¹A well-written song by Asaph. Pay attention, my people, to my instruction. Listen to the words I speak. ²I will sing a song that imparts wisdom; I will make insightful observations about the past. ³What we have heard and learned— that which our ancestors have told us—⁴we will not hide from their descendants. We will tell the next generation about the Lord’s praiseworthy acts, about his strength and the amazing things he has done. ⁵He established a rule in Jacob; he set up a law in Israel. He commanded our ancestors to make his deeds known to their descendants, ⁶so that the next generation, children yet to be born, might know about them. They will grow up and tell their descendants about them.⁷Then they will place their confidence in God. They will not forget the works of God, and they will obey his commands. ⁸Then they will not be like their ancestors, who were a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that was not committed and faithful to God. ⁹The Ephraimites were armed with bows, but they retreated in the day of battle. ¹⁰They did not keep their covenant with God, and they refused to obey his law. ¹¹They forgot what he had done, the amazing things he had shown them.¹²He did amazing things in the sight of their ancestors, in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan. ¹³He divided the sea and led them across it; he made the water stand in a heap. ¹⁴He led them with a cloud by day and with the light of a fire all night long.¹⁵He broke open rocks in the wilderness and gave them enough water to fill the depths of the sea.¹⁶He caused streams to flow from the rock and made the water flow like rivers. ¹⁷Yet they continued to sin against him and rebelled against the Most High in the desert. ¹⁸They willfully challenged God by asking for food to satisfy their appetite. ¹⁹They insulted God, saying, “Is God really able to give us food in the wilderness? ²⁰Yes, he struck a rock and water flowed out; streams gushed forth. But can he also give us food? Will he provide meat for his people?” ²¹When the Lord heard this, he was furious. A fire broke out against Jacob, and his anger flared up against Israel, ²²because they did not have faith in God and did not trust his ability to deliver them.²³He gave a command to the clouds above and opened the doors in the sky. ²⁴He rained down manna for them to eat; he gave them the grain of heaven. ²⁵Man ate the food of the mighty ones. He sent them more than enough to eat. ²⁶He brought the east wind through the sky and by his strength led forth the south wind. ²⁷He rained down meat on them like dust, birds as numerous as the sand on the seashores. ²⁸He caused them to fall right in the middle of their camp, all around their homes. ²⁹They ate until they were beyond full; he gave them what they desired. ³⁰They were not yet filled up; their food was still in their mouths ³¹when the anger of God flared up against them. He killed some of the strongest of them; he brought the young men of Israel to their knees. ³²Despite all this, they continued to sin, and did not trust him to do amazing things.³³So he caused them to die unsatisfied and filled with terror. ³⁴When he struck them down, they sought his favor; they turned back and longed for God. ³⁵They remembered that God was their protector and that God Most High was their deliverer.³⁶But they deceived him with their words and lied to him.³⁷They were not really committed to him, and they were unfaithful to his covenant. ³⁸Yet he is compassionate. He forgives sin and does not destroy. He often holds back his anger and does not stir up his fury. ³⁹He remembered that they were made of flesh and were like a wind that blows past and does not return. ⁴⁰How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and insulted him in the wastelands.⁴¹They again challenged God and offended the Holy One of Israel. ⁴²They did not remember what he had done, how he delivered them from the enemy, ⁴³when he performed his awesome deeds in Egypt and his acts of judgment in the region of Zoan. ⁴⁴He turned their rivers into blood, and they could not drink from their streams. ⁴⁵He sent swarms of biting insects against them, as well as frogs that overran their land.⁴⁶He gave their crops to the grasshopper, the fruit of their labor to the locust. ⁴⁷He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore-fig trees with driving rain. ⁴⁸He rained hail down on their cattle and hurled lightning bolts down on their livestock. ⁴⁹His raging anger lashed out against them. He sent fury, rage, and trouble as messengers who bring disaster. ⁵⁰He sent his anger in full force. He did not spare them from death; he handed their lives over to destruction. ⁵¹He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, the firstfruits of their reproductive power in the tents of Ham. ⁵²Yet he brought out his people like sheep; he led them through the wilderness like a flock. ⁵³He guided them safely along, and they were not afraid; but the sea covered their enemies. ⁵⁴He brought them to the border of his holy land, to this mountainous land that his right hand acquired. ⁵⁵He drove the nations out from before them; he assigned them their tribal allotments and allowed the tribes of Israel to settle down. ⁵⁶Yet they challenged and defied God Most High and did not obey his commands.⁵⁷They were unfaithful and acted as treacherously as their ancestors; they were as unreliable as a malfunctioning bow. ⁵⁸They made him angry with their pagan shrines and made him jealous with their idols. ⁵⁹God heard and was angry; he completely rejected Israel. ⁶⁰He abandoned the sanctuary at Shiloh, the tent where he lived among men. ⁶¹He allowed the symbol of his strong presence to be captured; he gave the symbol of his splendor into the hand of the enemy. ⁶²He delivered his people over to the sword and was angry with his chosen nation. ⁶³Fire consumed their young men, and their virgins remained unmarried. ⁶⁴Their priests fell by the sword, but their widows did not weep. ⁶⁵But then the Lord awoke from his sleep; he was like a warrior in a drunken rage.⁶⁶He drove his enemies back; he made them a permanent target for insults. ⁶⁷He rejected the tent of Joseph; he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim. ⁶⁸He chose the tribe of Judah and Mount Zion, which he loves. ⁶⁹He made his sanctuary as enduring as the heavens above, as secure as the earth, which he established permanently. ⁷⁰He chose David, his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds. ⁷¹He took him away from following the mother sheep, and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people, and of Israel, his chosen nation. ⁷²David cared for them with pure motives; he led them with skill.