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Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament

Psalms 68

Psalm 68: God arises, marches through the wilderness and ascends on high

General context

The psalm calls for God to arise and his enemies to scatter like smoke and melting wax, while the righteous rejoice. The hearers are told to sing to God who rides on the heavens by his name Jah, a father of the fatherless and judge of widows, who sets the solitary in families and frees the bound. God is addressed about going before his people through the wilderness, Selah, when the earth shook and Sinai moved at his presence; he sent plentiful rain and confirmed his weary inheritance. The Lord gave the word; kings of armies fled and she who stayed at home divided the spoil; the Almighty scattered kings, and it was white as snow in Salmon. The high hills are asked why they leap, for God will dwell in his hill for ever; his chariots are twenty thousand, thousands of angels. God has ascended on high, led captivity captive and received gifts for men, even the rebellious. Blessed be the Lord who daily loads us with benefits. God will wound the head of his enemies; the Lord says he will bring his people again from Bashan and the depths of the sea, so that their foot may be dipped in blood. A procession is seen in the sanctuary: singers, players, damsels with timbrels, and Benjamin, Judah, Zebulun and Naphtali. Kings will bring presents because of the temple at Jerusalem; God is asked to scatter those who delight in war; princes will come from Egypt and Ethiopia will stretch out her hands to God. The kingdoms of the earth are told to sing to him who rides the heavens of heavens, Selah; the God of Israel gives strength to his people. Blessed be God.

Cited passages: Psalms 68:1, Psalms 68:2, Psalms 68:4, Psalms 68:5, Psalms 68:6, Psalms 68:7, Psalms 68:8, Psalms 68:9, Psalms 68:11, Psalms 68:12, Psalms 68:14, Psalms 68:16, Psalms 68:17, Psalms 68:18, Psalms 68:19, Psalms 68:20, Psalms 68:22, Psalms 68:23, Psalms 68:25, Psalms 68:27, Psalms 68:29, Psalms 68:30, Psalms 68:31, Psalms 68:32, Psalms 68:34, Psalms 68:35

Psalms 68 (KJV)

1Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.

2As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

3But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.

4Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name Jah, and rejoice before him.

5A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

6God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.

7O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah:

8The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

9Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary.

10Thy congregation hath dwelt therein: thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor.

11The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.

12Kings of armies did flee apace: and she that tarried at home divided the spoil.

13Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.

14When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as snow in Salmon.

15The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan; an high hill as the hill of Bashan.

16Why leap ye, ye high hills? this is the hill which God desireth to dwell in; yea, the Lord will dwell in it for ever.

17The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.

18Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them.

19Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

20He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death.

21But God shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses.

22The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea:

23That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies, and the tongue of thy dogs in the same.

24They have seen thy goings, O God; even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary.

25The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels.

26Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord, from the fountain of Israel.

27There is little Benjamin with their ruler, the princes of Judah and their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.

28Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us.

29Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto thee.

30Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people that delight in war.

31Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.

32Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah:

33To him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens, which were of old; lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice.

34Ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds.

35O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The text as printed here carries no heading; verse 1 opens with "Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered", so this source names no author, occasion or musical direction. This psalm names more places and groups than its neighbours: Sinai, Bashan, Salmon, Egypt, Ethiopia, "thy temple at Jerusalem", and the tribes Benjamin, Judah, Zebulun and Naphtali. God is called "Jah" in verse 4 and "the God of Israel". The march "through the wilderness" and Sinai moving "at the presence of God" are addressed to God as past events, but no exodus story is retold; the kings who "did flee apace" and the spoil divided by "she that tarried at home" are not named, and "Salmon" is not located. Verses 13 and 14, with pots, silver dove wings and snow, are compressed and the text does not explain them. Verse 18 is quoted in the Letter to the Ephesians: "When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men", where the psalm's "received gifts for men" reads "gave gifts unto men". Verse 22 quotes "The Lord said" directly. Selah stands after verses 7, 19 and 32. The procession of verses 24 to 27 is described as seen "in the sanctuary" without saying when.

Cited passages: Psalms 68:1, Psalms 68:29, Psalms 68:4, Psalms 68:7, Psalms 68:12, Psalms 68:13, Ephesians 4:8, Psalms 68:18, Psalms 68:22, Psalms 68:24

Literary context

The psalm is a sequence of scenes rather than a single argument, and its joints are marked by Selah at verses 7, 19 and 32. It opens with God rising and enemies dispersing in two images of vanishing, smoke and wax, and then sets against that force a portrait of care: "A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows", families for the solitary, chains loosed. The middle scenes are of movement: God marching through the wilderness with earth and heavens responding, kings fleeing, hills leaping and being asked why, chariots in thousands, an ascent "on high". Verses 19 and 20 pause on blessing and "the issues from death" before the violence returns with wounded heads and feet dipped in blood. Then the poem turns to a procession the speaker says has been seen, singers, players, damsels with timbrels, tribes in order, and to a future in which kings bring presents and Ethiopia stretches out her hands. The verb "rideth" is used of God at verse 4 and again at verse 33, framing the whole, and "strength" is repeated three times in the last two verses. The psalm ends on the same word it used at verse 19, "Blessed".

Cited passages: Psalms 68:2, Psalms 68:5, Psalms 68:16, Psalms 68:18, Psalms 68:20, Psalms 68:21, Psalms 68:25, Psalms 68:33, Psalms 68:35

Key moments

  1. Let God arise (Psalms 68:1). The psalm opens by calling for God to arise and his enemies to scatter.
  2. Father of the fatherless (Psalms 68:5). God in his holy habitation is a father to orphans and a judge for widows.
  3. Sinai moved (Psalms 68:8). When God marched through the wilderness the earth shook and Sinai moved.
  4. Kings of armies flee (Psalms 68:12). Kings flee and the woman who stayed home divides the spoil.
  5. Ascended on high (Psalms 68:18). God has ascended, led captivity captive and received gifts for men.
  6. The procession in the sanctuary (Psalms 68:25). Singers, players and damsels with timbrels go in procession.
  7. Ethiopia stretches out her hands (Psalms 68:31). Princes will come from Egypt and Ethiopia will reach out to God.

For reflection

The same God who scatters kings and wounds heads is called a father of the fatherless and a judge of widows in the space of a few verses; what does the poem want a reader to hold together in that pairing?

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