Psalm 75: 1 – 10
Family Name
To the Chief Musician. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.
1 We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks! For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near. 2 “When I choose the proper time, I will judge uprightly. 3 The earth and all its inhabitants are dissolved; I set up its pillars firmly. Selah 4 “I said to the boastful, ‘Do not deal boastfully,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up the horn. 5 Do not lift up your horn on high; Do not speak with a stiff neck.’?” 6 For exaltation comes neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south. 7 But God Is the Judge: He puts down one, and exalts another. 8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; It is fully mixed, and He pours it out; Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth drain and drink down. 9 But I will declare forever, I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. 10 “All the horns of the wicked I will also cut off, but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.”
A family name (also called surname or last name) is a name that is passed from one generation to the next. In many cultures a woman adopts her husband's family name when they are married.
In Europe, surnames began to be used in the 12th century, but it took several centuries before most Europeans had one. The primary purpose of the surname was to further distinguish people from one another. In the 13th century about a third of the male population had a given name of William, Richard or John *. To uniquely identify them, people began referring to different Williams as William the son of Andrew (leading to Anderson), William the cook (leading to Cook), William from the brook (leading to Brooks), William the brown-haired (leading to Brown), and so on. Eventually these surnames became inherited, being passed from parents to children.
Broadly, most surnames fall into four categories.
Surnames derived from given names include Johnson, Williams, and Thompson. Most often they are patronymic, referring to a male ancestor, but occasionally they are matronymic.
Occupational surnames refer to the occupation of the bearer. Examples include Smith, Clark, and Wright.
Locational or topographic surnames are derived from the place that the bearer lived. Examples include Hill, Woods, and Ford.
Surnames derived from nicknames include White, Young, and Long.
So, today we all have surnames. Yet we forget that we have an even more important name. (Put your first name here) the son/daughter of El Shaddai (Almighty God). Our Great and Wonderful Creator Is our Father. Now that is a name that should resonate in you an awe that surpasses anything this earth can offer. So, remember your family name and how your lives reflect honor or embarrassment as verse 1 of today’s Psalm teaches, “1 We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks! For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.”
This Psalm and the following one appear to have been deliberately made to follow Psalm 74. In Psalm 74 the cry had gone up ‘how long’ before God acts? In this Psalm our Holy God says the evil has gone on ‘long enough’ and we see God acting in spectacular judgment against the nations. It is an assurance that God does hear His people’s cry of ‘how long?’ In this Psalm the nations are warned against arrogance claiming God will severely deal with those who arrogantly stand against God so that His people might praise Him.
To the Chief Musician. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.
This Psalm is dedicated to the Chief Musician and is set to the tune of ‘Do Not Destroy’. It is a Psalm of Asaph, In it, after an opening giving of thanks, God speaks directly to the nations warning that He will judge them. This theme is then taken up by the Psalmist who warns the nations not to be arrogant or belligerent on the grounds that it is only God as the Judge of all men Who lifts up men and nations, and it Is He Who makes them drink whatever He desires, ensuring that the wicked drink up the dregs. It then ends with praise for the One Who humbles the wicked and exalts the righteous.
1 We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks! For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.
The Psalm begins with Israel seen as giving twofold thanks to God because ‘His Name Is near’. They are sure that He, in the glory of what He Is, Is standing by them at the ready in order to help them in order to bring judgment on their enemies (Isaiah 30.27). This gives them cause for thanks because His wondrous works are well known among men who tell of them openly. They are confident that He will also act on their behalf with those same wondrous works.
For ‘His Name Is near’ as the prophet Isaiah says in chapter 30.27 of his book. “Behold the Name of YHWH comes from far, burning with His anger’ in order to ‘sift the nations with the sieve of vanity”. His Name in this case represents His active self, acting in judgment against the Assyrians.
2 “When I choose the proper time, I will judge uprightly. 3 The earth and all its inhabitants are dissolved; I set up its pillars firmly. Selah
God declares that whenever He considers it to be the appointed time He, and He alone, will act and judge uprightly. In the words ‘I will judge’ the word I is emphatic. ‘I and I alone will judge’. And when He does so the world and all its inhabitants will melt away before Him because it Is He Who has established its pillars, that is has determined its moral order and moral basis (compare 11.3), as well as being the Founder of it. None can stand before Him. As always in the Psalms His judgment is seen as something acted out in this world on the objects of His judgment.
In the light of God’s assurance that He will act in judgment against men when the right time comes, The Psalmist warns the arrogant and sinful, not to be foolish or arrogant. Let them recognize that men stand or fall as God determines.
4 “I said to the boastful, ‘Do not deal boastfully,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up the horn. 5 Do not lift up your horn on high; Do not speak with a stiff neck.’?”
The Psalmist’s warning goes out to those who are arrogant and to those who are proud and stiff-necked, and therefore obstinate. The lifting up of the horn’ (the forehead) has in mind an attitude of independence from God and an unwillingness to bend. Arrogance and a stiff neck are typical of the godless who know little of humility and lowliness. They think themselves above men and God. And he will warn them that such an attitude before God is foolish, because their futures are in His hands.
‘Do not lift up the horn’ is a metaphor based on the way a stag or a bull would toss its head in defiance and pride. Typical of this is the arrogance of men. They saw themselves as above YHWH. They were soon to learn differently.
6 For exaltation comes neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south. 7 But God Is the Judge: He puts down one and exalts another.
He points out that if men are to be exalted it will not come from other earthly sources, whether east, west or south. Whatever they might achieve in their conquests it would not finally exalt them. For exaltation comes from God alone. God Is the One Who Is the final Judge, and He decides whom He will put down and whom He will lift.
It was a reminder to the nations that whilE they might think that their activities were determined by themselves, really, they were God-determined.
8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; It is fully mixed, and He pours it out; Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth drain and drink down.
In the light of the fact that it is the ‘wicked’ of the earth who drink of the cup we must see this cup as the cup of God’s judgment, and of His wrath (Isaiah 51.17). The cup is in YHWH’s hand. The wine in it foams, and it is full of mixture (intoxicating herbs and spices), and He pours out from it. Thus, God’s planned judgment is actively foaming and His cup of judgment is full and intoxicating. And it is this that He will pour out for His adversaries. He will make them drink it to the full. Its dregs will be drained by the wicked of the earth. They will experience His judgment to its bitter depths. They are wicked because they are acting against God’s purposes, and against His people.
9 But I will declare forever, I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
The Psalmist closes the Psalm by indicating that he will ‘declare forever’ what God has done. And forever he will sing praises to the God of Jacob. And why will he do this? It is because of what God has promised. And he presents these promises in final words of YHWH (. He had begun the Psalm with praise (verse 1), followed by words of YHWH (verses 2-3). He ends in the same way.
10 “All the horns of the wicked I will also cut off, but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.”
The Psalm ends, as it began, with praise followed by direct words of YHWH giving assurance to His people, as He declares that He will cut off the horns of the wicked, rendering them powerless, but will lift the horns of the righteous, making them effective. In the end it is the righteous who will triumph.
Cutting off the horns was a way of making wild beasts powerless. It made them safe to handle (in the same way they would draw the teeth of captured lions for the same reason). The righteous, in contrast, would be able to ‘toss their horns’ in freedom and victory because God had lifted them up. They could be trusted with ‘horns.’ We notice that it is ‘the righteous’ who are mentioned not ‘His people’. Those who will be vindicated in the end and will truly receive His promises are the truly righteous. As the history of Israel testifies many of ‘His people’ were not.
