Psalms 75

God Abases the Proud, but Exalts the Righteous.

1 We ¹give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks, For Your name is ²near; Men declare ³Your wondrous works.

2 "When I select an ⁴appointed time, It is I who ⁵judge with equity.

3 "The ⁶earth and all who dwell in it melt; It is I who have firmly set its ⁷pillars. Selah.

4 "I said to the boastful, 'Do not boast,' And to the wicked, '⁸Do not lift up the horn;

5 Do not lift up your horn on high, ⁹Do not speak with insolent pride.' "

6 For not from the east, nor from the west, Nor from the ¹⁰desert comes exaltation;

7 But ¹¹God is the Judge; He ¹²puts down one and exalts another.

8 For a ¹³cup is in the hand of the LORD, and the wine foams; It is ¹⁴well mixed, and He pours out of this; Surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and ¹⁵drink down its dregs.

9 But as for me, I will ¹⁶declare it forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

10 And all the ¹⁷horns of the wicked He will cut off, But ¹⁸the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.

Psalms 75 Commentary

Chapter 75

The psalmist declares his resolution of executing judgment. (1-5) He rebukes the wicked, and concludes with resolutions to praise God. (6-10)

Verses 1-5 We often pray for mercy, when in pursuit of it; and shall we only once or twice give thanks, when we obtain it? God shows that he is nigh to us in what we call upon him for. Public trusts are to be managed uprightly. This may well be applied to Christ and his government. Man's sin threatened to destroy the whole creation; but Christ saved the world from utter ruin. He who is made of God to us wisdom, bids us be wise. To the proud, daring sinners he says, Boast not of your power, persist not in contempt. All the present hopes and future happiness of the human race spring from the Son of God.

6-10. No second causes will raise men to preferment without the First Cause. It comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. He mentions not the north; the same word that signifies the north, signifies the secret place; and from the secret of God's counsel it does come. From God alone all must receive their doom. There are mixtures of mercy and grace in the cup of affliction, when it is put into the hands of God's people; mixtures of the curse, when it is put into the hands of the wicked. God's people have their share in common calamities, but the dregs of the cup are for the wicked. The exaltation of the Son of David will be the subject of the saints' everlasting praises. Then let sinners submit to the King of righteousness, and let believers rejoice in and obey him.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 79:13
• 2. Psalms 145:18
• 3. Psalms 26:7; Psalms 44:1; Psalms 71:17
• 4. Psalms 102:13
• 5. Psalms 9:8; Psalms 67:4; Isaiah 11:4
• 6. Psalms 46:6; Isaiah 24:19
• 7. 1 Samuel 2:8
• 8. Zechariah 1:21
• 9. 1 Samuel 2:3; Psalms 94:4
• 10. Psalms 3:3
• 11. Psalms 50:6
• 12. 1 Samuel 2:7; Psalms 147:6; Daniel 2:21
• 13. Job 21:20; Psalms 11:6; Psalms 60:3; Jeremiah 25:15
• 14. Proverbs 23:30
• 15. Obadiah 16
• 16. Psalms 22:22; Psalms 40:10
• 17. Psalms 101:8; Jeremiah 48:25
• 18. 1 Samuel 2:1; Psalms 89:17; Psalms 92:10; Psalms 148:14

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "totter"
• [b]. "Selah" may mean: "Pause, Crescendo" or "Musical interlude"
• [c]. Lit "neck"
• [d]. Or "mountainous desert"
• [e]. Lit "full of mixture"
• [f]. Heb "I"

Chapter Summary

To the chief Musician, Altaschith, A Psalm [or] Song of Asaph. Of the word "altaschith," See Gill on "Ps 57:1," it signifies "do not destroy," or "do not corrupt"; the Targum renders it, "do not destroy thy people;" so Jarchi, "do not destroy Israel;" perhaps it may be considered as a petition, that God would not suffer the man of sin to go on to destroy the earth, and corrupt the inhabitants of it with his false doctrine, idolatry, and superstition, Revelation 11:18, for the psalm respects the times of the Gospel dispensation, and includes both the first coming of Christ in the flesh, and his second coming to judgment; the argument of it with the Syriac version is, "the divinity of Christ, and a remembrance of the judgment;" it is said to be a psalm or song of Asaph, but is thought to be written by David, and delivered to Asaph; for it may be rendered "for Asaph" {k}; and so the Targum, "by the hands of Asaph;" though some think it was written after the Babylonish captivity; perhaps by some person whose name was Asaph, or was of the family of him that lived in David's time. Theodoret supposes it was written in the person of the captives in Babylon.