54 And he brought them to his holy border, this mountain, which his right hand purchased; 55 And he drove out the nations before them, and allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. 56 But they tempted and provoked God, the Most High, and kept not his testimonies, 57 And they drew back and dealt treacherously like their fathers: they turned like a deceitful bow. 58 And they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. 59 God heard, and was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: 60 And he forsook the tabernacle at Shiloh, the tent where he had dwelt among men, 61 And gave his strength into captivity, and his glory into the hand of the oppressor; 62 And delivered up his people unto the sword, and was very wroth with his inheritance: 63 The fire consumed their young men, and their maidens were not praised in [nuptial] song; 64 Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation. 65 Then the Lord awoke as one out of sleep, like a mighty man that shouteth aloud by reason of wine; 66 And he smote his adversaries in the hinder part, and put them to everlasting reproach. 67 And he rejected the tent of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim, 68 But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved; 69 And he built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which he hath founded for ever. 70 And he chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: 71 From following the suckling-ewes, he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. 72 And he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and led them by the skilfulness of his hands.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 78:54-72
Commentary on Psalm 78:40-55.
(Read Psalm 78:40-55.)
Let not those that receive mercy from God, be thereby made bold to sin, for the mercies they receive will hasten its punishment; yet let not those who are under Divine rebukes for sin, be discouraged from repentance. The Holy One of Israel will do what is most for his own glory, and what is most for their good. Their forgetting former favours, led them to limit God for the future. God made his own people to go forth like sheep; and guided them in the wilderness, as a shepherd his flock, with all care and tenderness. Thus the true Joshua, even Jesus, brings his church out of the wilderness; but no earthly Canaan, no worldly advantages, should make us forget that the church is in the wilderness while in this world, and that there remaineth a far more glorious rest for the people of God.
Commentary on Psalm 78:56-72
(Read Psalm 78:56-72)
After the Israelites were settled in Canaan, the children were like their fathers. God gave them his testimonies, but they turned back. Presumptuous sins render even Israelites hateful to God's holiness, and exposed to his justice. Those whom the Lord forsakes become an easy prey to the destroyer. And sooner or later, God will disgrace his enemies. He set a good government over his people; a monarch after his own heart. With good reason does the psalmist make this finishing, crowning instance of God's favour to Israel; for David was a type of Christ, the great and good Shepherd, who was humbled first, and then exalted; and of whom it was foretold, that he should be filled with the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. On the uprightness of his heart, and the skilfulness of his hands, all his subjects may rely; and of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. Every trial of human nature hitherto, confirms the testimony of Scripture, that the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, and nothing but being created anew by the Holy Ghost can cure the ungodliness of any.