The Treasury Of David
by C H Spurgeon
Psalm 68
| Exposition | Explanatory Notes And Quaint Sayings | Hints To The Village Preacher | Works Upon This Psalm |
TITLE. To
the Chief Musician, a Psalm or Song of David. We have already said enough upon this title when dealing with Psalms 65 and 66. The present is obviously
a song to be sung at the removal of the ark; and in all probability was rehearsed when David conducted it with
holy joy from the house of Obededom to the prepared place on Mount Zion. It is a most soul stirring hymn. The first
verses were often the battle song of the Covenanters and Ironsides; and the whole Psalm fitly pictures the way
of the Lord Jesus among his saints, and his ascent to glory. The Psalm is at once surpassingly excellent and difficult.
Its darkness in some stanzas is utterly impenetrable. Well does a German critic speak of it as a Titan very hard
to master. Our slender scholarship has utterly failed us and we have had to follow a surer Guide. We trust our
thoughts may not however prove unprofitable.
DIVISION. With the words of the first
two verses the ark is uplifted, and the procession begins to move. In Ps 68:3-6, the godly in the assembly are
exhorted to commence their joyous songs, and arguments are adduced to help their joy. Then the glorious march of
Jehovah in the wilderness is sung: Ps 68:7-10, and his victories in war are celebrated in verses Ps 68:11-14. The
joyous shouts are louder as Zion comes in sight, and the ark is borne up the hill: Ps 68:15-19. On the summit of
the mount the priests sing a hymn concerning the Lord's goodness and justice; the safety of his friends, and ruin
of his foes: Ps 68:20-23. Meanwhile the procession is described as it winds up the hill: Ps 68:24-27. The poet
anticipates a time of wider conquest, Ps 68:28-31: and concludes with a noble burst of song unto Jehovah.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. Let God arise. In some such words Moses spake when the cloud moved onward, and the ark was carried forward. The ark
would have been a poor leader if the Lord had not been present with the symbol. Before we move, we should always
desire to see the Lord lead the way. The words suppose the Lord to have been passive for awhile, suffering his
enemies to rage, but restraining his power. Israel beseeches him to "arise, "as elsewhere to "awake,
""gird on his sword, "and other similar expressions. We, also, may thus importunately cry unto the
Lord, that he would be pleased to make bare his arm, and plead his own cause. Let his enemies be scattered. Our
glorious Captain of the vanguard clears the way readily, however many may seek to obstruct it; he has but to arise,
and they flee, he has easily over thrown his foes in days of yore, and will do so all through the ages to come.
Sin, death, and hell know the terror of his arm; their ranks are broken at his approach. Our enemies are his enemies, and in this is our confidence of victory. Let them also that hate
him flee before him. To hate the infinitely good God is infamous, and the worst punishment is not too severe. Hatred
of God is impotent. His proudest foes can do him no injury. Alarmed beyond measure, they shall flee before it comes
to blows. Long before the army of Israel can come into the fray, the haters of God shall flee before HIM who is
the champion of his chosen. He comes, he sees, he conquers. How fitting a prayer is this for the commencement of
a revival! How it suggests the true mode of conducting one: --the Lord leads the way, his people follow, the enemies
flee.
NEW TRANSLATION
In order that our readers may see the Psalm at a glance in a good translation, we subjoin the version of FRANZ
DELITZSCH; recommending our ministerial brethren to procure the volumes of his valuable Commentary on the Psalms,
issued by the Messrs. CLARK, of Edinburgh.
HYMN OF WAR AND VICTORY IN THE STYLE OF DEBORAH
2 LET Elohim arise, let His enemies be scattered,
And let those who hate Him flee before His face.
3 As smoke is driven away, do Thou drive them away;
As wax melteth before the fire,
Let the wicked perish before Elohim.
4 And let the righteous rejoice, let them exult before Elohim,
And let them be glad with joy.
5 Sing unto Elohim, harp His name,
Pave a highway for Him who rideth along through the steppes;
Jah is his name, and exult ye before Him.
6 A Father of the fatherless and an Advocate of the widows
Is Elohim in His holy habitation.
7 Elohim maketh a household for the solitary,
He leadeth forth prisoners into prosperity;
Yet the rebellious abide in a land of drought.
8 Elohim, when Thou wentest forth before Thy people,
When thou didst march along in the wilderness--Sela.
9 The earth shook,
The heavens also dropped before Elohim,
Yon Sinai before Elohim, the God of Israel.
10 With plentiful rain didst Thou, Elohim, water Thine inheritance,
And when it was parched, THOU hast confirmed it.
11 Thy creatures have settled down therein,
Thou didst provide with Thy goodness for the poor, Elohim.
12 The Lord will sound forth the mandate;
Of the women who herald victory there is a great army.
13 The kings of hosts shall flee, shall flee,
And she that tarrieth at home, shall divide the spoil.
14 If ye encamp among the sheep folds,
The dove's wings are covered with silver
And her feathers with glistening gold.
15 When the Almighty scattereth kings therein,
It becometh snow white upon Zalmon.
16 A mountain of Elohim is the mountain of Bashan,
A mountain full of peaks is the mountain of Bashan.
17 Why look ye enviously, ye many peaked mountains,
Upon the mountain which Elohim hath chosen, to dwell thereon?
Yea, Jahve will dwell (there) for ever.
18 The war chariots of Elohim are myriads, a thousand thousands,
The Lord is among them, it is a Sinai in holiness.
19 Thou hast ascended up to the height, Thou hast led captives captive,
Thou hast received gifts among men,
Even from the rebellious, that Jah Elohim might dwell (there).
20 Blessed be the Lord:
Day by day doth He bear our burden,
He, God, is our salvation. (Sela.)
21 He, God, is to us a God for deeds of deliverance,
And Jahve the Lord hath ways of escape for death.
22 Yea, Elohim will smite the head of His enemie,
The hairy scalp of him who stalks along in his trespasses.
23 The Lord hath said: Out of Bashan will I bring back,
I will bring back out of the depths of the sea,
24 That thou mayest bathe thy foot in blood,
That the tongue of thy dogs may have its share of the enemy.
25 They behold Thy splendid procession, Elohim,
The splendid procession of my God, my King in holiness.
26 Before went the singers, behind the players on stringed instruments,
In the midst of damsels striking timbrels.
27 In the choirs of the congregation bless ye Elohim,
The Lord, ye who are out of the fountain of Israel.
28 There is Benjamin the youngest, their ruler;
The princes of Judah--their motley band,
The princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali,
29 Thy God hath commanded thy supreme power--
Uphold in power, Elohim, what Thou hast wrought for us!--
30 From Thy temple above Jerusalem
Let kings present offerings unto Thee.
31 Threaten the wild beast of the reed, the troops of bulls with the calves of the people,
That they may prostrate themselves with ingots of silver! --
He hath scattered the peoples that delight in wars.
32 Magnates come out of Egypt,
Cush--quickly do his hands stretch out unto Elohim.
33 Ye kingdoms of the earth, sing unto Elohim,
Praising the Lord with stringed instruments--(Sela.)
34 To Him who rideth in the heaven of heavens of the primeval time--
Lo, He made Himself heard with His voice, a mighty voice.
35 Ascribe ye might unto Elohim!
Over Israel is His majesty.
And His omnipotence in the heights of the heavens.
36 Terrible is Elohim out of thy sanctuaries;
"The God of Israel giveth might and abundant strength to the people!"
Blessed be Elohim!
Verse 2. As smoke is driven away. Easily the wind chases the smoke, completely it removes it, no trace is left; so, Lord, do thou to the
foes of thy people. They fume in pride, they darken the sky with their malice, they mount higher and higher in
arrogance, they defile wherever they prevail. Lord, let they breath, thy Spirit, thy Providence, make them to vanish
for ever from the march of thy people. Philosophic scepticism is as flimsy and as foul as smoke; may the Lord deliver
his Church from the reek of it. As wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. Wax is hard when by itself, but put it to the fire, how soft
it is. Wicked men are haughty till they come into contact with the Lord, and then they faint for fear; their hearts
melt like wax when they feel the power of his anger. Wax, also, burns and passes away; the taper is utterly consumed
by the flame: so shall all the boastful power of the opposers of the gospel be as a thing of nought. Rome, like
the candles on her altars, shall dissolve, and with equal certainty shall infidelity disappear. Israel saw, in
the ark, God on the mercyseat--power in connection with propitiation --and they rejoiced in the omnipotence of
such a manifestation; this is even more clearly the confidence of the New Testament church, for we see Jesus, the
appointed atonement, clothed with glory and majesty, and before his advance all opposition melts like snow in the
sun; the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands. When he comes by his Holy Spirit, conquest is the result;
but when he arises in person, his foes shall utterly perish.
Verse 3. But let the righteous be glad. The presence of God on the throne of grace is an overflowing source of delight to the godly; and let
them not fail to drink of the streams which are meant to make them glad. Let them rejoice before God. The courtiers
of the happy God should wear the garments of gladness, for in his presence is fulness of joy. That presence, which
is the dread and death of the wicked, is the desire and delight of the saints. Yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.
Let them dance with all their might, as David did, for very joy. No bounds should be set to joy in the Lord. "Again,
I say, rejoice, "says the apostle, as if he would have us add joy to joy without measure or pause. When God
is seen to shine propitious from above the mercyseat in the person of our Immanuel, our hearts must needs leap
within us with exultation, if we are indeed among those made righteous in his righteousness, and sanctified by
his Spirit. Move on, O army of the living God, with shouts of abounding triumph, for Jesus leads the van.
