Psalm 68
All right, this is Psalm 68,
and before we read it, I want us to think for a few moments
about some of the themes that are in it. The first thing that
we’ll notice, the Psalm as a whole tells the people of God about
the actions of Yahweh. Now, remember that when the people
of God went from Egypt into the wilderness and then into the
promised land, they were invading a foreign country. They were
invading a foreign country that had all kinds of kings and kingdoms. and gods and forms of worship. A couple of examples, remember
they fought the battle of Jericho, the big mighty city. They fought
AI. They fought in the plains and
in the fields and in the mountains. They fought against all kinds
of kings and cities. And all those kings and cities
had their own forms of worship. And so one of the things you’ll
notice in Psalm 68, Is a lot of the details especially the
details we may not understand what they mean or what they’re
for They are to show Israel that their God Yahweh is better than
the Canaanite gods He’s better than the Hittite gods. He’s better
than the Philistine gods He’s better than everything that they
will see as they encounter those others entering the promised
land and so Psalm 68 is about the actions of Yahweh and And
then he’s gonna call the people of God to praise. He’s gonna
call them to praise his name. Now, I want you to think even
bigger now, even bigger than the people of Israel preparing
to enter the promised land. I want you to think about God
for a moment. And I want you to think about how God has presented
himself in various times and places to his people. We understand
as we read Genesis that God has always been we understand from
the rest of the Bible He always will be and we understand that
God has Though he’s not limited in space and time into a place
God has lodged himself at least in our minds with Human words
in the Bible. He’s lodged himself in places.
I mean we always believe God is from where from heaven But
where did God set up? of dwelling with his people first.
Well, he did it in Eden. We believe that he dwelled on
a holy mountain in Eden. We believe that when God dwelled
with his people, with Adam and Eve, he fellowshiped with them,
he walked with them, he talked with them. Yes, they were in
the garden, right? Where the dew was on the roses.
But we understand that God dwelled with his people. Now, when they
sinned and were banished from the garden, they lost fellowship
with God. That was one of the truths we learned this week with
the kids at Cat Kids. We lost fellowship with God.
We lost the presence of God. But we see in the Bible, after
Adam and Eve fell from sin and were banished from the garden,
God in his work of redemption is working again to bring himself
back to the midst of his people. And so when God pulls Israel
out of Egypt and redeems them from slavery, he sets up camp
again with them in the wilderness. And we see him dwelling on Mount
Sinai. We see him dwelling in the tabernacle.
We see him living right in the midst of the camp of the people.
And then as they make their way into the promised land, he still
dwells with them in the tabernacle and in his presence. But ultimately,
they’ll set up Mount Zion as his dwelling place. And then
we’ll see throughout the history of the people of God, God always
threatens Israel, people of God, if you don’t obey me, If you
don’t obey me, I will leave. I’ll take my presence up and
out of Zion, and you’ll be a godless people. And in fact, in the Old
Testament, when the prophets had told the people over and
over, disobey God, keep fooling around, God will leave. And there’s
a time and a place where God’s glory departs Jerusalem. and the people of God recognize
that their sin has broken that fellowship with God again. So
one of the things we have to understand in Psalm 68, as we
look through it, is that the actions of Yahweh lead to the
praise of God’s people. But we also have to understand
that God is desiring to be with and deliver and dwell with his
people. And so those are a couple of
the great themes. One other great theme before
we walk through is this. Yahweh, whether it’s in the life
of the old covenant people or today in the life of the church,
he always dwells in the midst of his people. And when he dwells
in the midst of his people, the enemies of the people scatter.
They flee for the presence of Almighty God. And then he also
provides for his people. And so those are a couple of
the themes we want to look at. Let’s walk through Psalm 68.
Look at verses 1 through 3. This is a section that deals
with the people of God going from Egypt to Canaan. And it
says, God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered, and those
who hate him shall flee before him. As smoke is driven away,
so you shall drive them away. As wax melts before the fire,
so the wicked shall perish before God. But the righteous, they
shall be glad, they shall exult before God, and they shall be
jubilant with joy. Do you remember what Moses and
Miriam sang after The sea swallowed up Pharaoh. I will sing unto
the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and the
rider is thrown into the sea. The Lord, my God, my strength,
my song. He has achieved the victory.
