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because they did not believe God or rely on His salvation.
Psalms 78:22 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB because they didn’t believe in God, and didn’t trust in his salvation.
  • KJV Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:
  • NKJV Because they did not believe in God, And did not trust in His salvation.
  • NASB Because they did not believe in God And did not trust in His salvation.
  • NLT for they did not believe God or trust him to care for them.

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 root of God's anger was their refusal to believe in Him or trust His salvation. Unbelief, not mere hunger, was the core sin.

Overview

This verse names the heart of the offense: they 'didn't believe in God' nor 'trust in his salvation.' Asaph diagnoses unbelief as the source of all their rebellion. Hebrews 3-4 applies this very wilderness failure as a warning, urging believers to hold fast their faith in the salvation God provides in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • Heb 3:18–19And to whom did He swear that they would never enter His rest? Was it not to those who disobeyed?
  • Jude 1:5Although you are fully aware of this, I want to remind you that after Jesus had delivered His people out of the land of Egypt, He destroyed those who did not believe.
  • Deut 1:32But in spite of all this, you did not trust the LORD your God,
  • Heb 11:6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
  • Heb 3:12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.
  • Isa 7:9The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all.’”
  • 1 Jn 5:10Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony within him; whoever does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given about His Son.
  • Ps 106:24They despised the pleasant land; they did not believe His promise.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

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 78:22YouTube · 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 78:22 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.