Verse 4. Sing unto God, sing praises
to his name. To time and tune, with order and care, celebrate the character and deeds
of God, the God of his people. Do it again and again; and let the praise, with resolution of heart, be all directed
to him. Sing not for ostentation, but devotion; not to be heard of men, but of the Lord himself. Sing not to the
congregation, but "unto God," Extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH. Remember his most
great, incomprehensible, and awful name; reflect upon his self existence and absolute dominion, rise to the highest
pitch of joyful reverence in adoring him. Heaven beholds him riding on the clouds in storm, and earth has seen
him marching over its plains with majesty. The Hebrew seems to be: "Cast up a highway for him who marches
through the wilderness, "in allusion to the wanderings of the tribes in the desert. The marches of God were
in the waste howling wilderness. His eternal power and Godhead were there displayed in his feeding, ruling, and
protecting the vast hosts which he had brought out of Egypt. The ark brought all this to remembrance, and suggested
it as a theme for song. The name JAH is an abbreviation of the name Jehovah; it is not a diminution of that name,
but an intensified word, containing in it the essence of the longer, august title. It only occurs here in our version
of Scripture, except in connection with other words such as Hallelujah. And rejoice before him. In the presence
of him who marched so gloriously at the head of the elect nation, it is most fitting that all his people should
display a holy delight. We ought to avoid dulness in our worship. Our songs should be weighty with solemnity, but
not heavy with sadness. Angels are nearer the throne than we, but their deepest awe is consonant with the purest
bliss; our sense of divine greatness must not minister terror but gladness to our souls; we should rejoice before him. It should be our wish and prayer, that in this wilderness
world, a highway may be prepared for the God of grace. "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the
desert a highway for our God, "is the cry of gospel heralds, and we must all zealously aim at obedience thereto;
for where the God of the mercyseat comes, blessings innumerable are given to the sons of men.
Verse 5. A father of the fatherless,
and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. In the wilderness the people were like an orphan nation, but God was more than a father to them. As the
generation which came out of Egypt gradually died away, there were many widows and fatherless ones in the camp,
but they suffered no want or wrong, for the righteous laws and the just administrators whom God had appointed,
looked well to the interests of the needy. The tabernacle was the Palace of Justice; the ark was the seat of the
great King. This was a great cause for joy to Israel, that they were ruled by the ONE who would not suffer the
poor and needy to be oppressed. To this day and for ever, God is, and will be, the peculiar guardian of the defenceless.
He is the President of Orphanages, the Protector of Widows. He is so glorious that he rides on the heavens, but
so compassionate that he remembers the poor of the earth. How zealously ought his church to cherish those who are
here marked out as Jehovah's especial charge. Does he not here in effect say, "Feed my lambs"? Blessed
duty, it shall be our privilege to make this one of our life's dearest objects. The reader is warned against misquoting
this verse; it is generally altered into "the husband of
the widow, "but Scripture had better be left as God gave it.
Verse 6. God setteth the solitary in
families. The people had been sundered and scattered over Egypt; family ties had been
disregarded, and affections crushed; but when the people escaped from Pharaoh they came together again, and all
the fond associations of household life were restored. This was a great joy. He bringeth out those which are bound
with chains. The most oppressed in Egypt were chained and imprisoned, but the divine Emancipator brought them all
forth into perfect liberty. He who did this of old continues his gracious work. The solitary heart, convinced of
sin and made to pine alone, is admitted into the family of the Firstborn; the fettered spirit is set free, and
its prison broken down, when sin is forgiven; and for all this, God is to be greatly extolled, for he hath done
it, and magnified the glory of his grace. But the rebellious dwell in a dry land. If any find the rule of Jehovah
to be irksome, it is because their rebellious spirits kick against his power. Israel did not find the desert dry,
for the smitten rock gave forth its streams; but even in Canaan itself men were consumed with famine, because they
cast off their allegiance to their covenant God. Even where God is revealed on the mercyseat, some men persist
in rebellion, and such need not wonder if they find no peace, no comfort, no joy, even where all these abound.
Justice is the rule of the Lord's kingdom, and hence there is no provision for the unjust to indulge their evil
lustings: a perfect earth, and even heaven itself, would be a dry land to those who can only drink of the waters
of sin. Of the most soul satisfying of sacred ordinances these witless rebels cry, "what a weariness it is!"
and, under the most soul sustaining ministry, they complain of "the foolishness of preaching." When a
man has a rebellious heart, he must of necessity find all around him a dry land.
Verse 7. O God, when thou wentest forth
before thy people. What a sweetly suitable association, "thou" and "thy
people; "--thou before, and thy people following! The Lord went before, and, therefore, whether the Red Sea
or burning sand lay in the way, it mattered not; the pillar of cloud and fire always led them by a right way. When
thou didst march through the wilderness. He was the Commander in chief of Israel, from whom they received all orders,
and the march was therefore his march. "His stately step
the region drear beheld." We may speak, if we will, of the "wanderings of the children of Israel, "but
we must not think them purposeless strayings, they were in reality a well arranged and well considered march. SELAH.
This seems an odd place for a musical pause or direction, but it is better to break a sentence than spoil praise.
The sense is about to be superlatively grand, and, therefore, the selah intimates the fact to the players and singers, that they may with suitable solemnity perform their parts.
It is never untimely to remind a congregation that the worship of God should be thoughtfully and heartily presented.
Verse 8. The earth shook. Beneath the sublime tread the solid ground trembled. The heavens also dropped at the presence of God,
as if they bowed before their God, the clouds descended, and "a few dark shower drops stole abroad."
Even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God. Moses tell us, in Exodus 19, that "the whole mountain
quaked greatly." That hill, so lone and high, bowed before the manifested God. The God of Israel. The one
only living and true God, whom Israel worshipped, and who had chosen that nation to be his own above all the nations
of the earth. The passage is so sublime, that it would be difficult to find its equal. May the reader's heart adore
the God before whom the unconscious earth and sky act as if they recognised their Maker and were moved with a tremor
of reverence.
Verse 9. Thou, O God, didst send a
plentiful rain. The march of God was not signalized solely by displays of terror, for
goodness and bounty were also made conspicuous. Such rain as never fell before dropped on the desert sand, bread
from heaven and winged fowl fell all around the host; good gifts were poured upon them, rivers leaped forth from
rocks. The earth shook with fear, and in reply, the Lord, as from a cornucopia, shook out blessings upon it; so
the original may be rendered. Whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary. As at the end of
each stage, when they halted, weary with the march, they found such showers of good things awaiting them that they
were speedily refreshed. Their foot did not swell all those forty years. When they were exhausted, God was not.
When they were weary, He was not. They were his chosen heritage, and, therefore, although for their good he allowed
them to be weary, yet he watchfully tended them and tenderly considered their distresses. In like manner, to this
day, the elect of God in this wilderness state are apt to become tired and faint, but their ever loving Jehovah
comes in with timely succours, cheers the faint, strengthens the weak, and refreshes the hungry; so that once again,
when the silver trumpets sound, the church militant advances with bold and firm step towards "the rest which
remaineth." By this faithfulness, the faith of God's people is confirmed, and their hearts established; if
fatigue and want made them waver, the timely supply of grace stays them again upon the eternal foundations.
Verse 10. Thy congregation hath dwelt
therein. In the wilderness itself, enclosed as in a wall of fire, thy chosen church has
found a home; or, rather, girdled by the shower of free grace which fell all around the camp, thy flock has rested.
The congregation of the faithful find the Lord to be their "dwelling place in all generations." Where
there were no dwellings of men, God was the dwelling of his people. Thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness
for the poor. Within the guarded circle there was plenty for all; all were poor in themselves, yet there were no
beggars in all the camp, for celestial fare was to be had for the gathering. We, too, still dwell within the circling
protection of the Most High, and find goodness made ready for us: although poor and needy by nature, we are enriched
by grace; divine preparations in the decree, the covenant, the atonement, providence, and the Spirit's work, have
made ready for us a fulness of the blessing of the Lord. Happy people, though in the wilderness, for all things
are ours, in possessing the favour and presence of our God.
Verse 11. In the next verse we do not sing of marching, but
of battle and victory. The Lord gave the word. The enemy was near, and the silver trumpet from the tabernacle door
was God's mouth to warn the camp: then was there hurrying to and fro, and a general telling of the news; great
was the company of those that published it. The women ran from tent to tent and roused their lords to battle. Ready
as they always were to chant the victory, they were equally swift to publish the fact that the battle note had
been sounded. The ten thousand maids of Israel, like good handmaids of the Lord, aroused the sleepers, called in
the wanderers, and bade the valiant men to hasten to the fray. O for the like zeal in the church of today, that,
when the gospel is published, both men and women may eagerly spread the glad tidings of great joy.
Verse 12. Kings of armies did flee
apace. The lords of hosts fled before the Lord of Hosts. No sooner did the ark advance
than the enemy turned his back: even the princely leaders stayed not, but took to flight. The rout was complete,
the retreat hurried and disorderly; --they "did flee, did flee; "helter skelter, pell mell, as we say.
"Where are the kings of mighty hosts?
Fled far away, fled far and wide.
Their triumph and their trophied boasts
The damsels in their bowers divide."
And she that tarried at home divided the spoil. The women who had published the war cry shared the booty. The feeblest
in Israel had a portion of the prey. Gallant warriors cast their spoils at the feet of the women and bade them
array themselves in splendour, taking each one "a prey of divers colours, of divers colours of needlework
on both sides." When the Lord gives success to his gospel, the very best of his saints are made glad and feel
themselves partakers in the blessing.
Verse 13. Though ye have lien among
the pots. Does he mean that the women at home, who had been meanly clad as they performed
their household work, would be so gorgeously arrayed in the spoil, that they would be like doves of silver wing
and golden plumage? Or, would he say that Israel, which had been begrimed in the brick kilns of Egypt, should come
forth lustrous and happy in triumph and liberty? Or, did the song signify that the ark should be brought from its
poor abode with Obededom into a fairer dwelling place? It is a hard passage, a nut for the learned to crack. If
we knew all that was known when this ancient hymn was composed, the allusion would no doubt strike us as being
beautifully appropriate, but as we do not, we will let it rest among the unriddled things. Alexander reads it,
"When ye shall lie down between the borders, ye shall be like the wings, "etc., which he considers to
mean, "when settled in peace, the land shall enjoy prosperity; "but this version does not seem to us
any more clear than our authorized one. Of making many conjectures there is no end; but the sense seems to be,
that from the lowest condition the Lord would lift up his people into joy, liberty, wealth, and beauty. Their enemies
may have called them squatters among the pots--in allusion to their Egyptian slavery; they may have jested at them
as scullions of Pharaoh's kitchen; but the Lord would avenge them and give them beauty for blackness, glory for
grime. Yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with
yellow gold. The dove's wing flashed light like silver, and anon gleams with the radiance
of "the pale, pure gold." The lovely, changeable colours of the dove might well image the mild, lustrous
beauty of the nation, when arrayed in white holiday attire, bedecked with their gems, jewels, and ornaments of
gold. God's saints have been in worse places than among the pots, but now they soar aloft into the heavenly places
in Christ Jesus.
