Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 78:18
And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.
18. by asking &c.] By asking food for their appetite: a different word from that rendered lust in Psa 78:30. The allusion is not to the demand for flesh, but to the doubt whether God could provide food for the people at all (Exo 16:2 ff.). In the verses which follow, the murmurings which preceded the first sending of manna and quails (Exodus 16) are fused with those which preceded the second sending of quails (Numbers 11).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And they tempted God in their heart – Exo 16:2. The heart was the source of the evil. They were not satisfied with what he gave them. They asked for that which would be more agreeable to them, and they did it with a complaining and a murmuring spirit. It is not wrong in itself to ask of God that which will be better than what we now possess, for that is the object of all our prayers; but this may be done from a wrong motive – for mere self-gratification, as was the case here; or it may be with a complaining and dissatisfied spirit, such as was evinced on this occasion. In such a case we cannot expect the prayer to be answered except as a punishment.
By asking meat for their lust – Food. The word meat here does not necessarily denote animal food, as it does with us. They asked another kind of food than manna; and they did it, not because this was necessary to sustain life, but in order to gratify their appetites. The original word here, however, is not lusts, but souls; that is, they asked food for themselves.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 78:18-22
And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.
The conduct of God towards the world, and the worlds conduct to Him
I. Gods dispensations towards depraved man.
1. Wonderful mercies (Psa 78:12-15; Psa 78:24-25; Psa 78:27; Psa 78:44, etc.). There are Divine deliverances, guidances, protections, and rich and varied supplies of goodness in the life of every individual man, as well as in every family, community, country, age. His mercy is in every breath of air, in every ray of light, in every pulsation of health, in every particle of food, in every pleasant sensation, in every happy thought, in every uplifting hope.
2. Disciplinary chastisements (Psa 78:21; Psa 78:34; Psa 78:44-51; Psa 78:61, etc.) ever mingle with all His mercies towards man–physical pain, social bereavement, secular trials, intellectual anxieties.
II. The conduct of depraved man towards God.
1. They insulted Him (Psa 78:18).
2. They slandered Him (Psa 78:19).
3. They doubted His truthfulness (Psa 78:22).
4. They hypocritically praised Him (Psa 78:36-37). Alas! how prevalent is this sin. What a contrast between the weakly conduct of men in relation to God and the words of adoration and praise which they address to Him on Sunday in the devotional services of their Church!
5. They apostatized from Him (Psa 78:41-42).
(1) They turned back in their hearts. Often did they express their desire to return to the flesh-pots of Egypt.
(2) In doing this they practically limited the power of God to help them through.
(3) This they did because they practically ignored His past mercies. Is not this apostasy of heart an evil almost as wide as the race?
6. They persisted in their rebellious conduct like their ancestors (Psa 78:56-57).
III. The retributive principle in human history (Psa 78:29-30; Psa 78:61-64, etc.).
1. It often works through material nature. Furious beasts, poisonous reptiles, pestiferous atmospheres, withering blights, devastating Storms, etc., the retributive principle of the Divine government is ever acting through these.
2. It works always for beneficent purposes.
(1) To prevent the spread of sin.
(2) To reform the sinner. Prevention and reformation, these are the two great elements In Gods retributive government.
3. Its greatest prodigies often fail in converting souls (Psa 78:17; Psa 78:32). Sin cannot be crushed, nor virtue generated by coercion. Blocks of ice defy the face of the mightiest storms that ever shook the earth; but before the gentle sunbeam they give way and run into sparkling streams. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 18. By asking meat for their lust.] lenaphsham, “for their souls,” i.e., for their lives; for they said in their hearts that the light bread, the manna, was not sufficient to sustain their natural force, and preserve their lives. It seems, however, from the expression, that they were wholly carnal; that they had no spirituality of mind; they were earthly, animal, and devilish.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Tempted; desired a trial and proof of Gods power, as the next verse plainly showeth. See Num 11:4.
