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This is a most excellent psalm, but in many places the genuine sense is not easy to come at; for in this, as in some other scriptures, there are things dark and hard to be understood. It does not appear when, or upon what occasion, David penned this psalm; but probably it was when, God having given him rest from all his enemies round about, he brought the ark (which was both the token of God's presence and a type of Christ's mediation) from the house of Obed-edom to the tent he had pitched for it in Zion; for the first words are the prayer which Moses used at the removing of the ark, Nu 10:35. From this he is led, by the Spirit of prophecy, to speak glorious things concerning the Messiah, his ascension into heaven, and the setting up of his kingdom in the world. I. He begins with prayer, both against God's enemies (Ps 68:1,2) and for his people, Ps 68:3. II. He proceeds to praise, which takes up the rest of the psalm, calling upon all to praise God (Ps 68:4,26,32) and suggesting many things as matter for praise. 1. The greatness and goodness of God, Ps 68:4-6. 2. The wonderful works God had wrought for his people formerly, bringing them through the wilderness (Ps 68:7,8), settling them in Canaan (Ps 68:9,10), giving them victory over their enemies (Ps 68:11,12), and delivering them out of the hands of their oppressors, Ps 68:13,14. 3. The special presence of God in his church, Ps 68:15-17. 4. The ascension of Christ (Ps 68:18) and the salvation of his people by him, Ps 68:19,20. 5. The victories which Christ would obtain over his enemies, and the favours he would bestow upon his church, Ps 68:21-28. 6. The enlargement of the church by the accession of the Gentiles to it, Ps 68:29-31. And so he concludes the psalm with an awful acknowledgment of the glory and grace of God, Ps 68:32-35. With all these great things we should endeavour to be duly affected in singing this psalm.

This psalm purports to be a psalm of David. It is dedicated to "the chief Musician." See the notes at the Introduction to Psalm 4:1-8. There is no reason to doubt the correctness of the title, as there is nothing in the psalm which conflicts with the supposition that David was the author, and as it accords so much, in its scope and language, with his undoubted compositions. On the phrase in the title "A Psalm or Song," see the notes at the title to Psalm 65:1-13.

It is not certainly known on what occasion the song was composed. It is evidently, like the eighteenth psalm, a triumphal song designed to celebrate victories which had been achieved; but whether composed to celebrate some particular victory, or in view of all that had been done in subduing the enemies of the people of God, it is impossible now to determine. Prof. Alexander supposes that it was in reference to the victory recorded in 2 Samuel 12:26-31, the last important victory of David's reign. Venema supposes that it was composed on the occasion of removing the ark to Mount Zion, to the place which David had prepared for it. This also is the opinion of Rosenmuller. DeWette inclines to the opinion that it was written in view of the victory over the Ammonites and others, as recorded in 2 Samuel 8-12. There are some things, however, in regard to the time and occasion on which the psalm was composed, which can be determined from the psalm itself.

(1) it is clear that it was not composed before the time of David, because before his time Jerusalem or Zion was not the seat of the royal authority, nor the place of divine worship, which it is evidently supposed to be in the psalm, Psalm 68:29.

(2) it was composed when the Hebrew nation was one, or before the separation of the ten tribes and the formation of the kingdom of Israel under Jeroboam, for Benjamin, Judah, Zebulon and Naphtall are especially mentioned as taking part in the solemnities referred to in the psalm, Psalm 68:27.

(3) it was consequently before the Babylonian captivity.

(4) it was composed on some occasion of bringing up the ark, and putting it in the place which had been prepared for it, Psalm 68:16, Psalm 68:24-25. These verses can be best explained on the supposition that the psalm was written on that occasion. Indeed they cannot well be explained on any other supposition.

(5) it was in view of past triumphs; of victories secured in former times; of what God had then done for his people, and especially of what he had done when the ark of the covenant had been placed at the head of the armies of Israel, Psalm 68:14. Compare Psalm 68:7-8, Psalm 68:12, Psalm 68:17-18.

(6) it was in anticipation of future triumphs - the triumphs of the true religion; under the feeling and belief that Jerusalem would be the center from which wholesome influences would go out over the world; and that through the influences which would go out from Jerusalem the world would be subdued to God, Psalm 68:20-23; 29-31. Compare Isaiah 2:3.