Verse 14. When the almighty scattered
kings in it, it was white as snow in Salmon. The victory was due to the Almighty arm alone; he scattered the haughty ones who came against his people,
and he did it as easily as snow is driven from the bleak sides of Salmon. The word white appears to be imported into the text, and by leaving it out the sense is easy. A traveller informed the
writer that on a raw and gusty day, he saw the side of what he supposed to be Mount Salmon suddenly swept bare
by a gust of wind, so that the snow was driven hither and thither into the air like the down of thistles, or the
spray of the sea: thus did the Omnipotent one scatter all the potentates that defied Israel. If our authorized
version must stand, the conjectures that the bleached bones of the enemy, or the royal mantles cast away in flight,
whitened the battle field, appear to be rather too far fetched for sacred poetry. Another opinion is, that Salmon
was covered with dark forests, and appeared black, but presented quite another aspect when the snow covered it,
and that by this noteworthy change from sombre shade to gleaming whiteness, the poet sets forth the change from
war to peace. Whatever may be the precise meaning, it was intended to pourtray the glory and completeness of the
divine triumph over the greatest foes. In this let all believers rejoice.
Verse 15. Here the priests on the summit of the chosen hill
begin to extol the Lord for his choice of Zion as his dwelling place. The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan,
or more accurately, "a hill of God is Bashan, "that is to say, Bashan is an eminent mountain, far exceeding
Zion in height. According to the Hebrew custom, every great or remarkable thing is thus designated. Where we talk
of the Devil's Dyke, the Devil's Ditch, the Devil's Punch Bowl, etc., the more commendable idiom of the Hebrews
speaks of the hill of God, the trees of the Lord, the river of God, etc. An high hill as the hill of Bashan, or
rather, "a mount of peaks is Bashan." It does not appear that Zion is compared with Bashan, but contrasted
with it. Zion certainly was not a high hill comparatively; and it is here conceded that Bashan is a greater mount,
but not so glorious, for the Lord in choosing Zion had exalted it above the loftier hills. The loftiness of nature
is made as nothing before the Lord. He chooses as pleases him, and, according to the counsel of his own will, he
selects Zion, and passes by the proud, uplifted peaks of Bashan; thus doth he make the base things of this world,
and things that are despised, to become monuments of his grace and sovereignty.
Verse 16. Why leap ye, ye high hills? Why are ye moved to envy? Envy as ye may, the Lord's choice is fixed. Lift up yourselves, and even leap
from your seats, ye cannot reach the sublimity which Jehovah's presence has bestowed on the little hill of Moriah.
This is the hill which God desireth to dwell in. Elohim makes Zion his abode, yea, Jehovah resides there. Yea,
the Lord will dwell in it for ever. Spiritually the Lord abides eternally in Zion, his chosen church, and it was
Zion's glory to be typical thereof. What were Carmel and Sirion, with all their height, compared to Zion, the joy
of the whole earth! God's election is a patent of nobility. They are choice men whom God has chosen, and that place
is superlatively honoured which he honours with his presence.
Verse 17. The chariots of God are twenty
thousand. Other countries, which in the former verse were symbolically referred to as
"high hills, "gloried in their chariots of war; but Zion, though far more lowly, was stronger than they,
for the omnipotence of God was to her as two myriads of chariots. The Lord of Hosts could summon more forces into
the field than all the petty lords who boasted in their armies; his horses of fire and chariots of fire would be
more than a match for their fiery steeds and flashing cars. The original is grandly expressive: "the war chariots
of Elohim are myriads, a thousand thousands." The marginal reading of our Bibles, even
many thousands, is far more correct
than the rendering, even thousands
of angels. It is not easy to see where our venerable translators found these "angels,
"for they are not in the text; however, as it is a blessing to entertain them unawares, we are glad to meet
with them in English, even though the Hebrew knows them not; and the more so because it cannot be doubted that
they constitute a right noble squadron of the myriad hosts of God. We read in De 33:2, of the Lord's coming "with
ten thousands of saints, "or holy ones, and in Heb 12:22, we find upon mount Zion "an innumerable company
of angels, "so that our worthy translators putting the texts together, inferred the angels, and the clause
is so truthfully explanatory, that we have no fault to find with it. The Lord is among
them, as in Sinai, in the holy place, or,
"it is a Sinai in holiness." God is in Zion as the Commander in chief of his countless hosts, and where
he is, there is holiness. The throne of grace on Zion is as holy as the throne of justice on Sinai. The displays
of his glory may not be so terrible under the new covenant as under the old; but they are even more marvellous
if seen by the spiritual eye. Sinai has no excellency of glory beyond Zion; but the rather it pales its light of
law before the noontide splendours of Zion's grace and truth. How joyful was it to a pious Hebrew to know that
God was as truly with his people in the tabernacle and temple as amid the terrors of the Mount of Horeb; but it
is even more heart cheering to us to be assured that the Lord abides in his church, and has chosen it to be his
rest for ever. May we be zealous for the maintenance of holiness in the spiritual house which God condescends to
occupy; let a sense of his presence consume, as with flames of fire, every false way. The presence of God is the
strength of the church; all power is ours when God is ours. Twenty thousand chariots shall bear the gospel to the
ends of the earth; and myriads of agencies shall work for its success. Providence is on our side, and it "has
servants everywhere." There is no room for a shade of doubt or discouragement, but every reason for exultation
and confidence.
Verse 18. Thou hast ascended on high. The ark was conducted to the summit of Zion; God himself took possession of the high places of the earth,
being extolled and very high. The antitype of the ark, the Lord Jesus, has ascended into the heavens with signal
marks of triumph. To do battle with our enemies, the Lord descended and left his throne; but now the fight is finished,
he returns to his glory; high above all things is he now exalted. Thou hast led captivity captive. A multitude
of the sons of men are the willing captives of Messiah's power. As great conquerors of old led whole nations into
captivity, so Jesus leads forth from the territory of his foe a vast company as the trophies of his mighty grace.
From the gracious character of his reign it comes to pass that to be led into captivity by him is for our captivity
to cease, or to be itself led captive; a glorious result indeed. The Lord Jesus destroys his foes with their own
weapons: he puts death to death, entombs the grave, and leads captivity captive. Thou hast received gifts for men,
or, received gifts among men: they have paid thee tribute, O mighty Conqueror, and shall in every age continue
to do so willingly, delighting in thy reign. Paul's rendering is the gospel one: Jesus has "received gifts
for men, "of which he makes plentiful distribution, enriching his church with the priceless fruits of his
ascension, such as apostles, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, and all their varied endowments. In him, the man
who received gifts for man, we are endowed with priceless treasures, and moved with gratitude, we return gifts
to him, yea, we give him ourselves, our all. Yea, for the rebellious also: these gifts the rebels are permitted
to share in; subdued by love, they are indulged with the benefits peculiar to the chosen. The original runs, "even
the rebellious, "or, "even from the rebellious, "of which the sense is that rebels become captives
to the Lord's power, and tributaries to his throne.
"Great King of grace my heart subdue,
I would be led in triumph too;
As willing captive to my Lord,
To own the conquests of his word."
That the Lord God might dwell among them. In the conquered territory, Jah Elohim would dwell as Lord of all, blessing
with his condescending nearness those who were once his foes. When Canaan was conquered, and the fort of Zion carried
by storm, then was there found a resting place for the ark of God; and so when the weapons of victorious grace
have overcome the hearts of men, the Lord God, in all the glory of his name, makes them to be his living temples.
Moreover, the ascension of Jesus is the reason for the descent of the Lord God, the Holy Spirit. Because Jesus
dwells with God, God dwells with men. Christ on high is the reason for the Spirit below. It was expedient that
the Redeemer should rise, that the Comforter should come down.
Verse 19. Blessed be the Lord. At the mention of the presence of God among men the singers utter an earnest acclamation suggested by
reverential love, and return blessings to him who so plentifully blesses his people. Who daily loadeth us with
benefits. Our version contains a great and precious truth, though probably not the doctrine intended here. God's
benefits are not few nor light, they are loads; neither are they intermittent, but they come "daily; "nor
are they confined to one or two favourites, for all Israel can say, he loadeth us with benefits. Delitzsch reads it, "He daily bears our burden; "and Alexander, "Whoever lays a load upon
us, the Mighty God is our salvation." If he himself burdens us with sorrow, he gives strength sufficient to
sustain it; and if others endeavour to oppress us, there is no cause for fear, for the Lord will come to the rescue
of his people. Happy nation, to be subdued by a King whose yoke is easy, and who secures his people from all fear
of foreign burdens which their foes might try to force upon them.
Even the God of our salvation. A name most full of glory to him, and consolation to us. No matter how strong the
enemy, we shall be delivered out of his hands; for God himself, as King, undertakes to save his people from all
harm. What a glorious stanza this is! It is dark only because of its excessive light. A world of meaning is condensed
into a few words. His yoke is easy, and his burden is light, therefore blessed be the Saviour's name for evermore.
All hail! thou thrice blessed Prince of Peace! All thy saved ones adore thee, and call thee blessed. Selah. Well
may the strings need tuning, they have borne an unparalleled strain in this mighty song. Higher and yet higher,
ye men of music, lift up the strain. Dance before the ark, ye maidens of Israel; bring forth the timbrel, and sing
unto the Lord who hath triumphed gloriously.
Verse 20. He that is our God is the
God of salvation. The Almighty who has entered into covenant with us is the source of
our safety, and the author of our deliverances. As surely as he is our God he will save us. To be his is to be
safe. And unto God the Lord belong
the issues from death. He has ways and means of rescuing his children from death: when
they are at their wit's end, and see no way of escape, he can find a door of deliverance for them. The gates of
the grave none can open but himself, we shall only pass into them at his bidding; while on the heavenward side
he has set open the doors for all his people, and they shall enjoy triumphant issues from death. Jesus, our God,
will save his people from their sins, and from all else besides, whether in life or death.
Verse 21. But God shall wound the head
of his enemies. The Preserver is also the Destroyer. He smites his foes on the crown
of their pride. The seed of the woman crushes the serpent's head. There is no defence against the Lord, he can
in a moment smite with utter destruction the lofty crests of his haughty foes. And the hairy scalp of such an one
as goeth on still in his trespasses. He may glory in his outward
appearance, and make his hair his pride, as Absalom did; but the Lord's sword shall find him out, and pour out
his soul. Headstrong sinners will find that providence overcomes them despite their strong heads. They who go on
in sin will find judgments come on them; and the adornment of their pride may be made the instrument of their doom.
He covers the head of his servants, but he crushes the head of his foes. At the second coming of the Lord Jesus,
his enemies will find his judgments to be beyond conception terrible.
