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Psalm Seventy-six
New King James Version (NKJV)
YLT
To the Overseer with stringed instruments. -- A Psalm of Asaph. --
A Song.
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 76
To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm cf15I 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.
Psalm 76:1 In
Judah God is known; His name is great in Israel.
YLT
1 In Judah [is] God known,
in Israel His name [is] great.
In Judah is God known,.... God is to
be known, and is made known, by his works of creation, and by his providences,
and particularly by his judgments in the whole world, even among the Gentiles;
and he was made known by his word and ordinances, his statutes and his
judgments, among the Jews, to whom these were specially given; and he is made
known by his Spirit, and in his Son in a spiritual and saving manner to such
who are Jews inwardly, or the true circumcision: moreover this may be
understood of Christ, God manifest in the flesh, and regard his appearance in
human nature in the land of Judea; he was, according to prophecy, of the tribe
of Judah as man, and was born in Bethlehem, a city in that tribe, where David
was, and of the family of David, that formerly lived there: and he was made
known by John the Baptist, who came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and
by his being baptized of him in Jordan; by his own ministry and miracles in
that land, and by the preaching of his apostles in the several cities of it, he
was known in person to many; and by the fame of his doctrine and miracles to
more, though seemingly but to few:
his name is great in Israel; he himself is great, for
his name is himself, being the great God, and possessed of all divine
perfections; his offices and titles are great, he is a great Saviour, a great
High Priest, a great Prophet risen up in Israel, a great King, add the great
Shepherd of the sheep; his works which make him known are great, his works of
creation and providence, in which he is jointly concerned with his Father; the
mighty works he did on earth, and especially the great work of our redemption;
and his Gospel, which is called his name, Acts 9:15, brings glad tidings of great and
good things; by means of which, and the wonderful things he did in the land of
Israel, his fame was spread about in it, for he was sent only to the lost sheep
of the house of Israel; here his marvellous works were done, and his Gospel
first preached, which afterwards went into all the earth.
Psalm 76:2 2 In Salem[b] also is
His tabernacle, And His dwelling place in Zion.
YLT
2And His tabernacle is in
Salem, And His habitation in Zion.
In Salem also is his
tabernacle,.... That is, in Jerusalem, as the Targum expresses it, where the
tabernacle of Moses and the ark of the covenant were, and afterwards the temple
of Solomon, which the Targum here calls the house of the sanctuary; and may be
interpreted of the human nature of Christ, the true tabernacle which God
pitched, and not man, in which the divine word when he was made flesh dwelt or
tabernacled among the Jews at Jerusalem, and in other parts of Judea, Hebrews 8:2. Salem or Jerusalem often
signifies the church of God in Gospel times, in the midst of which Christ
resides, and where he grants his gracious presence, Hebrews 12:22 and in the New Jerusalem the
tabernacle of God will be with men, and he will dwell among them, Revelation 21:2. The Septuagint translate
the word, and render it, "in peace", as in Hebrews 7:2, the God of peace dwells among
those that live in peace, 2 Corinthians 13:11,
and his dwelling place in Zion; where the ark was
brought by David, and the temple was built by Solomon, into which, as rebuilt
by Zerubbabel, Christ came, and here he preached; a figure of the church, which
is his habitation.
Psalm 76:3 3 There He broke the arrows
of the bow, The shield and sword of battle. Selah
YLT
3There he hath shivered
arrows of a bow, Shield, and sword, and battle. Selah.
There brake he the arrows
of the bow.... The Targum is,
"there
brake he the arrows and the bows of the people that make war;'
the
word רשפי, translated "arrows", signifies
"sparks or coals of fire"; see Job 5:7 and is used of arrows, because they
fly swiftly, as sparks do, or because of their brightness, or because fiery; so
we read of "the fiery darts of Satan", Ephesians 6:16, and perhaps they may be
meant here: when Christ our Lord suffered near Jerusalem, he spoiled
principalities and powers, and broke their strength and might, and made peace
by the blood of his cross, in which he triumphed over them; for the destroying
of these instruments of war with what follow:
the shield, and the sword, and the battle, is expressive
of making wars to cease, and causing peace; and may include the peace which was
all the world over at the birth of Christ, and was foretold and expressed in
much such language as here, Zechariah 9:9, and also that which was made
by his sufferings and death, and which was published in his Gospel by his
apostles, whom he sent forth unarmed, whose weapons were not carnal, but
spiritual; and likewise the spiritual peace he gives to his people, quenching
the fiery darts of Satan, and delivering them from the archers that shoot at
them, and sorely grieve them; as well as that peace which shall be in the world
and churches in the latter day; see Psalm 46:11,
Selah. See Gill on Psalm 3:2.
Psalm 76:4 4 You are more glorious
and excellent Than the mountains of prey.
YLT
4Bright [art] Thou,
honourable above hills of prey.
Thou art more glorious and
excellent than the mountains of prey. Which is to be understood
not of Zion, as some interpret it; though it is true that the mountain of Zion,
or the church of Christ, his kingdom and interest, shall in the latter day be
more glorious and excellent than all other mountains, kingdoms, and interests;
see Isaiah 2:2, but of God or Christ before
spoken of; and so the Targum,
"bright,
to be feared, art thou, O God, to be praised from the house of thy sanctuary.'
Christ,
who is God over all, is "bright"F26נאור
"illustris", Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus, Junius & Tremellius,
Piscator; "illustrior", Tigurine, version; "splendidus",
Vatablus, Gejerus, Michaelis; "bright", Ainsworth. , splendid, and
glorious, in his divine nature, being the brightness of his Father's glory, and
the express image of his person: and "excellent" in his office as
Mediator, and in all his works as such; and in human nature, at he is exalted
at his Father's right hand, far above all principality, power, might, and
dominion, signified here by "mountains of prey": the kingdoms of this
world, because of their eminence and strength, are compared to mountains: see Isaiah 41:15 and may be called
"mountains of prey", in allusion to mountains inhabited by beasts of
prey, as lions and leopards; see Song of Solomon 4:8 because obtained and
possessed by tyranny and oppression. Christ is more glorious and excellent than
the kings of the earth; he is higher than they, and is King of kings; he is
richer than they, the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof, the world,
and they that dwell therein; he is wiser than they, by him kings reign, and
princes decree justice; he is more powerful than they, and all must submit to
him, and all will serve him hereafter; and his kingdom will be greater than
theirs, more large and more lasting; it will be an everlasting one, and reach
from sea to sea, and even to the ends of the earth.
Psalm 76:5 5 The stouthearted were
plundered; They have sunk into their sleep; And none of the mighty men have
found the use of their hands.
YLT
5Spoiled themselves have the
mighty of heart, They have slept their sleep, And none of the men of might
found their hands.
The stout hearted are
spoiled,.... The Assyrian army, its officers and generals, that came up
against Jerusalem, with great resolution and courage, and with daring impiety
and blasphemy against the God of heaven, as Rabshakeh and others; these were
spoiled, and their armour and riches became a prey to those they thought to
have made a prey of. So principalities and powers were spoiled by Christ upon
the cross, and Satan, the strong man armed, has in the conversion of a sinner
his armour taken from him, and his spoils divided by him that is stronger than
he; and such as are stouthearted, and far from true righteousness, are stripped
of their own, and made willing, in the day of Christ's power upon them, to
submit to his; and as for antichrist, whose look is more stout than his
fellows, that exalts himself above all that is called God, and opens his mouth
in blasphemy against him and his followers, he shall be destroyed with the
breath of Christ's mouth, and the brightness of his coming: or "the stout
hearted have spoiled themselves"F1אשתוללו
"praedae se exposnerunt", Tigurine version, Gejerus; "dediderunt
se in praedam", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. ; as the Midianites
did, or gave themselves for a prey; so the Targum,
"the
stouthearted have cast off from them the weapons of war;'
threw
away their armour, and ran away, such of them as were not destroyed by the
angel. It is observable, that the Hebrew word, translated "spoiled",
is in the Syriac form:
they have slept their sleep: the sleep of death, as
did the Assyrians when smitten by the angel, which was done in the night, when
probably they were fast asleep, and so never awoke more, as the Babylonians, Jeremiah 51:57. So Jezebel, or the Romish
antichrist, shall be cast into a bed, and her children killed with death, Revelation 2:22. Death is often in
Scripture signified by a sleep, both the death of the righteous and of the
wicked; but there is a difference between the one and the other; wherefore the
death of the wicked here is called "their sleep"; the one sleep in
Jesus, in his arms, and under his guardianship, the other not; to the one death
is a true and proper rest from toil and labour, to the other only a cessation
from doing mischief, Job 3:17, the one rests in hopes of a
glorious resurrection, the other not; the one will awake in Christ's likeness,
and to everlasting life; the other in the image of Satan, and to everlasting
shame and contempt:
and none of the men of might have found their hands; none of the
valiant soldiers in the Assyrian army could find their hands to fight their
enemies, or defend themselves; as men in a deep sleep cannot find their hands
to do anything, and are as if they had none, and still less in a dead sleep.
