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Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

Psalms 68:1-11

the Leader of His People

Psalms 68:1

This is one of the grandest odes in literature. It was probably composed when the Ark was brought in triumph from the house of Obed-edom to the newly acquired hill of the Lord, 2 Samuel 6:1. It is evidently a processional hymn, intended to be sung by bands of white-robed priests and Levites. In this paragraph the Ark was lifted to the shoulders of its bearers, while a measured strain was chanted, Psalms 68:1. Then, as the procession moved forward, the march through the wilderness was recited, Psalms 68:7.

Let God arise! These opening words are borrowed from the formula used by Moses, Numbers 10:35. Through the smoke of many a battlefield have they rung out! Cromwell's “Ironsides” charged to their music. In Psalms 68:5 we learn that God has a special care for lonely people and prisoners. The former He introduces to families, John 19:26. The latter are brought out into prosperity. Psalms 68:11, r.v. seems to have a modern fulfillment in the exodus of noble women from happy homes in Christian lands to publish the gospel of Christ to the heathen.

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See also Psalms 68:1-11 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    PSALM LXVIII _The psalmist calls upon God to arise, bless his people, and_ _scatter his enemies_, 1-3; _exhorts them to praise him for has greatness, tenderness,_ _compassion, and judgments_, 4-6;...

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    LET GOD ARISE - See the notes at Psalms 3:7. There is an obvious reterence here to the words used by Moses on the removal of the ark in Numbers 10:35. The same language was also employed by Solomon wh...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    Psalms 68 The Great Redemption Accomplished _ 1. The introduction (Psalms 68:1)_ 2. The proclamation of His Name and of ‘His acts (Psalms 68:4) 3. A historic review ...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    LXVIII. A SONG OF TRIUMPH. The most difficult of all the Pss. In some places the text is so corrupt that it defies any attempt at emendation, and the VSS give little, if any, help. The historical allu...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    TITLE. PSALM. Hebrew. _mizmor._ App-65. SONG. Hebrew. _shir._ It was written originally for use at the going up of the Ark to Zion 951, BC,. Sabbatical year (2Sa. and 1 Chronicles 15. see note on Titl...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered And they that hate him shall flee from his presence. Psalms 67 begins with an echo of the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24 ff, and the opening words...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    The advent of God brings terror and destruction to His enemies, blessing and joy to His people....

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    _A prayer at the removing of the ark. An exhortation to praise God for his mercies, for his care of the church, and for his great works._ To the chief musician, A Psalm _or_ Song of David. _TITLE._ ש...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    PSALMS 68 DESCRIPTIVE TITLE Glimpses of Jehovah's Visible Reign over Israel and the Nations. ANALYSIS (See Headlines insetted in text.) (Lm.) By DavidPsalm Song. (DIVISION ITHE KING: HIS PROWESS...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    _LET GOD ARISE, LET HIS ENEMIES BE SCATTERED: LET THEM ALSO THAT HATE HIM FLEE BEFORE HIM._ Psalms 68:1.-When God arises, His enemies are scattered like smoke, while the righteous joyfully extol Jah,...

  • Darby's translation notes (1890)

    68:1 him. (a-27) See Numbers 10:35 ....

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    Taken from the invocation of Moses at the moving of the ark (Numbers 10:35), with the change of Lord (_Jehovah_) into God (_Elohim_). 2, 3. THE WICKED.. THE RIGHTEOUS] the heathen and Israel respecti...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    This is one of the grandest of the Pss., but its origin and date are involved in much obscurity. It contains expressions borrowed from the Blessing of Moses (Deuteronomy 33) and the Song of Deborah (J...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    PSALMS 42:72 _GORDON CHURCHYARD_ Words in boxes are from the Bible. Words marked with a *star are described in the word list at the end. The translated Bible text has yet to go through Advanced Che...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    LET GOD ARISE. — A reminiscence of the battlecry raised as the ark was advanced at the head of the tribes (Numbers 10:35). For interesting historical associations with this verse, see Gibbon (chap. 58...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    לַ † מְנַצֵּ֥חַ לְ דָוִ֗ד מִזְמֹ֥ור שִֽׁיר׃ ...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    Psalms 68:1 THIS superb hymn is unsurpassed, if not unequalled, in grandeur, lyric fire, and sustained rush of triumphant praise. It celebrates a victory; but it is the victory of the God who enters a...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    This psalm sings the praise of the God of deliverances. It opens with a song of pure praise (verses Psa 68:1-6). This is then justified by a review of God's past dealings with His people (verses Psa 6...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    "To the chief Musician, A Psalm [or] Song of David." Let God (a) arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. (a) The prophet shows that even though God permits t...

