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Psalm 78:20

Behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out, and streams overflowed. Can he give bread also? Will he provide meat for his people?”

18They tempted God in their heart by asking food according to their desire.
19Yes, they spoke against God. They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20Behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out, and streams overflowed. Can he give bread also? Will he provide meat for his people?”
21Therefore the LORD heard, and was angry. A fire was kindled against Jacob, anger also went up against Israel,
22because they didn’t believe in God, and didn’t trust in his salvation.
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← Psalm 78:19Psalm 78:21 →
Notice

Water gushes from the rock, yet the people question whether God can provide food, exposing the gap between acknowledging his past help and trusting him.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What stands out in the shift from overflowing streams to questions about bread?

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Where do you acknowledge God's past help yet struggle to trust him with a different need?

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How does the surrounding account of testing God shape your reading of these questions?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

12 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
1 Corinthians 10:4and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.Both passages recall drink from a rock; Corinthians identifies the spiritual rock as Christ.
Exodus 17:6Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Moses did so …Exodus records God's command to strike the rock for drinking water, the provision recalled in the psalm.
Numbers 20:11Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice, and water came out abundantly. The congregation and their livestock drank.Both describe a struck rock yielding abundant water for the people.
Isaiah 48:21They didn’t thirst when he led them through the deserts. He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them. He also split the rock and the waters gushed …Both recount God causing water to gush from rock for his people.
Numbers 11:21–23Moses said, “The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot; and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month.’Both concern meat for the people; Moses names the crowd's size, while the psalm records questions about God's provision.
Jude 1:25to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.The shared thread is God's power: Jude praises it, while the psalm records people questioning it after receiving water.
Psalm 78:41They turned again and tempted God, and provoked the Holy One of Israel.Both describe Israel testing God, with the questions about food showing the distrust named in the surrounding account.
Numbers 11:18“Say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, and you will eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, “Who will give …Both record the people's questions about meat; Numbers also states God's answer that they will eat it.
Genesis 18:12–14Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”The limited shared thread is a question about what seems possible: food after water in the psalm, pleasure in old age for Sarah.
Psalm 105:41He opened the rock, and waters gushed out. They ran as a river in the dry places.Both recall water gushing from a rock and flowing in abundance.
2 Kings 3:20In the morning, about the time of offering the sacrifice, behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.Both describe abundant water arriving, though Kings names Edom as its route rather than a struck rock.
Psalm 68:10Your congregation lived therein. You, God, prepared your goodness for the poor.Both concern God's provision: Psalm 68 names goodness prepared for the poor, while Psalm 78 recalls water and questions further food.
Where this verse fits

Doubt. job loss or money fear. fear for the future.

What the Bible says about doubt →What the Bible says about money →What the Bible says about fear →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read Psalm 78:18–22 and mark where remembrance becomes distrust

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Encouragement

The warning here deserves care: the people acknowledge a wonder while questioning God's power. Your next need does not erase his past help; the water from the rock was real.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 78:20. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 78 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

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).