Psalms 75:0 ¶ To the chief Musician, Altaschith, A Psalm or Song of Asaph.
Another psalm attributed to Asaph for use by the chief Musician. “Altaschith” is concluded by many to identify the tune to which it was to be sung. This tune was also specified for psalms 57-59.
Psalms 75:1 ¶ Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.
The psalmist opens this psalm with words of thanksgiving to God in light of all the wonderful and miraculous (from the Hebrew) things He has done on behalf of His people.
Psalms 75:2 When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.
Psalms 75:3 The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.
After reading several translations, it seems that the point the God is making is that He is the one who chooses when He will dispense judgment.
The Hebrew for “dissolve” states “to melt, flow down, disappear….” It makes sense with the rest of the verse to be referencing earthquakes and volcanoes as God declares that He is the one that holds the earth together throughout their impact.
I couldn’t help but think of the greatest earthquake of all that will happen during the tribulation; yet through it all, the LORD will hold the earth together.
Revelation 16:18 “And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.”
EBC Abridged Commentary: “The “upright” judgment of God pertains to both aspects of his righteous rule: vengeance on the enemies and vindication of the godly.”
Spurgeon: “As the smiling flowers gratefully reflect in their lovely colours the various constituents of the solar ray, so should gratitude spring up in our hearts after the smiles of God's providence.”
Selah – a pause, an opportunity for reflection
Psalms 75:4 I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:
Psalms 75:5 Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.
Psalms 75:6 ¶ For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
Psalms 75:7 But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.
We learned previously that the Chronicler identified Asaph as a prophet or seer. In that capacity, he has spoken out in warning to those who are wicked, boastful and full of pride. He has warned them that they should not act defiantly before God. He has told them that there is no man from anywhere who can put a man in power without God’s oversight. It is God that is the sovereign judge and ultimately decides whom to place in power and whom to take down.
Because our perspective is so small, I think there are very few in this world that recognize that truth. Because God’s ways are so different than ours, we can’t imagine why He would allow so many wicked men to occupy powerful positions and rule with such tyranny. The truth is, however, that His purposes are being accomplished as He positions each person in power throughout the world.
The prophet Daniel affirms this truth.
Daniel 2:20–21 “Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding….”
Spurgeon: “Impudence before God is madness. The outstretched neck of insolent pride is sure to provoke his axe. Those who carry their heads high shall find that they will be lifted yet higher, as Haman was upon the gallows which he had prepared for the righteous man.”
Guzik quoting Voice: “Lifting one’s horn against heaven is the equivalent of shaking one’s fist in God’s face.”
Psalms 75:8 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.
The psalmist paints a word picture of God’s sovereignty, assuring that the wicked of the earth will be judged. He pictures God holding a cup of red wine mixed with spices. He pictures all the wicked being forced to drink the entire contents of the cup to the very last bit of remaining sediment in the bottom.
There are other places in scripture picturing God’s judgment as coming from a cup of wine.
Isaiah 51:17 “Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out.”
Jeremiah 25:15 “For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.”
Revelation 16:19 “And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.”
Spurgeon: “Oh the anguish and the heart break of the day of wrath! Mark well, it is for all the wicked; all hell for all the ungodly; the dregs for the dregs; bitters for the bitter; wrath for the heirs of wrath….Oh happy they who drink the cup of godly sorrow, and the cup of salvation: these, though now despised, will then be envied by the very men who trod them under foot.”
Psalms 75:9 But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
Psalms 75:10 All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.
The psalmist declares that he will declare the praises of the God of Jacob forever and prophesies that God will destroy the wicked and exalt the righteous. Scripture affirms that truth throughout.
Isaiah 13:11 “And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.”
Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Revelation 21:6–7 “And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”
Psalms 76:0 ¶ To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm or Song of Asaph.
This is another of the psalms that identify the composer as Asaph. “Neginoth” indicates that it is to be played on stringed instruments.
