Psalms 68:25-35

25 The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; in between them were the virgins playing with timbrels.

26 Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord, ye of the lineage of Israel.

27 There was little Benjamin as their ruler, the princes of Judah in their congregation, the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.

28 Thy God has commanded thy strength; confirm, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us.

29 From thy temple in Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto thee.

30 Reprehend the company of spearmen, the multitude of the strong, with the lords of the peoples, trampling them underfoot with their pieces of silver; Destroy thou the peoples that delight in war.

31 Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.

32 Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord Selah:

33 To him that rides upon the heavens of the heavens which were of old; behold, he shall send forth his voice, his mighty voice.

34 Ascribe ye strength unto God; his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds.

35 O God, thou art terrible out of thy sanctuaries; the God of Israel is he that gives strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.

Psalms 68:25-35 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.