  • George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

    _Changed. A psalm for Christian converts, to remember the passion of Christ; (Challoner) whose sentiments this and the 21st psalm express in the most energetic language. (Berthier) --- It may have bee...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    CONTENTS This Psalm is full of gospel from beginning to end, as the authority of God the Holy Ghost fully shows, Ephesians 4:8. It was composed, probably, at David's removing the ark from the house o...

  • John Calvin's Bible Commentary

    1._God shall arise: his enemies shall be scattered _In this verse the Psalmist intimates, as it were by way of preface, the subject which he proposed to treat in the psalm, and which related to the tr...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    Psalms 68 follows on these psalms, being the celebration of the introduction of Israel into the position spoken of in them. Still it has a complete and individual character of its own. It begins with...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    LET GOD ARISE,.... Which, as Kimchi observes, is either by way of prayer, or by way of prophecy; and in either way the sense is the same: for, if it is considered as a prayer, it is a prayer of faith...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    Psalms 68:1 «To the chief Musician, A Psalm [or] Song of David. » Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. _A Psalm or Song of David_] Made at that ti...

  • Jonathan Edwards' Notes On The Scriptures

    Psa. 68. The bringing up of the ark of God out of the house of Obed-edom, the Gittite, into the city of David, on the top of mount Zion, on which occasion this psalm was penned, was the most remarkabl...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _Let God arise_, &c. As God was in a peculiar manner present in the ark, and as his presence was the great security of the Israelitish nation from the dangers of the wilderness, and the power of their...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    OF THE MESSIAH'S EXALTATION. To the chief musician, a psalm or song of David, the event which was the immediate cause for writing this powerful hymn, according to most commentators. being the placing...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered, the ancient exclamation which signaled the departure of the Ark of the Covenant from a camp in the wilderness, Numbers 10:35, the prayer receiving its real...

  • Marginal Notes in the King James Version (1611)

    BEFORE HIM: _ Heb._ from his face...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    1-6 None ever hardened his heart against God, and prospered. God is the joy of his people, then let them rejoice when they come before him. He who derives his being from none, but gives being to all,...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    PSALM 68 THE ARGUMENT The occasion of this Psalm seems to have been David's translation of the ark to Zion, which was managed with great solemnity and devotion, and celebrated with some Psalms, and th...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Psalms 68:1 Musician H5329 (H8764) Psalm H4210 David H1732 Song H7892 God H430 arise H6965 (H8799) enemies...

  • Scofield's Bible Commentary

    LET GOD ARISE The entire Psalm is pervaded by the joy of Israel in the kingdom, but a stricter order of events begins with verse 18 (Psalms 68:18). This is quoted (Ephesians 4:7) of Christ's ascensio...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    This was a Psalm sung, at the removing of the ark, when it was taken up to its resting-place on Mount Zion. All the tribes were gathered together, and, in full pomp, they marched along, bearing the sa...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Prayer against enemies and for God's people. All called upon to praise God for His greatness and goodness. CHARACTERS: God, David. CONCLUSION: The glory of Zion's King is that He is a Savi...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    This psalm is the _Carmen seculare_ of the Hebrews, and far surpasses the _Te Deum_ of the christians. It has justly been eulogized in the whole succession of theological composition,. The song bursts...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered: let them alone that hate Him flee before Him._ A GOOD PRAYER This was what was always said by Moses, when the ark set forward afresh in the wilderness. E...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    PSALM PSALM—NOTE ON PSALMS 68:1. This is a celebration of God’s continued care and protection. It remembers how God led his people through the wilderness into their inheritance. The celebration does n...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    INTRODUCTION _Superscription_.—“_To the Chief Musician_.” See Introduction to Psalms 57. “_A Psalm or Song of David_.” See Introduction to Psalms 48. The Superscription does not mention the occasion...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION THIS psalm is one of triumphant praise and jubilation, the crown and gem of the Second Book. Professor Cheyne calls it "a patriotic and religious ode of wondrous range and compass, and in t...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the pre...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    2 Chronicles 6:41; Daniel 2:35; Deuteronomy 7:10; Exodus 20:5;...

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