Verse 22. This verse, by the insertion of the words, my people, is made to bear
the meaning which the translators thought best; but, if their interpolated word is omitted, we probably get nearer
to the sense. The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring again from the
depths of the sea. Though his foes should endeavour to escape, they should not be able.
Amos describes the Lord as saying, "Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they
climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down: and though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will
search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command
the serpent, and he shall bite them." As there is no resisting Israel's God, so is there no escape from him,
neither the heights of Bashan nor the depths of the great sea can shelter from his eye of detection, and his hand
of justice. The powers of evil may flee to the utmost ends of the earth, but the Lord will arrest them, and lead
them back in chains to adorn his triumph.
Verse 23. That thy foot may be dipped
in the blood of thine enemies. Vengeance
shall be awarded to the oppressed people, and that most complete and terrible. And the tongue of thy dogs in the
same. So overwhelming should be the defeat of the foe that dogs should lick their blood. Here "the stern joy
which warriors feel" expresses itself in language most natural to the oriental ear. To us, except in a spiritual
sense, the verse sounds harshly; but read it with an inner sense, and we also desire the utter and crushing defeat
of all evil, and that wrong and sin may be the objects of profound contempt. Terrible is the God of Israel when
he cometh forth as a man of war, and dreadful is even the Christ of God when he bares his arm to smite his enemies.
Contemplate Revelation 19 and note the following: --"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. His eyes were
as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; and his name is called The Word of God... 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 upon 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 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."
Verse 24. They have seen thy goings,
O God. In the song the marchings of the Lord had been described; friends and foes had
seen his goings forth with the ark and his people. We suppose that the procession was now climbing the hill, and
entering the enclosure where the tabernacle of the ark was pitched; it was suitable at this moment to declare with
song that the tribes had seen the glorious progress of the Lord as he led forth his people. Even the goings of
my God, my King, in the sanctuary. The splendid procession of the ark, which symbolised the throne of the great
King, was before the eyes of men and angels as it ascended to the holy place; and the psalmist points to it with
exultation before he proceeds to describe it. All nature and providence are, as it were, a procession attending
the great Lord, in his visitations of this lower globe. Winter and summer, sun and moon, storm and calm, and all
the varied glories of nature swell the pomp of the King of kings, of whose dominion there is no end.
Verse 25. The singers went before,
the players on instruments followed after.
This was the order of the march, and God is to be worshipped evermore with due decorum. First the singers, and
lastly the musicians, for the song must lead the music, and not the music drown the singing. In the midst of the
vocal and instrumental band, or all around them, were the maidens: among them were the damsels playing with timbrels.
Some have imagined that this order indicates the superiority of vocal to instrumental music: but we need not go
so far for arguments, when the simplicity and spirituality of the gospel already teach us that truth. The procession
depicted in this sublime song was one of joy, and every means was taken to express the delight of the nation in
the Lord their God.
Verse 26. Bless ye God in the congregations. Let the assembled company magnify the God whose ark they followed. United praise is like the mingled
perfume which Aaron made, it should all be presented unto God. He blesses us; let him be blessed. Even the Lord,
from the fountain of Israel. A parallel passage to that in Deborah's song: "They that are delivered from the
noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord."
The seat of the ark would be the fountain of refreshing for all the tribes, and there they were to celebrate his
praises. "Drink, "says the old inscription, "drink, weary traveller; drink and pray." We may
alter one word, and read it, drink and praise. If the Lord overflows with grace, we should overflow with gratitude.
Ezekiel saw an ever growing stream flow from under the altar, and issue out from under the threshold of the sanctuary,
and wherever it flowed it gave life: let as many as have quaffed this life giving stream glorify "the fountain
of Israel."
Verse 27. There is little Benjamin
with their ruler. The tribe was small, having been greatly reduced in numbers, but it
had the honour of including Zion within its territory. "And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the Lord shall
dwell in safety by him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders."
Little Benjamin had been Jacob's darling, and now the tribe is made to march first in the procession, and to dwell
nearest to the holy place. The princes of Judah and their council. Judah was a large and powerful tribe, not with
one governor, like Benjamin, but with many princes "and their company, "for so the margin has it. "From
thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel, "and the tribe was a quarry of stones wherewith to build up the
nations: some such truth is hinted at in the Hebrew. The princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali. Israel
was there, as well as Judah; there was no schism among the people. The north sent a representative contingent as
well as the south, and so the long procession set forth the hearty loyalty of all the tribes to their Lord and
King. O happy day, when all believers shall be one around the ark of the Lord; striving for nothing but the glory
of the God of grace. The prophet now puts into the mouth of the assembly a song, foretelling the future conquests
of Jehovah.
Verse 28. Thy God hath commanded thy
strength. His decree had ordained the nation strong, and his arm had made them so. As
a commander in chief, the Lord made the valiant men pass in battle array, and bade them be strong in the day of
conflict. This is a very rich though brief sentence, and, whether applied to an individual believer, or to the
whole church, it is full of consolation. Strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us. As all power comes
from God at first, so its continual maintenance is also of him. We who have life should pray to have it more "abundantly;
"if we have strength we should seek to be still more established. We expect God to bless his own work. He
has never left any work unfinished yet, and he never will. "When we were without strength, in due time Christ
died for the ungodly; "and now, being reconciled to God, we may look to him to perfect that which concerneth
us, since he never forsakes the work of his own hands.
Verse 29. Because of thy temple at
Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto thee. The palace of God, which towered above Jerusalem, is prophesied as becoming a wonder to all lands, and
when it grew from the tabernacle of David to the temple of Solomon, it was so. So splendid was that edifice that
the queen of far off Sheba came with her gifts; and many neighbouring princes, overawed by the wealth and power
therein displayed, came with tribute to Israel's God. The church of God, when truly spiritual, wins for her God
the homage of the nations. In the latter day glory this truth shall be far more literally and largely verified.
Verse 30. Rebuke the company of spearmen;
or, the beasts of the reeds, as the margin more correctly renders it. Speak to Egypt, let its growing
power and jealousy be kept in order, by a word from thee. Israel remembers her old enemy, already plotting the
mischief, which would break out under Jeroboam, and begs for a rebuking word from her Omnipotent Friend. Antichrist
also, that great red dragon, needs the effectual word of the Lord to rebuke its insolence. The multitude of the
bulls, the stronger foes; the proud, headstrong, rampant, fat, and roaring bulls, which sought to gore the chosen
nation, --these also need the Lord's rebuke, and they shall have it too. All Egypt's sacred bulls could not avail
against a "thus saith Jehovah." Popish bulls, and imperial edicts have dashed against the Lord's church,
but they have not prevailed against her, and they never shall. With the calves of the people. The poorer and baser
sort are equally set on mischief, but the divine voice can control them; multitudes are as nothing to the Lord
when he goes forth in power; whether bulls or calves, they are but cattle for the shambles when Omnipotence displays
itself. The gospel, like the ark, has nothing to fear from great or small; it is a stone upon which every one that
stumbleth shall be broken.
Till every one submit himself with pieces of silver. The Lord is asked to subdue the enemies of Israel, till they
rendered tribute in silver ingots. Blessed is that rebuke, which does not break but bend; for subjection to the
Lord of hosts is liberty, and tribute to him enriches him that pays it. The taxation of sin is infinitely more
exacting than the tribute of religion. The little finger of lust is heavier than the loins of the law. Pieces of
silver given to God are replaced with pieces of gold. Scatter thou the people that delight in war. So that, notwithstanding
the strong expression of Ps 68:23, God's people were peace men, and only desired the crushing of oppressive nations,
that war might not occur again. Let the battles of peace be as fierce as they will; heap coals of fire on the heads
of enemies, and slay their enmity thereby. That "they who take the sword should perish by the sword, "is
a just regulation for the establishment of quiet in the earth. What peace can there be, while blood thirsty tyrants
and their myrmidons are so many? Devoutly may we offer this prayer, and with equal devotion, we may bless God that
it is sure to be answered, for "he breaketh the bow and cutteth the spear in sunder, he burneth the chariot
in the fire."
Verse 31. Princes shall come out of
Egypt. Old foes shall be new friends. Solomon shall find a spouse in Pharaoh's house.
Christ shall gather a people from the realm of sin. Great sinners shall yield themselves to the sceptre of grace,
and great men shall become good men, by coming to God. Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. Cush
shall hasten to present peace offerings. Sheba's queen shall come from the far south. Candace's chamberlain shall
ask of Him who was led as a lamb to the slaughter. Abyssinia shall yet be converted, and Africa become the willing
seeker after grace, eagerly desiring and embracing the Christ of God. Poor Ethiopia, thy hands have been long manacled
and hardened by cruel toil, but millions of thy sons have in their bondage found the liberty with which Christ
made men free; and so thy cross, like the cross of Simon of Cyrene, has been Christ's cross, and God has been thy
salvation. Hasten, O Lord, this day, when both the civilization and the barbarism of the earth shall adore thee,
Egypt and Ethiopia blending with glad accord in thy worship! Here is the confidence of thy saints, even thy promise;
hasten it in thine own time, good Lord.
Verse 32. Sing unto God, ye kingdoms
of the earth. Glorious shall that song be in which whole empires join. Happy are men
that God is one who is consistently the object of joyous worship, for not such are the demons of the heathen. So
sweet a thing is song that it ought to be all the Lord's; a secular concert seems almost a sacrilege, a licentious
song is treason. O sing praises unto the Lord. Again and again is God to be magnified; we have too much sinning
against God, but cannot have too much singing to God. Selah. Well may we rest now that our contemplations have
reached the millennial glory. What heart will refuse to be lifted up by such a prospect!
Verse 33. To him that rideth upon the
heavens of heavens, which were of old.
Before, he was described in his earthly manifestations, as marching through the desert; now, in his celestial glory,
as riding in the heavens of the primeval ages. Long ere this heaven and earth were made, the loftier abodes of
the Deity stood fast; before men or angels were created, the splendours of the Great King were as great as now,
and his triumphs as glorious. Our knowledge reaches but to a small fragment of the life of God, whose "goings
forth were of old, even from everlasting." Well might the Jewish church hymn the eternal God, and well may
we join therewith the adoration of the Great Firstborn:
"Ere sin was born, or Satan fell,
He led the host of morning stars.
Thy generation who can tell?
Or count the number of thy years?"
Lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice. Was there a thunderclap just then heard in heaven? Or,
did the poet's mind flash backward to the time when from the heaven of heavens the voice of Jehovah broke the long
silence and said, "Light be, "and light was. To this hour, the voice of God is power. This gospel, which
utters and reveals his word, is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Our voices are fitly
called to praise him whose voice spoke us into being, and gives us the effectual grace which secures our well being.
Verse 34. Ascribe ye strength unto
God. When even his voice rends the rocks and uproots the cedars, what cannot his hand
do? His finger shakes the earth; who can conceive the power of his arm? Let us never by our doubts or our daring
defiances appear to deny power unto God; on the contrary, by yielding to him and trusting in him, let our hearts
acknowledge his might. When we are reconciled to God, his omnipotence is an attribute of which we sing with delight.
His excellency is over Israel. The favoured nation is protracted by his majesty; his greatness is to them goodness,
his glory is their defence. And his strength is in the clouds. He does not confine his power to the sons of men,
but makes it like a canopy to cover the skies. Rain, snow, hail, and tempest are his artillery; he rules all nature
with awe inspiring majesty. Nothing is so high as to be above him, or too low to be beneath him; praise him, then,
in the highest.
Verse 35. O God, thou art terrible
out of thy holy places. You inspire awe and fear. Thy saints obey with fear and trembling,
and thine enemies flee in dismay. From thy threefold courts, and especially from the holy of holies, thy majesty
flashes forth and makes the sons of men prostrate themselves in awe. The God of Israel is he that giveth strength
and power unto his people. In this thou, who art Israel's God
by covenant, art terrible to thy foes by making thy people strong, so that one shall chase a thousand, and two
put ten thousand to flight. All the power of Israel's warriors is derived from the Lord, the fountain of all might.
He is strong, and makes strong: blessed are they who draw from his resources, they shall renew their strength.
While the self sufficient faint, the All sufficient shall sustain the feeblest believer, Blessed be God. A short
but sweet conclusion. Let our souls say Amen to it, and yet again, Amen.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. In this Psalm we have especial reason to condemn
or to admire the timidity, or the caution and delicacy, of our translators, whichever it may be considered, for
the manner in which they have rendered the names of the Almighty. They almost universally translate them "God"
or "Lord; "whereas, it has been observed that, almost all the remarkable titles of the Deity are employed
in describing and praising the person addressed here. He is called "Elohim" in Ps 68:2; "Adonai,
"Ps 68:12; "Shaddai, "Ps 68:15; "Jehovah, "Ps 68:17; "Jah, "Ps 68:19; and "Al,
"Ps 68:20. The Hebrew names of God have, each of them, a distinct and peculiar meaning. No one word will suffice
for them all. The vague use of the terms "God" and "Lord" in our translation can never convey
to the reader's mind the important ideas which the original expression, if properly translated, would bear, and
we have lost a strong additional confirmation of the deity of Messiah, by abandoning the testimony which the ascription
to him of God's peculiar titles would give to this great truth. R. H. Ryland.
Whole Psalm. As 65 opened with a reference to the form of blessing
(Nu 6:24-26), so this with a reference to the prayer used when the cloud pillar summoned the camp to commence a
march. There the presence (panim) of God shed saving light on his people; here his enemies flee from it (mippanayv), Ps 68:1... In the Jewish ritual the Psalm is used at Pentecost, the Anniversary of the Giving of the
Law, and the Feast of Finished Harvest... The remarkable character of the Psalm is indicated by the fact that there
are no fewer than thirteen words in it which are not found elsewhere. The Pentecostal Gift of Tongues seems needed
for its full exposition. William Kay.
Whole Psalm. By many critics esteemed the loftiest effusion
of David's lyrical muse. William Binnie.
Whole Psalm. To judge from the antiquity of its language, the
concise description, the thoroughly fresh, forcible, and occasional artlessly ironical expression of its poetry,
we consider this poem as one of the most ancient monuments of Hebrew poetry. Boettcher.
Whole Psalm. It must be confessed that in this Psalm there are
as many precipices, and as many labyrinths, as there are verses, or even words. It has not inappropriately been
designated the cross of critics, the reproach of interpreters. Simon de Muis.
Whole Psalm. The beginning of this Psalm clearly intimates that
the inspired psalmist had light given him to see the march of Israel through the wilderness, the ark of the covenant
moving before the people to find a resting place. The psalmist is filled with praise, when he is enabled to see
that God revealed his Fatherly love in the whole of that movement--that his eye was upon the fatherless, the widow,
the solitary, and afflicted; but David is also carried by the Spirit to the Mount of Olives, where he sees the
ascending Lord; he sees the triumphal chariots, with an innumerable company of angels, and then beholds the Lord
welcomed in glory as the mighty Conqueror; and not only so, but as having received or purchased gifts for men,
even the rebellious (Ps 68:18), "that the Lord God might dwell among them, "or within
them. "Wherefore, "the command of our Father is, "come out from among
them, and be ye separate, "etc. (2Co 6:17-18). The doxology of God's people is, "Blessed be the Lord,
who daily loadeth us with his benefits." Our blessed Master attends day by day to all our wants, and causes
his love to flow to us, because he is God our Salvation--Selah. What comfort ought this to afford under every condition!
for the Lord Jesus goes before us through the desert. He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. The widow,
the fatherless, the desolate, are all the objects of his care and love. He has gone before us to prepare our heavenly
rest; the work is finished. He now comes, day by day, to load us with blessings, and at the last will carry us
safely through death into life and glory. To the Lord our Saviour belong the issues from death; then, "Death,
where is thy sting?" etc. Ridley H. Herschell, in "Strength in Weakness. Meditations
on some of the Psalms in time of Trial, "1860.
Verse 1. Let God arise, etc. The moving ark (See Nu 10:35-36) is a type of Jesus going forth to cast down rebel foes. It is high
joy to trace the Antitype's victorious march. How mightily the Lord advanced! The strength of God was in his arm.
His sword was Deity. His darts were barbed with all Jehovah's might. "He had on his vesture and on his thigh
a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords." Re 19:16. His foes, indeed, strove mightily. It was no
easy work to rescue souls from Satan's grasp, or to lay low the prison house of darkness. The enemy rushed on,
clad in his fiercest armour, wild in his keenest rage, wily in his deadliest crafts. He plied his every temptation,
as a terrific battery. But the true Ark never quailed. The adversary licked the dust. Malignant passions maddened
in opposing breasts. The kings stood up; rulers took counsel; all plots were laid; the ignominious death was planned
and executed. But still the Ark moved on. The cross gave aid, not injury. The grave could not detain. Death could
not vanquish. The gates of hell fly open. The mighty conqueror appears. And, as in Canaan, the ark ascended Zion's
hill amid triumphant shouts, so Jesus mounts on high. The heaven of heavens receives him. The Father welcomes the
all conquering Saviour. Angelic hosts adore the glorious God man. The Rising Prayer has full accomplishments, "Rise
up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate thee flee before thee." And now, from
glory's throne, he cheers his humble followers in their desert march. Their toils, their conflicts, and their fears
are many. They ofttimes seem as a poor worm beneath the crushing feet. But they survive, they prosper, they lift
up their head. As of old the ark was victory, so Jesus is victory now. Yes, every child of faith shall surely set
a conquering foot upon the host of foes. Hear this, ye mad opposers, and desist. Where are the nations who resisted
Israel? Where are the Pharaohs, the beleaguered kings, the Herods, the chief priests, the Pilates? Share not their
malice, lest you share their end. Read in this word your near destruction, "Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies
be scattered, and let them that hate thee flee before thee." And, as the Rising Prayer has never failed, so,
too, the Resting Prayer now teems with life. "Return, O Lord." Jesus is ready to fly back. Israel's many
thousands wait, but wait not in vain. "Yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not
tarry, "Heb 10:37. O joyful day, triumphant sight! What ecstasy, what shouts, what glory! Salvation's Lord
returns. Welcome, welcome to him! Henry Law, in "`Christ is All.' The Gospel of the
Old Testament," 1858.
Verse 1. Arise.
The mercifulness of God is seen in his patience toward the wicked, implied in the word arise,
for he seemeth, as it were, to sleep
(Ps 44:23), and not to mark what is done amiss. The Lord is patient, and would have none to perish, but would have
all men to come to repentance. He was longer in destroying one city (Jericho, Jos 6:4), than in building the whole world; slow to wrath, and ready to forgive, desiring not the death
of a sinner, but rather he should amend. He doth not arise to particular punishments, much less to the general
judgement, but after long suffering and great goodness. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I, "said
our Lord, "have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and
ye would not." Mt 23:37. John Boys.
Verse 1. Let his enemies be scattered. You may, if you please, take the words either as a prayer, or as a prophecy:
as a prayer that they may; or as a
prophecy, that they shall be scattered. Or, you may read it,
Surgente Domino, As soon as the Lord shall arise,
his enemies shall be scattered, and so make it a theological axiom: and so it is a proposition
aeternae veritatis, everlastingly true, true in the first age
of the world, and true in the last age of the world, and will be true to the world's end. We may make it our prayer,
that they may be destroyed; and we may prophesy, that they shall be destroyed. Summa votorum
est, non ex incerto poscentis, sed ex cognitione scientiaque sperantis, saith Hilary.
It is a prayer not proceeding from a doubting and wavering heart, as if God did at sometimes deliver his church,
and at others fail and leave her to the will of her enemies; but grounded upon certain knowledge and infallible
assurance that he will "arise, and not keep silence, "
and avenge himself of his enemy. For there is a kind of presage and prophecy in prayer: if we pray as we should,
he hath promised to grant our request; which is a fairer assurance than any prophet can give us. Let God arise, and God will arise, is but the difference of a tense, and the Hebrews commonly use the one for the other...
In this prayer or prophecy, or conclusion, you may, as in a glass, behold the providence of God over his people,
and the destiny and fatal destruction of wicked men. Or, you may conceive God sitting in heaven, and looking down
upon the children of men, and laughing to scorn all the designs of his enemies; his exsurgat,
his rising, as a tempest to scatter them, and as a fire to melt them. And these two,
exsurgat and dissipabuntur, the rising of God and the destruction of his enemies, divide the text, and present before our eyes two
parties or sides, as it were, in main opposition. Now, though the exsurgat be before the dissipabuntur, God's rising before the
scattering, yet there must be some persons to rouse God up and awake him before he will arise to destroy. We will,
therefore, as the very order of nature required, consider first the persons which are noted out unto us by three
several appellations, as by so many marks and brands in their forehead. They are,
1. Enemies;
2. Haters of God;
3. Wicked men.
But God, rising in this manner, is more especially against the
fact than the person, and against the person only for the fact. We must, therefore, search and inquire after that;
and we find it wrapped up and secretly lurking in the dissipabuntur, in their punishment; for scattering supposes a gathering together, as corruption doth generation. That,
then, which moved God to rise is this: his enemies, they that
hated him, the wicked, were gathered together, and consulted
against God and his church, as we see it this day; and, seeing it, are here met together to fall down before God
in all humility, that he may arise and scatter them. This is nunc
opportunitatis, the very time and appointed time for God to arise. In which
phrase is implied a kind of pause and deliberation, as if God were not always up, and ready to execute judgment.
