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They spoke against God, saying, “Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?
Psalms 78:19 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Yes, they spoke against God. They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
  • KJV Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?
  • NKJV Yes, they spoke against God: They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
  • NASB Then they spoke against God; They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
  • NLT They even spoke against God himself, saying, “God can’t give us food in the wilderness.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The people openly questioned whether God could even set a table in the desert. Their sarcastic doubt insulted the One who had already redeemed them.

Overview

Speaking against God, Israel challenged His ability to provide in the wilderness. The taunt 'Can God prepare a table?' reveals hearts that had forgotten the Exodus miracles. Ironically God does spread tables for His people, supremely in the Lord's Supper, where Christ feeds believers in the wilderness of this world.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • Num 21:5and spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you led us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!”
  • Num 11:4Meanwhile, the rabble among them had a strong craving for other food, and again the Israelites wept and said, “Who will feed us meat?
  • Exod 16:3“If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt!” they said. “There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death!”
  • Ps 23:5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
  • Exod 16:8–10And Moses added, “The LORD will give you meat to eat this evening and bread to fill you in the morning, for He has heard your grumbling against Him. Who are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the LORD.”
  • Num 11:13Where can I get meat for all these people? For they keep crying out to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’
  • Num 20:3The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished with our brothers before the LORD!
  • Job 34:37For he adds rebellion to his sin; he claps his hands among us and multiplies his words against God.”
  • 2 Chr 32:19They spoke against the God of Jerusalem as they had spoken against the gods of the peoples of the earth—the work of human hands.
  • Rev 13:6And the beast opened its mouth to speak blasphemies against God and to slander His name and His tabernacle—those who dwell in heaven.
  • Rom 9:20But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 78:19YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 78:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.