Psalms 78:17 - Exposition

And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the Most High in the wilderness. The two provocations of a demand for bread ( Exodus 16:3 ) and a demand for flesh ( Numbers 11:4 ) are joined together in the present passage, as the two occasions of giving water are in Psalms 78:15 , Psalms 78:16 . Only the second of these two provocations was subsequent to the (first) giving of water; but the psalmist does not allow himself to be bound by considerations of strict chronological accuracy. He is a poet, and not an historian; though at present he is treating of history.