And so we see in this first couple of verses from Egypt to Canaan,
God has been a great God to his people that he’s answered their
prayers for deliverance. and he has risen and he has fought
for them. The next little section you come
to verses four through six, you see God caring for the freed
captives. Some of the things that come
to your mind, maybe when you think of Israel in the desert,
where did they get water? From a rock. Where did they get
bread? From the sky, they got the manna. Where did they get
meat? from the birds, right? God provided for them. What else
do we know about God’s people being provided for in the wilderness?
Their shoes did not wear out. Their clothing did not wear away. God let their stuff stretch.
And those are good reminders to us as Christians. You ever
been in a spot where, you know, money’s a little tight and you
think God, we’re like the widow of Zarephath. You know, let that
oil never end, or let my children’s shoes not wear out, or their
feet grow too big. And you see how God provides,
and he provided for his people in the wilderness. It shows us
that in verses four through six. It says, sing to God, sing praises
to his name. Lift a song to him who rides
through the deserts. His name is Yahweh. Exult before
him. He’s the father of the fatherless,
the protector of widows. And that is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a
home. He leads out the prisoners to
prosperity. But the rebellious, they dwell
in a parched land. But we see that God cares for
the captives. In verses 7 through 10, you land
on a handful of verses that show the people of God entering the
promised land. He says, oh God, when you went out before your
people, when you marched through the wilderness, the earth quaked,
the heavens poured down rain before God, the one of Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel. Rain in abundance, oh God, you
shed abroad. You restored your inheritance
as it languished. Your flock found a dwelling in
it. In your goodness, oh God, you
provided for the needy. The Lord gives the word. The
women who announced the news are a great host. And in those
couple verses, we see how God goes before his people as they
enter the promised land. Remember when Joshua was preparing
for the battle of Jericho, remember one night he’s out there and
the stars are twinkling and he’s looking up at those great big
walls and probably thinking half of his mind, how is this gonna
work? And the other half of the mind, he’s feeling pretty valiant
and who appears to him? We think it’s a Christophany.
It was a, it was Jesus. It was the commander of the Lord’s
army and he was assured and he was comforted that God would
provide for them and get them into the promised land. But you
understand that entering the promised land was a big deal. I mean, what, what did the spies
find when they went? Oh yes, there’s grapes, but there’s
also giants. And what did everybody but Joshua
and Caleb say? We’re not going to do this. They’re
too big, they’re too scary, and they’re too hairy. But God gave
courage to those who would go. And so we see that God goes before
his people as they enter the promised land. He went with them
in battle, even Christ, as we see in that story with Joshua.
Well, the next little section, verses 11 through 14, show how
the enemies scatter. Maybe some of you encountered
bullies as a kid in school, and every day after school, you were
afraid to walk by a certain place after school. And what would
happen if you went to that certain place? The bullies, they’d grab
you, they’d grab you by the coat, and they’d knock you around a
little bit. But what would happen, say, if
the football coach went walking through there? All your enemies
would scatter. or maybe your dad showed up,
or one of your big friends, or even your big brother showed
up, the enemies would scatter. Well, that’s what we find in
verses 11 through 14. It says, the Lord gives the word. The
Lord gives the word. Even the women who announce news
are a great host. The kings of the armies, they
flee, they flee. The women at home divide the
spoil, though you men lie among the sheepfolds. The wings of
a dove covered with silver, its pinions with shimmering gold.
When the Almighty scatters kings there, let snow fall on Zalman.”
