Psalms 68:20

20 Our God is a God who saves us; the Lord God saves us from death.

Psalms 68:20 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 68:20

[He that is] our God
Or "God for us" F17; is on our side; and is the mighty God, able to save to the uttermost;

[is] the God of salvation;
or "God for salvations" F18; for the obtaining of them for his people, and giving them to them, even of every kind;

and unto God the Lord [belong] the issues from death;
deliverance from it; Christ has abolished it, and him that had the power of it; has delivered himself from it, and will deliver all his people from it, though they become subject to it, as well as from eternal death; for he has the keys of hell and death in his hands. Some render the words, "to God the Lord belong the issues", or "ways unto death" F19; he has various ways of bringing persons to death, of destroying his and his people's enemies; and so Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi interpret it; though the following words seem to be opposed to these: the Heathens had a notion that the power of death belonged to God; hence they had a deity called the god of death, "Dites" F20.


FOOTNOTES:

F17 (wnl lah) "Deus nobis, vel est nobis", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Piscator.
F18 (twevwml la) "Deus ad salutes", Pagninus, Montanus
F19 (twauwt twml) "ad mortem exitus", Pagninus, Montanus; "mille viae laethi", Lucan.
F20 Macrob. in Somn. Scip. l. 1. c. 11.

Psalms 68:20 In-Context

18 When you went up to the heights, you led a parade of captives. You received gifts from the people, even from those who turned against you. And the Lord God will live there.
19 Praise the Lord, God our Savior, who helps us every day. Selah
20 Our God is a God who saves us; the Lord God saves us from death.
21 God will crush his enemies' heads, the hairy skulls of those who continue to sin.
22 The Lord said, "I will bring the enemy back from Bashan; I will bring them back from the depths of the sea.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.