Psalm 68:22 ¶ The Lord
said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from
the depths of the sea: 23 That thy foot
may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies, and the tongue of
thy dogs in the same. 24 They have seen
thy goings, O God; even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary.
25 The singers went before, the players
on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels
playing with timbrels. 26 Bless ye God
in the congregations, even the Lord, from the fountain of Israel.
27 There is little Benjamin with
their ruler, the princes of Judah and their council, the princes of
Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali. 28
Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou
hast wrought for us. 29 Because of thy
temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto thee. 30 Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude
of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit
himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people that delight in
war. 31 Princes shall come out of Egypt;
Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.
In verse 22 God is said to repeat His miracle of returning His
people from the depths of the Red Sea, if you remember Exodus. He will perform
another miracle as when He delivered His people from Og the king of Bashan, in
Numbers 21:33-35. Perhaps this is reference to end times events like Revelation
20:13 with the sea giving up its dead or God returning His people to the
Promised Land as in Isaiah 43:5-7 even perhaps referring to the translation of
the Church or the resurrection of the dead in Christ.
For verse 23 see the prophecies found in Isaiah and Revelation.
Isaiah 63:1 ¶ Who is this
that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in
his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in
righteousness, mighty to save. 2
Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that
treadeth in the winefat? 3 I have
trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I
will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood
shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. 4 For the day of vengeance is in mine heart,
and the year of my redeemed is come. 5
And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was
none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury,
it upheld me. 6 And I will tread
down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring
down their strength to the earth.
Revelation 14:19 And the
angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth,
and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden without the
city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the
space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.
Verse 24 can be a prophecy of Christ walking with His disciples in
the Temple but in context John Gill reported that the Targum, a spoken
translation of the Hebrew Bible also called the Tanakh, said this is the divine
majesty leading the Hebrews out of the sea.
Then, in verse 25, some commentators likened this to the Apostles,
disciples, and Christ’s ministers of the word going before to preach the Gospel
with damsels likened to primitive churches while the context is said by many to
refer to musicians and singers going before an army. The Targum notes this as
Moses and Aaron singing at the Red Sea with damsels and Miriam playing the
instruments.
For verse 26 this cross-reference stands out.
Psalm 107:32 Let them exalt
him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of
the elders.
Then we have a reference to the tribes of Israel and a plea for
God’s strength to be given to them to establish them. The temple that has not
been built yet is referred to and then a prophecy of some future time when
other nations shall appeal to God and we know from history that Ethiopia was
one of the first countries that called itself Christian. In the 4th
century, the 300s AD, King Ezana of the kingdom of Aksum adopted Christianity
as the state religion.
Much of the latter parts of this passage contains a great deal of
symbolism with writers talking about bulls representing heathen countries and
calves representing foolish people ruled by the Antichrist. So, it would be
easy to get off in the weeds in this complex Psalm and a Bible Study on just
this Psalm could go on for many pages.
I think in context though we can understand David talking about
Israel’s history and future and that prophetically we can see Christ in this as
well as the end of all history in Revelation. What are your thoughts about this
Psalm so far?
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