Psalm 68.
This is the fourth and greatest of the series of songs (Psalms 65 to 68), and celebrates the judgments of God, the setting up of His authority on earth with the blessing of the righteous, and the scattering of the enemies. The opening verse is the word of Numbers 10:35,35And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee. (Numbers 10:35) when God let His people of Israel through the wilderness to the promised land. Verses 1 to 6 comprise the preface or brief of the psalm.
There will be no standing out against Him in that day verse 2 lets us know, but the righteous shall rejoice exceedingly, as we learn from verse 3. The distress and agony of the godly during the fearful three years and a half of Daniel 7:25; 9:27; 12:1125And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. (Daniel 7:25)
27And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (Daniel 9:27)
11And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. (Daniel 12:11); Matthew 24:15-29,15When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: 17Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. 23Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25Behold, I have told you before. 26Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 28For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 29Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: (Matthew 24:15‑29) and Relation 11:3-13 will then be, over, and tears and fears will have given place to peace and joy (see Isaiah 52:7-127How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! 8Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion. 9Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. 10The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. 11Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord. 12For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the Lord will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward. (Isaiah 52:7‑12) in connection with this psalm).
In verse 4 the better reading is “ ... . cast up a way for Him that rideth in the deserts; His name is Jah; and rejoice before Him.” Jah is a name of God which is found twice in Exodus; 40 times in the Psalms, and three times in Isaiah, and is usually translated LORD, like the name Jehovah. Jah is Him who was, and is, and is to come, the existing One.
Except for the “rebellious,” who are the unrepentant Israelites (verses 5 and 6), describe the humble and God-fearing who have suffered for righteousness’ sake, and who will be blessed in that day of deliverance.
Verse 7 brings us to the body of the psalm, and like verse 1, the first thought is of that early day of Israel’s history when, fresh from the slavery of Egypt, they were led by the pillar of the cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night to the border of the land designed for their dwelling place. (See Judges 5:4, 54Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water. 5The mountains melted from before the Lord, even that Sinai from before the Lord God of Israel. (Judges 5:4‑5)).
The psalm speaks much of God as active in goodness in behalf of His poor afflicted people; though they have lain among the refuse, they shall be as wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with greenish yellow gold (verse 13). What a contrast! Kings of armies flee, and the housekeepers divide the spoil (verse 12). Great indeed must then be the number of those (women apparently, for the word is feminine) who tell out the glad news of God’s restoring grace toward His people (verse 11).
Verse 15-17 refer to the cleansed Jerusalem, fitted for God’s dwelling place. In verse 17 the translation should be: “The chariots of God are twenty thousand; thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them; tis a Sinai in holiness.”
The first part of verse 18 is quoted in Ephesians 4:88Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Ephesians 4:8) as referring to Christ, and it is evident from a reading of the psalm that it is He who is spoken of as Jehovah, God, the Lord; the close of verse 18 shows this in a very marked way, for it tells that the once rebellious, but soon to be repentant Israel is to have the earthly dwelling place of Jah Elohim, the Lord God,—here no other than the rejected Messiah!
Why is not all of verse 18 quoted in Ephesians 4? Because the latter part is about Israel and the earth, and Ephesians is occupied with Christ and the Church, His heavenly bride.
The close of the psalm shows reunited Israel (verses 26, 27), and the subjection of kings who will bring presents to Jerusalem to Him who is God and Son of David (verse 29).
Verse 30 seems to refer particularly to the Antichrist and those of his company, and the last five verses show the millennial reign of Christ fully established.
ML 01/18/1931