The psalm was composed, therefore, I apprehend, when the ark was brought up from the house of Obed-edom, and placed in the city of David, in the tent or tabernacle which he had erected for it there: 2 Samuel 6:12; 1 Chronicles 15. It is not improbable that other psalms, also, were composed for this occasion, as it was one of great solemnity.

The contents of the psalm accord entirely with this supposition. They are as follows:

I. A prayer that God would arise and scatter all his enemies, Psalm 68:1-2.

II. A call on the people to praise God, with reference to his greatness, and to his paternal character, Psalm 68:3-6.

III. A reference to what he had done in former times for his people in conducting them from bondage to the promised land, Psalm 68:7-14.

IV. A particular reference to the ark, Psalm 68:15-18. After it had been lying neglected, God had gone forth with it, and Zion had become distinguished above the hills; the chariots of God had been poured forth; victory had attended its movements; and God had gone up leading captivity captive.

V. The anticipation of future triumphs - the confident expectation of future interposition - as derived from the history of the past, Psalm 68:19-23.

VI. A description of the procession on the removing of the ark, Psalm 68:24-27.

VII. The anticipation of future triumphs expressed in another form, not that of subjugation by mere power, but of a voluntary submission of kings and nations to God, Psalm 68:28-31. Kings would come with presents Psalm 68:29; nations - Egypt and Ethiopia - would stretch out their hands to God, Psalm 68:31.

VIII. A call on all the nations, in view of these things, to ascribe praise to God, Psalm 68:32-35.

The psalmist calls upon God to arise, bless his people, and scatter his enemies, Psalm 68:1-3; exhorts them to praise him for has greatness, tenderness, compassion, and judgments, Psalm 68:4-6; describes the grandeur of his march when he went forth in the redemption of his people, Psalm 68:7, Psalm 68:8; how he dispensed his blessings, Psalm 68:9, Psalm 68:10; what he will still continue to do in their behalf, Psalm 68:11-13; the ejects produced by the manifestation of God's majesty, Psalm 68:14-18; he is praised for has goodness, Psalm 68:19, Psalm 68:20; for his judgments, Psalm 68:21-23; he tells in what manner the Divine worship was conducted, Psalm 68:24-27; how God is to be honored, Psalm 68:28-31; all are invited to sing his praises, and extol his greatness, Psalm 68:32-35.

In the title of this Psalm there is nothing particular to be remarked. It is probable that this Psalm, or a part of it at least, might have been composed by Moses, to be recited when the Israelites journeyed. See Numbers 10:35; and that David, on the same model, constructed this Psalm. It might have been sung also in the ceremony of transporting the ark from Kirjath-jearim, to Jerusalem; or from the house of Obed-edom to the tabernacle erected at Sion.

I know not how to undertake a comment on this Psalm: it is the most difficult in the whole Psalter; and I cannot help adopting the opinion of Simon De Muis: In hoc Psalmo tot ferme scopuli, tot labyrinthi, quot versus, quot verba. Non immerito crux ingeniorum, et interpretum opprobrium dici potest. "In this Psalm there are as many precipices and labyrinths as there are verses or words. It may not be improperly termed, the torture of critics, and the reproach of commentators." To attempt any thing new on it would be dangerous; and to say what has been so often said would be unsatisfactory. I am truly afraid to fall over one of those precipices, or be endlessly entangled and lost in one of these labyrinths. There are customs here referred to which I do not fully understand; there are words whose meaning I cannot, to my own satisfaction, ascertain; and allusions which are to me inexplicable. Yet of the composition itself I have the highest opinion: it is sublime beyond all comparison; it is constructed with an art truly admirable; it possesses all the dignity of the sacred language; none but David could have composed it; and, at this lapse of time, it would require no small influence of the Spirit that was upon him, to give its true interpretation. I shall subjoin a few notes, chiefly philological; and beg leave to refer the reader to those who have written profusely and laboriously on this sublime Psalm, particularly Venema, Calmet, Dr. Chandler, and the writers in the Critici Sacri.

