And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.
The conduct of God towards the world, and the world’s conduct to Him
I. God’s dispensations towards depraved man.
1. Wonderful mercies (Psalms 78:12-15; Psalms 78:24-25; Psalms 78:27; Psalms 78:44, etc.). There are Divine deliverances, guidances, protections, and rich and varied supplies of goodness in the life of every individual man, as well as in every family, community, country, age. His mercy is in every breath of air, in every ray of light, in every pulsation of health, in every particle of food, in every pleasant sensation, in every happy thought, in every uplifting hope.
2. Disciplinary chastisements (Psalms 78:21; Psalms 78:34; Psalms 78:44-51; Psalms 78:61, etc.) ever mingle with all His mercies towards man--physical pain, social bereavement, secular trials, intellectual anxieties.
II. The conduct of depraved man towards God.
1. They insulted Him (Psalms 78:18).
2. They slandered Him (Psalms 78:19).
3. They doubted His truthfulness (Psalms 78:22).
4. They hypocritically praised Him (Psalms 78:36-37). Alas! how prevalent is this sin. What a contrast between the weakly conduct of men in relation to God and the words of adoration and praise which they address to Him on Sunday in the devotional services of their Church!
5. They apostatized from Him (Psalms 78:41-42).
(1) They “turned back” in their hearts. Often did they express their desire to return to the flesh-pots of Egypt.
(2) In doing this they practically “limited” the power of God to help them through.
(3) This they did because they practically ignored “His past mercies.” Is not this apostasy of heart an evil almost as wide as the race?
6. They persisted in their rebellious conduct like their ancestors (Psalms 78:56-57).
III. The retributive principle in human history (Psalms 78:29-30; Psalms 78:61-64, etc.).
1. It often works through material nature. Furious beasts, poisonous reptiles, pestiferous atmospheres, withering blights, devastating Storms, etc., the retributive principle of the Divine government is ever acting through these.
2. It works always for beneficent purposes.
(1) To prevent the spread of sin.
(2) To reform the sinner. Prevention and reformation, these are the two great elements In God’s retributive government.
3. Its greatest prodigies often fail in converting souls (Psalms 78:17; Psalms 78:32). Sin cannot be crushed, nor virtue generated by coercion. Blocks of ice defy the face of the mightiest storms that ever shook the earth; but before the gentle sunbeam they give way and run into sparkling streams. (Homilist.)