Psalms 68

Psalm 68³ is one of the grandest and most difficult songs in the Psalter - a sweeping processional that follows God as He marches at the head of His people from the wilderness to His holy hill. It opens with words every Israelite would have known by heart, the cry Moses spoke whenever the ark of the covenant set out: Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him (cf. Num. 10:35). Before this God, evil cannot stand - it is driven off as smoke is driven away, it melts as wax before the fire. But the same God who scatters His enemies is, in the very next breath, described with startling tenderness: A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. God setteth the solitary in families. Power and gentleness meet in Him: He is mighty enough to rout armies and kind enough to give the lonely a family.

The psalm then marches through Israel's history - God going out before His people, Sinai trembling at His presence, a plentiful rain reviving His weary inheritance, kings of armies fleeing while the women at home divide the spoil. And it climbs toward a single mountain and a single verse. Of all the high hills, God chose one humble hill to dwell in: this is the hill which God desireth to dwell in; yea, the LORD will dwell in it for ever. And then, at the summit of the procession, comes the line the whole psalm has been ascending toward: Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men.³ It is the picture of a conqueror returning in triumph, climbing to his throne with his defeated enemies led captive behind him and the spoils of war in his hands - and the New Testament tells us plainly whose triumph it finally is.

For the apostle Paul takes that very verse and applies it to the risen Christ ascending to the Father: When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men (Eph. 4:8). The King who went up did not keep the spoils; He poured them out upon His church. And the psalm does not stop at the throne. It turns to the grave and declares, unto God the Lord belong the issues from death - the escapes, the ways out, from death itself; and it turns to the ends of the earth, foreseeing the day when Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God and every kingdom of the earth sings His praise. From a battle cry to an empty tomb to the nations streaming in, Psalm 68 is the long song of the God who arises, ascends, and gathers a world to Himself - and gives His own strength away to His people.

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Psalm 68 · Thou Hast Ascended on High (themed)Dr. Lazarus MarkijzusImperial Russian Tapestry Manufactory, Saint Petersburg · 1785

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Psalm 68:1-10 · To the chief Musician, A Psalm or Song of DavidA Father of the Fatherless

1Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. 2As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. 3But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. 4Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him. 5A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. 6God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land. 7O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah: 8The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel. 9Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary. 10Thy congregation hath dwelt therein: thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor.

The psalm opens with words no Israelite could hear without a shiver of memory: Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. These are very nearly the words Moses cried every time the ark of the covenant set out at the head of the marching nation: Rise up, LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered (Num. 10:35). The ark was the visible sign of God's presence, and when it moved, the cry went up that God Himself was going to war ahead of His people. So the whole psalm begins as a marching song - God on the move, God going out in front. And notice how effortless the victory is. The enemies are not crushed in a long, doubtful battle; they are scattered, driven off like smoke on the wind, melted like wax before a fire. Evil has no more power to stand at the presence of God than smoke has to hold its shape in a gale. The same event that terrifies the wicked delights the faithful: But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. The arising of God is dread to His enemies and pure joy to His people. Everything in the psalm flows from that first line - when God rises, the question of who will win has already been answered.³

Christ Connection - A Father of the Fatherless

It is the most beautiful turn in the opening of the psalm. The God who has just scattered armies like smoke is described, in the same breath, by His tenderness toward the weakest: A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. God setteth the solitary in families (vv. 5-6). The fatherless and the widow were the most defenseless people in the ancient world, with no one to protect or provide for them; and the lonely, the solitary, had no place to belong. To all of them this mighty God is father, judge (that is, defender), and the One who gives the friendless a family. This is the very heart that came near in Jesus. To disciples about to be left behind, He promised, I will not leave you comfortless - the word means orphans - I will come to you (John 14:18). He defined true religion as caring for exactly these: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction (James 1:27). And He makes the solitary a family, for through Him the once-alone become no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God (Eph. 2:19), receiving the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father (Rom. 8:15). The God enthroned in His holy habitation stooped, in Christ, to gather the orphaned and the lonely into His own household - so that the strength which scatters His enemies is the same strength that shelters the least. The mightiest King in Psalm 68 is also the most tender Father.

The line deserves to be lingered over: God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains. Two pictures of God's rescuing kindness stand side by side. First, He setteth the solitary in families - He takes the isolated, the friendless, the ones who belong to no one, and He places them in a home. Loneliness is one of the oldest and deepest of human aches, and the psalm names God as the One who answers it directly, not with a lecture but with a family. Second, he bringeth out those which are bound with chains - He frees prisoners, leads captives out into liberty. The God who marches through the wilderness brings people out: out of isolation into belonging, out of bondage into freedom. The verse closes with a sober note - but the rebellious dwell in a dry land - a reminder that those who set themselves against this God choose, in the end, the parched and lonely place He longs to bring people out of. The whole sweep of the gospel is anticipated here in miniature: a God who gathers the lonely into a family and leads the bound into freedom. What He did for Israel marching out of Egypt, He does still for every solitary, chained soul who will come to Him.

