Deeper Commentary
Psa 68:1
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. A song-
This appears to be a song sung as the Israelites went out to battle.
They took courage from God's previous marchings forth to victory, both
from Egypt and then through Canaan; and the spirit of those victories was
to be repeated, and come to ultimate term in the victory of the Lord Jesus
and the establishment of His Kingdom upon earth.
I have discussed on 1 Sam. 4:3 how there was always a tendency to use the ark as a talisman; and God was against that. The religious eclipsed the spiritual as regards the ark, several times in Israel's history. And I suggest David was not immune to this. He brings the ark to Zion without any Divine command to do so and without consultation with Him [David earlier asks God for guidance about his decisions in 2 Sam. 5, but not in the context of the ark]; and there was the disaster with Uzzah the first time he attempted it. This is to be compared to Israel's defeat when they took the ark with them into battle against the Philistines in the time of Eli. David clearly also veered towards seeing the ark as a talisman. It was almost as if he wanted to underwrite his own enthronement in Jerusalem by having Yahweh enthroned there also over the ark. Likewise David's desire to permanently locate the ark in a physical temple in Jerusalem can be seen as a desire to legitimate the enthronement of his dynasty in that city. But on the other hand, David often 'gets it' about the lack of need for the ark's physical presence. His psalms speak of how he lived permanently beneath the shadow of the cherubic wings, as if he lived on the mercy seat, on the sprinkled blood. In 2 Sam. 15:24-29 he flees from Absalom, and refuses the suggestion he take the ark with him. But, so true to real spiritual life, he also had tendencies towards needing the physical and religious when it came to the ark. Just as we pine for the religious at times, whilst also rejoicing in God's presence in our hearts quite regardless of religious context. David wrote at least two Psalms about bringing the ark to Zion, Ps. 68 and Ps. 132. Ps. 68 clearly expects God to bring victory to Israel because of the ark's presence in Zion, and Ps. 132 seems to reason that once the ark is in Zion it will be there forever. This wasn't to be the case. But we see in David's reasoning that he still considered the ark as some kind of physical guarantee of God's presence, and the legitimization of his own enthronement in Jerusalem- and that of his dynasty after him, as he imagined. He was proven wrong- the ark disappeared, his dynasty was cut off, Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed. But God's spiritual presence in human hearts continued and became the stronger after these things. We marvel at how God works through human weakness to achieve His wider purposes.
Let God arise! Let His enemies be scattered! Let them who hate Him also flee
before Him-
The allusion is clearly to the High Priestly blessing of the people
in Num. 6:24,25, given whenever they began their onward journey to the
promised land. This was how Ps. 67:1 begins, but the point is made in that
Psalm that the blessing was to be shared with all the Gentiles. This is
the same idea with which Ps. 68 begins, supporting the suggestion that the
Psalms are often paired. Ps. 67 would thus be an introduction to Ps. 68.
God sees those who love the world as hating Him. Likewise the Bible speaks of the world as being sinful and actively hating God, whereas to human eyes the world is for the most part ignorant. Thus the Canaanite nations did not know much about the God of Israel, and yet they are described as actively hating Him (Num. 10:35 NIV; Ps. 68:1).
These words specifically refer to the setting forward of the ark [“So it was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses said, ‘Rise up, O Lord! Let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you’”, Num. 10:35), and I will suggest on :17 that the Psalm was originally used for David's bringing the ark to Zion. This would explain the references to Yahweh's victories over His enemies, because David brought the ark to Zion after having defeated the Philistines and the local inhabitants of Zion. The ranting against foreign deities in Ps. 68 would then be understandable given Samuel's appeal for them to be dropped (1 Sam. 7:2,3), and the obvious fact they had been unable to defend mount Zion from David's men. The triple emphasis in Ps. 68:3 upon "joy" can be understood against the background of the ark being brought up to Zion with great joy and hymns, one of which was surely Psalm 68 (2 Sam. 6:12). Ps. 68:11,25 stresses the role of the women in praising God, and it seems from David's exposure in front of the virgins of Israel at the time that women also had a specific role in the celebrations when the ark was brought to Zion (2 Sam. 6:20).
