Psa 68:15-16 | KingComments | STEP | David points to “the mountain of Bashan” as “a mountain of God”, i.e. a mighty mountain, and as “a mountain [of many] peaks” ( ). A mountain is a symbol of a kingdom (cf. ). Through David, God asks the question to this kingdom why it looks with envy “at the mountain” ( ). By “the mountain” he means Mount Zion, which God “has desired as His abode”. Mount Zion exceeds all impressive mountains because it is associated with the Man after God’s heart. So it is with the city of Jerusalem, which surpasses all the impressive cities of the world because it is the city of the great King ( ). His purpose is fixed, and He will execute it without anyone objecting: “Surely the LORD will dwell [there] forever.” God will dwell in the midst of His people, no matter what the surrounding ‘mountains’ may think or undertake. God has made His choice which determines everything. It is wisdom to agree to that. To realize His purpose, “myriads, thousands upon thousands” chariots are at His disposal ( ). They are “the chariots of God”, by which are meant His angels (cf. ; ; ). He, “the Lord”, Adonai, the sovereign Ruler, is with His people. He is at the head of those countless chariots. He is the Protector of Zion. It is folly to oppose Him and His purpose. He is “[as at] Sinai, in holiness”. Again, that is after , the remnant is reminded of Sinai. The LORD Himself descended on Sinai in majesty and splendor with ten thousand angels ( ; ). In it is in connection with going forth before His people; here it is in connection with His dwelling place in the midst of His people. Here the emphasis is on the fact that by His descending on Mount Sinai the mountain was turned into a sanctuary. In the same impressive way, He appears on Zion which He has chosen as His dwelling place to dwell with His people. On Mount Sinai, the LORD made the covenant with Israel. Now He heads to Zion – from to – to make another covenant. The language is the language of Sinai, but prophetically it is now about the future, about the new covenant (cf. ). After this description of the loftiness and majesty of God, David speaks not of Him, but to Him ( ). He addresses Him directly and says to Him, Who will dwell on Zion forever: “You have ascended on high, You have led captive [Your] captives”. There, up in heaven, He has “received gifts among men”, i.e. to distribute among men. Paul explains the meaning of this verse in the letter to the Ephesians. He applies this verse to Christ, Who has won complete victory over the enemy, the devil and his entire system of power. As a result, He has been exalted by God above all and all. From that exalted position He distributes gifts to the members of His body, the church ( ). It is all about Christ as the Giver. Paul emphasizes both the place from which He gives, “on high”, and what He has done to be able to give: the captivity taken captive. David speaks in this victory psalm of “on high” and “led captive [Your] captives”. He has already pointed out how God scatters His enemies and causes them to flee, and that kings who rebel against Him perish before Him. For His oppressed people, God’s action means deliverance. That is why they celebrate. This scene looks forward to the beginning of the realm of peace. Paul quotes this psalm because he knows that the victory, which will be seen openly in the realm of peace, is already a reality for faith. The Lord Jesus has gone through death, risen from death, and “ascended on high”. In the word “ascended” there is Divine power, the majesty of the Conqueror. That He led “captive a host of the captives” ( ) means that by His death He took away the devil’s power to hold people captive. In Hebrews 2 it says: “That through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives” ( ). For all who belong to Him, He has conquered the power of sin, death, the world and the flesh. David puts it this way, that Christ has brought the captives out of bondage and taken them to Himself. However, it does not stop there. Christ has also given gifts to those who were captives, but have now been set free. First, God gave Christ gifts as a reward for His victory. Those gifts are the ones who have been ransomed by Him from their captivity ( ). In turn, Christ bestows gifts on those who now share in His victory. The gifts come from One Who has overcome and is now in heaven. We who were in captivity have also been set free. In this way the Lord can also bestow gifts on us. Prophetically, it means that in the realm of peace He gives gifts to His earthly people, that is all those whom He has freed from the captivity of their sins and their rulers, to serve Him with these. Psalm 68 tells us that Christ received gifts, but tells us nothing about Him giving gifts to people. The latter is a hidden fact that could only be revealed in the New Testament. That happens in the letter to the Ephesians. There Paul says even more about Christ and His victory and the special results for those who belong to the church. That is part of the revelation of the mysteries that relate to the church. These mysteries are now made known to us by the Spirit Who has come down from heaven ( ). For David, it is enough to see that God’s promises for His people on earth are fulfilled in and through Christ. The Spirit has made that clear to him. He can compose this victory psalm and sing this victory song because he knows God as his King. That King is none other than Christ. The great purpose of what Christ has done and what He provides in gifts is that He can dwell with people and that people can dwell with Him to serve Him ( ). Christ, the Righteous One, died for us unrighteous people “that He might bring us to God” ( ). We, and all who may dwell with God, initially are among “the rebellious” mentioned in the last line of . The word “rebellious“ is not mentioned in the letter to the Ephesians because this word applies to the people of Israel ( ). God, by His love and grace, broke our rebellion and brought us to repentance. Now we submit with profound gratitude to Him Who has shown such enormous grace to us. This will also be said by those who will dwell as the new Israel in the realm of peace in the presence of Him Who dwells on the mountain He has desired for His abode ( ).

