What is the meaning of Psalm 68:2? As smoke is blown away - “As smoke is blown away” (Psalm 68:2) puts in front of us a picture of something flimsy, here one moment and scattered the next. - Scripture often draws on wind-tossed images to describe the end of the ungodly: “Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind” (Psalm 1:4). - Isaiah writes of iniquity that “carries us away like the wind” (Isaiah 64:6), and Hosea says the idolaters “will be like the morning cloud and like early dew that vanishes” (Hosea 13:3). - The point is simple and sober: whatever may look substantial in rebellion against God is, in reality, only as durable as a puff of smoke. You will drive them out - The verb shifts from imagery to God’s direct action—He personally “will drive them out.” - This recalls the conquest of Canaan, where the Lord promised, “the LORD your God is the one who will cross ahead of you; He will destroy these nations before you, and you will dispossess them” (Deuteronomy 31:3). - God’s people do not merely hope evil fades; they trust that He Himself steps in to remove it. - Psalm 37:9-10 assures that “evildoers will be cut off… yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more.” as wax melts before the fire - Wax is solid until heat touches it, then it collapses instantly. The psalmist is stressing the swiftness and completeness of judgment. - Micah pictures the same scene: “The mountains will melt beneath Him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax before the fire” (Micah 1:4). - When God arises, resistance liquefies—no fortress, ideology, or coalition can stand. - This is not mere poetic flourish; it is a literal promise that God’s holiness consumes unrepentant evil (Hebrews 12:29). the wicked will perish in the presence of God - The verse culminates with the finality of perishing “in the presence of God.” Judgment is not arbitrary; it comes precisely because God draws near in unveiled glory. - Psalm 97:3-5 shows the same effect: “Fire goes before Him… the mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD.” - Revelation 20:11-15 portrays the ultimate scene when all the dead stand before the great white throne; those not found in the Book of Life are “thrown into the lake of fire.” - Second Thessalonians 1:9 states that the wicked “will suffer the penalty of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might.” His presence both judges and vindicates. summary Psalm 68:2 stacks three vivid pictures—smoke driven off, wax melting, and the wicked perishing—to underline one truth: when God rises to act, evil has no substance, no refuge, and no future. It may loom large for a moment, but in God’s blazing holiness it vanishes. For the believer, this is assurance that righteousness will prevail; for the unrepentant, it is a call to turn before the coming heat of His presence. |
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