Psalm 68 alludes throughout to Deborah's song of Judges 5, which
according to some scholars may well be one of the oldest parts of the
Hebrew Bible and would therefore have been well known to David as he wrote
Ps. 68. However, the points of connection are not sequential; words and
ideas from various parts of Jud. 5 are alluded to in Ps. 68. Here the
allusion would be to Jud. 5:22, where Sisera and his men are scattered and
flee before God's people. The subsequent reference to the wicked
'perishing' (:2) connects with Jud. 5:31 "so let all Your enemies perish".
"Sing... sing praises" (:4,32) is Jud. 5:3,12 "Sing... sing praises".
"Kings of armies fled" (:12) is Jud. 5:3,19 where the same happened to
Sisera and his armies. "You led captivity captive" (:18) is clearly Jud.
5:12 where Barak is to lead captors captive. God wounding the head and
scalp of His enemies (:21) is what was done to Sisera when Jael smote him
in the head (Jud. 5:26). "Benjamin, Zebulun, Naphtali" (:27) are the same
three tribes glorified in Jud. 5:14,18. The similarities are so close that
Judges 5 can then be used to illuminate some of the otherwise more obscure
phrases of Ps. 68. The gushing rain of :9 alludes to the clouds gushing
water in Jud. 5:4. And the enigmatic "while you men sleep among the
campfires / cattle stalls" (:13) is now understandable when we see the
connection with Jud. 5:16, where Reuben is rebuked for remaining in his
sheepfolds rather than joining in the rout of the enemy. The publishing of
God's word (:11) is seen to refer to publishing the good news / Gospel of
salvation from enemies- once we see the connection with Jud. 5:11, where
the faithful would "rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord" after the
victory.
Psa 68:2
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As wax melts before the
fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God-
This is the language used by David of the final judgment (Ps. 1:4;
112:10) but he sees in every victory of God's people a foretaste of the
final victory. It was this kind of victory which could have been granted
to the exiles over Babylon (s.w. Is. 41:2)- had they desired to really
leave and restore the Kingdom. But they didn't, and so this kind of
victory over the nations surrounding Zion will be finally given to the
Lord Jesus at the last day (s.w. Mic. 1:4). "As wax melts before
the fire" is the same image we have in other depictions of the last
judgment- the rejected are ashamed from before Him, they slink away
(1 Jn. 2:24 Gk.). The whole heaven and earth of this present world will
likewise flee away. Ps. 112:10 has echoes of the scenario: "The
wicked shall see it (the Kingdom) and be grieved; he shall gnash with his
teeth (judgment day language), and melt away". In similar vein the apostle
speaks of the rejected as those who even now "draw back unto
perdition" (Heb. 10:39). This is the idea behind Heb. 12:15 RVmg: "…man
that falls back from the grace of God". What they did in this life in
slinking away from the reality of pure grace will be what is worked out in
their condemnation experience. There seems a certain similarity between
this and how the combined Gospel records imply that men initially mocked
Jesus on the cross, and then eventually slipped away in silence (Heb.
6:6).
Psa 68:3
But let the righteous be glad, may they rejoice before God; yes, let
them rejoice with gladness-
The conflicts between Israel and other nations are seen by David as a
struggle between the righteous and the "wicked" (:2). But Israel
themselves were never totally righteous; the dichotomy is over simplistic
and even self-righteous. But it will ultimately be this way when the Lord
Jesus returns.
Psa 68:4
Sing to God! Sing praises to His name! Extol Him who rides on the
clouds: to Yah, His name! Rejoice before Him!-
God "rode upon the heavens" to save Israel from Egypt and the
Egyptians (s.w. Dt. 33:26; Hab. 3:8). David felt this was how God had
delivered him personally (s.w. Ps. 18:10). The allusion is clearly to the
cherubim, the chariots upon which God rode. In the context of the exiles,
God was ready to ride forth upon the cherubim which Ezekiel had seen in
vision in Babylon by the Chebar river. But Israel would not.
Psa 68:5
A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows, is God in
His holy habitation-
The exiles were those who had been left as fatherless and widows in
the destruction of Jerusalem (s.w. Lam. 5:3), because they had despised
the fatherless (Ez. 22:7). But God was prepared to arise and deliver the
fatherless. But the reality was that they precluded this potential
operation of God by preferring to remain in Babylon.
Psa 68:6
God sets the lonely in families. He brings out the prisoners with
singing, but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land-
The allusion is to how Israel in Egypt were saved through uniting in
family units around the Passover lamb. Those without families were set
together with families, and were delivered as families. And God was
willing to repeat the Exodus deliverance for the captives in Babylon /
Persia. See on Ps. 107:41. There is also allusion to the blessing
of the Hebrew midwives at the time of the Exodus with families. And yet
the rebels amongst Israel died in the desert, despite all this saving
activity of God at the Exodus.
We forsake all human relationships to follow the Lord Jesus (Mt. 19:27-29). And He promises to compensate for this even in this life. But it depends to what extent we are willing to accept and perceive it. Through meaningful fellowship with our brethren we will find those relationships which we have given up compensated for, even if we aren’t physically close to our brethren. To be set in a new family is paralleled with being brought out from slavery. Part of the process of our redemption is that we are set in a new ecclesial family. The implication of Ps. 68 could be that it was in these family groups that they travelled through the wilderness. The N.C.V. reads: “God is in his holy Temple. He is a father to orphans, and he defends the widows. God gives the lonely a home. He leads prisoners out with joy...”. The very house / family of God becomes the house / family of the lonely. Hence the ecclesia is the house of God (1 Cor. 3:16). We find true family in the new family of God.
LXX "leading forth prisoners mightily, also them that act provokingly, even them that dwell in tombs". This connects with a wider theme in this Psalm: that God's saving activity for His people is also for the spiritually weak amongst them. See on :18 "You have received gifts to distribute among men, yes, among the rebellious also". And the reference to "even them that dwell in tombs" clearly looks ahead to the Lord's saving work for Legion. Nobody was left behind in this great work of salvation, not even a schizophrenic living in tombs on a cliff side in rural Galilee.
Psa 68:7
God, when You went forth before Your people, when You marched
through the wilderness... Selah-
As God went before the people in the pillars of fire and cloud, so He
would lead His people to victory again. And the particular reference was
to the possibility of delivering the exiles from captivity and leading
them through the wilderness, perhaps also led by Angels, to the promised
land.
Psa 68:8
The earth trembled. The sky also poured down rain at the presence
of the God of Sinai- at the presence of God, the God of Israel-
Earthquake and rain was sent at the time of the exodus. This was in
fact to soften up Canaan for the arrival of the Israelites; they could
have entered a land well watered by these rains, with harvest ready to be
picked (:9). But because of their rebellion, this great potential didn't
come about; because they in their hearts turned back to Egypt. And so it
was with the exiles.
Psa 68:9
You, God, sent a plentiful rain. You confirmed Your inheritance
when it was weary-
As noted on :8, this rain was to prepare Canaan to be full of fruit
by the time the Israelites arrived there; hence in the next verse
we read in the context of Israel's arrival in Canaan: "You, God, prepared
Your goodness for the poor". They left at Passover, and were
intended to arrive in Canaan at harvest time. But such great potentials
are wasted all the time by the desire to remain in Egypt / Babylon.
There may also be allusion to Ps. 78:24 "He rained down upon them
manna to eat".
Psa 68:10 Your congregation lived therein. You, God, prepared Your
goodness for the poor- This 'preparation' is as explained on :8,9.
The
language of inheritance (e.g. 1 Pet. 1:4) and preparation of reward (Mt.
25:34; Jn. 14:1) in the NT is alluding to the OT background of the land
being prepared by the Angels for Israel to inherit (Ex. 15:17 Heb.; 23:20;
Ps. 68:9,10 Heb.). We must be careful not to think that our promised
inheritance is only eternal life; it is something being personally
prepared for each of us. The language of preparation seems inappropriate
if our reward is only eternal life.
Psa 68:11
The Lord announced the word; the women who proclaimed it are a
great company-
There is the implication that a great number of Angels- perhaps the
guardian Angels of each of the Israelites- were with them too: "great was
the company of those that published it... even thousands of Angels" (Ps.
68:11 AV). This "great company" is defined in :17 as "the chariots of God
are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels". These Angels were the
cherubic chariots which are envisaged as going out with the Israelites to
every battle. The word published was the word concerning Israel leaving Egypt and
overcoming every obstacle that lay in the way to entering and possessing the
promised land. The same promise is to each of us in our journey from the
Red Sea of baptism to the Kingdom (1 Cor. 10:1,2).
If we prefer the rendering "the women...", then the reference is to Miriam and the women of Israel proclaiming God's word of deliverance as already fulfilled. And it was women who first proclaimed the Lord's resurrection, the surmounting of all that may appear to lie in our way towards possession of the Kingdom.
Psa 68:12
Kings of armies flee! They flee! The women who wait at home
divide the spoil-
We note the emphasis upon the women (:11). The Canaanites did indeed
flee, but Israel failed to believe that. They preferred to think that the
Canaanites were invincible, and to return to Egyptian bondage. It was the
same in principle at the restoration. Enemies would turn their backs and
flee only if Israel were faithful to the covenant.
Psa 68:13
while you men sleep among the campfires-
This appears to allude to the rebuke of Deborah that the men of
Israel were cowards and not using the great Divine potential for victory
(Jud. 5:16). This would fit the context of the praise of women at this
time (:11,12). As noted on :1, the enigmatic "while you men sleep
among the campfires / cattle stalls" (:13) is understandable when we see
the connection with Jud. 5:16, where Reuben is rebuked for remaining in
his sheepfolds rather than joining in the rout of the enemy. The GNB seems
to make better sense of :12,13: "The women at home divided what was
captured: figures of doves covered with silver, whose wings glittered with
fine gold. (Why did some of you stay among the sheep pens on the day of
battle?)". Only in the Kingdom will we perceive all our missed
opportunities in this life. And that is a powerful thought, to urge us to
ever greater labour for the Lord whilst it is called today. LXX gives
"Even if ye should lie among the pots, ye shall have the wings of a dove
covered with silver, and her breast with yellow gold". This would suggest
that the reward is still shared even with those who were nervous or self
centred and didn't do what they could and should have done. This is a
theme continued in :18- the gifts / spoils are shared amongst "men, yes,
among the rebellious also".
the wings of a dove
sheathed with silver, her feathers with shining gold-
Israel is the turtle dove (Ps. 74:19). Perhaps this is an allusion to
some poem known at the time, lamenting the glory which could have been
Israel's but was wasted potential. In which case this battle cry is urging
the male warriors to not be like their historical counterparts and fail to
use all the Divine potential for victory. Or the idea may be to rebuke a
love of silver and gold rather than arising and fighting to possess the
land- a rebuke appropriate to the exiles who preferred the wealth of
Babylon.
Psa 68:14
When the Almighty scattered kings in her, it snowed on Zalmon-
The scattered kings in the land ("her") would drop their weapons and
armour and flee (:12). With the sun shining off all those items, it would
appear like the snow which fell on Salmon, a hill near Shechem (Jud.
9:48), the central point in the land. Or perhaps there is reference to a
snowstorm assisting the rout of enemies.
Psa 68:15
The mountains of Bashan are majestic mountains, the mountains of
Bashan are rugged-
LXX "The mountain of God is a rich mountain; a swelling mountain, a
rich mountain". This would refer to Zion (as in :16), which was to be
elevated as the central focus of God's Kingdom. "Mountains" would then be
read as an intensive plural for the one great mountain. The one great
mountain of Bashan, if we retain that reading, would be Hermon.
Psa 68:16
Why do you look in envy, you rugged mountains, at the mountain
where God chooses to reign? Yes, Yahweh will dwell there forever-
The Psalm now moves in focus away from being a battle song as the
troops marched out (:1) to describing the Kingdom of God to be restored in
Israel. For this was to be the final outcome of all Israel's battles.
Yahweh will dwell there eternally only when the Kingdom is reestablished
in Israel. The surrounding hills around Zion represent therefore the
nations surrounding Israel. They were not to be envious, but rather to
accept Israel's God enthroned in Zion (:30,31).
Psa 68:17
The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of
thousands. The Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the sanctuary-
As explained on :11, the huge Angelic activity of God at the time of
the exodus could have been replicated for the exiles, and for Israel in
any of their conflicts. There is the implication that God would again
gather Israel through those Angels to make another covenant with them.
Jer. 31 and Ez. 20 offered a new covenant to the exiles, seeing they had
broken the old covenant. But they refused it. These things were all
reapplied and rescheduled. For the huge cherubic activity of God now works
to bring individuals of all nations to a point, as at Sinai, where
delivered from Egypt they can accept the new covenant.
We can read with GNB "the Lord comes from Sinai into the holy place". The picture then is of the ark journeying from Sinai to Zion, from one mountain to another. And then (:18) ascending the hill of Zion. The first reference of the Psalm may have been to this; and the distribution of gifts to men, indiscriminately (:18), would then refer to David's gift of bread and wine to all the men of Israel. David's procession in bringing the ark to Zion would then be the reference of :24,25. And that would explain why the Psalm begins with an allusion to the language used whenever the ark set forward.
Psa 68:18
You have ascended on high, You have led away captives in your
victory train, You have received gifts to distribute among men, yes, among
the rebellious also, that Yah God might dwell there-
As discussed on :1, the primary reference of the Psalm is to
David's bringing the ark to Zion. The ark 'ascended' on its journeys. In
the context of the ark, "the men of Bethshemesh said, Who is able to stand
before this holy Yahweh God? and to whom shall He go up from us?"
(1 Sam. 6:19). Finally the ark was "brought up" to Zion (2 Sam.
6:2,12). But the ark was to later be understood as representative of the
Lord Jesus; and David's giving of gifts, indiscriminately, to the giving
of the gifts of the Spirit at the Lord's ascension- both His 'ascent' on
the cross, and to Heaven. Both of which events are connected to the giving
of the Spirit gifts. We note that "Zion" is not specifically mentioned in
Ps. 68 as where the ark / Yahweh ascended to. Perhaps that's because the
ascent of the ark was designed to be understood as speaking of something
far greater, a greater ascension, captives and gifts- the ascent of the
Lord Jesus to the cross and to Heaven itself. Verses 19,20 will go on to
say that this ascent of Yahweh will result in "salvation" and "escape from
death"- far greater things than achieved by the ascent of the ark to Zion.
The ascension of the Lord Jesus resulted in the gift of the Spirit to men. Not only Eph. 4, but also Acts 2:33,38: "being exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear... repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ to the remission of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit". Likewise Acts 5:31,32: "Him did God exalt with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and remission of sins. And we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, which God has given to those that obey Him".
These words are quoted specifically about the victory of the Lord Jesus on the cross, His ascension to Heaven and gift of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:8 "to each one of us was the grace given, according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore He says: When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men"). The argument of Ephesians 4 is that these gifts are given in order to bring us to maturity in and as the Lord Jesus: "until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13). And the context of Ephesians is the language of being built up a spiritual temple for God's habitation (Eph. 1:20-2:22; Ephesians 3 is largely a digression and so the theme of building the spiritual temple for God continues directly). This is saying the same thing as Ps. 68:18 "You have received gifts to distribute among men, yes, among the rebellious also, that Yah God might dwell there". The gifts were to sanctify God's people, including the rebellious, so that God might dwell in them. The historical basis was the giving of bread and wine by David to all Israel after the 'ascent' of the ark to Zion. And Ps. 68 frames this within the language of a victory celebration; for it was normal for victors to give gifts to their supporters after the victory. And so the 'ascent' of the ark is both the ascent of the Lord lifted up on the cross; and also His ascent to Heaven, both of which events are associated with the gift of the Spirit. When He was glorified, the gifts of the Spirit were given: "this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified" (Jn. 7:39). Bear in mind John's language of His ascent / lifting up on the cross and final outbreathing of His breath / Spirit towards His disciples. The element of unreality is that the captives led captive are us, the former enemies led joyfully into captivity to the Lord Jesus, and receiving gifts from Him. This explains the otherwise odd way that Paul changes "he receives gifts from rebellious people" (Ps. 68:18) to "he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men" (Eph. 4:8). Paul makes the Lord the giver rather than the receiver of the gifts. He was given gifts by those He had conquered; but Paul changes this to Him giving gifts to the captives. This subtle change makes perfect sense once we understand that the captives are us, His former enemies now themselves rejoicing [rather than bedraggled and ashamed] as they are led in the victory triumph: "You have led away captives in your victory train". The gifts are given to them, and are shared with the former rebels now defeated: "You have received gifts to distribute among men, yes, among the rebellious also". Those 'rebels' are the condemned of :6, as if the idea is that all God's people, the rebels included, are to be saved. Although of course they each have to claim their part in that salvation; hence Ps. 66:7 "Don’t let the rebellious rise up against Him". We could however read more simply that the Lord ascended, was given gifts [by God] and then gave them to His people.
As noted on :17, the exiles generally refused the scenario made possible for them. And yet the offer of a new covenant remains and has been extended to individuals of all nations, brought through the Red Sea of baptism to a point (cp. Sinai, :17) where they can enter covenant.
Israel were slaves in Egypt, and then after the Red Sea baptism became
slaves of God. Ps. 68:18 pictures them as a train of captives being led
out of Egypt, merging into the image of a train of a captivity led into a
different captivity. Romans 6 powerfully brings home the point: we were
slaves of sin, but now are become slaves of righteousness.
Psa 68:19
Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burdens, even the God who
is our salvation. Selah-
LXX "Blessed be the Lord God, blessed be the Lord daily; and the God
of our salvation shall prosper us". Israel's deliverance and salvation
from Egypt become the spiritual experience of all those saved in Christ.
"Burdens" were associated with the slavery in Egypt; it was as if God was
with them in that slavery, carrying their burdens with them. And this
would have had special relevance to the exiles in Babylon and Assyria.
"The God who is our salvation" is ultimately Yah-hoshua, Yah
saves, 'Jesus'. And He daily bears our burdens, because He is still in
essence a cross carrier. We are to daily take up our cross, each man is to
bear his own burden in one sense (Gal. 6:5). But the Lord Jesus also bears
them.
Psa 68:20
God is to us a God of deliverance; to Yahweh the Lord belongs escape from death- Remember that this was initially a battle song as troops began to march to war (see on :1). The comfort was that God would save them from death, because that is the lead characteristic of Yahweh. And that would be ultimately true- even if they died in battle, the Israelites had the unique hope of the resurrection of the body.
Psa 68:21
But God will strike through the head of His enemies, the hairy
scalp of such a one as still continues in his guiltiness-
This would suggest that the Israelites were only marching to war
against the impenitent who had refused God's calls to repent. The allusion
is to the striking of the serpent upon the head (Gen. 3:15), and Israel
were to be as the seed of the woman bringing this about.
Psa 68:22
The Lord said, I will bring you again from Bashan, I will bring you
again from the depths of the sea-
This appears to reference words of God unrecorded in the previous
historical records. Or the idea may be that as God had saved Israel from
Egypt through the Red Sea, so He would do so "again" in every struggle of
the Israelites. And this will come ultimately true at the last day.
But "the depths of the sea" is the consistent Biblical image used
for the condemned, cast like millstones to the bottom of the sea. The idea
may well be that God would save His people even from their condemned
status.
Psa 68:23
that you may crush them, dipping your foot in blood, that the
tongues of your dogs may have their portion from your enemies-
The taking of a portion or inheritance may allude to the conquest of
Canaan, which the Israelite soldiers were to replicate every time they
marched to battle (:1). These words were used by David of how God had
wounded all his enemies under his feet (Ps. 18:38) and he wished this to
be the experience of all God's people. So often he sees his life as a
pattern for God's people to follow.
Psa 68:24
They have seen Your processions, God, even the processions of my
God, my King, into the sanctuary-
The "they" may refer to God's enemies (:23), but it is hard to
understand how they had seen the processions in the sanctuary. Perhaps the
processions were victory parades after the victory, with the captive
enemies seeing them in shame (see on :25). Or we may go with LXX "Thy
goings, O God, have been seen; the goings of my God, the king, in the
sanctuary". We note that David repeatedly calls God "my king" or "the
king". He realized that he was only king on God's behalf, and all the
desire of Israel for a human king had been a rejection of Yahweh.
Psa 68:25
The singers went before, the minstrels followed after in the
midst of the ladies playing with tambourines, singing-
We note the repeated focus upon the role of women (see on :11,12).
The reference to tambourines recalls Miriam and the women of Israel
rejoicing at the salvation from Egypt. The processions in the sanctuary of
:24 were therefore envisaged as processions of praise for victories
granted in the spirit of that over Egypt.
Psa 68:26
Bless God in the congregations, even the Lord in the assembly of
Israel!-
This could be an invitation to the Gentiles to praise God along with the
Israelites. This is a common theme of David. The "congregations"
may be an intensive plural for the one great congregation of Israel. David
often talks of how he wishes the congregation to praise God. It is the struggle of every spiritually minded and righteous man to
humble himself to accept he is only part of a far wider congregation,
comprised of believers who may frankly be less spiritually minded than
himself (Ps. 26:12; 35:18; 68:26). David and the Lord Jesus are parade
examples of achieving this sense. LXX "Praise God in the congregations,
the Lord from the fountains of Israel".
Psa 68:27
There is little Benjamin, their ruler, the princes of Judah, their
council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali-
The idea may be that the two and ten tribe kingdoms were represented
together. LXX "There is Benjamin the younger one in ecstasy, the princes
of Juda their rulers, the princes of Zabulon, the princes of Nephthali".
Perhaps Zebulun and Naphtali were chosen because they were commended for
their bravery at the time of Deborah (Jud. 5:18), and she has been in view
in :13, in her criticizing of the other tribes for not being as
Zebulun and Naphtali. Or in the context of the exiles, it could be that
they are mentioned as the areas which suffered most from the invaders (Is.
11:1). But they are envisaged here in glory in Zion.
Psa 68:28
Your God has commanded your strength. Strengthen, God, that which
You have done for us-
There may be an allusion here to 'Hezekiah', strengthened by Yah.
From here to the end of the Psalm, the vision is of God's future
Kingdom to come on earth. But the idea is, from the allusions throughout
the Psalm so far, that as God led His people out of Egypt and through the
wilderness, as He gave them victory over Sisera, despite all their
dysfunctions, missed opportunities (see on :13) and failures, so finally
He will bring His people to His Kingdom.
Psa 68:29
Because of Your temple at Jerusalem kings shall bring presents to
You-
Clearly this was rewritten at some point after David, or maybe David
was looking forward to the temple which Solomon would build. In this case,
his vision for that temple was as a focal point for the Gentiles to come
to and learn of Yahweh. Instead it became filled with their paganic
images. Quite possibly this Psalm originated in the bringing of
the ark to Zion, but under Divine inspiration was re-written and reapplied
to Solomon's time and subsequent processions during the feasts. Similar
language to Ps. 68 is used by Solomon at the dedication of the temple:
"arise, Yahweh God, into Your resting place, You and the ark of Your
strength: let Your priests, Yahweh God, be clothed with salvation, and let
Your saints rejoice in goodness" (2 Chron. 6:41).
Psa 68:30
Rebuke the wild animal of the reeds, the multitude of the bulls,
with the calves of the peoples. Being humbled, may they bring tribute of
bars of silver. Scatter the nations that delight in war-
The vision was that entity which had abused God's people, be it
Babylon, Assyria or Egypt, would be humbled and come to Zion in repentance
with tribute to Yahweh; and those who refused to repent would be scattered
in condemnation. But LXX has "Rebuke the wild beasts of the reed: let the
crowd of bulls with the heifers of the nations be rebuked, so that they
who have been proved with silver may not be shut out: scatter thou the
nations that wish for wars". Those refined as silver refer to the exiles
after their spiritual education in Babylon; but the truth was that they
did not respond as intended, and remained not purified.
Psa 68:31
Princes shall come out of Egypt, Ethiopia shall hurry to stretch
out her hands to God-
What began as a battle song ends up with a vision of the Gentile
enemies accepting the God of Israel. This was the intended outcome of the
campaign, rather than mere punishment for its own sake.
Psa 68:32
Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth! Sing praises to the Lord!
Selah-
This appears to be encouragement to the Gentile enemies to praise
Israel's God. This was ever David's vision, as it is God's.
Psa 68:33
To Him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which are of old;
behold, He utters His voice, a mighty voice-
LXX "Sing to God that rides on the heaven of heaven, eastward: lo, he will
utter a mighty sound with his voice". The reference to "eastward" would
allude to the east wind which destroyed the Egyptians, associated with the
clouds upon which the cherubim as it were rode. The mighty voice of God
may be that which is verbalized in :34; it is an appeal for repentance and
acceptance of Yahweh. "Which are of old" suggests that how God has acted
in history, He will do again; a major theme of this Psalm.
Psa 68:34
Ascribe strength to God! His excellency is over Israel, His
strength is in the skies-
This is an appeal for the enemies to repent; to perceive that He is
king over Israel, they are His Kingdom; and the Gentile peoples can
likewise become part of that Kingdom. For that was ever God's intention.
Psa 68:35
You are awesome, God, in Your sanctuaries. The God of Israel
gives strength and power to His people. Praise be to God!-
The reference to "the God of Israel" is because as noted in the previous
verses, the appeal is for the Gentiles to become part of God's Kingdom.
"Your sanctuaries" may refer to the one great sanctuary, Zion. It was
David's vision that Zion with the temple upon it should become the parade
example of God's manifestation, and would serve as a magnet for the
Gentiles to come to. This vision is repeated in the prophets.
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