The Targum is,
"they
were not able to lay hold on their armour with their hands.'
This
was the case of them that were killed; and as for those that remained alive,
they were struck with such a panic, that their hearts could not endure, nor
their hands be strong when God thus dealt with them; and so it will be with the
antichristian army at the battle of Armageddon; and so it is with the wicked at
death, they cannot find their hands so as to prevent it; and when it has seized
upon them, they cannot find their hands to do any more mischief.
Psalm 76:6 6 At Your rebuke, O God of
Jacob, Both the chariot and horse were cast into a dead sleep.
YLT
6From Thy rebuke, O God of
Jacob, Both rider and horse have been fast asleep.
At thy rebuke, O God of
Jacob,.... The God of Jacob personally, and of his posterity, the children
of Israel, and of the church, often so called who rebukes his people in love,
but his enemies with furious rebukes, with rebukes in flames of fire; with such
he rebukes the Heathen, destroys the wicked, and puts out their name for ever:
both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep; that is, the
riders in chariots and on horses; such there were doubtless in the Assyrian
army, it being usual to have such in great armies. Kimchi observes, that the
word נרדם, translated "cast into a dead
sleep", is in the singular number, and interprets it of the king, the head
of the men of might: but Sennacherib, king of Assyria, was not slain, he
departed to his own country; wherefore he applies it to Gog and Magog, the
chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, Ezekiel 39:1 and may very well be
understood of the head of the apostasy, the king of the bottomless pit, the
beast or false prophet, who being destroyed, the flesh of his captains and
horsemen shall be the food of the fowls of the air, at the supper of the great
God, Revelation 19:17.
Psalm 76:7 7 You, Yourself, are
to be feared; And who may stand in Your presence When once You are angry?
YLT
7Thou, fearful [art] Thou,
And who doth stand before Thee, Since Thou hast been angry!
Thou, even thou, art to be
feared,.... By his own people with reverence and godly fear, because of
his greatness and goodness; and to be dreaded by his enemies; which seems to be
the sense here, as appears by what follows:
and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry? or "from
the moment thou art angry"F2מאז אפך "ex quo irasceris", Junius & Tremellius,
Piscator; "a momento, vel tempore irae tuae", Michaelis. ; so the
Targum, from the "time", and Jarchi, from the "hour": that
is, as soon as ever his anger begins, when it is kindled but a little, and how
much less when it burns in its full strength? there is no standing before his
justice, and at his judgment seat, with boldness and confidence, and so as to
succeed, or come off acquitted, without having on his righteousness; and much
less is there any standing before his wrath and fury, when his hand takes hold
on judgment to execute it; see Nahum 1:6.
