The Meaning of Psalms 78:18 Explained

Psalms 78:18

KJV: And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.

YLT: And they try God in their heart, To ask food for their lust.

Darby: And they tempted God in their heart, by asking meat for their lust;

ASV: And they tempted God in their heart By asking food according to their desire.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And they tempted  God  in their heart  by asking  meat  for their lust. 

What does Psalms 78:18 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 78:13-24 - "a Table In The Wilderness"
Throughout this wonderful recital there is a perpetual contrast between God's unswerving goodness and the incessant backsliding of His people; and as we read it, we learn that sin is not simply the violation of the divine law, but a source of pain and trouble to our Heavenly Father's heart. For us He cleaves the seas, leads us in the daytime, builds His watch-fires around us at night, and brings streams of blessing from the rocks. But we tempt Him by our incessant unbelief. We say, He certainly did thus and thus, but can He, will He, do this or that? "Can God furnish?" "Can God give bread?"
When shall we dare to believe in our Lord's assurances; first, that "with God all things are possible;" and second, that "all things are possible to him that believeth"? But we must live habitually in fellowship with God before we are able to exercise this faith. As we nourish our souls by feeding on the promises, and studying what He has done in the lives of others, out faith removes all the boundaries with which it had limited the Holy One, and cries, "Thou canst and thou wilt!" [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 78

1  An exhortation both to learn and to preach, the law of God
9  The story of God's wrath against the incredulous and disobedient
67  The Israelites being rejected, God chose Judah, Zion, and David

What do the individual words in Psalms 78:18 mean?

And they tested God in their heart by asking for the food of their fancy
וַיְנַסּוּ־ אֵ֥ל בִּלְבָבָ֑ם לִֽשְׁאָל־ אֹ֥כֶל לְנַפְשָֽׁם

וַיְנַסּוּ־  And  they  tested 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: נָסָה  
Sense: to test, try, prove, tempt, assay, put to the proof or test.
אֵ֥ל  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֵל 
Sense: god, god-like one, mighty one.
בִּלְבָבָ֑ם  in  their  heart 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: לֵבָב  
Sense: inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding.
לִֽשְׁאָל־  by  asking  for 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: שָׁאַל 
Sense: to ask, enquire, borrow, beg.
אֹ֥כֶל  the  food 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֹכֶל  
Sense: food.
לְנַפְשָֽׁם  of  their  fancy 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: נֶפֶשׁ  
Sense: soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion.