A SHEPHERD WITH INTEGRITY OF HEART
Passage: Psalm 78:40~72  
Key verse: 72
40 How often they rebelled(A) against him in the wilderness(B)
and grieved him(C) in the wasteland!
41 Again and again they put God to the test;(D)
they vexed the Holy One of Israel.(E)
42 They did not remember(F) his power—
the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,(G)
43 the day he displayed his signs(H) in Egypt,
his wonders(I) in the region of Zoan.
44 He turned their river into blood;(J)
they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent swarms of flies(K) that devoured them,
and frogs(L) that devastated them.
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,(M)
their produce to the locust.(N)
47 He destroyed their vines with hail(O)
and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
48 He gave over their cattle to the hail,
their livestock(P) to bolts of lightning.
49 He unleashed against them his hot anger,(Q)
his wrath, indignation and hostility—
a band of destroying angels.(R)
50 He prepared a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death
but gave them over to the plague.
51 He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,(S)
the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.(T)
52 But he brought his people out like a flock;(U)
he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
53 He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
but the sea engulfed(V) their enemies.(W)
54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
to the hill country his right hand(X) had taken.
55 He drove out nations(Y) before them
and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;(Z)
he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.
56 But they put God to the test
and rebelled against the Most High;
they did not keep his statutes.
57 Like their ancestors(AA) they were disloyal and faithless,
as unreliable as a faulty bow.(AB)
58 They angered him(AC) with their high places;(AD)
they aroused his jealousy with their idols.(AE)
59 When God heard(AF) them, he was furious;(AG)
he rejected Israel(AH) completely.
60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,(AI)
the tent he had set up among humans.(AJ)
61 He sent the ark of his might(AK) into captivity,(AL)
his splendor into the hands of the enemy.
62 He gave his people over to the sword;(AM)
he was furious with his inheritance.(AN)
63 Fire consumed(AO) their young men,
and their young women had no wedding songs;(AP)
64 their priests were put to the sword,(AQ)
and their widows could not weep.
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,(AR)
as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.
66 He beat back his enemies;
he put them to everlasting shame.(AS)
67 Then he rejected the tents of Joseph,
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;(AT)
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,(AU)
Mount Zion,(AV) which he loved.
69 He built his sanctuary(AW) like the heights,
like the earth that he established forever.
70 He chose David(AX) his servant
and took him from the sheep pens;
71 from tending the sheep(AY) he brought him
to be the shepherd(AZ) of his people Jacob,
of Israel his inheritance.
72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;(BA)
with skillful hands he led them.
Cross references
- Psalm 78:40 : S Ex 23:21
- Psalm 78:40 : Ps 95:8; 106:14
- Psalm 78:40 : Eph 4:30
- Psalm 78:41 : S Ex 17:2
- Psalm 78:41 : S 2Ki 19:22; Ps 71:22; 89:18
- Psalm 78:42 : S Jdg 3:7; S Ne 9:17
- Psalm 78:42 : S Ps 27:11
- Psalm 78:43 : Ex 10:1
- Psalm 78:43 : S Ex 3:20
- Psalm 78:44 : Ex 7:20-21; Ps 105:29
- Psalm 78:45 : Ex 8:24; Ps 105:31
- Psalm 78:45 : S Ex 8:2, 6
- Psalm 78:46 : Na 3:15
- Psalm 78:46 : S Ex 10:13
- Psalm 78:47 : Ex 9:23; Ps 105:32; 147:17
- Psalm 78:48 : Ex 9:25
- Psalm 78:49 : Ex 15:7
- Psalm 78:49 : S Ge 19:13; 1Co 10:10
- Psalm 78:51 : S Ex 12:12; Ps 135:8
- Psalm 78:51 : Ps 105:23; 106:22
- Psalm 78:52 : S Job 21:11; S Ps 28:9; 77:20
- Psalm 78:53 : S Ex 14:28
- Psalm 78:53 : Ex 15:7; Ps 106:10
- Psalm 78:54 : Ps 44:3
- Psalm 78:55 : Ps 44:2
- Psalm 78:55 : S Dt 1:38; S Jos 13:7; Ac 13:19
- Psalm 78:57 : S 2Ch 30:7; Eze 20:27
- Psalm 78:57 : S ver 9
- Psalm 78:58 : S Jdg 2:12
- Psalm 78:58 : S Lev 26:30
- Psalm 78:58 : Ex 20:4; S Dt 5:8; 32:21
- Psalm 78:59 : Ps 55:19
- Psalm 78:59 : S Lev 26:28; S Nu 32:14
- Psalm 78:59 : S Dt 32:19
- Psalm 78:60 : S Jos 18:1
- Psalm 78:60 : Eze 8:6
- Psalm 78:61 : Ps 132:8
- Psalm 78:61 : S 1Sa 4:17
- Psalm 78:62 : S Dt 28:25
- Psalm 78:62 : S 1Sa 10:1
- Psalm 78:63 : S Nu 11:1
- Psalm 78:63 : S 1Ki 4:32; Jer 7:34; 16:9; 25:10
- Psalm 78:64 : 1Sa 4:17
- Psalm 78:65 : Ps 44:23
- Psalm 78:66 : 1Sa 5:6
- Psalm 78:67 : Jer 7:15; Hos 9:13; 12:1
- Psalm 78:68 : S Nu 1:7; Ps 108:8
- Psalm 78:68 : S Ex 15:17; S Ps 68:16
- Psalm 78:69 : S Ps 15:1
- Psalm 78:70 : S 1Sa 16:1
- Psalm 78:71 : S Ge 37:2
- Psalm 78:71 : S Ps 28:9
- Psalm 78:72 : S Ge 17:1
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source:  BibleGateway
Through Israel’s fractured history and God’s long-suffering and faithful shepherding, we can acknowledge the truth. First, the examples of unfaithfulness in the past highlights the importance of faithfulness in our generation. Second, what we do in our lives is recorded in God’s book. Third, God shepherds us with long-suffering patience and restores us in his covenant. Reflecting on God’s patience and mercy regardless of our past sins and failures, shouldn’t we give thanks to him? Let us seek to live according to God’s words and for his glory.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for your mercy and love to us. Help us grow to be shepherds with integrity of heart and raise up shepherds for your flock.
One Word: Remember God’s work, keep his words