Hold together the two things this opening refuses to separate: God is mighty enough to scatter armies, and tender enough to father the fatherless. We are forever tempted to split those apart - to imagine that a God great enough to run the universe must be too vast to notice us, or that a God gentle enough to care about the lonely must not be strong enough to handle the things that frighten us. Psalm 68 will not let us choose. The same God who rides the heavens and melts the wicked like wax is the One who setteth the solitary in families. His power and His tenderness are not in tension; they are two faces of the same love. So if you feel small, overlooked, friendless - one of the solitary - know that the God who scatters His enemies bends low to set you in a family. And if you are afraid of forces far bigger than you, know that the God who fathers the fatherless is also the One before whom those forces flee like smoke. You never have to wonder whether the God who is tender toward you is also strong enough to help you. In Psalm 68, and supremely in Christ, He is gloriously both.

Psalm 68:11-20Thou Hast Ascended on High

11The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it. 12Kings of armies did flee apace: and she that tarried at home divided the spoil. 13Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold. 14When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as snow in Salmon. 15The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan; an high hill as the hill of Bashan. 16Why leap ye, ye high hills? this is the hill which God desireth to dwell in; yea, the LORD will dwell in it for ever. 17The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. 18Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them. 19Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. 20He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death.

Verse 11 paints a vivid scene of victory announced: The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it. The picture is of news so good it cannot be kept - God speaks, the victory is won, and a great crowd of messengers runs out to spread the report. In Hebrew the word for those who published it is feminine: it is a great company of women proclaiming the triumph, like the women who came out with songs and dances to celebrate a battle won (cf. 1 Sam. 18:6). The good news of God's victory was always meant to be told, and told by a great host of heralds. It is hard not to hear in this an anticipation of the gospel itself - the announcement of a victory God won, carried out by a great company of messengers into all the world. How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! (Rom. 10:15). The pattern is the same: God gives the word, the victory is accomplished, and a great company publishes the good news abroad. The triumph of God has never been a secret to be hoarded; it is a report to be run with, shouted, sung - by everyone who has seen what He has done.

Verses 15-16 stage a wonderful contest among mountains. The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan; an high hill as the hill of Bashan. Why leap ye, ye high hills? Bashan was a region of massive, towering peaks - the impressive, famous mountains, the kind that dominate the horizon and seem to demand awe. And the psalm imagines these great hills leaping, jostling for honor, as if to ask which of them God should choose for His dwelling. The answer is a glorious surprise: God passes over the towering peaks and chooses a comparatively modest hill - Zion. This is the hill which God desireth to dwell in; yea, the LORD will dwell in it for ever. The choice is pure grace, not grandeur. God does not dwell where the world expects greatness; He chooses the lowly place and makes it glorious by His presence. There is a deep pattern here that runs all through Scripture - God passing over the impressive to choose the humble, dwelling not where human eyes would look for Him but where He has freely set His love. And the promise attached is staggering: not for a season, but for ever. The God who marches and conquers also settles; He chooses a place to dwell and commits Himself to it forever. The same grace that chose an unlikely hill chooses unlikely people, and makes its lasting home with them.

Christ Connection - Led Captivity Captive, Gave Gifts unto Men

Here is the summit of the psalm, and the New Testament leaves no doubt about whose triumph it finally is: Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them (v. 18). The picture is an ancient one - a conquering king returning from battle, climbing in triumph to his throne, a long train of defeated enemies led captive behind him, and the spoils of victory borne in his hands. And the apostle Paul takes this very verse and sets it squarely on the risen Christ: Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men (Eph. 4:8)². Notice the one word Paul changes under inspiration: the psalm says the conqueror received gifts; Paul says Christ gave them. There is no contradiction - it is the very glory of this King that what He receives in triumph He turns and pours out upon His people. The spoils of His victory He distributes as gifts: he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets… for the perfecting of the saints (Eph. 4:11-12). And what is the captivity He led captive? The very powers that held us - sin, death, and every dark authority - for on the cross He spoiled principalities and powers… triumphing over them in it (Col. 2:15). The King ascended, dragging our captors captive behind Him, and then scattered the treasures of His conquest over the church. Most wonderful of all is the reach of it: yea, for the rebellious also. The gifts of the ascended Christ are not only for the loyal but for former rebels - for those who were once His enemies - that the LORD God might dwell among them. The whole point of the ascent is the indwelling: He went up so that, by His Spirit, God might come down and dwell with the very rebels He had conquered by love.

