A long pale track climbing out of bare hills toward a small walled ridge town far off, a thin line of tiny people walking it under a wide calm sky.

Praise · David

Psalm 68

Read it as a march. The ark goes up the hill, kings scatter, and the God who leads the column stops for the orphan.

35 verses≈ 5 min1 personBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

1–41Book IDavid's prayers: 'The LORD is my shepherd'
42–72Book II'As the deer pants'; the throne under pressurePsalm 68
73–89Book IIIAsaph and Korah: the kingdom falls
90–106Book IVBack to Moses: the LORD reigns
107–150Book VSongs of ascents, and the last Hallelujah

God’s Enemies Are Scattered

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A song.

God arises. His enemies are scattered,

and those who hate Him flee His presence.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

A lump of dark beeswax slumping on a hot stone beside a dying fire, thin smoke torn sideways by the wind.

As smoke is blown away,

You will drive them out;

as wax melts before the fire,

the wicked will perish in the presence of God.

But the righteous will be glad

and rejoice before God;

they will celebrate with joy.

Sing to God!

Sing praises to His name.

Exalt Him who rides on the clouds—

His name is the LORD—

and rejoice before Him.

At the door of a plain stone house after dark, a village family makes room on a mat for a thin boy and his widowed mother, a loaf passed to them by clay lamplight.

A father of the fatherless

and a defender of widows

is God in His holy habitation.

God settles the lonely in families;

He leads the prisoners out to prosperity,

but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land.

A father of the fatherless and a defender of widows is God in His holy habitation.

Pray

Who is alone?

“God settles the lonely in families.” Name someone near you with no family close by. Ask God what He wants of you for them.

A sudden heavy rain over bare granite mountains in the desert, water streaming down the rock, black tents small in the lower third.

O God, when You went out before Your people,

when You marched through the wasteland,

Selah

the earth shook and the heavens poured down rain

before God, the One on Sinai,

before God, the God of Israel.

You sent abundant rain, O God;

You refreshed Your weary inheritance.

Your flock settled therein;

O God, from Your bounty You provided for the poor.

0:25

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

The Lord gives the command;

a great company of women proclaim it:

The women

The women

“Kings and their armies flee in haste;

she who waits at home divides the plunder.

Though you lie down among the sheepfolds,

the wings of the dove are covered with silver,

and her feathers with shimmering gold.”

Light snow falling on a dark wooded hill, pale flakes drifting against black oak trunks and rock.

When the Almighty scattered the kings in the land,

it was like the snow falling on Zalmon.

A mountain of God is Mount Bashan;

a mountain of many peaks is Mount Bashan.

Why do you gaze in envy, O mountains of many peaks?

This is the mountain God chose for His dwelling,

where the LORD will surely dwell forever.

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

From Sinai to Zion

The march of this psalm, from the mountain of the law to the hill God chose, with Bashan’s heights looking on.

The bare granite peaks of a desert mountain range at dawn, red rock catching the first light.

The chariots of God are tens of thousands—

thousands of thousands are they;

the Lord is in His sanctuary

as He was at Sinai.

You have ascended on high;

You have led captives away.

You have received gifts from men,

even from the rebellious,

that the LORD God may dwell there.

Blessed be the Lord,

who daily bears our burden,

the God of our salvation.

Selah

Our God is a God of deliverance;

the Lord GOD is our rescuer from death.

Surely God will crush the heads of His enemies,

the hairy crowns of those who persist in guilty ways.

God

Across a green valley at morning, a small walled town of black basalt stands on a low hill in Bashan, a single gate in its wall and fields around it.

The Lord said, “I will retrieve them from Bashan,

I will bring them up from the depths of the sea,

that your foot may be dipped

in the blood of your foes—

the tongues of your dogs in the same.”

Question

Quick question

Verse 17 sets Sinai beside Zion.

Why does David call on Sinai in a song about Zion?

They have seen Your procession, O God—

the march of my God and King into the sanctuary.

The singers lead the way,

the musicians follow after,

among the maidens playing tambourines.

A joyful crowd of Israelite men and women on a dusty road playing small wooden lyres, an upright harp, round frame drums, bronze rattles and small cymbals, with the ark far ahead and small.

Bless God in the great congregation;

bless the LORD from the fountain of Israel.

There is Benjamin, the youngest, ruling them,

the princes of Judah in their company,

the princes of Zebulun and of Naphtali.

Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth;

sing praises to the Lord—

Selah

to Him who rides upon the highest heavens of old;

behold, His mighty voice resounds.

Ascribe the power to God,

whose majesty is over Israel,

whose strength is in the skies.

O God, You are awesome in Your sanctuary;

the God of Israel Himself

gives strength and power to His people.

Reflect

The strong and the small

This psalm sets the God who scatters kings beside the God who stops for the widow. Where do you need the God of verse 1 today, and where the God of verse 5?

You’ve experienced

Psalm 68

0 of 150 psalms read

A verse to carry with you

A father of the fatherless and a defender of widows is God in His holy habitation.

Psalm 68:5

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