And, hereby, he manifests--
1. His patience to the wicked: he is not always up, as it were, to destroy his enemies;
2. His justice, which cometh at length, though it come not so soon as men in misery expect;
3. His mercy to his children: though for a while he seem to sleep, and not to hearken to the voice of their complaints,
yet, at last, he rises up and helps them.
Lastly, we shall take notice of the effects, or end, of this rising; and that is the destruction of his enemies,
here drawn out to our view, in four several expressions, as in so many colours: --
1. Dissipabuntur, they shall be scattered;
2. Fugient, they shall fly;
3. Deficient, they shall vanish like smoke;
4. Liquefient, they shall be melted as wax; which all meet and
are concentrated in peribunt, they
shall perish at the presence of God. Anthony Farindon.
Note continued on See Psalms on "Job 42:10."
Verses 1-3. See Psalms on "Ps
68:1" for further information.
Verse 3. But let the righteous be glad. The wicked flee from the presence of God, since it inspires them with terror; the righteous on the other
hand rejoice in it, because nothing delights them more than to think that God is near them. John
Calvin.
Verse 4. Extol him that rideth upon
the heavens. Or, as Symmachus, Jerome, Bishop Lowth, Merrick, and others render, "Prepare
the way for him who rideth through the deserts": twbre aravoth; i.e., who rode through the wilderness on
the cherubim; alluding to the passage of the ark. "Comprehensive Bible."
Verse 4. Rideth.
Said, perhaps, with allusion to the cherubim on which Jehovah was borne (Ps 18:10), God himself being the Leader
and Captain of his people, riding as it were at their head as an earthly captain might lead his army, riding on
a war horse. J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse 4. Upon the heavens. The ancient versions in general render the word twkrek super occasus, or occasum. The desert or solitude is the proper and general meaning of it, and there is no authority to render it by the
heavens, but that of the Rabbins, which, indeed, is little or none; and of the Chaldee
paraphrase which gives it twbrek hyrqy hyorwk super thronam gloriae ejus in nono caelo who sits upon the throne of his glory in the ninth heaven. The psalmist here alludes, as I apprehend,
to the passage of the Israelites through the deserts in their way to the promised land, and describes it in many
of the principal circumstances of it in the following verses; and God is said to ride,
or be carried through the deserts, as the ark of his presence was carried through them, and accompanied
the Israelites in all their various stages during their continuance and pilgrimage in them. Samuel
Chandler.
Verse 4. God always goes at the head of his people through the
deserts of suffering and need; in the deserts of trouble they find in him a true leader. E.
W. Hengstenberg.
Verse 4. His name JAH. JAH, as the concentration of Jehovah, is the more emphatic term (Stier). It occurs for the first time in Ex 15:2. Frederic
Fysh, in "A Lyrical Literary Version of the Psalms," 1850.
Verse 5. A father of the fatherless. In a spiritual sense, the orphans, whose father God
is, says Hilary, are those who have renounced their father the Devil, and those to whom Christ, at his departure,
sent another Comforter, according to his promise--"I will
not leave you orphans." Lorinus.
Verse 5. Does not Jas 1:27 refer to this verse, for we have
the fatherless, the widow, and
then the holiness, of the God we serve? Andrew
A. Bonar.
Verse 5. God in his holy habitation. Albeit the Lord be infinite and uncomprehended by any place, yet hath he appointed a trysting place where
his people shall find him by his own ordinance, to wit, the assembly of his saints, his holy temple shadowing forth
Christ to be incarnate, who now is in heaven, now is incarnate, and sitting at the right hand of God, in whom dwells
the Godhead; here, here is God to be found. David Dickson.
Verse 6. God setteth the solitary in
families. It may be interpreted of the fruitfulness and increase of the church with converts,
under the gospel dispensation, even from among the Gentiles, who were before solitary, or were alone, without God
and Christ, and aliens from the commonwealth of Israel; but, being called and converted by the ministry of the
word, were brought into and placed in gospel churches, or families... Gospel churches, like families, have a master
over them, who is Christ the Son and firstborn, of whom they are named; where are saints of various ages, sizes,
and standing; some fathers, some young men, and some children; where are provisions suitable for them, and stewards
to give them their portion of meat in due season, who are the ministers of the word; and laws and rules, by which
they are directed and regulated, and everything is kept in good decorum. John Gill.
Verse 8. The God of Israel. Sinai was the seat not only of God, but of the covenant God of the people of Israel; from which the law was proclaimed, and the covenant struck between God and his
people. Hermann Venema.
Verse 9. The Thou
in the Hebrew is emphatic: Thine inheritance,
even when it was wearied (i.e., worn out) thou didst confirm; or, "fortify it." Thou who alone couldest strengthen one worn out, didst so for thy people. A.
R. Fausset.
Verse 9. A liberal rain. The words translated a liberal rain, read literally
in the Hebrew a rain of freenesses; and I agree with interpreters
in thinking that he alludes to the blessing as having come in the exercise of free favour, and to God, as having
of his own unprompted goodness provided for all the wants of his people. Some read, a
desirable rain; others a rain flowing without violence, or gentle; but neither of these renderings seems eligible. Others read, a copious or plentiful rain; but I have already stated what
appears to me to be the preferable sense. John Calvin.
Verse 9. A gracious rain; that is, of manna. Edmund Law (1703-1787), quoted by Richard Warner in loc.,
1828.
Verse 9. Rain.
One fountain, says Cyril, waters thy paradise, and the rain that falls upon all the world is the same; it is white
in the bloom of the hawthorn, red in the rose, purple in the hyacinth, and diverse kinds, and all in all; yet it
itself is the same and of the same kind. . . . So also the Holy Spirit, though he is one and the same and not divisible,
yet to every one he divideth grace according as he wills. Thomas Le Blanc.
Verse 9. A plentiful rain. Thy love has been as a shower! The returns, but a dew drop, and that dew drop stained with sin. James Harrington Evans, 1785-1849.
Verse 10. Thy congregation. The words are choice and expressive. Addressing God, (the poet) intentionally and emphatically calls
the people of Israel Ktyx thy
combined congregation, in contrast to former divisions and various dissensions, to signify,
that the people was now welded together, formed into one society, and united at the same time, that it was well
ordered, and constituted as the society of God, wherein his
laws flourished and were wont to be observed. Hermann Venema.
Verse 10. Thy congregation. Or, Thy living creatures, Ktyh, ta zwa, LXX animalia,
Vulgate; probably a reference to the immense number of quails which were miraculously
brought to the camp of the Israelites, and, in a manner, dwelt around it. Note in the "Congregational Bible."
Verse 10. Thy congregation. Or, Thy living creatures. That desolate place, where
only wild beasts before could live, was now by those showers of manna (Ps 68:9) enabled to sustain a multitude
of other tamer living creatures, even of men and all their flocks and herds. Henry Hammond.
Verse 10. (first clause). Rather: --"As for thy food (manna and quails), they dwelt in the midst of it." Edmund Law.
Verse 10. (first clause). As to thy food, they dwelt amidst
it. The ambiguity of the word hyx has occasioned various renderings of this line. Parkhurst considers the radical sense of hyx is "to be vigorous, strong; "hence the noun denotes
force, a body of men (2Sa 23:13); and also that which gives
strength, the means of support, or food (Jud 6:4 17:10); and compare Ne 9:6. Our translators took the term in the
first sense; I take it in the second, because the connection seems to require it, and because (tyx) refers always to a body of men, as soldiers, as actually engaged
in some kind of warfare. Hence what is called the troop of Philistines
(2Sa 23:13) is called the camp of the Philistines. 1Ch 11:15.
And, lastly, because the common version has no antecedent to which hk, in it, or amidst it, can refer; but this version has one in the noun food.
I think there is then a reference not only to the manna, but to the quails, which God brought in abundance around
the camp. Ex 16:13 Nu 11:31. Thus he prepared in his goodness for the poor. Benjamin Boothroyd.
Verse 10. Thou hast prepared in thine
own sweetness for the poor, O God.
In thine own sweetness, not in his sweetness. For the needy
he is, for he hath been made weak, in order that he may be made perfect: he hath acknowledged himself indigent,
that he may be replenished. Augustine.
Verse 11. The Lord gave the word: great
was the company of those that published it. You shall find, when the enemies of the church are destroyed, that God hath many preachers made that
do teach his praises... The words in the original are very significant, and do note two things. First, the word
which you read company, in the Hebrew it is "army, "great
was the army of preachers. An army of preachers is a great matter; nay, it is a great matter to have seven or eight
good preachers in a great army; but to have a whole army of preachers that it glorious. Secondly, it doth note
out the heartiness of this preaching army, for the word vpg, soul, is to be understood as in that place of Ecclesiastes; it is said there, "The words or book
of the preacher, "which, being in the feminine gender, doth suppose nephesh, and as if he should say, as Vatablus hath it; the words or book of him that hath a preaching soul or heart,
or the words of a preaching soul or heart. So here where it is said, great is the army of preachers, the word being
in the feminine gender, it is as if he should say, great is the army of preaching souls, whose very hearts within
them shall preach of the Lord's works. Now, my brethren, it is much to have a preaching army; but if this army
shall with heart and soul preach of God's praise, O that is a blessed thing. Yet thus shall it be when the enemies
of God shall be destroyed. And, therefore, seeing God will not lose all those sermons of his own praises, in due
time the enemies of the church shall be scattered. William Bridge, in "The True Soldier's
Conroy." 1640.
Verse 11. It is owing to the word, the appointment, and power
of God, that any persons are induced or enabled to preach the gospel. John Newton (1725-1807),
in "Messiah."