Christ Connection - Unto God Belong the Issues from Death

From the throne the psalm turns at once to the grave, and makes one of the boldest claims in the Old Testament: He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death (v. 20). The word rendered issues means the goings-out, the exits, the escape-routes - the ways out of death. To say that the issues from death belong to God is to say that He alone holds the power to bring people out the far side of the grave; the only door out of death is in His keeping. For most of the Old Testament that door stood shut, a hope longed for but not yet thrown open. Then came the One who walked all the way into death and out the other side. It was not possible that he should be holden of it, Peter preached, for God raised him up, having loosed the pains of death (Acts 2:24). Christ has abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel (2 Tim. 1:10). And the risen Lord Himself declares, I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore… and have the keys of hell and of death (Rev. 1:18). The issues from death that Psalm 68 says belong to God are now held, in nail-scarred hands, by the One who is both God and the conqueror of the grave. The exits out of death have a keeper, and He has opened the door - so that for everyone who is His, death is no longer a sealed tomb but a passage with a way out, kept by the King who has already walked it.

Sit with the wonder of verse 18, because it tells you what the ascended King does with His victory. He received gifts, Paul says, in order to give them - the conquering Christ climbed to His throne and then turned and poured the spoils of His triumph out upon His people, yea, for the rebellious also. That last phrase is meant for you. The gifts of the risen King are not reserved for the impressive or the deserving; they are lavished even on former rebels, on those who were once His enemies, precisely so that God might come and dwell among them. So if you have ever felt that God's best belongs to other, better people - that you are too far back in the line, too lately come, too much of a rebel to receive much - hear what this verse says. The whole purpose of the King's ascent was to give gifts to rebels and make His home with them. He did not go up to get away from us; He went up to send down the Spirit and dwell within us. And the gifts He gives are not trinkets but the very equipment for a life that matters - people, callings, graces, for the perfecting of the saints. The King has already won. The spoils are already being distributed. Hold out your hands; the gifts of the ascended Christ are for the rebellious also - which is to say, for you.

Psalm 68:21-35Ethiopia Shall Stretch Out Her Hands

21But God shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses. 22The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea: 23That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies, and the tongue of thy dogs in the same. 24They have seen thy goings, O God; even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary. 25The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels. 26Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord, from the fountain of Israel. 27There is little Benjamin with their ruler, the princes of Judah and their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali. 28Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us. 29Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto thee. 30Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people that delight in war. 31Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. 32Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah: 33To him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens, which were of old; lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice. 34Ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds. 35O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.

The procession passes through a darker stretch before it reaches its joyful end. But God shall wound the head of his enemies… The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea: That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies. The imagery is the harsh, vivid language of ancient warfare, and it should be read for what it is: a declaration that God will win a total and final victory over entrenched evil. Two things keep it from being mere bloodthirstiness. First, the victory is God's - it is He who will wound and bring again; the people do not avenge themselves. And second, the language deliberately echoes God's great rescues: I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea recalls the Red Sea, where God brought His people out and the waters closed over their oppressors. God's wounding of the enemy is the flip side of His rescue of the helpless. There is, too, a phrase that reaches back to the very first promise of the Bible - God shall wound the head of his enemies. In Eden, God promised that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15), and Paul assures believers that the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly (Rom. 16:20). The head-wounding victory the psalm celebrates is, in the end, the crushing of the great enemy himself - accomplished at the cross and to be completed when Christ returns. The war imagery is terrible, but its target is the evil that has held the world captive, and its outcome is the liberation of God's people.

The psalm now shows us the victory parade entering the sanctuary, and it is a scene of exuberant, ordered worship: They have seen thy goings, O God; even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary. The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels. This is what God's triumph looks like when it comes home - not a grim military review but a festival, full of music: singers leading, musicians following, young women with tambourines, the whole community caught up in praise. And mark the next detail, easy to pass over but full of meaning: There is little Benjamin with their ruler, the princes of Judah… the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali. The tribes named span the whole nation - little Benjamin (the smallest) alongside princely Judah, the south alongside the far north. In the presence of the victorious God, the great and the small, the famous tribe and the obscure one, process together as one people. There is no jostling for rank here as the hills jostled in verse 16; there is only a united people worshipping a shared King. It is a glimpse of what God's triumph always produces - a gathered, singing, unified people, where little Benjamin has just as real a place in the procession as mighty Judah.

