The occasion of this Psalm has already been discussed in the Introduction to Psalms 75. Its structure is clearly marked, and should be compared with that of Psalms 46. It consists of four stanzas of three verses each, the close of the first and third being marked by Selah.

i. God has once more revealed Himself in Zion, by shattering the power of the foes which assailed her (Psalm 76:1-3).

ii. Triumphantly He returns from the scene of their discomfiture, where hero and warrior, chariot and horse, lie still in death (Psalm 76:4-6).

iii. None can resist Him when He puts forth His power as Judge and Saviour (Psalm 76:7-9).

iv. Man’s opposition does but enhance His glory. Let Israel render due thanksgiving, and the neighbouring nations pay fitting homage, to Him Who subdues kings and princes at His will (Psalm 76:10-12).

On the title, For the chief Musician, on stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph, a Song, see Introd. pp. xxi, xxiv. The LXX adds, as in Psalms 80, with reference to the Assyrian.

1. known] Lit., one who has made Himself known. By this recent deliverance He has once more “made Himself known in her palaces as a sure refuge” (Psalm 48:3; cp. Psalm 9:16; Isaiah 33:13).

his name is great] Cp. Psalm 75:1; Psalm 47:2; Psalms 48, 1, 10; Psalm 77:13.

Israel] The covenant name, denoting the people of God’s choice. Now that the kingdom of Israel had fallen, Judah was the representative of the whole nation.

1–3. God has once more shewn His might in Zion by shattering the power of her assailants.

2. And he hath set his pavilion in Salem,

And his habitation in Zion.

For the words pavilion and habitation applied to the Temple see Psalm 27:5; Psalm 68:5. The words may however mean the covert and lair of a lion (Psalm 10:9; Psalm 104:22; Amos 3:4); and it is possible that the Psalmist intends to describe God as the lion of Judah, who has issued forth from His lair, and seized His prey. Cp. Psalm 76:4, and the simile in Isaiah 31:4.

Salem is either an old name for Jerusalem (Genesis 14:18), or a poetical abbreviation. The name means ‘unharmed,’ ‘at peace,’ and it is doubtless used with allusion to the recent escape of Zion from destruction (Isaiah 33:20).

3. There hath he broken the lightnings of the bow. The destruction of Sennacherib’s army apparently took place at some distance from Jerusalem, but Jerusalem is naturally spoken of as the scene of God’s action, because it was the seat of His presence (Psalm 46:5 ff.) and it was on her behalf that He put forth His power.

For broken cp. Psalm 46:9; Hosea 2:18; Isaiah 9:4; Jeremiah 49:35; and more generally, Isaiah 14:25. Arrows are called lightnings from the swiftness of their flight, rather than from any reference to fire-laden darts (Psalm 7:13, note). The battle includes all instruments and equipments for war.

4. A difficult verse. Two renderings are grammatically possible: either, Illustrious art Thou, majestic, from the mountains of prey: or, more than the mountains of prey. The second rendering however appears to involve an unsuitable comparison, whether mountains of prey is explained to mean the strongholds of the invaders, or as a metaphor for the invaders themselves, and the first rendering is certainly preferable. It describes God either as issuing forth from mount Zion to spoil the foe (Psalm 68:35); or better, as a lion returning from the mountains where he has hunted his prey. Cp. Isaiah 14:25, “I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot.” The fierce lion of Assyria who “filled his caves with prey, and his dens with ravin” (Nahum 2:11 ff; Nahum 3:1) had met his match.

The LXX has, from the eternal mountains (cp. Habakkuk 3:6), a reading which is preferred by some commentators, and understood to mean the mountains of Zion, on which God has placed His throne.

The word rendered majestic (A.V. excellent) is applied to God in Isaiah 10:34 : “Lebanon,” the emblem of the Assyrians, “shall fall by a majestic one”: Isaiah 33:21, “There Jehovah will be with us in majesty”: cp. the cognate word in Exodus 15:11, “majestic in holiness.”

