Psalm 78 is one of the psalms of Asaph. During King David's reign, Asaph led a group of Levites who prayed and praised God before the ark of the covenant (1 Chron 16:4-5). Asaph was also a prophet, as his psalms demonstrate, and was remembered that way (2 Chron 29:30).
In Psalm 78, the second longest of the psalms, Asaph rehearses episodes from the history of Israel, highlighting God's mighty works of salvation, the failure of Israel to give a faithful response to those works, and God's continuing mercy and faithfulness to his covenant with Abraham. He emphasizes the importance of God's people teaching this history to future generations and learning from it.
Asaph criticizes the tribe of Ephraim's lack of faith in losing the ark to the Philistines (1 Sam 4), and points to God's work with David and the tribe of Judah as a sign of hope for Israel's future (vv 60-72). We know that Asaph's hope pointed in the right direction, toward the coming of the Messiah.
We can also think of Asaph himself as a forerunner of the Messiah. Asaph begins by proclaiming, "I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old" (v 2). This verse is applied to Jesus in connection with his practice of teaching with parables (Matt 13:34-35). As Asaph brought out the meaning of Israel's history, so Jesus brought out the meaning of the Hebrew Scriptures, showing what they taught about him and the kingdom of God.
One example is in John 6, where Jesus reveals himself as the Bread of Life. Psalm 78:24, a verse about the manna in the wilderness, is quoted in John 6:31.
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