For their lust; not for their necessary subsistence, for which they had manna, but out of an inordinate and luxurious appetite.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. in their heart (Mt15:19).
for their lustliterally,”soul,” or, “desire.”
provokingandtemptedillustrated by their absurddoubts,
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they tempted God in their heart,…. Which is desperately wicked, and from whence all impiety flows; they entertained hard thoughts of God; they inwardly fretted at their present circumstances, and secretly repined and murmured against God, and wished for things they should not; not being contented with what they had, and thankful for them, as they ought to have been:
by asking meat for their lust; or, “for their soul”; such as their souls lusted after, and their sensitive appetites craved; for they were not satisfied with the bread they had, which was sufficient for their sustenance and support; they wanted food for pleasure and wantonness; to ask for daily bread is right, but to ask for more to consume on our lusts is wrong, Jas 4:3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
18. And they tempted God in their heart. This is the provocation of which mention is made in the preceding verse. Not that it was unlawful for them simply to ask food, when constrained to do so by the cravings of hunger. Who can impute blame to persons, when being hungry, they implore God to supply their necessities? The sin with which the Israelites were chargeable consisted in this, that not content with the food which He had appointed them, they gave loose reins to their lusts. He, at that time, had begun to feed them with manna, as we shall again see by and by. It was their loathing of that sustenance which impelled them eagerly to desire new food, as if they disdained the allowance assigned them by their heavenly Father. This is what is meant when it is said that they asked food for their soul (326) They were not reduced to the necessity of asking it by hunger; but their lust was not satisfied with living on the provision which God had appointed for them. On this account, it is declared, that they tempted God, overpassing, as they did, the bounds within which he had limited them. Whoever, undervaluing and despising the permission or license which He grants, gives full scope to his own intemperate lust, and desires more than is lawful, is said to tempt God. He acts as if he would subject Him to his own caprice, or questioned whether He could do more than he is pleased really to do. God has power to accomplish whatever he wills; and assuredly, the person who would separate the power of God from his will, or represent him as unable to do what he wills, does all he can to rend him in pieces. Those are chargeable with doing this, who are set upon trying whether he will grant more than he has given them permission to ask. That, therefore, the lust of the flesh may not stir us up to tempt him, let us learn to impose a restraint upon our desires, and humbly to rest contented within the limits which are prescribed to us. If the flesh is allowed to indulge itself without control, we will not be satisfied with ordinary bread, but will often, and in many ways, murmur against God.
(326) The word נפש, nephesh, for soul, has great latitude of signification. It sometimes signifies the sensitive or animal appetites, as in this passage. The people had their wants abundantly supplied, and yet they remained unsatisfied and querulous. It is therefore said, that they demanded meat לנפשם, for their souls; i e. , not for their real wants, which they might rationally and lawfully desire to have supplied, but to gratify their sensitive and carnal appetites. Our English Bible, and Calvin on the margin of the French version, give a very happy translation, They tempted God, by asking meat for their lust
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
18. Tempted God “They wished to put God to the proof, with a view to renounce him altogether, in case he should not give them what they wanted.” Hengstenberg. And this was at their first permanent halting-place after leaving Sinai. So soon (after three days’ march, Num 10:33) were effaced the awful impressions at the giving of the law!
Asking meat for their lust The complaint began with the “mixed multitude” which had followed them out of Egypt. Num 11:4. The manna sufficed for temperate and healthful desert life, but meat was demanded as a luxury. The history says “they lusted a lust,” that is, they lusted inordinately. Blind appetite, in man or brute, is unreasoning, impatient, and rebellious.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 78:18. By asking meat for their lust See Hasselquist’s Travels, p. 290.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 78:18 And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.
Ver. 18. And they tempted God in their heart ] In their hearts first, but afterwards also with their lips. The psalmist here striketh at the root of their wickedness.
By asking meat for their lust
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
lust = soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
by asking meat: Psa 106:14, Psa 106:15, Exo 16:2, Exo 16:3, Num 11:4, 1Co 10:6, Jam 4:2, Jam 4:3
Reciprocal: Exo 17:2 – wherefore Psa 95:9 – When Psa 105:40 – asked Mal 3:15 – they that tempt Mat 4:7 – Thou Mat 6:31 – What shall we eat Act 5:9 – to tempt 1Co 10:9 – tempt Heb 3:8 – of 1Jo 2:16 – the lust of the flesh Rev 18:14 – thy soul
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
78:18 And they tempted God in their heart by {l} asking meat for their lust.
(l) Then to require more than is necessary, and to separate God’s power from his will, is to tempt God.