How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!
Parallel translations
- WEB How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness, and grieved him in the desert!
- BSB How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert!
- NKJV How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert!
- NASB ¶How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness And grieved Him in the desert!
- NLT Oh, how often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved his heart in that dry wasteland.
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
Asaph laments how often Israel rebelled and grieved God in the wilderness. Their repeated rebellion deeply pained Him.
Overview
The exclamation 'How often!' underscores the frequency of Israel's rebellion that 'grieved him in the desert.' Remarkably, Scripture speaks of God being grieved by sin, showing it is no mere abstraction to Him. Paul similarly warns believers not to grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Eph 4:30And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
- Ps 95:8–10Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
- Isa 63:10But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.
- Heb 3:15–17While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
- Num 14:11And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?
- Ps 106:14–33But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.
- Ps 107:11Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:
- Deut 9:21–22And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount.
- Ps 78:17And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.
- Isa 7:13And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?
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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 78:40 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
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