Psalms 68:22-32

22 The Lord said, I shall turn (again) from Bashan; I shall turn (again) into the depth of the sea. (The Lord said, I shall return from Bashan; I shall return from the depths of the sea./The Lord said, I shall bring back my people from Bashan; I shall bring them back from the depths of the sea.)

23 That thy foot be dipped in blood; the tongue of thy dogs be dipped in (the) blood of the enemies of him. (So that thy feet can be dipped in the blood of thy enemies; and so that the tongues of thy dogs can also be dipped in their blood.)

24 God, they saw thy goings in; the goings in of my God, of my king, which is in the holy (place). (God, they saw thy procession; yea, the procession of my God, of my King, who is in the holy place, or in the sanctuary.)

25 Princes joined with singers came before; in the middle/in the midst of young damsels singing in tympans. (First came the singers; then the players of the instruments, and after them the young women, singing with tympans/playing tambourines.)

26 In churches bless ye God; bless ye the Lord from the wells of Israel. (Bless ye God in the congregations; bless the Lord all ye tribes of Israel.)

27 There (is) Benjamin, a young man; in the ravishing of mind. The princes of Judah were the dukes of them; the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali. (There is Benjamin, the smallest tribe, in the lead. Then the leaders of Judah with their company, and the leaders of Zebulun, and the leaders of Naphtali.)

28 God, command thou to thy virtue; God, confirm thou this thing, which thou hast wrought in us. (God, command thou to thy strength, or thy power; God, show thy strength, in what thou has wrought for us.)

29 From thy temple, which is in Jerusalem; kings shall offer gifts to thee. (For thy Temple, which is in Jerusalem, kings shall offer gifts to thee.)

30 Blame thou the wild beasts of the reed, the gathering together of bulls is among the kine of peoples; that they exclude them that be proved by silver. Destroy thou folks that will battles, (Rebuke thou the wild beasts of the reeds, that gathering together of bulls, that herd of peoples; until they all bow low, and offer thee their silver. Yea, destroy thou the nations that delight in battles.)

31 legates shall come from Egypt; Ethiopia shall come before the hands thereof to God. (Ambassadors shall come from Egypt; Ethiopia shall raise up her hands to God.)

32 Realms of the earth, sing ye to God; say ye psalm to the Lord. Sing ye to God; (Kingdoms of the earth, sing ye to God; sing ye a song to the Lord. Sing ye to God;)

Psalms 68:22-32 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician, A Psalm [or] Song of David. The Targum makes the argument of this psalm to be the coming of the children of Israel out of Egypt, and the giving of the law on Mount Sinai; in which it is followed by many of the Jewish interpreters: but Aben Ezra rejects such an interpretation of it, and thinks that David composed it, concerning the war he had with the uncircumcised nations, the Philistines and others, 2 Samuel 8:1, &c. And so the title of the Syriac version begins, "a psalm of David, when the kings prepared themselves to fight against him:" and Kimchi says it was composed on account of Sennacherib's army coming against Jerusalem, in the times of Hezekiah, and so delivered by David, under a spirit of prophecy concerning that affair; though he owns that some of their writers interpret it of the war of Gog and Magog, in the times of the Messiah they yet expect. But they are much nearer the truth, who take it that it was written on occasion of the ark being brought to the city of David; seeing it begins with much the same words that Moses used when the ark set forward in his times, Numbers 10:35; and the bringing of which was attended with great joy and gladness, 2 Samuel 6:14; such as the righteous are called upon to express in this psalm, Psalm 68:3. And this being a type of Christ, and of his ascending the holy hill of God, may be allowed of; for certain it is that this psalm treats of the coming of Christ, and of blessings by him, and of victory over his enemies; and particularly of his ascension to heaven, as most evidently appears from Ephesians 4:8; and from prophecies in it, concerning the calling of the Gentiles. Wherefore the latter part of the Syriac inscription of it is very pertinent; "also a prophecy concerning the dispensation of the Messiah, and concerning the calling of the Gentiles to the faith." Jarchi interprets Psalm 68:31 of the Messiah.