Psalms 78:11

My Notes

What Does Psalms 78:11 Mean?

The psalmist diagnoses Israel's foundational failure: "And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them." The forgetting isn't accidental. It's the disease that produces every subsequent symptom in the psalm. Israel forgot what God did — and the forgetting produced the disobedience, the complaining, the testing, and the idolatry that followed.

The word "forgat" (shakach — to forget, to cease remembering, to let slip from memory) describes active loss: the memories were there and they left. The works and wonders weren't unknown — they had been "shewed them." The people saw. The people knew. And then the people forgot. The seeing and the knowing weren't enough to prevent the forgetting.

The two objects of forgetting — "works" (ma'aseh — deeds, actions, accomplishments) and "wonders" (niphla'oth — miraculous acts, extraordinary things, events that inspire awe) — cover both the regular and the extraordinary. Israel forgot God's daily provision (works) AND his spectacular interventions (wonders). The mundane mercies and the dramatic deliverances both faded from memory.

Reflection Questions

• 1.What works and wonders of God in your life have you forgotten — and how did the forgetting affect your faith?
• 2.Why does the psalmist treat forgetting as the root cause of every subsequent failure?
• 3.How does the remedy (telling the next generation) function as the antidote to the disease (forgetting)?
• 4.What specific act of God do you need to narrate out loud today to prevent it from slipping?

Devotional

They forgot. The works. The wonders. Everything God showed them — the plagues, the Passover, the sea, the manna, the cloud, the fire — forgotten. The forgetting is the original sin of Psalm 78, and every other sin in the psalm flows from it.

The word 'forgot' means the memories were present and then left. Not that Israel never knew. They saw. They experienced. They were there when the sea parted. They ate the manna every morning for forty years. They watched the cloud by day and the fire by night. The information was comprehensive, personal, and experiential. And they forgot it.

The double object — works AND wonders — means both categories vanished from memory. The daily works (manna, water, guidance) and the spectacular wonders (plagues, sea-splitting, Sinai) both faded. You'd think the dramatic would stick. But the forgetting doesn't discriminate: the daily provision and the once-in-a-lifetime miracle are equally vulnerable to memory loss.

The forgetting produces everything that follows in Psalm 78: testing God (verse 18), complaining (verse 19), doubting (verse 20), provoking (verse 40), limiting (verse 41). Every failure traces back to forgetting. You don't test a God you remember delivering you. You don't complain about provision when you remember the manna. You don't doubt power when you remember the sea parting. The forgetting creates the vacuum that the disobedience fills.

The remedy the psalm prescribes (verses 1-8) is telling — literally, telling the next generation what God did. The cure for forgetting is narrating. The antidote to memory loss is repetition. You remember by telling. You prevent forgetting by saying it out loud, again and again, to the people who weren't there.

What works and wonders of God have you let slip from memory — and when was the last time you told someone about them?

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture