Psalm 68: 1 – 35
Languishing
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.
1 Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered; Let those also who hate Him flee before Him. 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. 3 But let the righteous be glad; Let them rejoice before God; Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly. 4 Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds, by His name YAH, and rejoice before Him. 5 A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation. 6 God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land. 7 O God, when You went out before Your people, when You marched through the wilderness, Selah 8 The earth shook; The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God; Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel. 9 You, O God, sent a plentiful rain, whereby You confirmed Your inheritance, when it was weary. 10 Your congregation dwelt in it; You, O God, provided from Your goodness for the poor. 11 The Lord gave the word; Great was the company of those who proclaimed it: 12 “Kings of armies flee, they flee, and she who remains at home divides the spoil. 13 Though you lie down among the sheepfolds, you will be like the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.” 14 When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as snow in Zalmon. 15 A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan; A mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan. 16 Why do you fume with envy, you mountains of many peaks? This is the mountain which God desires to dwell in; Yes, the LORD will dwell in it forever. 17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of thousands; The Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the Holy Place. 18 You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts among men, even from the rebellious, that the LORD God might dwell there. 19 Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah 20 Our God Is the God of salvation; And to GOD the Lord belong escapes from death. 21 But God will wound the head of His enemies, the hairy scalp of the one who still goes on in his trespasses. 22 The Lord said, “I will bring back from Bashan, I will bring them back from the depths of the sea, 23 That your foot may crush them in blood, and the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from your enemies.” 24 They have seen Your procession, O God, the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary. 25 The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; Among them were the maidens playing timbrels. 26 Bless God in the congregations, The Lord, from the fountain of Israel. 27 There is little Benjamin, their leader, the princes of Judah and their company, the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali. 28 Your God has commanded your strength; Strengthen, O God, what You have done for us. 29 Because of Your temple at Jerusalem, kings will bring presents to You. 30 Rebuke the beasts of the reeds, the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples, till everyone submits himself with pieces of silver. Scatter the peoples who delight in war. 31 Envoys will come out of Egypt; Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her hands to God. 32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth; Oh, sing praises to the Lord, Selah 33 To Him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which were of old! Indeed, He sends out His voice, a mighty voice. 34 Ascribe strength to God; His excellence is over Israel, and His strength is in the clouds. 35 O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places. The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people. Blessed be God!
Are you languishing? This is a 50-cent word which means you are weary as today’s selected verse highlights.
9 “You, O God, sent a plentiful rain, whereby You confirmed Your inheritance, when it was weary.”
Some definitions of what ‘Languishing’ means are:
1. To lose strength or animation; to be or become dull, feeble or spiritless; to pine; to be or to grow heavy.
2. To wither; to fade
3. To grow dull; to be no longer active and vigorous.
4. To pine or sink under sorrow or any continued passion
I have had to remind myself that our Lord Is in control. I can’t imagine the thought of giving up today, knowing tomorrow might be the day I receive God’s answer to my prayers.
So, what is it that causes the weariness? Why can I (or you) be fine for months, or even years and then suddenly feel like I can’t go on another day? Weariness happens when our own expectations and reality don’t meet. Those unmet expectations lead to weariness, weariness leads to apathy, and apathy births empty religion.
What can you do when you become weary?
Run to our Holy King Jesus Christ. Spend time with God. You are not weary because of what you are waiting on or the trial you are facing, but you are weary because you are not right with God. Just as those in the bible had to do, it is necessary to spend time with Him. He will bring you strength. Make spending time with Him part of your normal routine and you will be filled up with strength to overcome your weariness.
Spend time in serving others. What happened when the weariness and depression overtook me a few weeks ago? I isolated myself. The enemy loves to bring the feeling of isolation which is why it is important to be in Godly relationships. Allow people to speak life into your situation when you don’t feel you can do so yourself. Weariness is not a battle you can fight on your own. Our Lord Jesus walked with 12 disciples for a reason, and so should you.
Don’t beat yourself up for growing weary but do make sure you acknowledge weariness and do something about it. When you start to get weary, spend time with Him, reach out to other believers
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.
Once again, the Psalm is dedicated to the Chief Musician (or Choirmaster). It is, however, this time claimed to be a Psalm of David. It is stated to be both a Psalm (accompanied by instruments) and ‘a song’. Its theme is of God acting on behalf of His people, to deliver them and establish them, with the consequence that He reveals His power and establishes His Sanctuary on Mount Zion. His Sanctuary having been established, the expectation is that He will bring all the nations to His feet. It thus looks back to how He triumphantly led His people through the wilderness from Egypt, and to a future when all nations, including Egypt, will bow before the God of Israel. It is noteworthy that those who will submit to God are from the south, Egypt and Ethiopia (North Africa). There is no thought of Assyria and Babylon. This points to an early date for the Psalm.
The truthful emphasis of the Psalm is that, just as He has in the past, God will arise on behalf of His people, delivering them from their enemies, glorifying His Sanctuary, and bringing the nations to His feet. For us Christians this points to the greater Sanctuary of the Lord Jesus Christ and His people to which all nations are called to respond. The old Sanctuary has been replaced by the new.
The Psalm divides up into three parts as follows:
1). A call for God to continue His triumphant march, scattering His enemies, as His people prepare the way before Him (68.1-6).
2). A reminder of how God previously acted on behalf of His people in providing for and delivering His people, and how He then established His dwelling place among them before Himself ascending on high, having taken a host of captives and having received their tribute, a pattern of what is to come (68.7-18).
3). A call on God to now act on behalf of His people and bring the nations to honor Him and pay Him tribute as they acknowledge His sanctuary and recognize how Majestic He Is (68.19-35).
1 Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered; Let those also who hate Him flee before Him.
The opening words of the Psalm are based on the call for God to lead His people through the wilderness, as the Ark led the way before them, dealing with their enemies as they made their way towards Canaan (Numbers 10.35). Their cry is that God will do just the same in their day. They had the assurance in their hearts that when God arose to act on behalf of His people no enemy could stand before them. None who hated Him could stand before His face.
We are reminded here of the certainty of God’s victory. Nothing, whether in the spiritual realm or the physical realm, can face up to Him. All must in the end flee before His face.
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.
The wicked (God’s enemies) were thus to be driven away and to perish before His face, in the same way as smoke was driven away by the wind, and wax melted before the flame losing all its solidity and resistance. However, as we shall see later in verses 18, 31, God’s irresistibility is not intended to result in the final destruction of the nations, but in their submitting themselves to Him.
3 But let the righteous be glad; Let them rejoice before God; Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly.
While the enemies of God, who resist Him to His face, perish, the righteous are to be glad and to exult before Him, rejoicing with gladness because God Is triumphant. They are to rejoice in the triumph of righteousness.
Today those of us who have truly believed in Him and His Messiah can also be glad and can exult before God, for He Is the guarantee of our glorious future.
Our Holy God Is not praised because of His warlike power, but because in His progress He deals with men righteously, only bringing His judgment on the rebellious. He brings righteousness wherever He goes. While He Is irresistible, to those who will respond to Him He comes as a benevolent Ruler and not as a vindictive Tyrant.
4 Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
Extol Him who rides on the clouds, by His name YAH, and rejoice before Him.
The verse has in mind God’s triumphant progress through the Sinai desert. His people are to sing His praise and to prepare the way before Him, and this because His Name is YAH (YHWH - LORD), their covenant God, the Almighty, the All-triumphant. The use of the shortened form YAH may be because of its use in Exodus 15.2. We are reminded of how our LORD, Jesus Christ, also had His way prepared before Him by John the Baptist stirring up the hearts of the people, when He too came as a Deliverer.
5 A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation. 6 God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land.
Our Holy God is to be exalted because He Is a father of the fatherless and a righteous ruler (judge) on behalf of widows; it is because He makes provision for the lonely and brings men from captivity into freedom and prosperity. He has concern for the weak things of the world.
The fatherless and widows were the two groups most in need of protection in those days. They had no one to watch over them or protect them. Therefore God steps into the role. To ill-treat the fatherless and widows is to ill-treat God. Next in line to them were the lonely and the prisoner, and they too are assured that He is watching over them. The overall thought is one of compassion and care.
Thus, the call for God to arise and act against His enemies has underlying it a desire for the establishing of His righteous and compassionate rule, not a desire to crush men mercilessly. It is only the rebellious who will dwell in a parched (dry and fruitless) land. All others will enjoy His beneficent provision. It is a reminder that God’s compassion and care can be lost by the rebellious.
Looking back to the past the Psalmist remembers how powerfully and mercifully God had previously acted. When Adoni Yahweh had marched before His people in the wilderness, the earth had trembled, and the heavens had poured down torrential rain. The picture is of a mighty storm, possibly accompanied by an earthquake. Even mighty Sinai had shaken at His presence (Exodus 19.16; 20.18). And in contrast, when they were in the land He had sent plentiful rain to water their crops. Indeed, when the land was dry and unable to produce, He had intervened and made it fruitful, ‘confirming His inheritance’, making clear that it really was the land which He had given them. His people had thus dwelt in it, and He had made full provision for the poor.
7 O God, when You went out before Your people, when You marched through the wilderness, Selah 8 The earth shook; The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God; Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
The first thought is of the splendor and majesty of God when He had gone forth before His people, marching through the ‘desolate wilderness’, the earth had trembled, and the heavens had poured forth a deluge. Even mighty Sinai had trembled at the presence of ‘the God of Israel’. The thought is of storm, and tempest and earthquake as they depict the terrible nature of this awesome God. The aim is to bring out that God Is a fearsome God before Whom His enemies should tremble.
The terribleness of God towards His enemies is in contrast with His tenderness towards His people. On them He sends life-producing rain, and to them He demonstrates His goodness. They are His living ones, those who have long and wholesome life.
9 You, O God, sent a plentiful rain, whereby You confirmed Your inheritance, when it was weary. 10 Your congregation dwelt in it; You, O God, provided from Your goodness for the poor
In contrast with the torrential rain which accompanied the storms at Sinai, is the plentiful life giving rain which God sent on His people once they were in the land. The fruitful rain in Canaan, bountifully watering the land (Deuteronomy 11.10-12), was in such contrast, both with Egypt where irrigation methods had to be used making use of the waters of the Nile (Deuteronomy 11.10), and also the more barren time in the wilderness where there was such dependence on oases. But this land was well-watered (while they remained obedient) because it was God’s inheritance.
After the hot summer the land would be dry and thirsty, but then God sent the rains and ensured that the land (His inheritance, the land which was His right, and which He called His people to inherit) was refreshed and established.
Our Precious Holy Spirit points out in His goodness He even provided for the poor and destitute. The more the crops and vegetation flourished, the more the poor benefited, for they were legally permitted to pick fruits for personal eating as they passed by (Deuteronomy 23.24-25), and they received the gleanings of the crops (Leviticus 19.9-10), and a portion of the third-year tithe (Deuteronomy 14.28-29).
In a vivid picture the Psalmist now depicts a great victory over ‘kings of hosts’, who probably represent the kings of Canaan during the settlement period. They cannot stand before God’s ‘word’. He has only to arise and speak and victory ensues. When He puts forth His word the mighty ‘kings of hosts’ flee before Him, with the result that the women of Israel are in their turn a great host, proclaiming God’s victory and sharing the spoils.
11 The Lord gave the word; Great was the company of those who proclaimed it: 12 “Kings of armies flee, they flee, and she who remains at home divides the spoil.
Please take note the three parties involved. The Sovereign Lord (YHWH of hosts) Who gives His word; the women (a great host) who celebrate; the kings of hosts who flee.
‘The Sovereign Lord (Adonai) gives the word.’ Such is His authority and power that He puts forth His word and His will is brought about. This was true in creation, ‘by the word of YHWH the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth’ (Psalm 33.6). It is true of history. ‘’So, shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth. It will not return to Me void, but it will accomplish what I please, and prosper in the way to which I sent it’ (Isaiah 55.11). And here the Sovereign Lord gives the word and the enemy are routed.
It was common for the women to have a major part in celebrating victory. They are here seen as God’s ‘great host’. While the kings of hosts fled precipitously, the women of Israel stayed at home dividing the spoil.
13 Though you lie down among the sheepfolds, you will be like the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.”
While the men of Israel went off to battle, the women and underage men lay among the sheepfolds, ‘tarrying at home’. They had to sleep in the open air to watch the sheep. The emphasis is on the fact that, while they enjoyed the benefits without the exertion of battle, they did have to fulfil their responsibilities.
We learn that we may not be out in the forefront of the battle like the preacher or the evangelist. But we do have a responsibility to ‘lie among the sheepfolds’, diligently watching over the sheep, and being there in case of need.
. The wings of a dove covered with silver and gold confirms the spoil received. A poor, helpless dove is covered with treasures (the thought may be of the changing hues as its wings flap in the sunlight), and so can these women, poor shepherd-folk, now cover themselves in silver and gold. Such is God’s abundance to His own.
14 When the Almighty scattered kings in it, It was white as snow in Zalmon.
The description of events then ends by going back to the defeated enemy. ‘The Sovereign Lord’ is now ‘the Almighty’. In the same way as snow was scattered all over Mount Zalmon, so were these kings and their hosts scattered all over the land with their bleached bones lying everywhere.
Zalmon was the name of a wooded hill near Shechem (Judges 9.48). It may well simply have been chosen because it meant ‘dark mountain, which is turned to white by the snow scattered over it, the idea being that the dark presence of these adversaries was turned into pure whiteness as they were scattered far and wide.
Having delivered His people and disposed of the kings of Canaan, YHWH established Mount Zion as His dwelling place. The history of the conquest, the settlement and David’s final triumph has been telescoped into one action against the kings of Canaan, and now YHWH takes His established throne. The land was now YHWH’s and given wholly to His people, while He Himself had established a dwelling place among them so that the whole world might see what He had done. The future of His people was outwardly secure. All that was now needed was obedience to the covenant.
15 A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan; A mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan. 16 Why do you fume with envy, you mountains of many peaks? This is the mountain which God desires to dwell in; Yes, the LORD will dwell in it forever.
Israel was a mountainous country, and with the choice of Zion as God’s dwelling place, the highest mountains of Israel are seen as jealous and annoyed because God has chosen it, especially the highest mountain of all which saw it as its right. After all their tops were nearest to heaven.
The highest mountains in the land were those in Bashan especially Mount Hermon. Either way it had been rejected in favor of Mount Zion. Just as God had chosen a ‘small’ people, so He had chosen a small mountain. He needed no grandeur to emphasize His own greatness. He wanted to be accessible to His people.
17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of thousands; The Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the Holy Place.
When He entered His Sanctuary He was accompanied by untold hosts of angel chariotry. The dual word for thousands means in this case, not ‘twenty thousand’, but ‘multiple thousands’. ‘Thousands upon thousands’ is literally ‘thousands of repetitions. The idea is to bring out the vast nature of the heavenly chariot force. They are innumerable and invincible.
18 You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts among men, even from the rebellious, that the LORD God might dwell there.
In defending His people God has ascended on High (literally ‘to the height’ i.e. Heaven. He is free to act where He will), subduing their enemies, leading their enemies away captive, and receiving their tribute. It is noticeable that God acts from on High, not from Zion. He is not limited to an earthly sanctuary. Therefore, even the rebellious are subdued. It is so that God may dwell with them. This brings out that God’s ultimate purpose is not only to dwell among Israel, but to dwell among all men Whom He subdues. His love reaches out to the whole earth as He seeks to bring them in submission to His will.
The Psalmist is confident that God will deliver His people from death, as he has in the past, and will severely deal with their enemies.
Today we may have different enemies, both spiritual and physical. But the same God Is our God and will deliver us from them all.
19 Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah
The Psalmist begins by blessing ‘the Sovereign Lord’ (Adonai) because He ‘daily bears our burden -- and is our salvation’. Blessing God is giving Him gratitude, praise and honor. The burden is the burden of being kept in safety and security, the salvation in mind is salvation from invasion and distress as God’s people.
20 Our God Is the God of salvation; And to GOD the Lord belong escapes from death.
The reason for praise is now emphasized. It is because God Is ‘for us’ a God of many deliverances, delivering under all circumstances. It is because escape from death is in the hands of YHWH the Sovereign Lord. He controls both life and death. As YHWH our covenant God He Is personally involved in our escape from death because we are responsive to His covenant. And the power that He exercises towards that end is that of the Sovereign Lord.
Let us reflect that to us the words go further, for they indicate escape from eternal death to all who truly believe.
21 But God will wound the head of His enemies, the hairy scalp of the one who still goes on in his trespasses.
In contrast God will ‘smite through the head of His enemies.’ The verb echoes the smiting of Sisera by Jael (Judges 5.26). So, will God deal with all His and their enemies. But it is not merely vindictive. It is because such enemies go on still in their guiltiness. As always, if they repented and ceased their wickedness they would be spared.
It was often the custom of warriors to allow their hair to grow until they had accomplished their mission, often because of a vow (compare the Nazirite in Numbers 6.5). Among other things they believed that it gave them added strength. Such people had voluntarily committed themselves to warfare. The idea ‘The hairy scalp of such a one as goes on still in his guiltiness.’ was that the enemies of Israel who had taken up such an attitude, and were continuing in it, would be smitten at the very point where they had dedicated themselves to violence and destruction. They had failed to see the significance of Israel’s deliverance and the establishment of God’s Sanctuary.
22 The Lord said, “I will bring back from Bashan, I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
There will be no escape for their enemies. Though they hide themselves in the mountain fastness of Bashan, (is the idea that they chose Bashan rather than Zion, contrary to God’s purpose?), though they escape into the depths of the sea, the Sovereign Lord swears that He will bring them back again to face their fate. There is no hiding place from God.
23 That your foot may crush them in blood, and the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from your enemies.”
The purpose of their being brought back is so that Israel may wash their feet in their blood and leave their dead carcasses for the wild scavenger dogs. In other words, so that they might obtain full revenge for the indignities previously heaped upon them.
The thought here is not a pleasant one, but we must remember that Israel had often seen their enemies washing their feet in the blood of their loved ones and leaving dead carcasses of Israelites for the scavenger wild dogs to consume. So, the thought is that they will obtain an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, which was the Old Testament principle of justice. Because of the teaching of our King Jesus we would hopefully be more forgiving. But it is a reminder that when God judges the unrepentant He will do so without mercy.
The enemies of God are seen as without excuse because they have observed Israel’s true worship of God in the Sanctuary, and the consequences of it in deliverance from their enemies in the past (verse 18), and have failed to respond to it. Those who fled to Bashan should have observed that Bashan was jealous of Zion, the mountain of God (verse 15), and have recognized the significance of it, as indeed some will for they will bring Him tribute.
What follows commences with a description of God’s triumphant entry into His Sanctuary as King (symbolized by the entry of the Ark), preceded by singers, followed by instrumentalists, and accompanied by joyous damsels playing ‘timbrels’ (tambourines or small drums), all being followed up by the princes of the people. To Israel this was a powerful demonstration of the power and authority of their God. The whole nation was looking up to Him because He had delivered them.
24 They have seen Your procession, O God, the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary.
The enemies are without excuse because they have seen ‘His goings’, that is, God’s activities in the past which resulted in the establishment of His Sanctuary (verses 7-18). They should thereby have recognized His kingship and should have submitted to Him. So, God did not see the nations as without a witness, but as having the witness of His triumphs. That this was the prelude to God’s worldwide kingdom comes out in verses 29, 31.
25 The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; Among them were the maidens playing timbrels.
God’s triumphant procession into the Sanctuary had been accompanied by singers walking before and singing of His glory, by instrumentalists following after, and by the damsels of Israel celebrating on their timbrels. They entered, singing praises, because they knew that God was with them and had given them victory.
26 Bless God in the congregations, The Lord, from the fountain of Israel.
All Israel (‘the congregation’) are to bless God, for He Is their Sovereign Lord, and the very source of their life and prosperity (‘their fountain’) and had they continued faithfully in the covenant He would have continued to be so.
27 There is little Benjamin, their leader, the princes of Judah and their company, the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali
The procession continues with the princes of the tribes following on, representing the whole people. Benjamin and Judah represent the southern part of the kingdom, and Zebulun and Naphtali the north. Benjamin was the smallest of the tribes but had produced in Saul the first ruler of Israel. Judah was the present ruling tribe due to David’s kingship. But why do Zebulun and Naphtali represent the north? It may well be, therefore, that these tribes had been chosen to parallel Benjamin and Judah, as representing the north. This may have been because of their prominent part in defeating the great Canaanite general Sisera (Judges 4-5).
Having seen what God is by beholding His deliverance and His establishment of His people, and having observed the worship of God as He enters His Sanctuary, the call now goes up from Israel for God to consolidate what He has done so that the nations will bring Him tribute and acknowledge Him as their Lord.
28 Your God has commanded your strength; Strengthen, O God, what You have done for us.
The call goes up for God to consolidate the position by calling on His mighty strength and strengthening the foundations that He has already laid (‘what you have wrought for us’ - His deliverance of His people, His firm establishment of them in the land, and His establishment His Sanctuary among them).
29 Because of Your temple at Jerusalem, kings will bring presents to You.
The hope here is that as a consequence of the establishment of His house at Jerusalem, consequent on the security and prosperity of His faithful people, kings will see it, be filled with wonder, and will bring presents to YHWH.
30 Rebuke the beasts of the reeds, the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples, till everyone submits himself with pieces of silver. Scatter the peoples who delight in war.
God is here called on to rebuke Israel’s enemies. ‘The wild beast of the reeds’ was symbolic of Egypt. The multitude of bulls would be the kings of smaller nations surrounding Israel who were intent on raids into Israel. The calves of the peoples were those who obediently followed the bulls whatever they wanted to do.
The ‘Trampling underfoot the pieces of silver’ may indicate a spurning of false tribute which was given in feigned friendship, but with evil intent, or may indicate the silver paid to mercenaries by Israel’s enemies which would avail them nothing. Thus ‘the peoples who delight in war’ will be scattered by God, fleeing from before Him as the kings fled in verse 12.
31 Envoys will come out of Egypt; Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her hands to God.
The consequence was that ‘princes/ambassadors’ would come out of mighty Egypt in order to pay their tribute, while North Africans would hurry to stretch out their hands towards God in submission and worship.
Because of YHWH’s proven pre-eminence all the kingdoms of the earth are now called on to sing praises to the Sovereign Lord, as the One Who rides on the ancient Heaven of Heavens and Who speaks with a powerful voice that accomplishes His will, something which they have observed in the past. They are to ascribe to Him ‘strength’. That is they are to recognize His power and ability to do whatever He wants.
32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth; Oh, sing praises to the Lord, Selah
All the nations, having recognized Him for Whom He Is (and having brought tribute to Him) are to sing to God, singing praises to Him as their Sovereign Lord.
God is now described as having ridden on the Heaven of heavens from the beginning. Before those heavens ever existed, He was. They were formed to be His chariot. And He speaks with a mighty voice that brings about His purposes. There is none like Him. Thus, they are to sing to Him.
The ‘Heaven of heavens’ is beyond the clouds and the stars. It is that unknown sphere where heavenly beings live. And He rides upon it. It is His chariot. He Is supreme over it and directs it as He will.
We saw earlier that He was the One Who rode through the desert places. But that was because He was protecting His people. Now He Is seen as the One Who Is over all beings. He rules over the heavens. And His voice Is a mighty voice, powerful and effective.
34 Ascribe strength to God; His excellence is over Israel, and His strength is in the clouds.
The nations are to ‘ascribe strength’ to God. They are to recognize His awesome power as Lord of Heaven and earth. And this because He Is the One Whose excellency of strength is manifested in the deliverance and protection of His people, and Whose strength is revealed in the heavens. He is not just limited to Israel He is over all.
35 O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places. The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people. Blessed be God!
The Psalm ends with the proclamation to God of His terrible nature and being. Both when acting from the Heaven of heavens, and when acting from His dwelling place in Jerusalem (His holy places), He Is terrible in His manifestation. And because He Is the God of Israel He gives strength to His people, acting on their behalf and making them strong against any who oppose them. And for this Israel blesses God.
The fact that we have already had emphasized that He rode through the desert with His people (as they bore the Ark before them), and that He rode on the Heaven of Heavens, confirms that we are to think of dual sanctuaries, and not just of an intensive plural. He dwells both on High and in His earthly Sanctuary. As Solomon would say, ‘even the heaven of heavens cannot contain you --.’ His taking up His position in each Sanctuary has been a theme of the Psalm. And one day He would Himself establish His presence in a different kind of earthly Sanctuary, in the body of our Lord Jesus Christ (John 2.21), prior to His ascending to the heavenly Sanctuary on High, from where He intercedes for His earthly sanctuary, His true believing people (1 Corinthians 3.16; 2 Corinthians 6.16).
Had Israel continued obedient to His covenant this would always have been so. But the promises only applied to a submissive, believing and obedient people. And it was thus only those who responded to the Messiah when He came Who continued to experience His blessing and protection.
We continue in that blessing and protection today. Thank You our Holy God.
