Psalm 76
לַמְנַצֵּ֥חַ בִּנְגִינֹ֑ת מִזְמ֖וֹר לְאָסָ֣ף שִֽׁיר
BSB
God’s Name Is Great in Israel
For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A song.
1God is known in Judah;
His name is great in Israel.
2His tent is in Salem,
His dwelling place in Zion.
3There He shattered the flaming arrows,
the shield and sword and weapons of war.
Selah
4You are resplendent with light,
more majestic than mountains filled with game.
5The valiant lie plundered; they sleep their last sleep.
No men of might could lift a hand.
6At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
both horse and rider lie stunned.
7You alone are to be feared.
When You are angry, who can stand before You?
8From heaven You pronounced judgment,
and the earth feared and was still
9when God rose up to judge,
to save all the lowly of the earth.
Selah
10Even the wrath of man shall praise You;
with the survivors of wrath You will clothe Yourself.
11Make and fulfill your vows to the LORD your God;
let all the neighboring lands bring tribute
to Him who is to be feared.
12He breaks the spirits of princes;
He is feared by the kings of the earth.
Introduction
Psalms 76
This psalm seems to have been penned upon occasion of some great victory obtained by the church over some threatening enemy or other, and designed to grace the triumph. The Septuagint calls it, "A song upon the Assyrians," whence many good interpreters conjecture that it was penned when Sennacherib's army, then besieging Jerusalem, was entirely cut off by a destroying angel in Hezekiah's time; and several passages in the psalm are very applicable to that work of wonder: but there was a religious triumph upon occasion of another victory, in Jehoshaphat's time, which might as well be the subject of this psalm (Ch2 20:28), and it might be called "a song of Asaph" because always sung by the sons of Asaph. Or it might be penned by Asaph who lived in David's time, upon occasion of the many triumphs with which God delighted to honour that reign. Upon occasion of this glorious victory, whatever it was, I. The psalmist congratulates the happiness of the church in having God so nigh (Psa 76:1-3). II. He celebrates the glory of God's power, which this was an illustrious instance of (Psa 76:4-6). III. He infers hence what reason all have to fear before him (Psa 76:7-9). And, IV. What reason his people have to trust in him and to pay their vows to him (Psa 76:10-12). It is a psalm proper for a thanksgiving day, upon the account of public successes, and not improper at other times, because it is never out of season to glorify God for the great things he has done for his church formerly, especially for the victories of the Redeemer over the powers of darkness, which all those Old Testament victories were types of, at least those that are celebrated in the psalms.
To the chief musician on Neginoth. A psalm or song of Asaph.
Cross-references: 2Chr 20:28 · Ps 76:1 · Ps 76:4 · Ps 76:7 · Ps 76:10