Christ Connection - Ethiopia Shall Stretch Out Her Hands

As the psalm rises to its close, its horizon pushes past Israel to the ends of the earth: Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto thee… Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God (vv. 29-31). The nations that were once Israel's enemies - Egypt the old house of bondage, distant Ethiopia at the edge of the known world - are seen streaming in, bringing tribute, lifting their hands to the God of Israel. Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth (v. 32). It is a breathtaking vision for an ancient Israelite: not Israel's God for Israel only, but the God to whom all the kingdoms will one day sing. And the gospel began, visibly, to fulfill it. On a desert road south of Jerusalem, an Ethiopian official - a man come from the very nation this verse names - was reading Isaiah in his chariot when Philip ran to him and preached unto him Jesus; and that day Ethiopia did indeed stretch out her hands to God, for the man believed and went on his way rejoicing (Acts 8:27-39)². What Psalm 68 foresaw, the risen and ascended Christ set in motion: the gathering of every nation, so that the King who led captivity captive now draws Egypt and Ethiopia and all the kingdoms of the earth into His train. The vision reaches its end in the book of Revelation, where John sees a great multitude… of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues standing before the throne (Rev. 7:9). The hands Ethiopia stretches out in verse 31 are the first of countless hands from every people on earth, lifted at last to the God who arose, ascended, and gathered the world to Himself.

Let the last word of the psalm be the one you carry: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God. The whole psalm has been a display of overwhelming divine power - God scattering armies, shaking Sinai, riding the heavens, ascending in triumph, gathering the nations. And it could have ended simply with us small and awestruck before all that might. Instead it ends with the might turned toward us: the God of all strength gives strength to His people. That is the difference God's power is meant to make in your actual week. It is not merely something to admire from a safe distance; it is something He hands over to the weak who belong to Him. So when you face a task beyond you, a temptation stronger than your willpower, a grief heavier than you can carry - the right response is not to manufacture strength you do not have, nor to despair that you are weak. It is to come to the God who giveth strength and power unto his people and ask Him for some. He has it in infinite supply, and He is in the business of giving it away. The same power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him on high is the power at work in those who are His (Eph. 1:19-20). You were never meant to face your life on your own strength. Ascribe the strength to God - and then receive what He delights to give.

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Further study

Psalm 68 · Hebrew + classical Jewish commentarySefaria
The Hebrew text of Psalm 68 with Rashi, Ibn Ezra, and other classical commentators side by side - useful for JAH (v. 4, the short form of the covenant name, the root of “Hallelujah”), for 'alah (v. 18, “ascended,” to go up), and for 'oz (vv. 28, 34, 35, the “strength” God gives His people).
Psalm 68 ↔ Ephesians 4 · Acts 8 · Revelation 7Intertextual Bible
Traces the verbal threads tying Psalm 68's thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive (v. 18) to Paul's quotation of the ascended Christ (Eph. 4:8), and its Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God (v. 31) to the nations gathered to Christ (Acts 8; Rev. 7:9).
Psalm 68 - Translators' NotesNET Bible
The NET Bible's detailed footnotes on Psalm 68 - the ark-procession cry of verse 1, the difficult imagery of the dove's wings and Bashan, the triumphal ascent of verse 18, and the foreseen homage of Egypt and Ethiopia in verses 29-31.

Where this echoes in Scripture

A Father of the Fatherless

Thou Hast Ascended on High

Ethiopia Shall Stretch Out Her Hands

Psalms 68

Tap any highlighted phrase to jump to the commentary that unpacks it.

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Psalm 68:1-10 · To the chief Musician, A Psalm or Song of DavidA Father of the Fatherless

Christ Connection - A Father of the Fatherless

Psalm 68:11-20Thou Hast Ascended on High

Christ Connection - Led Captivity Captive, Gave Gifts unto Men

Christ Connection - Unto God Belong the Issues from Death

Psalm 68:21-35Ethiopia Shall Stretch Out Her Hands

Christ Connection - Ethiopia Shall Stretch Out Her Hands

· · ·

Further study

Psalm 68 · Hebrew + classical Jewish commentarySefaria
The Hebrew text of Psalm 68 with Rashi, Ibn Ezra, and other classical commentators side by side - useful for JAH (v. 4, the short form of the covenant name, the root of “Hallelujah”), for 'alah (v. 18, “ascended,” to go up), and for 'oz (vv. 28, 34, 35, the “strength” God gives His people).
Psalm 68 ↔ Ephesians 4 · Acts 8 · Revelation 7Intertextual Bible
Traces the verbal threads tying Psalm 68's thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive (v. 18) to Paul's quotation of the ascended Christ (Eph. 4:8), and its Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God (v. 31) to the nations gathered to Christ (Acts 8; Rev. 7:9).
Psalm 68 - Translators' NotesNET Bible
The NET Bible's detailed footnotes on Psalm 68 - the ark-procession cry of verse 1, the difficult imagery of the dove's wings and Bashan, the triumphal ascent of verse 18, and the foreseen homage of Egypt and Ethiopia in verses 29-31.

Psalms 68

Psalm 68:1-10 · To the chief Musician, A Psalm or Song of DavidA Father of the Fatherless

Psalm 68:11-20Thou Hast Ascended on High

Psalm 68:21-35Ethiopia Shall Stretch Out Her Hands