Psalm 105:34

Psalm 105:34, in plain English

The seventh plague: locusts came in numbers so vast they literally couldn't be counted. God spoke the word, and they arrived to devour what little remained.

Why it's here

Locusts don't just eat a little—they consume everything. A swarm can strip a field bare in hours. An uncountable number of them would have been truly apocalyptic. After everything else, this would have felt like the end.

Who's speaking

The psalmist, describing the plague of locusts

Where it sits in the story

The escalation is deliberate. We've gone from water and frogs to insects, hail, and now locusts. Each plague is more devastating than the last. God is methodically proving that resistance is futile.

The scholarly reading

God sent locusts in unprecedented numbers, described as 'young locusts without number,' consuming what remained after the hail.

Language and setting

Exodus 10:12-15 describes the eighth plague with remarkable specificity—these were locusts in a stage of life-cycle explosion, overwhelming in their numbers. The Hebrew term *gābay* (young locusts) emphasizes the sheer multiplication. Joel's prophecy (Joel 1-2) would later employ this same plague imagery when describing eschatological judgment.

Voice

The psalmist, recounting what was acknowledged even in ancient Egypt as a catastrophic natural disaster redescribed in theological terms.

Significance

Locusts represent nature weaponized—they're not merely destructive but symbolically represent the chaos that God can unleash. The locust plague appears throughout scripture as an image of divine judgment and eschatological terror, making this plague theologically significant beyond its immediate impact.

32He gave them hail for rain, with lightning throughout their land.

33He struck their vines and fig trees and shattered the trees of their country.

34He spoke, and the locusts came— young locusts without number.

35They devoured every plant in their land and consumed the produce of their soil.

36Then He struck all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their vigor.

Read all of Psalm 105 — From Abraham to the exodus, God's faithfulness is retold as a song. He remembered His holy promise and brought His people out with joy.