INTRODUCTION TO Psalm 68

To the chief Musician, A Psalm or Song of David. The Targum makes the argument of this psalm to be the coming of the children of Israel out of Egypt, and the giving of the law on Mount Sinai; in which it is followed by many of the Jewish interpreters: but Aben Ezra rejects such an interpretation of it, and thinks that David composed it, concerning the war he had with the uncircumcised nations, the Philistines and others, 2 Samuel 8:1, &c. And so the title of the Syriac version begins,

"a psalm of David, when the kings prepared themselves to fight against him:''

and Kimchi says it was composed on account of Sennacherib's army coming against Jerusalem, in the times of Hezekiah, and so delivered by David, under a spirit of prophecy concerning that affair; though he owns that some of their writers interpret it of the war of Gog and Magog, in the times of the Messiah they yet expect. But they are much nearer the truth, who take it that it was written on occasion of the ark being brought to the city of David; seeing it begins with much the same words that Moses used when the ark set forward in his times, Numbers 10:35; and the bringing of which was attended with great joy and gladness, 2 Samuel 6:14; such as the righteous are called upon to express in this psalm, Psalm 68:3. And this being a type of Christ, and of his ascending the holy hill of God, may be allowed of; for certain it is that this psalm treats of the coming of Christ, and of blessings by him, and of victory over his enemies; and particularly of his ascension to heaven, as most evidently appears from Ephesians 4:8; and from prophecies in it, concerning the calling of the Gentiles. Wherefore the latter part of the Syriac inscription of it is very pertinent;

"also a prophecy concerning the dispensation of the Messiah, and concerning the calling of the Gentiles to the faith.''

Jarchi interprets Psalm 68:31 of the Messiah.

LXVIII.

“It is no easy task,” writes Hitzig of this psalm, “to become master of this Titan.” The epithet is apt. The psalm is Titanic not only in its unmanageable resistance to all the powers of criticism, but also in its lyric force and grandeur. It scales too, Titan-like, the very divinest heights of song.

In the case where there is still room for so many contradictory theories, it is best to confine an introduction to certainties. Psalms 68 will no doubt remain what it has been called, “the cross of critics, the reproach of interpreters;” but it tells us some facts of its history and character that are beyond question.

1. The mention of the Temple in Psalm 68:29, in a context which does not allow of the interpretation sometimes possible, palace, or heavenly abode, brings down the composition to a period certainly subsequent to Solomon.

2. The poet makes free use of older songs. Indeed M. Renan calls the psalm “an admirable series of lyric fragments” (Langues Sémitiques, p. 123). Most prominent among these references are those to Deborah’s magnificent ode (Judges 5) which is with the writer throughout, inspiring some of his finest thoughts.

3. The ode, while glancing ever and anon back over Israel’s ancient history, is yet loud and clear with the “lyric cry” of the author’s present. See Psalm 68:4-7; Psalm 68:21, (where there is probably a veritable historic portrait), Psalm 68:22, Psa_68:30 seqq.

4. The interest of this present, though we lack the key to its exact condition, centred, as far as the poet was concerned, in the Temple, which is represented as the object of the reverence and regard of foreign powers, who bring gifts to it.

5. Notwithstanding the warlike march of the poem, and the martial ring of its music, it appears from Psalm 68:5; Psalm 68:10; Psalm 68:19-20, not to have been inspired by any immediate battle or victory, but by that general confidence in the protection of God which Israel’s prophets and poets ever drew from the history of the past.

These few features, obvious on the face of the poem, lend probability to the conjecture which sees in this psalm a processional hymn of the second Temple. That Temple needed gifts and offerings from the Persian monarchs, and was rising into completion at a time when Israel could boast of no military greatness, but found its strength only in religion. The poetical form is irregular, varying with the subject and tone.

Title.—See titles, Psalms 4, 66

The theme of this magnificent Psalm is the march of God to victory. It traces the establishment of His kingdom in Israel in the past; it looks forward to the defeat of all opposition in the future, until all the kingdoms of the world own the God of Israel as their Lord and pay Him homage.

