Psalms

This is a Psalm of praise to the God of Israel.  It focuses on the mighty works of God and His decision to dwell on Mt. Zion.  This is very similar to the song of Deborah in Judges 5.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.

 ¹ 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.
"Let God arise" was often times a call for God to lead the Israelites in battle.  This is a quote from Numbers 10:33-35.  In this case it was a fanfare for God to lead the way for the movement of the Ark of the Covenant.  The occasion here may well have been when David moved the Ark from Obed-Edom to Mt. Zion.  The Ark was viewed as the physical presence of the Lord.  Before Him, they called for all the enemies to flee.  They would offer no resistance to the Lord like wax melting or smoke being driven away.  The presence of the Lord will establish the lines between the wicked and the righteous.  There is no in between.  The righteous will be glad and rejoice while the wicked perish in His presence.

         
 ⁴ Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
         Extol Him who rides on the clouds,
         By His name YAH,
         And rejoice before Him.
He is high above and over all.  To ride on the clouds is to reside in heaven and be sovereign over all.  That is David's view of the Lord.  He calls for those who worship to sing praises to His name.  He has many names and is called by several in this Psalm.  The name YAH is the shortened version of YAHWEH and is the name of God.

         
 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.
We know God through His actions.  He is loving and merciful and extends us grace.  We see His Holy nature as He revealed Himself to the Israelites.  Then as He dealt with them He revealed his nature of mercy and grace.  Although He showed Himself to be Holy and perfect in every way he also showed himself to be merciful when the Israelites couldn't keep the perfect law.  Instead of crushing them and us, He sent His son to pay our penalty so we could once again find peace with Him.

It is His nature to be a father to the orphan and to defend the widow.  The bible has much to say about these two groups.  Both, because of their circumstances, are missing a key part of their life. 

The word solitary means the 'only begotten' in Hebrew.  This is an amazing fact that we know in our day.  God sets His only begotten in our families.  He establishes us and our families. 

         
 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.
God revealed Himself to his people in the wilderness.  They grumbled and complained.  They didn't like their circumstances.  Yet God took care of them because it was in His nature to do so.   God shook the entire earth, yet he was personal enough and engaged in individual lives to march through the wilderness.  The mountain of God moved at His presence as well as the sky giving rain when God was near.  To the people it was His confirmation of the covenant.  It was God being faithful and true to the promise He made to His people.

         
 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.
Zalmon was a dark and black place.  The snow there was a great contrast like the bones of the kings among the great company of those who proclaimed the Lord.  Kings of armies flee while those in the Lord lie down and find peace.  They are covered with the wings of a dove covered with silver and feathers with Gold.  It is a valuable peace and protection.  

        
 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.
The Psalmist speaks of these mountains as if they were envious of the others.  The mountain of God was where He desired to dwell. 

         
 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.
Imagine this heavenly army made up of thousands upon thousands of the chariots of God.  God is present among them as He is in the Holy Place.  There is no place that God is not present.  He will move and make war where He will.  A King making an appearance in a town among his people would be a source of hope and encouragement.  This was especially true to the widow and the orphan.  Those wrongly imprisoned could be set free as well as pardons to those who found favor with him.  The king received gifts from the people when he came to them.  Those who were rebellious to the king might find themselves in a heap of trouble with the king coming to town.  Paul quotes verse 18 in Ephesians 4:8 in reference to the ascension of Jesus making this section messianic.         

 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.
He is the God of our salvation but He is also the God of our day to day life if we have named him Lord.  We shouldn't look at this and say God is going to give me a new a car and nice house and anything I want.  This was the picture of a king leading his people and delivering them from harm.  They were blessed with the provisions of life even when it didn't appear to be possible. 

         
 ²¹ But God will wound the head of His enemies,
         The hairy scalp of the one who still goes on in his trespasses.
 ²² The Lord said, "I will bring back from Bashan,
         I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
 ²³ That your foot may crush them in blood,
         And the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from your enemies."
The one who is considered the hairy scalp is the young warrior who wars on against his enemy in rebellion.  You might see the indestructible attitude in this that was present in many of us in our youth.  Whether by land or by sea it matters not to God.  He will bring them back to face Him. 

         
 ²⁴ They have seen Your procession, O God,
         The procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary.
 ²⁵ The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after;
         Among them were the maidens playing timbrels.
 ²⁶ Bless God in the congregations,
         The Lord, from the fountain of Israel.
 ²⁷ There is little Benjamin, their leader,
         The princes of Judah and their company,
         The princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.
Two tribes from the south are listed with two from the north.  These represent the poeple in the procession to bring the Ark to its home on Mt. Zion. 

         
 ²⁸ Your God has commanded your strength;
         Strengthen, O God, what You have done for us.
 ²⁹ Because of Your temple at Jerusalem,
         Kings will bring presents to You.
 ³⁰ Rebuke the beasts of the reeds,
         The herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples,
         Till everyone submits himself with pieces of silver.
         Scatter the peoples who delight in war.
 ³¹ Envoys will come out of Egypt;
         Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her hands to God.
         
 ³² Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth;
         Oh, sing praises to the Lord,  Selah  
 ³³ To Him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which were of old!
         Indeed, He sends out His voice, a mighty voice.
 ³⁴ Ascribe strength to God;
         His excellence is over Israel,
         And His strength is in the clouds.
 ³⁵ O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places.
         The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people.
         
         Blessed be God!

This last section is rich with prophecy.  It creates a picture in our mind of the coming millennial kingdom when the Lord shall rule the earth from Mt Zion and all the world and its kings shall submit to Him.  The 'kingdoms of earth' is a reference to the gentile kings.  They will sing to God in those days.  God is more awesome than the holy places we ascribe to Him.  He is far beyond what we can imagine.