Psalm 68:2 Komentář

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. I. He begins with prayer, both against God's enemies (Psa 68:1, Psa 68:2) and for his people (Psa 68:3). II. He proceeds to praise, which takes up the rest of the psalm, calling upon all to praise God (Psa 68:4, Psa 68:26, Psa 68:32) and suggesting many things as matter for praise. 1. The greatness and goodness of God (Psa 68:4-6). 2. The wonderful works God had wrought for his people formerly, bringing them through the wilderness (Psa 68:7, Psa 68:8), settling them in Canaan (Psa 68:9, Psa 68:10), giving them victory over their enemies (Psa 68:11, Psa 68:12), and delivering them out of the hands of their oppressors (Psa 68:13, Psa 68:14). 3. The special presence of God in his church (Psa 68:15-17). 4. The ascension of Christ (Psa 68:18) and the salvation of his people by him (Psa 68:19, Psa 68:20). 5. The victories which Christ would obtain over his enemies, and the favours he would bestow upon his church (Psa 68:21-28). 6. The enlargement of the church by the accession of the Gentiles to it (Psa 68:29-31). And so he concludes the psalm with an awful acknowledgment of the glory and grace of God (Psa 68:32-35). 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.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 68 To the chief Musician, A Psalm or Song of David. The Targum makes the argument of this psalm to be the coming of the children of Israel out of Egypt, and the giving of the law on Mount Sinai; in which it is followed by many of the Jewish interpreters: but Aben Ezra rejects such an interpretation of it, and thinks that David composed it, concerning the war he had with the uncircumcised nations, the Philistines and others, Sa2 8:1, &c. And so the title of the Syriac version begins, "a psalm of David, when the kings prepared themselves to fight against him:'' and Kimchi says it was composed on account of Sennacherib's army coming against Jerusalem, in the times of Hezekiah, and so delivered by David, under a spirit of prophecy concerning that affair; though he owns that some of their writers interpret it of the war of Gog and Magog, in the times of the Messiah they yet expect. But they are much nearer the truth, who take it that it was written on occasion of the ark being brought to the city of David; seeing it begins with much the same words that Moses used when the ark set forward in his times, Num 10:35; and the bringing of which was attended with great joy and gladness, Sa2 6:14; such as the righteous are called upon to express in this psalm, Psa 68:3. And this being a type of Christ, and of his ascending the holy hill of God, may be allowed of; for certain it is that this psalm treats of the coming of Christ, and of blessings by him, and of victory over his enemies; and particularly of his ascension to heaven, as most evidently appears from Eph 4:8; and from prophecies in it, concerning the calling of the Gentiles. Wherefore the latter part of the Syriac inscription of it is very pertinent; "also a prophecy concerning the dispensation of the Messiah, and concerning the calling of the Gentiles to the faith.'' Jarchi interprets Psa 68:31 of the Messiah.

As smoke is driven away, so drive them away,.... This both describes the character of wicked men, Christ's enemies; as their darkness and ignorance, their will worship and superstition, and their detestableness to God, Rev 9:2; and the manner of their destruction; which is as easily brought about as smoke is driven by the wind, and is as irretrievable, like smoke that vanisheth into air (o); see Psa 37:20; as wax melteth before fire; whereby its consistency, form, and strength, are lost. Respect may be had, both in this and the foregoing metaphor, to the fire of, divine wrath, and the smoke of eternal torments; since it follows: so let the wicked perish at the presence of God; the appearance of Christ, either in his awful dispensation against the Jews, or in the last judgment; when the wicked shall not be able to stand before his face, but shall call to the rocks and mountains to hide them from him; and when they shall be bid to depart from him, and shall be punished with everlasting destruction in soul and body, from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power. (o) "----et tenues fugit, ceu fumus in auras". Virgil. Aeneid. 5. prope finem.

"As smoke fails, let them fail" [Psalm 68:2]. For they lifted up themselves from the fires of their hatred unto the vapouring of pride, and against Heaven setting their mouth, and shouting, "Crucify, Crucify," [John 19:6] Him taken captive they derided, Him hanging they mocked: and being soon conquered by that very Person against whom they swelled victorious, they vanished away. "As wax melts from the face of fire, so let sinners perish from the face of God." Though perchance in this passage he has referred to those men, whose hard-heartedness in tears of penitence is dissolved: yet this also may be understood, that he threatens future judgment; because though in this world like smoke, in lifting up themselves, that is, in priding themselves, they have melted away, there will come to them at the last final damnation, so that from His face they will perish for everlasting, when in His own glory He shall have appeared, like fire, for the punishment of the ungodly, and the light of the righteous.

“As smoke vanishes, so may they vanish! As wax flows from the face of the fire, so may sinners perish from the face of God!” In those two verses, through a double simile, the punishment of sinners is foretold. The smoke is a dark gathering of mass that arises under that destructive flame. The higher the smoke rises up, the thinner it becomes throughout the void. Sinners are deservedly likened to smoke inasmuch as they produce smoke-bearing deeds from the flame of their wickedness. Although these deeds arise to heights, as their arrogance ensures, they must needs vanish like smoke by their own conceit. The other comparison to sinners follows. Wax is a soft and pliable substance gathered from honeycombs. It is dissolved by the heat of the fire so that its bodily nature is taken away from within. The image of wax is aptly applied to sinners because at the judgment sinners will be undone in this way before the face of God himself, just as the delicacy of wax is consumed by a nearby fire. And see that here he does not say that sinners, who must be tortured with everlasting fire, can be consumed here in their own substance (just as some of those in error attempt to say), but he says that they will perish before the face of God because they will never come to his grace and kindness. And note that the figure of speech in these verses is a parable, that is, a comparison of items dissimilar in kind, for smoke and wax are recognized to have been compared to sinners.

Concerning you, the defenders of idolatry, were these words spoken by the prophet. For a very, very little while and your place shall not be found, but “just as the smoke vanishes, and just as wax melts near a fire, so you will fail.” But, as touching the divine wisdom of the gospel, the Lord says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” And again the psalmist says, “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of your hands. They shall perish, but you endure; and they all will wax old as does a garment, and you will fold them up as a vestment, and they shall be changed, but you are the same, and your years will not fail!” And those divine preachers of the coming of Christ, those wise fishers of the world, whose nets drew all people from the depths of deceit, whom you, in your wickedness and bondage to sin, do vilify, did by signs and wonders and manifold powers shine as the sun in the world, giving sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, motion to the lame and life to the dead. Their shadows alone healed all the ailments of humankind. The devils, whom you dread as gods, they not only cast forth from people’s bodies but even drove out of the world itself by the sign of the cross, whereby they destroyed all sorcery and rendered witchcraft powerless. And these men, by curing every human disease by the power of Christ, and renewing all creation, are rightly admired as preachers of truth by all persons of sound mind.

This is a Psalm-song (see on Psa 30:1, title), perhaps suggested by David's victories, which secured his throne and gave rest to the nation. In general terms, the judgment of God on the wicked, and the equity and goodness of His government to the pious, are celebrated. The sentiment is illustrated by examples of God's dealings, cited from the Jewish history and related in highly poetical terms. Hence the writer intimates an expectation of equal and even greater triumphs and summons all nations to unite in praises of the God of Israel. The Psalm is evidently typical of the relation which God, in the person of His Son, sustains to the Church (compare Psa 68:18). (Psa. 68:1-35) Compare Num 10:35; Psa 1:4; Psa 22:14, on the figures here used. before him--as in Psa 68:2, from His presence, as dreaded; but in Psa 68:3, in His presence, as under His protection (Psa 61:7).