Verses 11-12. This account of Israel's victories is applicable
to victories obtained by the exalted Redeemer, when the enemies of man's salvation were vanquished by the resurrection
of Christ, and the heathen nations were compelled to own his power; and this great victory was first notified by
women to the disciples. From "A
Practical Illustration of the Book of Psalms; by the Author of
the Family Commentary on the New Testament." (Mrs. Thompson.) 1826.
Verses 11-12. The Lord did give his word at his ascension, and
there were a multitude of them that published it, and by this means kings of armies were put to flight: they conquered
by the word: there is not such another way to rout kings and their armies. William Strong. 1654.
Verses 11-14.
The Lord giveth the word!
A great company of women announce the glad tidings!
Kings with their armies flee--they flee!
And those, who dwell within the house, divide the spoil!
Although they lie among the hearth stones,
They are become like a dove's wings overlaid with silver,
And like her pinions overlaid with yellow gold.
When the Almighty scattereth kings,
They glisten therein, as snow upon Salmon.
Those who dwell within the house--i.e., the women. They are thus described in allusion to their retired habits
of life, in eastern countries. Lie among the hearth stones--i.e., are
habitually employed in the lowest domestic offices and whose ordinary dress, therefore, is mean and soiled. The hearth stones --Hebrew rests (for boilers). They
are become --by being decked in the spoils of the enemy. --Glisten
as snow --Hebrew (each woman) is snowy: therein--i.e., in the spoils distributed amongst them. French and Skinner's Translation and Notes.
Verse 12. Kings of armies did flee
apace. In the Hebrew it is, they fled, they fled; fled is twice. Why so? That is, they
did flee very hastily, and they fled most confusedly, they fled all ways; they fled, they fled, noting the greatness
of the flight. William Bridge.
Verse 12. The kings of hosts shall
flee. The "hosts" are the numerous well equipped armies which the kings of
the heathens lead forth to the battle against the people of God. The unusual expression, "kings of hosts,
"sounds very much like an ironically disparaging antithesis to the customary "Jahve of Hosts." Bottcher, quoted by Delitzsch.
Verse 12. She that tarried at home. That is, all the noncombatants, saith Kimchi. Or, the women also (those domi portae) came forth to pillage. These days of the gospel
do abound with many godly matrons and holy virgins. And it is easy to observe that the New Testament affords more
store of good women than the old. John Trapp.
Verse 12. Divided the spoil, not merely (as Hupfeld) "receives her portion of the spoil, "but rather, "distributes among
her daughters and handmaidens, etc., the share of the spoil" which her husband has brought home. J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse 14. Salmon
or Zalmon, properly Tsalmon, Nwmlu a woody hill
near Shechem (Jud 9:48). Whether it is this that's referred to in Ps 69:14, is disputed. Some interpreters take
Nwmlu here in its etymological meaning of darkness,
Mlu; thus Luther renders the clause "so wird
es helle wo es dunkel ist, "thus it be bright where it is dark, and understands it with a Messianic reference. Ewald adopts
much the same rendering. The majority, however, retain the name as a proper name, but exhibit great variety in
their explanation of the passage. Hengstenberg thinks that the phrase, "it snows on Tsalmon, "is equivalent
to "there is brightness where there was darkness, "the hill, originally dark with wood, is now white
with snow. De Dieu supposes a comparison: Tsalmon is white with the bones of the slaughtered kings, as if with
snow. Some suppose that there is here a mere note of time: it was winter, the snow was on Tsalmon (Herder); and
this Hupfeld adopts, with the explanation that the statement is made derisively, with reference to those who tarried
at home, deterred by the winter's snow. He considers the passage (Ps 68:12-14) as a fragment of an ancient song,
celebrating some of the early conquests of Israel in Canaan, and deriding those, who, from indolence or fear, shrank
from the enterprise. He translates thus:
"The kings of the armies, flee, flee,
And the housewife shares the spoil!
Will ye lie among the shippens?
Pigeons feathers decked with silver,
And their wings with yellow gold!
As the Almighty scattered kings therein,
It was snowing on Tsalmon."
--William Lindsay Alexander, in "A Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature." 1866.
Verse 14. The verb may be viewed as in the second person-- Thou, O God! didst make it fair and white as Mount Salmon with snow. The reader may adopt either construction, for the meaning is the same.
It is evident that David insists still upon the figure of the whiteness of silver, which he had previously introduced.
The country had, as it were, been blackened or sullied by the hostile confusion into which it was thrown, and he
says that it had now recovered its fair appearance, and resembled Salmon, which is well known to have been ordinarily
covered with snows. Others think that Salmon is not the name of a place, but an appellative, meaning a dark shade. I would retain
the commonly received reading. At the same time, I think that there may have been an allusion to the etymology.
It comes from the word Mlu, tselem, signifying a shade, and Mount Salmon had been so called on account of its blackness. This makes the comparison more striking;
for it intimates that as the snows whitened this black mountain, so the country had resumed its former beauty,
and put on an aspect of joy, when God dispelled the darkness which had lain upon it during the oppression of enemies.
John Calvin.
Verse 14. It was as white as snow in
Salmon. That is, this thine inheritance, thy peculiar people, appeared as bright and
glorious in the sight of their neighbours, as the snowy head of Salmon glistens by the reflection of the sunbeams.
Thomas Fenton.
Verse 14. White as snow in Salmon. The expression here used seems to denote, that everything seemed as bright and cheerful to the mind of
God's people, as Salmon does to their eyes, when glistening with snow. As snow is much less common, and lies a
much shorter time in Judaea than in England, no wonder that it is much more admired; accordingly, the son of Sirach
speaks of it with a kind of rapture. "The eye will be astonished at the beauty of its whiteness, and the heart
transported at the raining of it." Ecclus. 43:18 or 20. Samuel Burder.
Verse 14. Salmon.
Dean Stanley conjectures that Salmon in another name for Mount Ebal; it was certainly near Shechem (see Jud 9:48),
but it is almost hopeless to expect to identify it, for Mr. Mills, the industrious author of "Nablus and the
modern Samaritans, "could not find any one who knew the name of Salmon, neither could he discover any traditions
in reference to it, or indeed any allusion to it in Samaritan literature. The word signifies a shade, and may,
perhaps, popularly be accepted as identical with the name the "Black Forest." C.
H. S.
Verse 15. Hill of Bashan. The world's physical greatness must yield to the church's spiritual grandeur. The "hill of God"
is here an emblem of the world kingdoms, which (Ps 65:6) are
great only by the grace of God. A great hill reminds us of the creative power of God. Hence, "the hill of Elohim" (the general name of God as the
Creator) stands in contrast to the hill
which (Ps 68:16) "the Lord" (Jehovah) will dwell in for ever. It lay in the north, in the region east
of Jordan, or the land of Hermon, the kingdom of Og, the most formidable enemy whom Israel encountered on their
march to Canaan. "The hill of Bashan is the high snow summit of Anti Lebanon, or Hermon, the extreme limit
of Bashan. There was a peculiar propriety, from its position on the boundary between Judaea and the heathen world,
in employing it as a symbol of the world's might (Ps 68:22 42:6 89:12)" (Hengstenberg). The original name of Hermon as Sion; i.e., lofty
(De 4:48); allied in sound to Zion, which suggested the contrast here between the world
hills and the Lord's hill. A. R. Fausset.
Verse 15-16.
"A mountain of God Mount Bashan is.
A mountain of peaks Mount Bashan is,
Why are ye piqued, ye peaked mountains?
At the mountain which God desires to dwell in?
Yea, Jehovah will dwell therein forever."
--Frederic Fysh's Version.
Verse 16. Why leap ye? As triumphing, and making a show of your natural advantages over Sion. Or, to insult over it, and compare
and equalise yourselves in honour with it; poetical kind of speeches. Others translate it, Why
gaze you, as though you were ravished with admiration? John Diodati.
Verse 16. This is the hill which God
desireth to dwell in. This low, little, barren hill of Zion; and God's election maketh
the difference, as it did of Aaron's rod from the rest, and doth still of the church from the rest of the world.
The Lamb Christ is on Mount Zion. Re 14:1. John Trapp.
Verse 17. The chariots of God. What are these "chariots of God?" Come, we will not stand to mince the matter, look but round
about thee, and thou shalt see those innumerable chariots and
angels here spoken of; for so many creatures as thou seest,
so many angels and chariots of God thou seest; they are all his host, they are all his chariots wherein he rides;
and, whether you see it or no, The Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. The glory of the Lord fills them all (had we but our eyes open to see it so), and they are all at his
command, and there is not one creature but doth his pleasure. Oh, brethren! how glorious and blessed a thing it
is, that looking round about us to behold and see, that look how many creatures visible and invisible you see or conceive in thy mind to be,
for thy soul now to look on them as so many fiery chariots and horsemen for its defence, protection, and preservation!
And, on the other hand, "How fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God, "who hath
all these chariots and horsemen at his command to execute his will and vengeance on those that neglect, hate, and
oppose him. John Everard, in "Militia Caelestis, or the Heavenly Host." 1653.
Verse 17.
"About his chariot numberless were poured
Cherubs, and seraph, potentates, and thrones,
And Virtues, winged Spirits, and chariots win
From the armoury of God, where stand of old Myriads."
--John Milton, in "Paradise Lost."
Verse 17. Twenty-thousand; rather, two myriads, Mytbr singular wkr; for twbr only here in the dual, the infinite number doubled. "Thousands of angels, "literally, thousands
of iteration; i.e., with margin, many thousands (Bythner, Gesenius, &c.). Nagv only here, from hgv, to
repeat. The rendering of angels was
probably suggested by the reference to Sinai, next clause (see De 33:2, where for saints read holy ones; ) chariots bkr being used collectively for those
who rode in them, as often elsewhere. William de Burgh.
Verse 18. Thou hast ascended on high,
etc. Some think it refers to God's goings forth on behalf of his people Israel, leading
them forth to victory, taking their enemies captive, and enriching them with the spoils. Suppose it be so, we are
warranted to consider it as mainly referring to Christ, for so the apostle has applied it. Eph 4:8. The apostle
not only applies it to Christ, but proves it applicable. Thus
he reasons (Ps 68:9-10), "Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended," etc. The captivity
which he led captive was our spiritual enemies who had led us captive-- Satan, death; and, having obtained the
victory, he proceeds to divide the spoils. Gifts to men --as
David made presents. And hence comes our ordinances, ministers, etc. There was a glorious fulfilment immediately
after his ascension, in a rich profusion of gifts and graces to his church, like David's presents. Here it is received; in Ephesians, gave.