And so it reminds us of God going into the promised land. And what
did the nations hear? They heard about Pharaoh. They
heard about the sea. They heard about the chariots
and the horses. And guess what? They said, we don’t want any
of that. And so they would often flee or make treaties or, um,
run for their lives. Well, then we have in verse is
15 through 18, the people of God taking possession of the
land. It says, Oh, mountain of God,
mountain of patient. Oh, many peaked mountain, mountain
of Bashan, why do you look with hatred, oh, many peaked mountain,
at the mount that God desired for his abode? Yes, where Yahweh
will dwell forever. The chariots of God are twice
10,000, thousands upon thousands. The Lord is among them. Sinai
is now in the sanctuary. You ascended on high, leading
a host of captives in your train. You received gifts among men,
even among the rebellious. that Yahweh, God, may dwell there. And so when Israel took possession
of the land, there was great hatred, there was great enmity,
but nevertheless, God gave them success, and he established his
kingdom there, and he set his people up. The next little section
talks about life in the land. It says, blessed be the Lord,
who daily bears us up. God is our salvation. Do you
think that living in the promised land made everything all rosy
and easy? They still had to enlarge their
borders. They still had to fight off their
enemies. It took a couple generations, even through King David’s life,
a couple hundred years later, to get the land fully cleared
out and to establish the borders of Israel. But you see that praise,
blessed be the Lord who daily bears us up. God is our salvation. Our God is a God of salvation
and to God the Lord belong deliverances from death. God will strike the
heads of his enemies, the hairy crown of him who walks in his
guilty ways. The Lord said, I will bring them
back from Bashan. I will bring them back from the depths of
the sea that you may strike your feet in their blood and that
the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe. God is gonna give his people
success in the promised land. Now the next little section shows
Yahweh in his sanctuary. Look at verse 24 to 27. He says,
your procession is seen, O God, the procession of my God, my
King into the sanctuary. This whole Psalm, by the way,
is like a procession. It’s a procession of God’s people
out of Egypt. It’s a procession of God’s people through the wilderness.
It’s a procession of God’s people into Canaan. And now it’s a procession
of God and victory. And now, He’s making a procession
here in 24 to 27, a procession into his house. Your procession
is seen, O God, the procession of my God, my King, into the
sanctuary. The singers in front, the musicians
last. Between them, the virgins playing
tambourines. Bless God and the congregation.
Yahweh, you, O you who are of Israel’s fountain. There is Benjamin,
the least of them in the lead, the princes of Judah in their
throng, the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali. And
so the people of God are escorting Yahweh into his sanctuary. And
then you get, once Israel has established themselves in the
land, you get the submission of kings in verses 28 to 31.
It says, summon your power, O God, the power, O God, by which you
have worked for us. Because of your temple at Jerusalem,
kings shall bear gifts to you. rebuke the beast that dwell among
the reeds, the herd of the bulls with the calves of the peoples,
trample underfoot those who lust after tribute, and scatter the
peoples who delight in war. Nobles shall come from Egypt.”
Remember when Solomon had the Queen of Egypt come, Cush shall
hasten to stretch out her hands to God. And so what do you have
here? You have God establishing his
people in the promised land. He’s established that he will
win, all enemies will be put away, and that worship of the
one true God in the promised land is now established. And
so all the kings of the earth who have scattered, all the kings
of the earth who surround Israel, and there were some great ones,
weren’t there? Babylon and Persia and some of those great and mighty
kingdoms. They had to look in on Israel and say there’s something
different and unique about those people. It is that they worship
Yahweh and he is a true God and king. Now they may not have bowed
to him in faith for salvation, but at least they recognized
that there was something different and powerful about him. So God has led his people out
of Egypt through the wilderness into the promised land and he
has led himself in a victory march and into his own sanctuary. And so the psalm ends, the psalm
comes to an end with great praise. We look at verses 32 to 35. It
says, O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God, sing praises to
the Lord, to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens.
Behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice. Ascribe power
to God whose majesty is over Israel and whose power is in
the skies. Awesome is God from his sanctuary,
the God of Israel. He is the one who gives power
and strength to his people. Blessed be our God. So this is a psalm that has a
lot of themes. It has a lot of thoughts and
ideas, but what does it teach us? What does it tell us? It
tells us that God for his character and his actions and his deliverance
and his redemption is a God who is to be worshiped and praised.
And he has established us, his people, in his church, just as
he established his people of old in the promised land, he
has established us in the church. And our job as a church, using
the gifts, the victory spoils of the cross, our job as a church
is to show the world how great and wonderful powerful is our
God so that they may all come and worship him as well. So let’s
pause and pray together.