Midrash su Salmi 77:21

(Deut. 11:26:) “See, I [am setting before you today a blessing and a curse]. This text is related (to Jer. 21:8), “And (to) [unto] this people you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “See, I am setting before you the road of life and the road of death.”’” It is also written (in Ps. 78:1), “A maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my Torah […].” And it is written (in Deut. 4:9-10), “Only take heed to yourself and watch [yourself closely, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; make them known to your children and to your children's children]: The day that you stood [before the Lord your God at Horeb]….” [This is] to tell you that [when] anyone despises the words of Torah, it is as though he were denying the Holy One, blessed be He,, because He only bestowed Torah so that Israel would be occupied with it day and night, as stated (in Josh. 1:8), “and you shall meditate on it (i.e., on the Torah) day and night.” And it is written (in Ps. 1:2), “But their delight is in the law (Torah) of the Lord, [and on his law (Torah) they meditate day and night].” And when anyone occupies himself with the Torah and fulfills it, [it is] as though he had received it from Sinai. It is therefore written (in Deut. 4:9), “make them known to your children […],” and adjacent to it (in Deut. 4:10), “The day that you stood before the Lord your God….” When Asaph came, he began to say (in Ps. 78:1) “Give ear, O my people, to my Torah.” So also did Solomon say (in Prov. 4:2), “For I gave you good instruction; [do not abandon my Torah].” Israel said to Asaph, “Is there another Torah, such that you say (in Ps. 78:1), ‘Give ear, O my people, to my Torah?’ We have already received it from Mount Sinai.” He said to them, “The sinners of Israel say that the Prophets and the Writings are not Torah, and they do not believe in them, as stated (in Dan. 9:10), “And we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in His Torah, which He set before us at the hand of His servants the prophets.” Ergo, the Prophets and the Writings are Torah. As so is it stated (in Ps. 78:1), “Give ear, O my people, to my Torah (in this case to a writing of Asaph).” Another interpretation (of Ps. 78:1), “Give ear, O my people, to my Torah.” This text is related (to Prov. 16:23), “The heart of a wise person, instructs his mouth […].” When Israel sins, they are withheld from anything good; and so you find that, when they committed the act (of the golden calf), everything good was withheld from them, as stated (in Exod. 32:19), “And it came to pass that as soon as he drew near unto the camp and saw the calf [and the dancing, Moses burned with anger; so he threw down the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain].” Then when Moses sought mercy for them, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Moses, I created the world only for Torah, as stated (in Is. 51:16), “Moreover, I have put My words (i.e., the Torah) in your mouth …, [so that I may plant the heavens and lay the foundations of the earth].” But they have exchanged My glory for the image of a bull,¹Cf. Ps. 106:20. and you have broken the tablets; so how will the world continue without Torah? He said to Him, “What shall I do?” He said to him (in Deut. 10:1), “Carve out two tablets of stone like the first ones.” It is therefore said (in Prov. 16:23), “The heart of a wise person, instructs his mouth….” For that reason, when Asaph [was alive], he mentioned above (in Ps. 77:21), “You led Your people like a flock [by the hand of Moses and Aaron].”²It is Ps. 77:1 that designates this Psalm as a work of Asaph. Then after that it is written (in Ps. 78:1), “A maskil (a psalm of wisdom) of Asaph.”

God led them not by the way of the Philistines (ibid. 13:17). He guided them in the manner indicated in the verse Thou didst lead Thy people like a flock (Ps. 77:21), and as in the verse By day also He led them by a cloud (ibid. 78:14). By the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. The word near indicates that the promise the Holy One, blessed be He, had made to Abraham was soon to be fulfilled. Near also implies that it was the nearest way to return to Egypt. Furthermore near relates to the oath Abraham had sworn with Abimelech. Now therefore, swear unto me here by God, that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, or with my son, nor with my son’s son (Gen. 21:23) was near fulfillment, even though his grandson had not yet been born. Furthermore, near implies that the previous war was too recent to risk another.¹The “previous war” being the one referred to in the continuation of the verse: lest … the people repent when they see war (Exod. 17:1). A tradition exists that the descendants of Ephraim left Egypt before the designated time and 300,000 were killed. See Ginzberg, Legends, vol. 3:8–9. Only ten escaped. Another explanation of Although that was near. It was too close to the time in which the Canaanites had obtained the land, for it is written: And in the fourth generation they shall come back hither (ibid. 15:16), and the fourth generation had not yet come. God led the people about by the way of the wilderness (Exod. 12:18). The Holy One, blessed be He, said: If I lead them into the land by the most direct route, they will each take possession of a field and a vineyard and neglect the law. Therefore I will lead them through the wilderness for forty years and cause them to eat the manna and drink the water of the well so that the law may penetrate into their very beings.

"These are the journeys of the Children of Israel" (Numbers 33:1). This is what is stated in the verse (Psalms 77:21), "You led (nachita) Your people like a flock through Moshe and Aharon." What is [the meaning of] nachita? It is the expression of an acrostic: Rabbi Eliezer says, "You did Nissim (miracles) for them; You gave them Chaim (life); You split the Yam suf for them; You gave them the Torah through Moshe and Aharon." R. Yehoshua says, "You did Niflaot (wonders) for them; You gave them Cherut (freedom); Yamincha (Your right hand) delivered them; You gave them Tilluy rosh (holding the head high) through Moshe and Aharon." R. Akiva says, "You did Noraot (dreadful things) to their enemies; You sentCharon af (waxing anger) against them and you fought against them; You covered them with Tehomot (depths) through Moshe and Aharon." Rabbi said, "Nevi'im (prophets) did You raise up from them; Hasidim(saints) did You raise up from them; Hasidim (saints) did You raise up from them; Yesharim (upright) did You raise up from them; Temimim (unblemished ones) did You raise up from them through Moshe and Aharon." What is [the meaning of] flock? Just like one does not bring a flock under the shade of a roof (indoors), so too Israel when they were in the wilderness was not brought under the shade of a roof for forty years. Just like a flock does not have storerooms collected for them but rather only graze from the wilderness, so too Israel for the forty years that they were in the wilderness were fed without storehouses. And just like a flock follows to anywhere that the shepherd leads them, so too Israel journeyed to any place that Moshe and Aharon took them, as it is stated, "These are the journeys of the Children of Israel" - in order to fulfill that which is written, "You led Your people like a flock through Moshe and Aharon."