1In Judah God is known;
His name is great in Israel.
2In Salem also is His tabernacle,
And His dwelling place in
Zion.
3There He broke the arrows of the bow,
The shield and sword of
battle.
Selah
4You are more glorious and excellent
Than the mountains of prey.
5The stouthearted were plundered;
They have sunk into their
sleep;
And none of the mighty men
have found the use of their hands.
6At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
Both the chariot and horse
were cast into a dead sleep.
7You, Yourself, are to be feared;
And who may stand in Your
presence
When once You are angry?
8You caused judgment to be heard from heaven;
The earth feared and was
still,
9When God arose to judgment,
To deliver all the oppressed
of the earth.
Selah
10Surely the wrath of man shall praise You;
With the remainder of wrath
You shall gird Yourself.
11Make vows to the Lord your
God, and pay them;
Let all who are around Him
bring presents to Him who ought to be feared.
12He shall cut off the spirit of princes;
He is awesome to the kings of
the earth.
Preamble: Psalm 75 warned of God’s Judgment and Psalm 76 now celebrates it (KJV Bible Commentary). The historical setting is God’s complete routing and then plundering of the boastful Assyrian army outside Jerusalem in 701 B.C. (see Isaiah 36-37).
Commentary
Vs.
1-2
1In Judah God is
known;
His name is great in Israel.
2In Salem also is His tabernacle,
And His dwelling place in
Zion.
When God destroyed the invading Assyrian army, (the then most powerful nation on earth), the armies of Sennacherib, He became known in Judah, the tribe and land where Jerusalem was. Indeed, His fame went throughout all of Israel for His mighty work of deliverance on their behalf. Salem (the place of peace) where His Temple resided was also confirmed to them all as being His Tabernacle. For He once again made His dwelling place in Zion, the city which David built.
Vs. 3 “There He broke the arrows of the bow,
The shield and sword of
battle.
Selah”
For it was there when Jerusalem was surrounded that He came down and destroyed all the weapons of the invading Assyrian armies. And this He did with not even so much as lifting a finger, to turn them away from His people (Isaiah 37:33-38).
Vs. 4 “You are more glorious and excellent
Than the mountains of prey.”
Here metaphoric language is being used to worship the Lord God for His Great Goodness by declaring that His Person is exceedingly greater and higher than the mountains of prey, that is all the mighty Gentile nations and their kings and rulers.
Vs. 5-6 5The stouthearted were plundered;
They have sunk into their
sleep;
And none of the mighty men
have found the use of their hands.
6At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
Both the chariot and horse
were cast into a dead sleep.
For God Himself plundered all the Assyrian stout-hearted warriors, He Himself by the Angel of the Lord gave them over to the sleep of death. None of them was able to resist Him, for at His command both the chariot and horse were cast into a dead sleep. The significance being that chariots were the battle tanks of the ancient world, and Israel at that time had neither horses nor chariots to defend themselves. Thus, God saved them, for at His command He brought all their might to nothing!
Vs. 7 “You, Yourself, are to be feared;
And who may stand in Your
presence
When once You are angry?”
Because of this God Himself is to be feared, His people then through this event relearned the fear of the Lord. For as they observed no one can stand in His Presence when once His anger is aroused!
Vs. 8-10 8You caused judgment to be heard from heaven;
The earth feared and was
still,
9When God arose to judgment,
To deliver all the oppressed
of the earth.
Selah
10Surely the wrath of man shall praise You;
With the remainder of wrath
You shall gird Yourself.
These verses then celebrate God’s deliverance of them, of His rendering His Judgment from heaven on earth in their very presence. Now this He did and does do to deliver all the oppressed of the earth, as they were then. Because of this they see that even the wrath of man shall praise Him, for God Himself can turn anyone in anyway He wishes, and those who retain their wrath He will gird Himself with their wrath as Victor over them all! God does not fear anyone or anything is the point, for He is Lord of all!
Vs. 11-12 11Make vows to the Lord your God, and pay them;
Let all who are around Him
bring presents to Him who ought to be feared.
12He shall cut off the spirit of princes;
He is awesome to the kings of
the earth.
The psalm now closes out calling all people to make vows to Him and pay them, in essence to commit themselves to Him alone who is to be feared (Vs.11). For He shall cut off the spirit of princes, who do not honor Him, for they do not keep themselves alive or in their places, only He does. Therefore He is awesome to the kings of the earth who honor and hallow Him alone, amen.
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.
No comments:
Post a Comment