The Glory of God’s Goodness

Psalms 68:1-16
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.

1 Let God arise,
Let His enemies be scattered;
Let those also who hate Him flee before Him.

2 As smoke is driven away,
So drive them away;
As wax melts before the fire,
So let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

3 But let the righteous be glad;
Let them rejoice before God;
Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly.

4 Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
Extol Him who rides on the clouds,
By His name YAH,
And rejoice before Him.

5 A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.
6 God sets the solitary in families;
He brings out those who are bound into prosperity;
But the rebellious dwell in a dry land.

7 O God, when You went out before Your people,
When You marched through the wilderness,

Selah

8 The earth shook;
The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God;
Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

9 You, O God, sent a plentiful rain,
Whereby You confirmed Your inheritance,
When it was weary.
10 Your congregation dwelt in it;
You, O God, provided from Your goodness for the poor.

11 The Lord gave the word;
Great was the company of those who proclaimed it:

12 "Kings of armies flee, they flee,
And she who remains at home divides the spoil.
13 Though you lie down among the sheepfolds,
You will be like the wings of a dove covered with silver,
And her feathers with yellow gold."

14 When the Almighty scattered kings in it,
It was white as snow in Zalmon.

15 A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan;
A mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan.
16 Why do you fume with envy, you mountains of many peaks?
This is the mountain which God desires to dwell in;
Yes, the LORD will dwell in it forever.

This song teaches us to glory in the goodness of God in His person and actions which encompass His name which we exalt.  We lift up God’s name as the psalmist with the people of the LORD, watching Him rise over the enemy and drive away those who hate Him.  The wicked who refuse repentance towards and worship of God will perish with as much substance as smoke and melt away in the fire as a candle burns down until nothing is left.  These analogies are not saying that evil rebellious enemies of God vanish away from existence, but rather from this life.  The final judgment takes care of their afterlife, from which there is no annihilation of escaping divine wrath.  Those in the grace of the LORD will continue to find overwhelming joy in His righteousness and mercy, praising His name for who He is and all He does.  For God defends the helpless and needy, those recognizing their lost state as wandering sheep requiring a Shepherd.  He rescues those alone into the family of God and sets free those chained by sin into eternal prosperity, which is the riches of the Messiah, the Christ whose name is Jesus.  However, those who persist in rebellion find only a desert of empty vanity, a grasping for the wind which never can be held.  Dwell on that.  God’s great power shakes the massive earth on which we stand to show we are frail, and He brings needed rain to provide us relief and food to sustain us and for us to enjoy.  By providing for His chosen people, God confirms that we have our inheritance in Him by such care and concern, just as He did for Israel.  We have been grafted in from the other nations by the promise to Abraham by faith (Romans 11:17, 4:3-4, Galatians 3:7-9), by trusting God’s promise and covenant commitment to make us His one people, His church in Christ.  Therefore the promises to protect and preserve us all are sung of by them and by us now.  God scatters the rulers set against His church in the end, though much suffering will ensue until the final Day.  That is His promise to preserve us ant to prosper us in Himself.  We will ascend to the mountain of God where the New Jerusalem will descend (Revelation 21:10) and where God Himself will reign before our very eyes (Revelation 22:3-4), face to face at last!  We will dwell there forever as hinted at here by the shadow of what is to come.  This is the glory of God’s goodness.