33 To him who is riding on the heavens of the heavens of old, Lo, He giveth with His voice a strong voice.
And He rideth on a cherub, and doth fly, And He flieth on wings of wind.
Who is laying the beam of His upper chambers in the waters, Who is making thick clouds His chariot, Who is walking on wings of wind,
There is none like the God of Jeshurun, Riding the heavens in thy help, And in His excellency the skies.
But, is it true? -- God dwelleth on the earth! lo, the heavens, and the heavens of the heavens do not contain Thee, how much less this house which I have builded!
The voice of Jehovah `is' on the waters, The God of glory hath thundered, Jehovah `is' on many waters. The voice of Jehovah `is' with power, The voice of Jehovah `is' with majesty, The voice of Jehovah `is' shivering cedars, Yea, Jehovah shivers the cedars of Lebanon. And He causeth them to skip as a calf, Lebanon and Sirion as a son of Reems, The voice of Jehovah is hewing fiery flames, The voice of Jehovah paineth a wilderness, Jehovah paineth the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of Jehovah paineth the oaks, And maketh bare the forests, And in His temple every one saith, `Glory.'
Troubled have been nations, Moved have been kingdoms, He hath given forth with His voice, earth melteth.
Sing ye to God -- praise His name, Raise up a highway for Him who is riding in deserts, In Jah `is' His name, and exult before Him.
Established is Thy throne since then, From the age Thou `art'.
Beforetime the earth Thou didst found, And the work of Thy hands `are' the heavens.
Father, glorify Thy name.' There came, therefore, a voice out of the heaven, `I both glorified, and again I will glorify `it';' the multitude, therefore, having stood and heard, were saying that there hath been thunder; others said, `A messenger hath spoken to him.'
and they heard a great voice out of the heaven saying to them, `Come up hither;' and they went up to the heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 68
Commentary on Psalms 68 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 68
This is a most excellent psalm, but in many places the genuine sense is not easy to come at; for in this, as in some other scriptures, there are things dark and hard to be understood. It does not appear when, or upon what occasion, David penned this psalm; but probably it was when, God having given him rest from all his enemies round about, he brought the ark (which was both the token of God's presence and a type of Christ's mediation) from the house of Obed-edom to the tent he had pitched for it in Zion; for the first words are the prayer which Moses used at the removing of the ark, Num. 10:35. From this he is led, by the Spirit of prophecy, to speak glorious things concerning the Messiah, his ascension into heaven, and the setting up of his kingdom in the world.
With all these great things we should endeavour to be duly affected in singing this psalm.
To the chief musician. A psalm or song of David.
Psa 68:1-6
In these verses,
Psa 68:7-14
The psalmist here, having occasion to give God thanks for the great things he had done for him and his people of late, takes occasion thence to praise him for what he had done for their fathers in the days of old. Fresh mercies should put us in mind of former mercies and revive our grateful sense of them. Let it never be forgotten,
Psa 68:15-21
David, having given God praise for what he had done for Israel in general, as the God of Israel (v. 8), here comes to give him praise as Zion's God in a special manner; compare Ps. 9:11. Sing praises to the Lord who dwelleth in Zion, for which reason Zion is called the hill of God.
Psa 68:22-31
In these verses we have three things:-
Psa 68:32-35
The psalmist, having prayed for and prophesied of the conversion of the Gentiles, here invites them to come in and join with the devout Israelites in praising God, intimating that their accession to the church would be the matter of their joy and praise (v. 32): Let the kingdoms of the earth sing praises to the Lord; they all ought to do it, and, when they become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ, they will do it. God is here proposed to them as the proper object of praise upon several accounts: