Captivity Taken Captive in Heavenly Places

Psalms 68:17-35

17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand,
Even thousands of thousands;
The Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the Holy Place.

18 You have ascended on high,
You have led captivity captive;
You have received gifts among men,
Even from the rebellious,
That the LORD God might dwell there.

19 Blessed be the Lord,
Who daily loads us with benefits,
The God of our salvation!

Selah

20 Our God is the God of salvation;
And to GOD the Lord belong escapes from death.
21 But God will wound the head of His enemies,
The hairy scalp of the one who still goes on in his trespasses.

22 The Lord said, "I will bring back from Bashan,
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
23 That your foot may crush them in blood,
And the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from your enemies."

24 They have seen Your procession, O God,
The procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary.
25 The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after;
Among them were the maidens playing timbrels.

26 Bless God in the congregations,
The Lord, from the fountain of Israel.
27 There is little Benjamin, their leader,
The princes of Judah and their company,
The princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.

28 Your God has commanded your strength;
Strengthen, O God, what You have done for us.
29 Because of Your temple at Jerusalem,
Kings will bring presents to You.

30 Rebuke the beasts of the reeds,
The herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples,
Till everyone submits himself with pieces of silver.
Scatter the peoples who delight in war.

31 Envoys will come out of Egypt;
Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her hands to God.

32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth;
Oh, sing praises to the Lord,

Selah

33 To Him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which were of old!
Indeed, He sends out His voice, a mighty voice.

34 Ascribe strength to God;
His excellence is over Israel,
And His strength is in the clouds.

35 O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places.
The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people.
Blessed be God!

Captivity was taken captive in heavenly places by the work of Christ on our behalf to show His strength over sin and death.  This certain hope runs through this psalm amidst the apparent strength of man’s armies which are overwhelmed by God’s omnipotence.  He has not only taken our captivity, our bondage to sin, captive, but has freed us in the process.  He in return receives our gifts of praise and obedience to holiness because He is holy and the gift is our heart in pleasing Him out of joyful thanksgiving.  Why?  So that God may dwell in us!  This God of our salvation from bondage gives us our daily bread for sustenance of soul, spirit, and body, and we bless Him with thankful praise because of it all.  Stop to ruminate on these things.  He has delivered us from death and promised eternal life in His presence.  He even spare the live of His enemies, though they will be held accountable in the final judgment (as well as in this life).  Even these observe God’s people triumphantly (2 Corinthians 2:14) worshiping Him, then in the temple, and now in our individual bodies as temples and corporately in our local churches.  We also bless Him in our congregations and ascribe our strength to God alone in Christ by the power of His Holy Spirit.  He will defeat the enemy and give reason and substance to our prayers and praises.  Dwell on the victory we have in Christ.  Then the song ends with God’s mighty voice from before creation which sounds forth forever as a trumpet to call the final battle (Revelation 19:11, 14, 19-20).  We therefore ascribe all strength to the Omnipotent One, and His excellence over all His people - Israel and Gentile alike in Christ our Lord and King (Revelation 19:13, 16).  His strength is in Heaven above the clouds of this world of His hand’s fashioning, for He is much more awesome than any temporal holy place we build to honor and worship Him here.  He is our strength and song, and has become our salvation (Exodus 15:2, Psalm 118:14).  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 1:3, Ephesians 1:3, 1 Peter 1:3) who has taken our captivity captive!