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Psalm 78:55

He also drove out the nations before them, allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

53He led them safely, so that they weren’t afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54He brought them to the border of his sanctuary, to this mountain, which his right hand had taken.
55He also drove out the nations before them, allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
56Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God, and didn’t keep his testimonies,
57but turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. They were twisted like a deceitful bow.
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← Psalm 78:54Psalm 78:56 →
Notice

Israel’s settlement comes through God driving out other nations, a hard account of dispossession that the psalm sets just before Israel’s rebellion.

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

What troubles you about the nations being driven out so Israel could dwell in their tents?

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How does Israel’s rebellion in the next verses shape your reading of this inheritance?

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Connect

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
Psalm 16:6The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Yes, I have a good inheritance.Both passages describe an inheritance with the language of lines marking out what has been received.
Deuteronomy 6:10It shall be, when the LORD your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you–a land with great …Both describe God bringing Israel into land with places to live that were already there.
Exodus 34:24For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither shall any man desire your land when you go up to appear before the LORD, your God, …Exodus promises that God will drive out nations before Israel; the psalm recounts him doing so.
Acts 13:19When he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land for an inheritance for about four hundred fifty years.Both recount God removing nations and giving their land to Israel as an inheritance.
Psalm 44:2You drove out the nations with your hand, but you planted them. You afflicted the peoples, but you spread them abroad.Both attribute the nations’ displacement and Israel’s settlement to God’s action.
Joshua 13:7Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh.”Joshua commands the division of land among tribes, while the psalm recounts their allotted inheritance and settlement.
Psalm 105:11saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance,”Both speak of land as an inheritance God gives, with Psalm 105 naming Canaan.
Job 38:5Who determined its measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it?Both use a measuring line, though Job speaks of earth’s dimensions and the psalm of Israel’s allotted inheritance.
Psalm 105:44He gave them the lands of the nations. They took the labor of the peoples in possession,Both describe God giving Israel lands that other nations had possessed.
Judges 11:24Won’t you possess that which Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whoever the LORD our God has dispossessed from before us, them will we possess.Both connect Israel’s possession of land with the LORD’s dispossession of those who were there before them.
Nehemiah 9:22–25Moreover you gave them kingdoms and peoples, which you allotted according to their portions. So they possessed the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of …Both recount God allotting territory to Israel and Israel taking possession of it.
Where this verse fits

Sermon or Bible study notes. gratitude.

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One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read Psalm 78:55–57 and note Israel’s response to God’s provision

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Encouragement

The warning that follows is sobering: receiving land did not keep Israel from rebellion. Yet the account remains clear about who provided their dwelling place: God.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 78:55. 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).