Spurgeon: “The present Psalm is a most jubilant war song, a paean to the King of kings, the hymn of a theocratic nation to its divine ruler.”
“paean” = a song of triumph in honor of deity
Psalms 76:1 ¶ In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel.
Psalms 76:2 In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion.
Psalms 76:3 There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah.
Salem and Zion are both references to Jerusalem.
The psalmist opens with a statement of God’s fame throughout Israel. It is noted that His tabernacle and dwelling place was acknowledged to be in Jerusalem. David had brought the ark of the covenant that represents the presence of God and placed it in a special tent or tabernacle made specifically to house it.
2 Samuel 6:17 “And they brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it: and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.”
The psalmist is either thanking God for the defeat of the enemy at Jerusalem or prophesying of a future victory or both—and I believe the latter.
I tend to think it dates to the time of David because of the reference to His “tabernacle” instead of the temple. I believe it also will be appropriately applied to the defeat of the armies of Antichrist at the Valley of Jehoshaphat (between Jerusalem and Mount of Olives) as prophesied by Joel and fulfilled at the return of Jesus.
Joel 3:1–2 ““At that time, when I restore the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “I will gather the armies of the world into the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will judge them for harming my people, for scattering my inheritance among the nations, and for dividing up my land.” (NLT – easier to understand)
Revelation 19:11 & 17-21 ¶ And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war….And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
Some commentators, however, attribute this psalm to a descendant namesake of Asaph regarding the defeat of Sennacharib.
2 Kings 19:31–36 “For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this. Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.”
“Selah” = a pause, a time for reflection
Psalms 76:4 Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey.
The psalmist can find no words to truly describe God’s greatness, so he declares Him more luminous, glorious, powerful and worthy than the mountains abundant with wildlife and food.
Psalms 76:5 The stouthearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands.
Psalms 76:6 At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep.
The psalmist declares that even the mightiest enemy warriors have died at God’s rebuke; their chariots are useless, and their horses are dead. He pictures it as if the whole enemy camp looks asleep.
This verse reminds me of the power of God’s word as proclaimed throughout scripture. He has but to speak or even think the thought to accomplish His will as declared by the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah 55:11 “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
Isaiah 14:24 “The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:”
Psalms 76:7 ¶ Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry?
Psalms 76:8 Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still,
Psalms 76:9 When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah.
The psalmist proclaims God as One to be feared and reverenced. The question “…who may stand…?” is rhetorical. There is no one that can survive God’s anger when directed toward him. When God pronounces judgment from heaven, it is cause for those on earth to be scared into silence. That judgment will save the meek of the earth.
This reminds me of the words of the Lord Jesus from the section of scripture known as the Beatitudes (which I happen to be memorizing).
Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”
“Selah” = a pause, a time for reflection
Psalms 76:10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.
This was a hard verse for me. I think the NLT made the most sense: “Human opposition only enhances your glory, for you use it as a sword of judgment.”
I liked Spurgeon’s comments: “Man with his breath of threatening is but blowing the trumpet of the Lord's eternal fame. Furious winds often drive vessels the more swiftly into port. The devil blows the fire and melts the iron, and then the Lord fashions it for his own purposes. Let men and devils rage as they may, they cannot do otherwise than subserve the divine purposes…. The verse clearly teaches that even the most rampant evil is under the control of the Lord, and will in the end be overruled for his praise.”
Psalms 76:11 Vow, and pay unto the Lord your God: let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared.
Psalms 76:12 He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible to the kings of the earth.
The psalmist calls for all who make vows to the “LORD your God” to be faithful to keep them. This is in accordance with God’s will.
Deuteronomy 23:21 “When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee.”
All those that benefit from His blessings (and everyone on earth does) should bring gifts to God who should be reverenced and feared. He is the One that can destroy those in power and should be feared and revered by the kings of the earth.
I am also reminded again, that whether one chooses to accept Him as such or not, the LORD He is God; there is no other. He is sovereign and in active control over His creation. I, for one, am so thankful for that truth!