Psalm 78:17

Psalm 78:17, in plain English

But even with all this—even after witnessing God's power and receiving His care—the people kept sinning against Him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High. Gratitude and trust didn't follow.

Why it's here

This is the tragic turn. You've just heard about miracle after miracle, provision after provision—and now he pivots to show that none of it changed their hearts. Ingratitude is their response.

Who's speaking

Asaph, now delivering the painful contrast.

Where it sits in the story

This is the pattern of human faithlessness: seeing God's goodness and choosing rebellion anyway. It's happening in your heart too, if you're honest.

The scholarly reading

Despite all these miracles, the people continued sinning against God, rebelling even in the desert against the Most High.

Language and setting

The conjunction כִּי (*ki*, but/yet) marks the dramatic reversal—from divine generosity to human ingratitude. The verb חָטָא (*ḥata*, to sin) and מָרַד (*marad*, to rebel) suggest both transgression and the attitude underlying it: willful defiance of a known authority. This is not ignorance but conscious choice.

Voice

The narrator articulating the moral paradox that structures the entire historical meditation.

Significance

This is the turn that makes the psalm's pedagogical point inescapable: even when God's presence is visible and His provision tangible, Israel chooses rebellious independence. Knowing is not the same as obeying.

15He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as abundant as the seas.

16He brought streams from the stone and made water flow down like rivers.

17But they continued to sin against Him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High.

18They willfully tested God by demanding the food they craved.

19They spoke against God, saying, “Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?

Read all of Psalm 78 — The longest historical psalm — a retelling of Israel's journey from Egypt to David. Remember, so the next generation won't forget.