Every conceivable occasion and date have been suggested for this Psalm, from the age of Joshua to that of the Maccabees. Those who accept the title, and maintain the Davidic authorship, or at any rate the Davidic date, are by no means agreed as to the particular period of David’s reign to which it should be referred. Some suppose it to have been written for the translation of the ark to Zion (2 Samuel 6): others, for the triumphal procession of thanksgiving for some victory; while others again regard it as celebrating David’s victories in general, with retrospective allusion to the translation of the Ark, and prospective anticipation of the building of the Temple. Others have connected it with the translation of the Ark to Solomon’s Temple. Others find an appropriate occasion for it in the victory of Jehoshaphat and Jehoram over Moab, or in the repulse of the Assyrians in the reign of Hezekiah. Others place it in the closing years of the Babylonian Exile, and others after the Return from Babylon, at a date decidedly later than the time of Nehemiah. Others think that it was written during the wars between Egypt and Syria for the possession of Palestine towards the close of the third century b.c.; and others place it later still, connecting it with the war between Ptolemy Philometor and Alexander Balas, b.c. 146 (1 Maccabees 11).

The obvious inference from this wide variety of opinion is that the data are really insufficient for forming a definite conclusion. It is impossible to speak positively; but the grounds for assigning it to the same period as Isaiah 40-66, i.e. the last decade of the Babylonian exile, seem so far to preponderate, and the circumstances of that time appear so far to give the best background for the explanation of the Psalm as a whole, that this view has been provisionally adopted as the basis of the present commentary. The following are the chief grounds for it.

(1) Language is no doubt a precarious criterion; but there are features in the Psalm which point to a late rather than an early date. Thus e.g. the word for prosperity (Psalm 68:6) is derived from a root found only in late books (Esth. Eccl.), though common in Aramaic: the nearest parallel to the word for parched land (Psalm 68:6) is in Ezekiel; the word for scatter (Psalm 68:30) is not the ordinary Heb. word, but half Aramaic in form.

(2) The literary affinities of the Psalm point decidedly in the same direction. Not only is it dependent on the Blessing of Moses (Deuteronomy 33)[28] and the Song of Deborah (Judges 5)[29], but it contains parallels with Isaiah 40-66 which seem to indicate either that the writer was acquainted with those prophecies, or else that his language had been formed in the same atmosphere of thought and hope. Thus e.g. the summons of Psalm 68:4, “Cast up a highway for him that rideth through the deserts” at once reminds us of Isaiah 40:3, “Make straight in the desert a highway for our God”; and the very same word “cast up a highway” is used in Isaiah 57:14; Isaiah 62:10, and nowhere else in this sense. With Psalm 68:6 compare Isaiah 42:7; Isaiah 49:9; Isaiah 61:1; and with Psalm 68:31 cp. Isaiah 45:14. There are also parallels with the Prayer of Habakkuk[30], but they are not in themselves such as to prove that the Psalmist was indebted to it.

[28] Cp. Psalm 68:17 with Deuteronomy 33:2; Psalm 68:19-20 with Deuteronomy 33:29; Psalm 68:26 with Deuteronomy 33:28; Psalm 68:4; Psalm 68:33-34 with Deuteronomy 33:26-27.

[29] Cp. Psalm 68:4 with Jdg 5:3 : Psalm 68:7-8 with Jdg 5:4-5; Psalm 68:12 with Jdg 5:30; Psalm 68:13 with Jdg 5:16; Psalm 68:18 with Jdg 5:12; Psalm 68:27 with Jdg 5:14; Jdg 5:18.

[30] Cp. Psalm 68:7 with Habakkuk 3:12-13; Psalm 68:10 with Habakkuk 3:14; Psalm 68:21 with Habakkuk 3:13-14.

On the other hand the dependence of the Psalm on Isaiah 24-27 (probably to be dated after the Return from Babylon, perhaps about b.c. 500–480), which is maintained by some commentators, certainly cannot be proved.

(3) Clear and definite historical references are wanting; but many of the allusions can best be explained from the circumstances of the closing years of the Exile.

(1) The opening verses in each of the main divisions of the Psalm (1–3; 19–23) seem to contemplate an approaching manifestation of God’s power on behalf of His people which will bring salvation and joy to them, shame and destruction to their enemies, and appear to point (cp. Psalm 68:5-6; Psalm 68:20) to the present need of such an interposition. The same juxtaposition of Redemption and Judgement is prominent in Isaiah 40-66.

