Psalms 78:32 “For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works. 33 Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble. 34 When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God. 35 And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.”
Psalms 78:10-31 is a long list of God’s blessings and endurances and patience and chastisements for Israel. Yet, “For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.” “Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.”; that is, they suffered greatly and did not, themselves, receive the blessings of His promise to live in the Promised Land, Canaan. But, God is the Sovereign Eternal “holy, Lord God Almighty” (Revelation 4:8) and, although He is patient and longsuffering, He will have His will accomplished. In this case, after He had blessed them with great abundance and had chastised them for their disobedience, “they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works”. Finally, “When he slew them, then they sought him”! On one occasion, “… the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died” (Numbers 21:6); “Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.” (Numbers 21:7). Then, for a while, “they sought him” to worship and obey Him. With the chastisement fresh on their minds, “they returned and enquired early after God”; that is, with great urgency, they “returned” to the Lord in worshipful obedience and “enquired early after God”; meaning, they prayed and sought to learn of Him, “And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.”. Let us pray that we, in our present generation, never forget “that God” is our “rock” and the He alone is our “high God” and our “redeemer”, and He plainly declared “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.” (Isaiah 42:8). Paul tells us that “all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition …” (I Corinthians 10:11).