SOTD Psalm 68

Psalm 68

God Shall Scatter His Enemies

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

¹ God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered;
and those who hate him shall flee before him!
²As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;
as wax melts before fire,
so the wicked shall perish before God!
³But the righteous shall be glad;
they shall exult before God;
they shall be jubilant with joy!

⁴Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
his name is the LORD;
exult before him!
⁵ Father of the fatherless and protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
⁶God settles the solitary in a home;
he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

⁷O God, when you went out before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness,
Selah

⁸ the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,
before God, the One of Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
⁹ Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;
you restored your inheritance as it languished;
¹⁰your flock^[e] found a dwelling in it;
in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.

¹¹The Lord gives the word;
the women who announce the news are a great host:

¹² “The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!”
The women at home divide the spoil—
¹³though you men lie among the sheepfolds—
the wings of a dove covered with silver,
its pinions with shimmering gold.
¹⁴When the Almighty scatters kings there,
let snow fall on Zalmon.

¹⁵O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;
O many-peaked^[f] mountain, mountain of Bashan!
¹⁶Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,
at the mount that God desired for his abode,
yes, where the LORD will dwell forever?
¹⁷ The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,
thousands upon thousands;
the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.
¹⁸ You ascended on high,
leading a host of captives in your train
and receiving gifts among men,
even among the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there.

¹⁹Blessed be the Lord,
who daily bears us up;
God is our salvation.
Selah

²⁰Our God is a God of salvation,
and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.
²¹ But God will strike the heads of his enemies,
the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.
²²The Lord said,
“I will bring them back from Bashan,
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea, ²³that you may strike your feet in their blood,
that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”

²⁴Your procession is^[g] seen, O God,
the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—
²⁵ the singers in front, the musicians last,
between them virgins playing tambourines:
²⁶ “Bless God in the great congregation,
the LORD, O you^[h] who are of Israel’s fountain!”
²⁷There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead,
the princes of Judah in their throng,
the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.

²⁸ Summon your power, O God,^[i]
the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.
²⁹Because of your temple at Jerusalem
kings shall bear gifts to you.
³⁰Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds,
the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.
Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute;
scatter the peoples who delight in war.^[j]
31Nobles shall come from Egypt;
Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God.

³² O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;
sing praises to the Lord,
Selah

³³to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.
³⁴ Ascribe power to God,
whose majesty is over Israel,
and whose power is in the skies.
³⁵ Awesome is God from his^[k] sanctuary;
the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!