Psalms 78:56-72

Psalms 78:56-72 AMP

Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God And did not keep His testimonies (laws). They turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers; They were twisted like a warped bow [that will not respond to the archer’s aim]. For they provoked Him to [righteous] anger with their high places [devoted to idol worship] And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images [by denying Him the love, worship, and obedience that is rightfully and uniquely His]. When God heard this, He was filled with [righteous] wrath; And utterly rejected Israel, [greatly hating her ways], So that He abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh, The tent in which He had dwelled among men, And gave up His strength and power (the ark of the covenant) into captivity, And His glory into the hand of the enemy (the Philistines). [1 Sam 4:21] He also handed His people over to the sword, And was infuriated with His inheritance (Israel). [1 Sam 4:10] The fire [of war] devoured His young men, And His [bereaved] virgins had no wedding songs. His priests [Hophni and Phinehas] fell by the sword, And His widows could not weep. [1 Sam 4:11, 19, 20] ¶Then the Lord awakened as from sleep, Like a [mighty] warrior who awakens from the sleep of wine [fully conscious of his power]. He drove His enemies backward; He subjected them to lasting shame and dishonor. Moreover, He rejected the tent of Joseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim [in which the tabernacle stood]. But He chose the tribe of Judah [as Israel’s leader], Mount Zion, which He loved [to replace Shiloh as His capital]. And He built His sanctuary [exalted] like the heights [of the heavens], Like the earth which He has established forever. He also chose David His servant And took him from the sheepfolds; [1 Sam 16:11, 12] From tending the ewes with nursing young He brought him To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. [2 Sam 7:7, 8] So David shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart; And guided them with his skillful hands.

Read Psalms 78