to put (used in a great variety of applications · conjunction + verb, qal, 3rd person masculine plural
hope
כִּ֫סְלָ֥םkis.Lam
H3689
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
God
בֵֽאלֹהִ֗יםve.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
forget
יִ֭שְׁכְּחוּYish.ke.chu
H7911
to mislay · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
works
מַֽעַלְלֵיma.'a.lei-
H4611
an act (good or bad) · noun, common masculine plural construct
God
אֵ֑ל'El
H410
strength · noun, common masculine singular absolute
keep
יִנְצֹֽרוּyin.Tzo.ru
H5341
to guard · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
commandments
וּמִצְוֹתָ֥יוu.mitz.vo.Tav
H4687
a command · conjunction + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Deuteronomy 5:29 O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and…
Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Deuteronomy 4:9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from t…
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
John 14:21-24 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love…
Jeremiah 17:7-8 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
1 John 3:22-24 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
Deuteronomy 8:2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee,…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 78:1-8
These verses, which contain the preface to this history, show that the psalm answers the title; it is indeed Maschil - a psalm to give instruction; if we receive not the instruction it gives, it is our own fault. Here,
I. The psalmist demands attention to what he wrote (Psa 78:1): Give ear, O my people! to my law. Some make these the psalmist's words. David, as a king, or Asaph, in his name, as his secretary of state, or scribe to the sweet singer of Israel, here calls upon the people, as his people committed to his charge, to give ear to his law. He calls his instructions his law or edict; such was their commanding force in themselves. Every good truth, received in the light and love of it,…
That they might set their hope in God,.... And not in the creature, nor in any creature enjoyment; see Job 31:24, the Lord is the only proper object of hope and confidence; Christ, who is truly God, is the hope of his people, and in him they place it, as they have great reason to do; since with him there is mercy, the mercy of God is proclaimed in him; and with him there is redemption, which includes the blessings of peace, pardon, and righteousness; and a plenteous one, a redemption from all sin; and it is the Gospel which points out these things in Christ, and encourages a firm and settled hope and trust in him: and this shows that that is meant by the law and testimony; since the law of M…
Psalm 78:7-11
7. That they might set their hope [314] in God, and not forget the works of God; but keep his commandments. 8. And that they might not be as their fathers, a rebellious [or an apostatising] and a provoking generation; a generation which directed not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful towards God. 9. The children of Ephraim, being armed and shooting with the bow, turned back in the day of battle. 10. They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law. 11. And they forgat his works, and the wonders which he had shown them.
7. That they might set their hope in God. Here the Psalmist points out the use to which the doctrine which he had stated sh…
The Church Fathers
"That they may put their hope in God, and may not forget the works of God, and may seek out His commandments" [Psalm 78:7]. "And may not forget the works of God:" that is to say, in magnifying and vaunting their own works, as though they did them themselves; while "God it is that works," in them that work good things, "both to will and to work according to good will." [Philippians 2:13] "And may search out His commandments."...The commandments which He has commanded. How then should they still search out, whereas they have already learned them, save that by putting their hope in God, they do then search out His commandments, in order that by them, with His aid, they may be fulfilled?
His righteousness cried, "If ye come straight to me, I also will come straight to you but if ye walk crooked, I also will walk crooked saith the Lord of hosts;" meaning by the crooked ways the chastisements of sinners. For the straight and natural way which is indicated by the iota of the name of Jesus is His goodness, which is firm and sure towards those who have believed at hearing: "When I called, ye obeyed not, saith the Lord; but set at nought my counsels, and heeded not my reproofs." Thus the Lord's reproof is most beneficial. David also says of them, "A perverse and provoking race; a race which set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful with God: they kept not the covenant of God, and would not walk in His law." Such are the causes of provocation for which the Judge comes to inflict punishment on those that would not choose a life of goodness. Wherefore also afterwards He assailed them more roughly; in order, if possible, to drag them back from their impetuous rush towards death. He therefore tells by David the most manifest cause of the threatening: "They believed not in His wonderful works. When He slew them, they sought after Him, and turned and inquired early after God; and remembered that God was their Helper, and God the Most High their Redeemer." Thus He knew that they turned for fear, while they despised His love: for, for the most part, that goodness which is always mild is despised; but He who admonishes by the loving fear of righteousness is reverenced.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Commandments · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Faith · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Forgetting God · Works — Works
Hope · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Missionaries, All Christians Should Be As · In the family — In the family
School · In the home — In the home
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The poet begins very similarly to the poet of Ps 49. He comes forward among the people as a preacher, and demands for his tra a willing, attentive hearing. תּורה is the word for every human doctrine or instruction, especially for the prophetic discourse which sets forth and propagates the substance of the divine teaching. Asaph is a prophet, hence Psa 78:2 is quoted in Mat 13:34. as ῥηθὲν διὰ τοῦ προφήτου.
(Note: The reading διὰ Ἠσαΐ́ου τοῦ προφήτου is, although erroneous, nevertheless ancient; since even the Clementine Homilies introduce this passage as the language of Isaiah.)
He here recounts to the people their history מנּי־קדם, from that Egyptaeo-Sinaitic age of yore to which…
God holds each generation responsible for its own response, which should be to maintain faith and hope (see 9:18; 27:14) and avoid being stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful (see Deut 9:6-7; 10:16; 30:6; 31:27).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 78:7
That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:
That they might set their hope in God. Faith cometh by hearing. Those who know the name of the Lord will set their hope in him, and that they may be led to do so is the main end of all spiritual teaching. And not forget the works of God. Grace cures bad memories; those who soon forget the merciful works of the Lord have need of teaching; they require to learn the divine art of holy memory. But keep his commandments. Those who forget God's works are sure to fail in their own. He who does not keep God's love in memory is not likely to remember his law. The design of teaching is practical; holine…