Psalm 76:8 8 You caused judgment to be
heard from heaven; The earth feared and was still,
YLT
8From heaven Thou hast
sounded judgment, Earth hath feared, and hath been still,
Thou didst cause judgment
to be heard from heaven,.... When an angel was sent down from heaven, and destroyed the
Assyrian army, a judgment of God upon them; at which time some think there was
a violent clap of thunder, which is the voice of God: and it may refer to the
judgments which God has decreed to execute on the antichristian states, the
seven vials of his wrath he will pour upon them; for all decrees, as Aben Ezra
on the place observes, come from heaven; or to the last judgment, when Christ
the Judge shall descend from heaven, the voice of the archangel shall be heard,
the last trumpet shall sound, the dead in their graves shall hear it, and rise
and stand before the judgment seat, and hear the sentence pronounced:
the earth feared, and was still: or "trembled, and
was quiet"F3ארץ ידאה
ושקטה "terra tremuit, et quievit", V. L. ;
that is, again: some think there was an earthquake when the angel smote the
Assyrian camp, but was quickly over. It may regard the panic the other nations
were in when they heard of it, and therefore were still and quiet, and never
offered to give the Israelites any disturbance. Some understand this of the
remainder of the army that escaped with Sennacherib; these were seized with
fear, and quickly withdrew, and silently departed into their own land. Aben Ezra
observes it as the sense of some, "the earth feared", these are the
wicked; "and was still", they are the righteous; so the Targum,
"the
land of the people feared, the land of Israel was still;'
reference
may be had to the consternation, fear, and dread, that will fall on them that
escape the judgments inflicted on the antichristian party, Revelation 11:13 and the fear and silence
that will attend the last and awful judgment; see Zechariah 2:13.
Psalm 76:9 9 When God arose to
judgment, To deliver all the oppressed of the earth. Selah
YLT
9In the rising of God to
judgment, To save all the humble of earth. Selah.
When God arose to judgment,.... He may
sometimes seem to be asleep, and to defer judgment, but he will arise and
hasten it in his own time, and will take vengeance on all his and his people's
enemies, as he did upon the army of the Assyrians, and will upon the
antichristian powers, and upon all the wicked, and at the same time will save
his own people, as follows:
to save all the meek of the earth; the quiet in the land,
who are afflicted in this world, despised by the men of it, are lowly and
humble, and mean in their own eyes; these the Lord takes notice of and cares
for them, he will beautify them with salvation; these, all of them, even
everyone of them, shall be saved in him with an everlasting salvation; this
verse is by some connected with the preceding; so Kimchi, "the earth
feared, and was still, when God arose to judgment", &c. and by others,
as R. Moses and Aben Ezra, with the following.
Selah. See Gill on Psalm 3:2.
Psalm 76:10 10 Surely the wrath of man
shall praise You; With the remainder of wrath You shall gird Yourself.
YLT
10For the fierceness of man
praiseth Thee, The remnant of fierceness Thou girdest on.
Surely the wrath of man
shall praise thee,.... Either the wrath which comes from God, and has man for its
object; and that either as it regards the people of God; so the Targum,
"when
thou art angry with thy people, thou hast mercy on them, and they shall confess
unto thy name;'
or
praise thee; see Isaiah 12:1, they are deserving of the
wrath of God, but are not appointed to it, and are delivered from it by Christ,
who bore it for them as their representative; by which as the justice of God is
glorified, it is matter of praise to them; when the law enters into their
consciences, it works wrath there, which being removed by the application of pardoning
grace, is an occasion of praise to God; and whereas, under afflictive
dispensations, they apprehend and deprecate the wrath of God, when they are
delivered from them their mouths are filled with songs of praise: or, as it
regards wicked men, so it came forth upon the old world, and drowned it; upon
Sodom and Gomorrah, and reduced them to ashes; upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians,
in the plagues inflicted on them; all which turned to the praise and glory of
God; of the last instance, see Romans 9:17, it came upon the wicked Jews
to the uttermost in the destruction of their nation, city, and temple; and upon
Rome Pagan, in the entire demolition of it as such; and so it will come upon
Rome Papal, which will be attended with great joy, praise, and thanksgiving in
the saints; see Revelation 11:17 or else this is to be understood
of the wrath which is in man, and comes forth from him, and has him for its
subject; which though it does not work the righteousness of God, yet the
righteousness of God is glorified both in checking and punishing it; and the
more it rages and burns against the people of God, the greater reason have they
to praise the Lord when delivered from it; see Psalm 124:1, so the wrath of the Assyrian
monarch, and of railing and blaspheming Rabshakeh, gave the people of the Jews
a greater occasion to praise the Lord for their wonderful deliverance; so the
wrath of men against Christ, his church and people, his ministers, Gospel, and
ordinances, will all turn to the glory of his name, when in the issue it will
be seen that these are established, overcoming all the rage and malice of men:
the remainder of wrath shall thou restrain: that which
remains in a man's breast, he has not yet vented, God can and does keep in, that
it may not break forth; this very likely was verified in Sennacherib, who might
breathe revenge, and threaten the Jews with a second visit; but was prevented
by a sudden and violent death. Some read the words, "the remainder of
wraths thou wilt gird"F4שארית חמת תחגר "res duum irarum
accinges", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Piscator, Gejerus. ; that is,
those that remain, and are not destroyed through the rage and fury of men, God
will gird with strength to defend themselves, and resist their enemies that may
rise up against them, or with gladness, because of deliverance from them; see Psalm 18:32. Some understand this of the
wrath of God, which he has in reserve and store for wicked men, and render the
words thus, with the remainder of wrath wilt thou gird thyselfF5"Reliquo
indignationum accinges te", so some in Vatablus; "residuo irarum
accinges te", Michaelis. ; and so come forth like an armed man, clad with
zeal, and arrayed with the garments of wrath and vengeance; see Isaiah 49:17.
