Psalms 75:1-8

1 To the Overseer. -- `Destroy not.' -- A Psalm of Asaph. -- A Song. We have given thanks to Thee, O God, We have given thanks, and near [is] Thy name, They have recounted Thy wonders.

2 When I receive an appointment, I -- I do judge uprightly.

3 Melted is the earth and all its inhabitants, I -- I have pondered its pillars. Selah.

4 I have said to the boastful, `Be not boastful,' And to the wicked, `Raise not up a horn.'

5 Raise not up on high your horn, (Ye speak with a stiff neck.)

6 For not from the east, or from the west, Nor from the wilderness -- [is] elevation.

7 But God [is] judge, This He maketh low -- and this He lifteth up.

8 For a cup [is] in the hand of Jehovah, And the wine hath foamed, It is full of mixture, and He poureth out of it, Only its dregs wring out, and drink, Do all the wicked of the earth,

Psalms 75:1-8 Meaning and Commentary

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.