Psalms 76:1-12
1 In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel.
2 In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion.
3 There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah.
4 Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey.
5 The stouthearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands.
6 At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep.
7 Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry?
8 Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still,
9 When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah.
10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.
11 Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared.
12 He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible to the kings of the earth.
DESCRIPTIVE TITLE
A Song of Triumph over a Divinely-smitten Foe.
ANALYSIS
Stanza I., Psalms 76:1-3, By reason of a Recent Interposition in behalf of Jerusalem, God has Anew Made Himself Known there, as a Lion Dwelling in his Lair. Stanza II., Psalms 76:4-6, The Majesty of God and the Impotence of the Smitten Enemy contrasted. Stanza III., Psalms 76:7-9, God, Terrible when Arising to Judgment. Stanza IV., Psalms 76:10-12, The Wrath of Mankind turning to Give Thanks and Keep Festival. Counsels to Worshippers.
(Lm.) PsalmBy AsaphSong.
1
God hath made himself known in Judah,
in Israel great is his name:
2
And his covert hath come to be in Salem,
and his lair in Zion hath been placed:[42]
[42] So Br. revocalises, sh-m-h, and brings back to end of this line.
3
He hath shivered the flames of the bow,[43]
[43] A poetic description of arrows.
shield and sword and battle.[44]
[44] Comprehensively, for all other weapons of war.
4
Enveloped in light art thou majesticfrom the mountains of prey:
5
They let themselves be spoiled did the valiant of heartthey slumbered their sleep,
And none of the men of might could find[45] their hands:
[45] Far less use them, to arise and grasp their weapons.
6
At the rebuke O God of Jacobstunned were the horsemen.[46]
[46] So it shd. be (w. Sep., Syr., Vul.)Gn.
7
As for thee fear-inspiring thou art:
who then shall stand before thee because of the power[47] of thine anger?
[47] So G. Intro. 144, correcting orthography.
8
Out of the heavens proclaimedst thou sentence:
earth feared and was still
9
When God arose to vindication,[48]
[48] Intro., Chap. III., Righteousness.
to save all the humble of the land.[49]
[49] Or earth.
10
Surely the wrath of mankind will thank[50] thee,
[50] Cp. Psalms 6:5 n.
the residue of intense[51] wrath will keep festival to thee[52]
[51] The word wrath is in the plural, denoting either wrath of every kind, or wrath in its intensity.Per.
[52] So Sep., implying a difference, in Heb. exemplar, of a single letter.
11
Vow and pay to Jehovah your God,
all ye around him bear along a gift to the inspirer of fear,
12
He taketh away[53] the spirit of nobles,
[53] So O.G. (cut off=take away); and so Br. (w. Sep., Vul., Jerome).
is fear-inspiring to the kings of the earth.
(Lm.) To the Chief Musician.
(CMm.) Jor Jeduthun.[54]
[54] Cp. 38 n.
PARAPHRASE
God's reputation is very great in Judah and in Israel!
2 His home is in Jerusalem! He lives upon Mount Zion.
3 There He breaks the weapons of our enemies.
4 The everlasting mountains cannot compare with You in glory!
5 The mightiest of our enemies are conquered; they lie before us in the sleep of death; not one can lift a hand against us.
6 When You rebuked them, God of Jacob, steeds and riders fell.
7 No wonder You are greatly feared! Who can stand before an angry God?
8 You pronounce sentence on them from heaven; the earth trembles and stands silent before You;
9 You stand up to punish the evil-doers and to defend the meek of the earth.
10 Man's futile wrath will bring You glory! You will use it as an ornament!
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11 Fulfill all your vows that you have made to Jehovah your God. Let everyone bring Him presents. He should be reverenced and feared,
12 For He cuts down princes and does awesome things to the kings of the earth.
EXPOSITION
The reference of this psalm to the overthrow of Sennacherib is so obvious as to explain the unanimity with which expositors find in it that allusion. Doubtless there are some minor points in the psalm which invite discussion, and as to which a difference of final opinion may be expected. But these are of little moment as compared with the remarkable statement regarding the wrath of man which occupies the 10th verse, as to which a perplexing amount of diversity exists. This verse stands as follows in the A.V.:
Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee,
The remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.
The assurance thus conveyed may be said to meet with general devout acceptance, as is evident from the frequent acquiescent use of the words in public worship. The only difficulty they present is that scholars are unable to find the word restrain in the original of the second line. Accordingly, in the R.V., the following innovation appears:
The residue of wrath shalt thou gird upon thee;
and with this rendering Dr., Per., Del., and others in the main agree. But it is distinctly unacceptable, apparently far-fetched, and gives rise to endless diversities when exposition is attempted. Whose wrath does God gird about him, whether by way of ornament, or for use? If his own, then why with only a residue? to say nothing of the awkwardness of taking the wrath to be human in one line and divine in the next. In short, there can be little doubt that the Sep. has here preserved the true reading, by the use of a word differing only by one letter from the M.T. (h-h-g-k) instead of (h-h-g-r) will keep festival to thee. A renewed study of the passagegiving to it a more literal turn and bringing it into closer touch with the contextbrings out the force and beauty of this ancient variation. Note then (1) that mankind, instead of man (for a-d-m) in the first line, widens the outlook, and prepares us to discover that it is the excusable wrath of the down-trodden nations directed against the down-treading world-power, represented by Assyria, which, when Divine interposition effects deliverance, turns to give God thanksthanks itself being more literal than praisewilling thanks rather than unwilling and merely enforced and constructive praise. (2) That keep festival in line 2, makes a good parallel with thank in line 1. (3) That the intense wrath of line 2 prepares for the strong verb keep festival which follows it; so that the stronger motive power produces the stronger result, implying that there are some among the lately downtrodden nations whose wrath was so intense that mere thanks will not serve for its outletit moves to nothing less than the keeping of a holy festival of praise. Note (4) how strongly this construction works out of the foregoing context and into the succeeding: Earth feared and was still when God arose to vindication (Psalms 76:8-9)so deep was its emotion, and so potent to turn its wrath of resentment into thanksgiving for deliverance. Will ye, then, keep festival? Then, mind ye pay your vows (Psalms 76:11). All ye around him (ibid)ye smaller neighboring nations, who, having shared in Israel's peril, now share in her deliverance, bear along, in procession, a gift to the Inspirer of fear, even Israel's God who has just smitten the Assyrians. It is distinctly pleasant thus to get a glimpse of mankind lying outside the dominant world-power, sharing in Israel's deliverance, and fulfilling a more hopeful part than merely contributing unwitting and unwilling praise to the God of all the earth. Moreover, the student of unfulfilled prophecy will not fail to observe how, by exchanging earth for land in Psalms 76:9, he obtains a most significant adumbration of time yet to come when God will arise to the vindication of the humble through all the earth.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1.
The historical circumstances of this psalm is the destruction of Sennacherib's army in the reign of Hezekiah. Read Isaiah, Chapter s 36 and 37. Why is there such a unanimity of opinion as to what incident is here described?
2.
Refer again to the three psalms of 74, 75 and 76 and show how they fit together.
3.
The poet has so well described the destruction of Sennacherib's host
Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen:
Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay wither-'d and strown.
What encouragement is this to us?
4.
Rotherham sees a real exegetical problem with Psalms 76:10how is it solved? Does Taylor agree with him in the paraphrase? Do you agree? Discuss.
5.
When and where and how will God defend the meek of the earth? (Psalms 76:9)