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Psalm 78:10
They didn’t keep God’s covenant, and refused to walk in his law.
8and might not be as their fathers— a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that didn’t make their hearts loyal, whose spirit was not steadfast with God.
9The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.
10They didn’t keep God’s covenant, and refused to walk in his law.
11They forgot his doings, his wondrous deeds that he had shown them.
12He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
Notice
“Refused” names resistance to God’s law, making this account of a broken covenant a sober place to examine willingness to obey.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What does “refused to walk” add to the account of Israel’s broken covenant?
Write on thisWhere, if anywhere, do you recognize resistance to God’s law in your choices this week?
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Where else Scripture says this
11 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Exodus 16:28The LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?Both passages use refusal to describe the people’s failure to keep God’s law.
Deuteronomy 31:20For when I have brought them into the land which I swore to their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they have eaten and filled themselves, and grown …Both texts name covenant-breaking; Deuteronomy describes the people turning to other gods after receiving the land and its abundance.
Nehemiah 9:26–29“Nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled against you, cast your law behind their back, killed your prophets that testified against them to turn them …Refusing to walk in God’s law and casting it behind their back both describe the people’s rejection of his commands.
Deuteronomy 31:16The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers. This people will rise up and play the prostitute after the strange gods of the land where …Both passages describe a broken covenant with God; Deuteronomy names forsaking him for the gods of the land.
Judges 2:10–12After all that generation were gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who didn’t know the LORD, nor the work which he had done for …Both concern a generation’s failure toward God, though Judges emphasizes ignorance of him and Psalm 78:10 emphasizes refusal.
2 Kings 10:31But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He didn’t depart from the sins of Jeroboam, with which he made …Both describe failure to walk in God’s law, with Kings naming Jehu’s lack of wholehearted obedience.
2 Kings 17:14–15Notwithstanding, they would not listen, but hardened their neck like the neck of their fathers who didn’t believe in the LORD their God.Refusal marks both accounts: the psalm names refusal to walk in God’s law, while Kings describes people who would not listen.
Jeremiah 31:32not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which covenant of …Both name the people’s breach of God’s covenant; Jeremiah identifies it with their fathers’ deliverance from Egypt.
Ezekiel 5:6She has rebelled against my ordinances in doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries that are around her; for they …Both use walking to describe obedience and record the people’s rejection of God’s law or statutes.
1 Chronicles 16:17He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant,God’s covenant with Israel is central to both texts: Chronicles records its confirmation, while the psalm records its breach.
Ezekiel 11:12You will know that I am the LORD, for you have not walked in my statutes. You have not executed my ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the …Both describe failure to walk in God’s commands; Ezekiel adds that the people followed the surrounding nations’ ordinances.
Where this verse fits
Guilt and confession. temptation. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
You do not have to soften this account to learn from it. God’s people broke his covenant; their refusal to walk in his law mattered.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 78:10. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).