(2) The characteristic attributes of God in Psalm 68:4-6 no doubt include a reference to the Exodus from Egypt and the settlement in Canaan; but the parallels already quoted from Isaiah 40 ff give good ground for thinking that the Exodus from Babylon and the resettlement of Israel in Canaan were also is the Psalmist’s mind.

(3) Psalm 68:7-18 are a historical retrospect; and there is nothing to shew that the poet was contemporary with the point to which he carries it. If he wrote in view of the approaching return of God to His ancient dwelling-place, His original entry into it was a natural point to which to bring down his survey.

(4) It has been maintained that Psalm 68:24-27 are the description of an actual procession which the Psalmist himself has witnessed, and that the mention of Zebulun and Naphtali along with Judah and Benjamin carries the Psalm back to a date before the separation of the kingdoms. But, as will be shewn in the notes, the connexion of thought points rather to an occasion beyond the deliverance spoken of in Psalm 68:19-23 as still future; in other words to an ideal procession which rises before the poet’s imagination as the celebration of the great triumph over Israel’s enemies to which he looks forward; and if this is the case, the mention of Northern as well as Southern tribes as taking part in it can be best explained as the anticipation of the fulfilment of the numerous prophecies which predict the reunion of Israel and Judah.

(5) Psalm 68:29 does not necessarily presuppose the existence of the Temple. It may look forward to its restoration, just as, on the hypothesis of the Davidic date, it must look forward to its erection. The importance of the Temple to the age of the Restoration is a prominent thought in Haggai and Zechariah; and its significance in relation to the nations appears from Isaiah 60, &c.

(6) The reference to Egypt in Psalm 68:30 is too obscure to be made the ground of argument. There probably, as in Psalm 68:31, Egypt is mentioned as the typical enemy of Israel. At any rate it gives no support to the Davidic date. There is no hint that Israel was in any way threatened by Egypt during the reign of David.

It has been argued that the triumphant tone of the Psalm furnishes a conclusive refutation of the hypothesis that it was composed during the Exile. But if the approaching Return was the occasion of some of the grandest prophecies in the O.T., it cannot be impossible that it should also have been the occasion of one of the grandest Psalms in the Psalter. In appearance and to the outward eye the Return from Babylon was a “day of small things”: in reality and to the eye of faith it was one of the most momentous crises in the history of the Chosen People, nay, of the world, comparable only to the Exodus. For if the Exodus from Egypt was the birthday of the nation of Israel, the Exodus from Babylon was the birthday of the Jewish Church. The parallel between the first and the second Exodus is constantly present to the mind of the prophets. This poet-seer looks away from the actual circumstances which surround him to the true meaning and the ultimate issues of that new march of God through the deserts which he is about to witness, and he sees the analogy and the guarantee for it in the past history of the nation. There are parts of Isaiah 40-66 (e.g. ch. 60) which betray no trace of weakness or misgiving. Why may not the age which could produce such a prophecy have produced such a Psalm? At least the occasion was worthy of a Psalm which has been well described as “the most buoyant, the most powerful, the most animated, which is to be found in the Psalter.”

Whatever may have been its origin and date, the grandeur of the Psalm remains the same, and its inspired and inspiring assurance of the certainty of the final triumph of God and the universal recognition of His sovereignty is unaltered. It has always been the favourite Psalm of those who felt (whether rightly or wrongly) that their cause was the cause of God, and that in His strength they were sure to conquer. To the crusaders setting out for the recovery of the Holy Land; to Savonarola and his monks as they marched to the ‘trial of fire’ in the Piazza at Florence; to the Huguenots who called it “the song of battles”; to Cromwell at Dunbar as the sun rose on the mists of the morning and he charged Leslie’s army; it has supplied words for the expression of their heartfelt convictions.

The choice of the Psalm for use in the service of the Synagogue at Pentecost was doubtless determined by the allusion in Psalm 68:7-8[31] to the giving of the Law at Sinai, which is commemorated at that Festival. Its selection as a Proper Psalm for Whitsunday was probably suggested partly by the Jewish usage, partly by St Paul’s application of Psalm 68:18 to the spiritual gifts bestowed by the risen and ascended Christ upon the Church. But the appropriateness does not depend upon a single verse. No Psalm could be fitter for the “birthday of the universal Church” than the Psalm which celebrates the triumphs of God in the history of His people, and looks forward to the extension of His kingdom throughout the world.

