Pentecost Season · Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time · Year B
Psalm 78:3-4, 23-24, 25+54 (24b)
Tell the Coming Generation
August 1, 2027
Overview & Insights
“We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord.” (Psalm 78:4)
Like most psalms, Psalm 78 is explicitly meant for public performance (“O my people, hear,” and “things we have heard . . . we will tell,” vv. 1–4), but unlike most, which are either prayers (Hb. tepillâ) or praises (Hb. tehillâ), this one is explicitly teaching (Hb. tôrâ; only here in the Pss. does this term not denote God’s “teaching/law”). Like Psalm 49 (v. 4, cf. Prov. 1:6), it designates itself as a parable (or “comparison,” Hb. māšāl) and as “riddles” (rendered “things hidden” in the NIV). Thus, we should expect to find in Psalm 78 explicit teaching and lessons but also something of a puzzle and mystery (as in 49:5–6, 15). The lessons are clear in virtually every verse (esp. in light of vv. 5–8), but the mysteries become apparent only after considering the psalm as a whole. To this we shall return.
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Commentary
Commentary on Psalm 78:23-29 Working Preacher
Exegesis of the rained down manna and the grain of heaven, for this Sunday.
Psalm 78: God's Guidance Despite Israel's Unbelief Enduring Word · David Guzik
David Guzik's verse by verse evangelical commentary on the psalm.
Psalm 78:3 Commentaries BibleHub
Aggregates classic commentaries on the retelling of God's wonders in one place.
Background & Word Study
The Church Fathers
Questions preachers ask
Why recount Israel’s history?
Psalm 78 teaches the next generation by rehearsing God’s wonders and Israel’s forgetfulness, including the manna and the water from the rock, so that they will set their hope in God and not forget his works.
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