Greetings! This psalm is about victory and celebration.
Psalm 68
1 May God arise, may his enemies be scattered;
may his foes flee before him.
2 As smoke is blown away by the wind,
may you blow them away;
as wax melts before the fire,
may the wicked perish before God.
3 But may the righteous be glad
and rejoice before God;
may they be happy and joyful.
4 Sing to God, sing praise to his name,
extol him who rides on the clouds—
his name is the Lord—
and rejoice before him.
5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
6 God sets the lonely in families,
he leads forth the prisoners with singing;
but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
7 When you went out before your people, O God,
when you marched through the wasteland, Selah
8 the earth shook,
the heavens poured down rain,
before God, the One of Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
9 You gave abundant showers, O God;
you refreshed your weary inheritance.
10 Your people settled in it,
and from your bounty, O God, you provided for the poor.
11 The Lord announced the word,
and great was the company of those who proclaimed it:
12 “Kings and armies flee in haste;
in the camps men divide the plunder.
13 Even while you sleep among the campfires,
the wings of my dove are sheathed with silver,
its feathers with shining gold.”
14 When the Almighty scattered the kings in the land,
it was like snow fallen on Zalmon.
15 The mountains of Bashan are majestic mountains;
rugged are the mountains of Bashan.
16 Why gaze in envy, O rugged mountains,
at the mountain where God chooses to reign,
where the Lord himself will dwell forever?
17 The chariots of God are tens of thousands
and thousands of thousands;
the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.
18 When you ascended on high,
you led captives in your train;
you received gifts from men,
even from the rebellious—
that you, O Lord God, might dwell there.
My Life Application Study Bible pointed out how verse 18 is quoted in Ephesians 4:8 and is applied to the ministry of the acended Christ. He won victory over evil and by having faith in him, so can we.
19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
who daily bears our burdens. Selah
20 Our God is a God who saves;
from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.
The Old Testament doesn’t have as many specific references to Heaven as the New Testament but there are many references to salvation and overcoming death.
21 Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies,
the hairy crowns of those who go on in their sins.
22 The Lord says, “I will bring them from Bashan;
I will bring them from the depths of the sea,
23 that you may plunge your feet in the blood of your foes,
while the tongues of your dogs have their share.”
24 Your procession has come into view, O God,
the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary.
25 In front are the singers, after them the musicians;
with them are the maidens playing tambourines.
26 Praise God in the great congregation;
praise the Lord in the assembly of Israel.
27 There is the little tribe of Benjamin, leading them,
there the great throng of Judah’s princes,
and there the princes of Zebulun and of Naphtali.
28 Summon your power, O God;
show us your strength, O God, as you have done before.
29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem
kings will bring you gifts.
30 Rebuke the beast among the reeds,
the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations.
Humbled, may it bring bars of silver.
Scatter the nations who delight in war.
31 Envoys will come from Egypt;
Cush will submit herself to God.
32 Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth,
sing praise to the Lord, Selah
33 to him who rides the ancient skies above,
who thunders with mighty voice.
34 Proclaim the power of God,
whose majesty is over Israel,
whose power is in the skies.
35 You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary;
the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.
Praise be to God!
The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
Filed under: Psalms | Tagged: Bible, Bible study, Christianity, God, Jesus, religion |
Bible Study Blog - Eternity Matters 
just to point out that in v18 the original language in the Hebrew does not say that He received any gift from men but that He received gifts for men. For why would the rebellious give a gift to the Lord? No but it was the Lord who received gifts for men that He might dwell with them (as His gift only can atone for the rebellion they made against Him).
It just goes to show how treacherous is the NIV which alters the original text because they didn’t understand it and then leaves everyone who reads it with false knowledge in the Word of God which cannot profit them anything, seeing as faith comes by hearing – hearing what He said.
A quick comment on v.18–
In the original text there is no preposition, not the word “for” as the KJV gives or “from” as the NIV uses or “among” as the NASB uses. The preposition is supplied by the translators based on their knowlege of the language (and that would be man’s knowledge, not God’s). However, when the same text is quoted in Ephesians 4:8, the verb is “gave” which would indicate Paul (as God’s penman) is meaning the quote to refer to the gifts God has FOR men. In this case, what are the gifts but forgiveness of sin and eternal life. Some scholars would include in these the spiritual gifts as well.
Scripture is the best commentary on scripture that we have. Isn’t it exciting how God gives us what we need in order to understand scripture?!
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