He received that he might give; received the spoil that he might distribute it. But, as I wish to appropriate the
passage to the work allotted me, the whole of that to which I would at this time call your attention will be contained
in two things:
1. The great blessings of the Christian ministry.
(a) Ministers are received for, and are given to, you by Christ. As men, and as sinful men, ministers
are as nothing, and wish not to make anything of themselves; but, as the gifts of Christ, it becomes you to make
much of them. (1.) If you love Christ, you will make much of
your minister, on account of his being his gift--a gift designed
to supply Christ's absence in a sort. He is gone ("ascended"), but he gives you his servants. By and
by you hope to be with him, but as yet you are as sheep in the wilderness. He gives you a shepherd. (2.) If you
fear God, you will be afraid of treating your pastor amiss,
seeing he is the gift of Christ. God took it ill of Israel for despising Moses. Nu 12:8. He is "my servant."
(b) Ministers are not only given to, but received for you, of God the Father, as a covenant blessing, among the spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ. In this view, consider that Christ received nothing at his Father's hand but what
cost him dear--cost him his life. Or, if the allusion be to the dividing of the spoils, suppose we say, he received
them as a conqueror receives the spoils at the hand of the foe. Your minister was one of those who, like yourselves,
were brands consuming in the fire. Christ took him from your enemies and gives him to you. Make much of the gift
on this account. "This I received of the Amorite."
(c) Consider your unworthiness of such a blessing. You are men, mere
men, and what is more, rebellious men, who had joined with Satan.
And must you share the spoils? It is not usual to divide the spoils amongst rebels... Men that put him to death
had these gifts given to them; and we should all have done the same. Some of you, it is likely, have been vile
and abandoned characters and yet, etc...
(d) The end of it: That the Lord God might dwell among them. "But will God, indeed, dwell with men?" God had not dwelt
with the world, nor in it, while sin bore the rule; but Christ's mediation was for the bringing it about. "Will
God, indeed, dwell with men?" He will, and how? It is by the means of ordinances and ministers. A church of
Christ is God's house; and where any one builds a house, it is a token that he means to dwell there. What a blessing
to a village, a country, for God to build a house in it. It is by this that we may hope for a blessing upon the
means to the conversion of our children and friends, and for the edification of believers.
2. Point out some corresponding duties as answering to these your privileges.
(a) Constant and diligent attendance at the house of God. If the house of God be God's dwelling, let it be yours,
your home. If God gives you a pastor, do you thankfully receive and prize him. He hath not dealt so with every
village.
(b) Cheerfully contribute to his support. Christ has given you freely, and you ought to give him freely. Consider
it is not as a gift, but as a debt, and not as done to him, but to Christ.
(c) Follow those things which make for peace, with which the presence and blessing of God are connected.
(d) Shun those things that tend to provoke the Lord to withdraw his gifts, and to cease to dwell among you. Andrew Fuller's Sketch of a Sermon, addressed to the Church at Moulton, on the Ordination of Mr. (since Doctor) Carey, August 1st, 1787.
Verse 18. But who is he of whom it is written, that he ascended up on high? I
confess that the sixty-eighth Psalm, wherein these words are first written, is literally to be understood, not
of any triumph, for the slaughter of the host of Sennacherib, which was done in the time of king Hezekiah (as the
Jews do most fabulously dream), when the very title of this Psalm, that ascribes it unto David, doth sufficiently
confute this vanity; nor yet for any of the victories of David which he obtained against his bordering enemies,
the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Idumaeans, and the Philistines (as some would have it); but of that great and
glorious pomp which was then done and showed, when king David with great joy and triumph did bring the ark of the covenant into the hill of Sion; and, therefore, these words, Thou art gone up on high, so dignify that the ark, which formerly had lain in
an obscure place, and was transported from one place to another,
was now ascended and seated in a most illustrious and conspicuous
place, even in the kingly palace; and these words. Thou hast led captivity captive, do signify those enemies which formerly had spoiled
and wasted divers countries; but now, being vanquished by king
David, were led captive in this triumph (for so it was the manner
of those times, as Plutarch doth excellently declare in the life of Paulus Amilius); and the other words, thou hast received gifts for men, do signify those spoils that were freely offered
for conditions of peace, and were triumphantly carried about in this pompous show, for the greater solemnity of
the same; and then (as the manner was among the chieftains when they triumphed, Bellica
laudatis dona dedisse viris, to bestow
warlike gifts upon worthy men), gifts were bestowed on several men, in several manner, as Sigonius sheweth. Yet
I say that, mystically, this Psalm is an epinikion, or a triumphal song, penned by king David upon the foresight
of Jesus Christ arising from the dead, and with great joy and triumph ascending up into heaven, and thence sending his Holy Spirit unto his apostles and disciples; and having overcome
all his enemies, collecting by the ministry of his preachers, his churches and chosen people together, and so guiding
and defending them here in this life, until he doth receive them into eternal glory. Griffith
Williams. 1636.
Verse 18. Thou hast led captivity captive. The expression is emphatic. He has conquered and triumphed over all the powers which held us in captivity,
so that captivity itself is taken captive. The spirit and force of it is destroyed; and his people, when released
by him, and walking in his ways, have no more to apprehend from those whose captives they were, than a conqueror
has to fear from a prisoner in chains. The energy of the phrase is not unlike that of the apostle: "Death
is swallowed up in victory." John Newton.
Verse 18. Thou hast led captivity captive,
etc. The ancient prophecy of David is fulfilled here on the foot of mount Olivet. To
take "captivity captive, "signifies that Christ conquered the allied principalities and powers, the devil,
sin, death, and hell; and that he deprived them of the instruments wherewith they enslaved men. He not only silenced
the cannon on the spiritual Gibraltar, but he took rock, fortifications, and all. He not only silenced the horrible
and destructive battlements of the powerful and compactly united ghostly enemies, but he threw down the towers,
razed the castles, and took away the keys of the dungeons. He is the Master henceforth, and for ever. He did, also,
at the same time, save his people. Where, O Jesus, is the army of which thou art the Captain? "Here! all the
names are written in pearls on the breastplate which I wear as a high priest." He had no sooner left the grave
than he began to distribute his gifts, and did so all along the road on his way to his Father's house; and, especially
after he entered the heaven of heavens, did he shower down gifts unto men, as a mighty conqueror loaded with treasures
with which to enrich and adorn his followers and people. They were gifts of mercy: gifts to the rebellious; to
those who threw down their arms at his feet in penitent submission, that the Lord God may dwell among them. The apostle shows
that a portion of these gifts are gifts of ministry. Accordingly, whenever God condescends to dwell among a people
and in a country, he gives that people and country this ministry. He sends them his gospel in the mouths of faithful
servants. He establishes there his house; the board and the candlestick; and then, in his Spirit, he dwells there
and blesses his heritage. Christmas Evans. 1766-1838.
Verse 18. The apostle (Eph 4:8) does not quote the words of
the Psalm literally, but according to the sense. The phrase, Thou
hast received gifts, as applied to Christ as his glorification,
could only be for the purpose of distribution, and hence the apostle quotes them in this sense, He gave gifts to men. This Hebrew phrase may be rendered either, "Thou
hast received gifts in the human nature, "or, "Thou hast received gifts for the sake of man" (see
Ge 18:28 2Ki 14:6). The apostle uses the words in the sense of the purpose for which the gifts were received, and there is no contradiction between the psalmist and the apostle.
Thus, the difficulties of this quotation vanish when we examine them closely, and the Old and New Testaments are
in complete harmony. Rosenmueller expounds Psalm 18, and never mentions the name of Christ; and the neologists
in general see no Messiah in the Old Testament. To these, indeed, Eph 4:8, if they had any modesty, would present
a formidable obstacle. Paul asserts the Psalm belongs to Christ, and they assert he is mistaken, and that he has
perverted (De Wette) and destroyed its meaning. They assert that Lamarom, "on high, "means the heights of Mount Zion, and Paul says it means heaven. Which is right? (see
the scriptural usage of the word, Ps 7:7 18:16 93:4 102:19 Jer 25:30 Isa 37:23). These passages connect the word
with the heavenly mansions, and justify the application of the apostle. William Graham,
in "Lectures on St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians."
Verse 18. No sooner is Christ inaugurated in his throne, but
he scatters his coin, and gives gifts. He gives gifts, or the gift of gifts, the gift of the Holy Ghost. "If
thou knewest the gift of God, " said Christ to the Samaritan woman (Joh 4:10): that gift was the water of
life, and that water of life was the Spirit, as John, who knew best his mind, gave the interpretation, "This
spake he of the Spirit." Joh 7:39. O my soul, consider of this princely gift of Christ! Such a gift was never
before, but when God gave his Son. "God so loved the world, that he gave his Son; "and Christ so loved
the world, that he gave his Spirit. But, O my soul, consider especially to whom this Spirit was given; the application
of the gift is the very soul of thy meditation: "unto us a Son is given, "saith the prophet (Isa 9:6);
and "unto us the Holy Ghost is given, " saith the apostle (Ro 5:5); and yet above all consider the reasons
of this gift in reference to thyself. Was it not to make thee a temple and receptacle of the Holy Ghost? Stand
a while on this! Admire, O my soul, at the condescending, glorious, and unspeakable love of Christ in this! It
was infinite love to come down into our nature when he was incarnate; but this is more, to come down into thy heart
by his Holy Spirit: he came near to us then, but as if that were not near enough, he comes nearer now, for now
he unites himself unto thy person, now he comes and dwells in thy soul by his Holy Spirit. Isaac
Ambrose. 1592-1674.
Verse 18. Thou hast received gifts
for men. The glorious ascending of God from Mount Sinai, after the giving of the law,
was a representation of his "ascending up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things, "as Eph
4:10. And, as God then "led captivity captive" in the destruction of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who had
long held his people in captivity and under cruel bondage; so dealt the Lord Christ now in the destruction and
captivity of Satan and all his powers (Col 2:15); only, whereas it is said in the Psalm that he "received
gifts for men, "here (Eph 4:8) it is said that "he gave gifts to men, "wherein no small mystery
is couched; for, although Christ is God, and is so gloriously represented in the Psalm, yet an intimation is given
that he should act what is here mentioned in a condition wherein he was capable to receive from another, as he
did in this matter. Ac 2:33. And so the phrase in the original doth more than insinuate: Mdab twgtm txql "Thou hast received gifts in Adam, "--in the
man, of human nature. And signifies as well to give as t