‏ Psalms 68:15-16

Gifts Received and Given

David points to “the mountain of Bashan” as “a mountain of God”, i.e. a mighty mountain, and as “a mountain [of many] peaks” (Psa 68:15). A mountain is a symbol of a kingdom (cf. Dan 2:34-35 ; 44-45). Through David, God asks the question to this kingdom why it looks with envy “at the mountain” (Psa 68:16). By “the mountain” he means Mount Zion, which God “has desired as His abode”. Mount Zion exceeds all impressive mountains because it is associated with the Man after God’s heart. So it is with the city of Jerusalem, which surpasses all the impressive cities of the world because it is the city of the great King (Psa 87:1-7).

His purpose is fixed, and He will execute it without anyone objecting: “Surely the LORD will dwell [there] forever.” God will dwell in the midst of His people, no matter what the surrounding ‘mountains’ may think or undertake. God has made His choice which determines everything. It is wisdom to agree to that.

To realize His purpose, “myriads, thousands upon thousands” chariots are at His disposal (Psa 68:17). They are “the chariots of God”, by which are meant His angels (cf. 2Kgs 2:11 ; 2Kgs 6:17; Heb 12:22; Rev 5:11). He, “the Lord”, Adonai, the sovereign Ruler, is with His people. He is at the head of those countless chariots. He is the Protector of Zion. It is folly to oppose Him and His purpose.

He is “[as at] Sinai, in holiness”. Again, that is after Psa 68:8, the remnant is reminded of Sinai. The LORD Himself descended on Sinai in majesty and splendor with ten thousand angels (Exo 19:16-20 ; Exo 24:16; Deu 33:2). In Psa 68:8 it is in connection with going forth before His people; here it is in connection with His dwelling place in the midst of His people.

Here the emphasis is on the fact that by His descending on Mount Sinai the mountain was turned into a sanctuary. In the same impressive way, He appears on Zion which He has chosen as His dwelling place to dwell with His people. On Mount Sinai, the LORD made the covenant with Israel. Now He heads to Zion – from Psa 68:8 to Psa 68:16 – to make another covenant. The language is the language of Sinai, but prophetically it is now about the future, about the new covenant (cf. Jer 31:31-34).

After this description of the loftiness and majesty of God, David speaks not of Him, but to Him (Psa 68:18). He addresses Him directly and says to Him, Who will dwell on Zion forever: “You have ascended on high, You have led captive [Your] captives”. There, up in heaven, He has “received gifts among men”, i.e. to distribute among men.

Paul explains the meaning of this verse in the letter to the Ephesians. He applies this verse to Christ, Who has won complete victory over the enemy, the devil and his entire system of power. As a result, He has been exalted by God above all and all. From that exalted position He distributes gifts to the members of His body, the church (Eph 4:7-8).

It is all about Christ as the Giver. Paul emphasizes both the place from which He gives, “on high”, and what He has done to be able to give: the captivity taken captive. David speaks in this victory psalm of “on high” and “led captive [Your] captives”. He has already pointed out how God scatters His enemies and causes them to flee, and that kings who rebel against Him perish before Him. For His oppressed people, God’s action means deliverance. That is why they celebrate. This scene looks forward to the beginning of the realm of peace.

Paul quotes this psalm because he knows that the victory, which will be seen openly in the realm of peace, is already a reality for faith. The Lord Jesus has gone through death, risen from death, and “ascended on high”. In the word “ascended” there is Divine power, the majesty of the Conqueror.

That He led “captive a host of the captives” (Eph 4:8) means that by His death He took away the devil’s power to hold people captive. In Hebrews 2 it says: “That through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives” (Heb 2:14-15). For all who belong to Him, He has conquered the power of sin, death, the world and the flesh. David puts it this way, that Christ has brought the captives out of bondage and taken them to Himself.

However, it does not stop there. Christ has also given gifts to those who were captives, but have now been set free. First, God gave Christ gifts as a reward for His victory. Those gifts are the ones who have been ransomed by Him from their captivity (Jn 10:29a ; Jn 17:2). In turn, Christ bestows gifts on those who now share in His victory.

The gifts come from One Who has overcome and is now in heaven. We who were in captivity have also been set free. In this way the Lord can also bestow gifts on us. Prophetically, it means that in the realm of peace He gives gifts to His earthly people, that is all those whom He has freed from the captivity of their sins and their rulers, to serve Him with these.

Psalm 68 tells us that Christ received gifts, but tells us nothing about Him giving gifts to people. The latter is a hidden fact that could only be revealed in the New Testament. That happens in the letter to the Ephesians. There Paul says even more about Christ and His victory and the special results for those who belong to the church. That is part of the revelation of the mysteries that relate to the church. These mysteries are now made known to us by the Spirit Who has come down from heaven (1Pet 1:12).

For David, it is enough to see that God’s promises for His people on earth are fulfilled in and through Christ. The Spirit has made that clear to him. He can compose this victory psalm and sing this victory song because he knows God as his King. That King is none other than Christ.

The great purpose of what Christ has done and what He provides in gifts is that He can dwell with people and that people can dwell with Him to serve Him (Rev 21:3). Christ, the Righteous One, died for us unrighteous people “that He might bring us to God” (1Pet 3:18).

We, and all who may dwell with God, initially are among “the rebellious” mentioned in the last line of Psa 68:18. The word “rebellious“ is not mentioned in the letter to the Ephesians because this word applies to the people of Israel (Isa 65:2).

God, by His love and grace, broke our rebellion and brought us to repentance. Now we submit with profound gratitude to Him Who has shown such enormous grace to us. This will also be said by those who will dwell as the new Israel in the realm of peace in the presence of Him Who dwells on the mountain He has desired for His abode (Psa 68:16).