Psalm 76:2-12

2 His tent is in Shalem, his place is in Tziyon.

3 There he broke the flashing arrows, the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. (Selah)

4 You are glorious, majestic, more so than mountains of prey.

5 The bravest have been stripped of their spoil and now are sleeping their final sleep; not one of these courageous men finds strength to raise his hands.

6 At your rebuke, God of Ya'akov, riders and horses lie stunned.

7 You are fearsome! When once you are angry, who can stand in your presence?

8 You pronounce sentence from heaven; the earth grows silent with fear

9 when God arises to judge, to save all the humble of the earth. (Selah)

10 Human wrath serves only to praise you; what remains of this wrath you wear as an ornament.

11 Make vows to ADONAI your God, and keep them; all who are around him must bring presents to the one who should be feared.

12 He curbs the spirit of princes; he is fearsome to the kings of the earth.

Psalm 76:2-12 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm [or] Song of Asaph. The Targum is, "by the hand of Asaph:" concerning "neginoth," see the title of Psalm 4:1, this psalm is generally thought to be written on account of some great appearance of God for the Jews, or victory obtained by them over their enemies, either the Ammonites in the times of David; so the first part of the Syriac inscription is, "when Rabbah of the children of Ammon was destroyed;" see 2 Samuel 12:26 or in the time of Jehoshaphat, when they came up against him, and were in a wonderful manner defeated, which occasioned great joy and thankfulness, 2 Chronicles 20:1. The Septuagint version entitles the psalm "an ode against the Assyrian," in which it is followed by the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions: and it is the opinion of many that it was written on account of the defeat of Sennacherib, and his army, which came up against Jerusalem in the times of Hezekiah, and was destroyed by an angel in one night, and so slept their sleep, and a dead one, with which agree Psalm 76:5, so Arama and Theodoret; Jarchi gives this reason for such an interpretation, because we do not find that any enemy fell at or near Jerusalem but he, as is said Psalm 76:3, "there brake he the arrows of the bow," &c. nor was one arrow suffered to be thrown into the city, 2 Kings 19:32. Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it of the war of Gog and Magog, yet to come; and the latter part of the Syriac inscription is, "moreover it shows the vengeance of the judgment of Christ against the ungodly;" and indeed it seems to point out the latter day, when Christ shalt destroy the antichristian kings and states, and save his own people, and shall be feared and praised; as the former part of it may respect his incarnation, appearance, and dwelling in the land of Judea, and so the whole is of the same argument with the preceding psalm.