Psalm 76:11 11 Make vows to the Lord your God, and
pay them; Let all who are around Him bring presents to Him who ought to
be feared.
YLT
11Vow and complete to Jehovah
your God, All ye surrounding him. They bring presents to the Fearful One.
Vow, and pay unto the Lord
your God,.... Not monastic vows, which the Papists would infer from these
and such like words; nor ceremonial ones, but spiritual sacrifices of praise
and thanksgiving, such as men sometimes make in times of distress, or when
delivered, Psalm 66:13 and which when vowed ought to
be paid, Ecclesiastes 5:4, not to creatures, angels,
or saints, but to God, from whom the mercy desired must be expected, and from
whence it comes, Psalm 50:14, these words are an address to
such who were delivered from wrath, either of God or man:
let all that be round about him; who surround the throne
of his grace, gather together in his house to attend his word and ordinances,
who are his servants, and constantly and faithfully adhere to him; among whom
he grants his presence, they are near to him, and he to them. It is a
periphrasis of the assembly of the saints; see Psalm 89:7. The Targum is,
"all
ye that dwell round about his sanctuary;'
the
allusion is to the situation of the camp of Israel, and the tabernacle in the
wilderness, Numbers 2:1 compare with this Revelation 4:4,
bring presents unto him that ought to be feared, or "to
the fear"F6למורא "ad verb
terrori, timori", Vatsblus; "numini", De Dieu, "venerando
et timendo huic numini", Michaelis; so Ainsworth. , which is one of the names
of God; see Genesis 31:42 and who is and ought to be
the object of the fear and reverence of men; the "presents", to be
brought to him are the sacrifices of prayer and praise, yea, the whole persons,
the souls and bodies, of men; see Psalm 72:10, compare with this 2 Chronicles 32:22. The Targum is,
"let
them bring offerings into the house of the sanctuary of the terrible One;'
of
him that is to be feared, with a godly fear by good men, and to be dreaded by
evil men, as follows.
Psalm 76:12 12 He shall cut off the
spirit of princes; He is awesome to the kings of the earth.
YLT
12He doth gather the spirit
of leaders, Fearful to the kings of earth!
He shall cut off the
spirit of princes,.... The pride of their spirits, as the Targum, humble their
proud spirits, and bring them down; or dispirit them, take away their courage
from them, upon which they flee apace to rocks and mountains to cover them; or
confound them, blast their schemes, and carry their counsel headlong, and even
take away their breath, or life; which he can as easily do as a man can cut off
a bunch of grapes from the vine, as the wordF7יבצר
"qui vindemiat", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "succidet
nempe, ut vindemiator racemos", Vatablus, so Ainsworth. here used
signifies; the destruction of the wicked is expressed by cutting down the vine
of the earth, and casting it into the winepress of God's wrath, Revelation 14:17,
he is terrible to the kings of the earth; as he was to
the king of Assyria, when he sent his angel, and destroyed his army; and as he
has been to others in all ages; so he will be to the kings of the earth that
have committed fornication with the whore of Rome, who will be in the utmost
panic at the time of her destruction, Revelation 18:9, and who will themselves be
overcome by the Lamb, Revelation 16:14. The Targum is, he is to
be feared above all the kings of the earth.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)