4–6. The manifestation of God’s majesty in the discomfiture of the enemy.

5. The stouthearted] For illustration cp. Isaiah 10:12 ff.

are spoiled] Lit. have let themselves be spoiled. Cp. Isaiah 17:14; Isaiah 33:1. they have slept their sleep] They slumber their (last) sleep, the sleep of death (Jeremiah 51:39; Jeremiah 51:57; Nahum 3:18).

have found their hands] Their hands refused to act; their strength was paralysed; in spite of all their haughty boastings, Isaiah 10:10; Isaiah 10:13-14; Isaiah 10:32.

6. At thy rebuke] Cp. Psalm 9:5; Psalm 18:15; Isaiah 17:13.

are cast into a dead sleep] A word which denotes a deep, supernaturally caused slumber. It is usual to say that ‘chariot and horse’ stand by metonymy for charioteers and horsemen: but surely poetry imagines chariots as well as horses to be alive. The “pransing horses” and the “bounding chariots” (Nahum 2:3-4; Nahum 3:2), all the rush and roar of the battle, are still and silent as the grave. Cp. Isaiah 43:17.

7. to be feared] The same word as in Psalm 76:12, and in Psalm 47:2.

who may stand] Cp. Nahum 1:6; Psalm 1:5; Psalm 130:3.

7–9. It was the irresistible judgement of God.

8. Thou didst cause judgement to be heard] Or, as R.V., sentence. God pronounced sentence upon the proud Assyrian when He intervened for the rescue of His people. Cp. Psalm 46:6; Isaiah 30:30; 1 Samuel 2:10.

from heaven] For though God has chosen Zion for His earthly dwelling-place, His true abode and seat of judgement is in heaven.

the meek of the earth] Cp. Isaiah 11:4; Zephaniah 2:3. Israel, regarded ideally as ‘the righteous one’ (Psalm 75:10), and contrasted with ‘the wicked of the earth’ (Psalm 75:8), is meant.

10. the wrath of man shall praise thee] All rebellion against God’s will must in the end redound to God’s glory: it serves to set His sovereignty in a clearer light (Exodus 9:16). Excellently the P.B.V., ‘shall turn to thy praise.’

the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain] All that will not submit shall be subdued. The sense is good, but it is very doubtful if the verb can bear this meaning. Hence R.V., The residue of wrath shalt thou gird upon thee. But whose wrath is meant? Surely it cannot be God’s wrath, with which He girds Himself to complete the destruction of the foe, for the reference of wrath in the two clauses of the verse to different persons is awkward, and it is difficult to see what can be meant by the residue of God’s wrath. Rather it must be, as in the preceding line, man’s wrath that is meant. God girds on Himself as an ornament the last futile efforts of human wrath, turning them to His own honour: or girds them on as a sword, making the wrath of His enemies to minister to their final discomfiture. Cp. Isaiah 33:11, “Your spirit (i.e. wrath) is a fire which shall devour you.” The peculiar rendering of the LXX, “shall keep festival unto thee,” may however point to a different reading, meaning, shall honour thee. The P.B.V. ‘the fierceness of them’ is a misprint for of other, the original rendering of the Great Bible. See Driver, Par. Psalter, p. xviii.

10–12. The lessons of judgement.

11. Let Israel pay the vows it made in its hour of peril (Psalm 66:13); let the nations that dwell near God’s city and people bring their presents—a phrase used only of bringing solemn tribute to God (Psalm 68:29; Isaiah 18:7). “Many,” we read in 2 Chronicles 32:23, “brought gifts unto Jehovah to Jerusalem,” after the great deliverance.

unto him that ought to be feared] Lit. unto the fear, the same word as in Isaiah 8:13.

12. He shall cut off] Cp. the simile in Isaiah 18:4-5, describing how Jehovah will destroy the plans of the Assyrians just as they are coming to maturity: and Revelation 14:18-19.

the spirit of princes] Their pride and fury. Cp. Isaiah 33:11.

the kings of the earth] Cp. Psalm 48:4.