[31] The Targum introduces references to the giving of the Law in several other passages: e.g. Psalm 68:11, “The Lord gave the words of the Law to the people”: Psalm 68:15, “Mount Sinai was chosen for the giving of the Law”: Psalm 68:18, see note.

It is most truly a Messianic Psalm; for though it contains no direct prophecy of Christ’s coming, it is full of the thought of the presence and dwelling of God among His people, which is most fully realised in the Incarnation; and it is animated by the consciousness that all God’s mighty works for Israel were but the means to a higher end, the spiritual conquest of the world, and the universal establishment of His kingdom.

The following is an outline of the contents of the Psalm, which consists of a prelude, and two main divisions, which may be subdivided into stanzas of 3, 4, and 5 verses.

i.  The Prelude (Psalm 68:1-6).

1.  God is about to manifest His presence and power to the discomfiture of His foes and the joy of His people (Psalm 68:1-3).

2.  The Psalmist calls upon his countrymen to welcome the advent of their God and prepare the way for it; bidding them remember what He is—the helper of the helpless and oppressed, the liberator of the captive (Psalm 68:4-6).

ii.  A survey of Israel’s history in proof of God’s victorious power and gracious love (Psalm 68:7-18).

1.  The Exodus from Egypt and the Entry into the Promised Land. His majesty was manifested at Sinai, His goodness in the preparation of Canaan to be the home of the long-oppressed Israelites (Psalm 68:7-10).

2.  The conquest. He gave them victory over the mighty kings of Canaan (Psalm 68:11-14).

3.  The choice of Zion. He chose Zion for His earthly abode, and returned to heaven as a triumphant conqueror, having received the submission and homage of men (Psalm 68:15-18).

iii.  From the past the Psalmist turns to the present and the future (Psalm 68:19-35).

1.  God is an ever-present Saviour of His people: He will take vengeance on their enemies (Psalm 68:19-23).

2.  Once more the victory of God will be celebrated by a reunited Israel (Psalm 68:24-27).

3.  The Psalmist prays that God will display His power and subdue all opposition, and sees the nations hastening to pay Him homage (Psalm 68:28-31).

4.  All nations are summoned to join in the praise of Israel’s God, and the Psalm closes with their confession of His gracious sovereignty (Psalm 68:32-35).

Ps 68:1-35.

This is a Psalm-song (see on

Ps 30:1,

title), perhaps suggested by David's victories, which secured his throne and gave rest to the nation. In general terms, the judgment of God on the wicked, and the equity and goodness of His government to the pious, are celebrated. The sentiment is illustrated by examples of God's dealings, cited from the Jewish history and related in highly poetical terms. Hence the writer intimates an expectation of equal and even greater triumphs and summons all nations to unite in praises of the God of Israel. The Psalm is evidently typical of the relation which God, in the person of His Son, sustains to the Church (compare

Ps 68:18).

1-3. Compare

Nu 10:35; Ps 1:4; 22:14,

on the figures here used.

before him--as in

Ps 68:2,

from His presence, as dreaded; but in

Ps 68:3,

in His presence, as under His protection

(Ps 61:7).

Let God arise - See the notes at Psalm 3:7. There is an obvious reterence here to the words used by Moses on the removal of the ark in Numbers 10:35. The same language was also employed by Solomon when the ark was removed to the temple, and deposited in the most holy place 2 Chronicles 6:41 :" Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength." It would seem probable, therefore, that this psalm was composed on some such occasion.

Let his enemies be scattered - So in Numbers 10:35 : "Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee." The ark was the symbol of the divine presence, and the idea is, that whereever that was, the enemies of God would be subdued, or that it was only by the power of Him who was supposed to reside there that his enemies could be overcome.

Let them also that hate him flee before him - Almost the exact language used by Moses in Numbers 10:35. It is possible that this may have been used on some occasion when the Hebrews were going out to war; but the more probable supposition is that it is general language designed to illustrate the power of God, or to state that his rising up, at any time, would be followed by the discomfiture of his enemies. The placing of the ark where it was designed to remain permanently would be a proper occasion for suggesting this general truth, that all the enemies of God must be scattered when he rose up in his majesty and power.