681 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song. Let God arise, Let His enemies be scattered; Let those also who hate Him flee before Him. 2 As smoke is driven away, So drive them away; As wax melts before the fire, So let the wicked perish at the presence of God. 3 But let the righteous be glad; Let them rejoice before God; Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly. 4 Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds, By His name Yah, And rejoice before Him. 5 A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation. 6 God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land.
7 O God, when You went out before Your people, When You marched through the wilderness, Selah 8 The earth shook; The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God; Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel. 9 You, O God, sent a plentiful rain, Whereby You confirmed Your inheritance, When it was weary. 10 Your congregation dwelt in it; You, O God, provided from Your goodness for the poor. 11 The Lord gave the word; Great was the company of those who proclaimed it: 12 "Kings of armies flee, they flee, And she who remains at home divides the spoil. 13 Though you lie down among the sheepfolds, You will be like the wings of a dove covered with silver, And her feathers with yellow gold." 14 When the Almighty scattered kings in it, It was white as snow in Zalmon.
15 A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan; A mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan. 16 Why do you fume with envy, you mountains of many peaks? This is the mountain which God desires to dwell in; Yes, the Lord will dwell in it forever. 17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand, Even thousands of thousands; The Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the Holy Place. 18 You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts among men, Even from the rebellious, That the Lord God might dwell there. 19 Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah 20 Our God is the God of salvation; And to God the Lord belong escapes from death. 21 But God will wound the head of His enemies, The hairy scalp of the one who still goes on in His trespasses.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 68:1-21
Commentary on Psalm 68:1-6
(Read Psalm 68:1-6)
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, is engaged by promise and covenant to bless his people. He is to be praised as a God of mercy and tender compassion. He ever careth for the afflicted and oppressed: repenting sinners, who are helpless and exposed more than any fatherless children, are admitted into his family, and share all their blessings.
Commentary on Psalm 68:7-14
(Read Psalm 68:7-14)
Fresh mercies should put us in mind of former mercies. If God bring his people into a wilderness, he will be sure to go before them in it, and to bring them out of it. He provided for them, both in the wilderness and in Canaan. The daily manna seems here meant. And it looks to the spiritual provision for God's Israel. The Spirit of grace and the gospel of grace are the plentiful rain, with which God confirms his inheritance, and from which their fruit is found. Christ shall come as showers that water the earth. The account of Israel's victories is to be applied to the victories over death and hell, by the exalted Redeemer, for those that are his. Israel in Egypt among the kilns appeared wretched, but possessed of Canaan, during the reigns of David and Solomon, appeared glorious. Thus the slaves of Satan, when converted to Christ, when justified and sanctified by him, look honourable. When they reach heaven, all remains of their sinful state disappear, they shall be as the wings of the dove, covered with silver, and her feathers as gold. Full salvation will render those white as snow, who were vile and loathsome through the guilt and defilement of sin.
Commentary on Psalm 68:15-21
(Read Psalm 68:15-21)
The ascension of Christ must here be meant, and thereto it is applied, John 17:2. Christ came to a rebellious world, not to condemn it, but that through him it might be saved. The glory of Zion's King is, that he is a Saviour and Benefactor to all his willing people, and a consuming fire to all that persist in rebellion against him. So many, so weighty are the gifts of God's bounty, that he may be truly said to load us with them. He will not put us off with present things for a portion, but will be the God of our salvation. The Lord Jesus has authority and power to rescue his people from the dominion of death, by taking away the sting of it from them when they die, and giving them complete victory over it when they rise again. The crown of the head, the chief pride and glory of the enemy, shall be smitten; Christ shall crush the head of the serpent.