Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 78:17

"Yet went they on still to sin against him, To rebel against the Most High in the desert." — Psalms 78:17 (ASV)

And they sinned yet more against him - literally, “They added to sin against him.” The idea is that his mercies and the proofs of his presence were only made the occasion of greater sin on their part. This may have been in two ways:

1. their sin was thus more aggravated, as it was committed against greater light; and
2. they evinced more and more their depravity in proportion as he bestowed mercies on them — not an uncommon thing with people.

By provoking the Most High - literally, “embittering.” They rebelled against him. They refused to submit to him. They forgot his mercies .

In the wilderness - literally, “in the dry place;” in the desert. In the very place where they were most manifestly dependent on him — where there were no natural streams of water, where their needs were met by a miraculous supply — even there they provoked him and rebelled against him.

If he had simply stopped that miraculous supply of water, they would have perished. But sinners forget how dependent they are on God when they sin against him. On what can they rely if he withdraws from them and leaves them to themselves?