Psalm 76 – An Effusive Outflow Of Praise
(by Phillips Koh)
The Psalmist praises God’s greatness for vanquishing their intractable Assyrian enemies (verses 1-3). God is so triumphant that even the mightiest men are no match, for God is ‘awesome to the kings of the earth’ (verse 12). How encouraged are you and I that we have a powerful God on our side?
Next, the author extols God’s majesty over the ‘mountain of prey’ which is largely inhabited by predatory animals (verse 4). Thus creation reflects God’s glory here. Likewise Paul succinctly states that creation reveals God’s invisible qualities, namely his eternal power and divine nature (Romans 1:20). So do you and I fall down to worship such a mighty Creator?
Then our Psalmist highlights God as the Judge, who is to be feared by the whole human race (verses 7 & 8). Moreover as a just God, he will ensure that all the oppressed will be vindicated (verse 9). Do we feel deeply elated that all injustices will be redressed one day?
This Psalm concludes by making some proposals how to honour such a great, glorious and just God. The first one is to make personal vows to worship this God alone (verse 11). Another way is to bring small tokens of appreciation (verse 11b), which in our day would take the form of giving to the Lord’s work. How do you and I intend to honour God today?
Let’s Read Psalm 76
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of Asaph. A song.
1 God is renowned in Judah;
in Israel his name is great.
2 His tent is in Salem,
his dwelling place in Zion.
3 There he broke the flashing arrows,
the shields and the swords, the weapons of war.
4 You are radiant with light,
more majestic than mountains rich with game.
5 The valiant lie plundered,
they sleep their last sleep;
not one of the warriors
can lift his hands.
6 At your rebuke, God of Jacob,
both horse and chariot lie still.
7 It is you alone who are to be feared.
Who can stand before you when you are angry?
8 From heaven you pronounced judgment,
and the land feared and was quiet—
9 when you, God, rose up to judge,
to save all the afflicted of the land.
10 Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise,
and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.
11 Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them;
let all the neighboring lands
bring gifts to the One to be feared.
12 He breaks the spirit of rulers;
he is feared by the kings of the earth.
Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, we will never stop singing ‘How Great is our God’ on this earth and throughout eternity, because you truly deserve all our worship and praise. In the Name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
This devotional was kindly contributed by Dr. Chow Li Sze and her channel Heavenly Devotion. You may find the channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/HeavenlyDevotion/videos
About the Heavenly Devotion channel
The Heavenly Devotion channel is dedicated to encouraging you to listen to Bible Scriptures and pray with the Scriptures. They are inspired by the call of service as expressed and exemplified by Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:12-15.
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrew 4:12 NKJV)
|Share The Good News|
Leave a Reply