1
Give ear, O my people - This is the exordium of this very pathetic and instructive discourse.
Verse 2
In a parable - Or, I will give you instruction by numerous examples; see [Psa 49:1-4] (note), which bears a great similarity to this; and see the notes there. The term parable, in its various acceptations, has already been sufficiently explained; but משל mashal may here mean example, as opposed to תורה torah, law or precept, [Psa 49:1].
Verse 3
Which we have heard and known - We have heard the law, and known the facts.
Verse 4
We will not hide them - In those ancient times there was very little reading, because books were exceedingly scarce; tradition was therefore the only, or nearly the only, means of preserving the memory of past events. They were handed down from father to son by parables or pithy sayings and by chronological poems. This very Psalm is of this kind, and must have been very useful to the Israelites, as giving instructions concerning their ancient history, and recounting the wonderful deeds of the Almighty in their behalf.
Verse 6
A testimony in Jocob - This may signify the various ordinances, rites, and ceremonies prescribed by the law; and the word law may mean the moral law, or system of religious instruction, teaching them their duty to God, to their neighbor, and to themselves. These were commanded to the fathers - the patriarchs and primitive Hebrews, that they should make them known to their children, who should make them known to the generation that was to come, whose children should also be instructed that they might declare them to their children; to the end that their hope might be in God, that they might not forget his works, and might keep his commandments: that they might not be as their fathers, but have their heart right and their spirit steadfast with God, [Psa 78:6-8]. Five generations appear to be mentioned above: 1. Fathers; 2. Their children; 3. The generation to come; 4. And their children; 5. And their children. They were never to lose sight of their history throughout all their generations. Some think the testimony here may mean the tabernacle.
Verse 9
The children of Ephraim - turned back - This refers to some defeat of the Ephraimites; and some think to that by the men of Gath, mentioned [1Chr 7:21]. R. D. Kimchi says this defeat of the Ephraimites was in the desert; and although the story be not mentioned in the law, yet it is written in the Books of the Chronicles, where we read, on the occasion of "Zabad the Ephraimite, and Shuthelah, etc., whom the men of Gath, who were born in the land, slew; and Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him," [1Chr 7:20-22] : but to what defeat of the Ephraimites this refers is not certainly known; probably the Israelites after the division of the two kingdoms are intended.
Verse 10
They kept not the covenant; of God - They abandoned his worship, both moral and ritual. Thev acted like the Ephraimites in the above case, who threw down their bows and arrows, and ran away.
Verse 12
The field of Zoan - "In campo Taneos," Vugate. Tanis was the capital of Pharaoh, where Moses wrought so many miracles. It was situated in the Delta, on one of the most easterly branches of the Nile. It was afterwards called Thanis; and from it the district was called the Thanitic Canton. See Calmet. Dr. Shaw thinks Zoan was intended to signify Egypt in general.
Verse 13
He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through - The reader is requested to consult the notes on the parallel passages marked in the margin on this verse and [Psa 78:14-17], etc., where all these miracles are largely explained.