Idahoan Psalter: Psalm 78

The Idahoan shares his paraphrase of the 78th psalm.
Lyrics:
Give ear, all ye people, unto the Lord’s law,
Incline your ears to the words of His mouth,
For our fathers His ancient mysteries saw,
And He in a parable reveals truth:
Ye have known the wisdom of the Lord,
From age to age passed down;
Teach ye your children all His word,
That they may know of His renown,
And vest their hope and trust in Him,
His commandments all to keep,
Not like the tribe of Ephraim,
Who forgot Him and did destruction reap!
Nor like our fathers whom Moses led,
Who, stubborn and faithless, did rebel,
Though before their eyes God the sea divided,
And in the desert, all their thirst did quell!
Though by day with a pillar of cloud He them led,
And by night gave them light with a pillar of fire,
Though for them to eat He poured out angels’ bread,
They complained against Him and provoked Him to ire:
For their food they demanded flesh instead,
Though they did not believe He could flesh provide.
And so with abundance of quail He them fed,
But then slew the fattest of them for their pride!
So it was, many times, that they tempted the Lord.
Only in punishment did they remember,
To seek God most high and listen to His word,
Though He was their foundation and their redeemer!
In word they besought Him in every peril,
But liars they were, for down deep within,
His power they impugned and did gripe and quarrel,
But time and again He forgave all their sin,
For he was the Holy one of Israel,
And they are but flesh that passes away,
Like a breeze that arises and fades in a day.
Give ear, all ye people, unto the Lord’s law,
Incline your ears to the words of His mouth,
For our fathers His ancient mysteries saw,
And He in a parable reveals truth:
On His covenant our fathers turned their back,
And deliv’rance from slavery in Egypt forgot,
Even though in the desert they had no lack,
And by His power He wonders in Egypt wrought!
He turned the rivers into blood,
And Egypt plagued with frogs and flies;
To worms and locusts He gave all their food,
And with darkness veiled the skies;
He smote their orchards and vineyards and cattle,
With frost and thunderbolts and hail,
He sent among them a destroying angel,
In the night all of Egypt’s firstborn to slay,
And He buried their chariots under the sea,
While His own people He led safely away!
To the promised land God our fathers brought,
And vanquished the heathen before their eyes;
Unto them He divided the land by lot,
But in spite of all this they His word did despise!
Idols they erected under every green tree,
Thus provoking the Lord God unto jealousy,
Until God, in anger, abhorred Israel,
And delivered them up unto their enemy,
To slay them and make those who lived miserable,
Under the cruel lash of captivity!
Their men He slaughtered, their maidens left barren,
And for their death there was no lamentation,
But then God awakened His deliverance again;
He smote Israel’s foes as they all fled away,
And the shame of defeat haunts them unto this day!
God called David of Judah to be His vassal,
And him He exalted upon Zion’s hill,
From looking after the sheep and the cattle,
To become the shepherd of all Israel,
And so he did reign from Jerusalem’s castle,
O’er the children of Jacob with justice and skill.
Give ear, all ye people, unto the Lord’s law,
Incline your ears to the words of His mouth,
For our fathers His ancient mysteries saw,
And He in a parable reveals truth!

[@dorothyspencer7861]

promo sm 😏