Bible Strands
Psalms 78:42
They did not remember His power—the day He redeemed them from the adversary,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses Israel while recounting their wilderness rebellion, directly following the statement that they repeatedly tested God and provoked the Holy One.
The words — The Hebrew זָכְר֥וּ (za.khe.Ru) translates literally as "they remembered," standing in direct contrast to the verb פָּדָ֥/ם (pa.Da/m) meaning "he ransomed" or "redeemed."
The thread — The failure to recall divine rescue appears in Judges 8:34, Jeremiah 32:21, and Exodus 14:12, where Israel’s repeated amnesia regarding God’s signs and deliverance precedes further provocation.
Why it lands — The text records their active forgetfulness of God’s power at redemption, requiring readers to treat historical deliverance as a factual anchor for present obedience rather than a forgotten event.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.
Cross-references
- Judges 8:34 The Israelites failed to remember the LORD their God who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.
- Jeremiah 32:21 You brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror.
- Exodus 14:12 Did we not say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
- Psalms 78:11 They forgot what He had done, the wonders He had shown them.
- Psalms 106:7 Our fathers in Egypt did not grasp Your wonders or remember Your abundant kindness; but they rebelled by the sea, there at the Red Sea.
- Psalms 136:10 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt His loving devotion endures forever.
- Exodus 13:9 It shall be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the Law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For with a mighty hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt.
- Isaiah 11:11 On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
- Psalms 78:21 Therefore the LORD heard and was filled with wrath; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and His anger flared against Israel,
- Exodus 14:30 That day the LORD saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore.