Psa 68:6 | KingComments | STEP | The rising of God has a totally different result for the righteous than it does for God’s enemies. They are “glad” ( ). With them, a tremendous joy arises. While the wicked perish “before God” ( ), the righteous “exult before God” and “rejoice with gladness”. The wicked are perished by the presence of God, but the righteous are with great and continually increasing joy in God’s presence. The heart is full of joy and gladness, which is exuberantly and constantly expressed. The joy of the righteous turns into an appeal to sing to God, to sing praises to His Name ( ; cf. ). The repetition indicates the intense desire to sing to Him. He is coming and a song must be “lifted up“ for Him, or better “a highway” must be cast up for Him “who rides through the deserts” (cf. ). To cast up a highway for Him means that the people remove all impediments to give God ample room in their lives. It means repenting and giving Him His due place in their hearts. It is about highways in the heart ( ; ). Heights must be lowered and valleys filled. The pride must disappear. The valleys, or lack of knowledge, must be filled. By the desert, Hebrew aravot , is meant the dry wilderness of Judea. This is a good description of the way of the Lord Jesus to Jerusalem in connection with the final battle. This word also appears in Isaiah 40: “Make smooth in the desert ( arava – singular) a highway for our God” ( ). In the desert He has room to do His work. Cast up a highway must be done because His Name is “LORD”. As has already been noted, in this second book of psalms the name LORD, Yahweh, is little used and substituted by God, Elohim . This is because the believing remnant is far away from Jerusalem. Now that God has arisen, and is on His way to His place of rest in Zion, the name LORD is used again. With this Name He has made Himself known to His people Israel only ( ). He is the God of the covenant with His people and He is going to fulfill all that He has committed Himself to through that covenant ( ). The awareness of this is cause to “exult before Him”. The name “LORD”, Yahweh, occurs several times in this psalm. Furthermore, God, Elohim , Lord, Adonai, and Almighty, Shaddai , are mentioned throughout, for it is primarily about His supremacy, about His Divine ruling power. This God is all that Israel and all the nations need. God is both an almighty Helper against enemies and a merciful “father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows” ( ; cf. ). His people have been like orphans and also like a widow. The cause of this is their rejection of Him, which caused Him to leave them to themselves. But now He takes care of them (cf. ; ). Thus “is God in His holy habitation”, which is heaven ( ). That is, we now see revealed on earth that God is the Protector of the weak. In this context, the weak are the faithful remnant described as orphans and widows. God is no different in His holy dwelling than He is in His actions on earth. Man’s actions in public are often different from those in his home, in the private sphere. With God it is not so. The holiness that marks His dwelling place also marks His actions on earth. He can be merciful to those in need because all His holy requirements have been met by His beloved Son, the Messiah and LORD of His people. He can be merciful to His people because of their confession and accept them into His holy presence. He is a God Who “makes a home for the lonely” ( ). His people have been scattered and lonely. Now that He has taken care of His people, their members are together again as a household. Man was not created to be alone. God established the family in order to develop a sense of fellowship. In this way He wants to show the world the value He as a Father attaches to have fellowship with His children. It is good to keep an eye on God’s original in this regard as well, because the family as an institution of God has been rejected. The reason for this is that everything is about the satisfaction of individual needs. God is also a God “who leads out the prisoners into prosperity”. The members of His people have been prisoners among the nations. Now God has set them free from captivity and brought them into the prosperity of the realm of peace. “The rebellious”, on the other hand, do not come into a land of prosperity, but “dwell in a parched land”, a land where there is a lack of everything (cf. ). As an application for us, we know that after our deliverance from the bondage of sin, we have come to belong to the family of God’s children. We are “no longer strangers and aliens”, but we have become “fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household” ( ). We have been showered with spiritual, heavenly, and eternal blessings that we may enjoy in fellowship with the Father.

‏ Psalms 68:6

The Righteous Rejoice

The rising of God has a totally different result for the righteous than it does for God’s enemies. They are “glad” (Psa 68:3). With them, a tremendous joy arises. While the wicked perish “before God” (Psa 68:2), the righteous “exult before God” and “rejoice with gladness”. The wicked are perished by the presence of God, but the righteous are with great and continually increasing joy in God’s presence. The heart is full of joy and gladness, which is exuberantly and constantly expressed.

The joy of the righteous turns into an appeal to sing to God, to sing praises to His Name (Psa 68:4; cf. 2Chr 20:1-30). The repetition indicates the intense desire to sing to Him. He is coming and a song must be “lifted up“ for Him, or better “a highway” must be cast up for Him “who rides through the deserts” (cf. Isa 40:3 ; Isa 62:10). To cast up a highway for Him means that the people remove all impediments to give God ample room in their lives.

It means repenting and giving Him His due place in their hearts. It is about highways in the heart (Psa 84:5; Mt 3:1-3). Heights must be lowered and valleys filled. The pride must disappear. The valleys, or lack of knowledge, must be filled. By the desert, Hebrew aravot, is meant the dry wilderness of Judea. This is a good description of the way of the Lord Jesus to Jerusalem in connection with the final battle. This word also appears in Isaiah 40: “Make smooth in the desert (arava – singular) a highway for our God” (Isa 40:3b). In the desert He has room to do His work.

Cast up a highway must be done because His Name is “LORD”. As has already been noted, in this second book of psalms the name LORD, Yahweh, is little used and substituted by God, Elohim. This is because the believing remnant is far away from Jerusalem. Now that God has arisen, and is on His way to His place of rest in Zion, the name LORD is used again. With this Name He has made Himself known to His people Israel only (Exo 3:15). He is the God of the covenant with His people and He is going to fulfill all that He has committed Himself to through that covenant (Exo 6:6-8). The awareness of this is cause to “exult before Him”.

The name “LORD”, Yahweh, occurs several times in this psalm. Furthermore, God, Elohim, Lord, Adonai, and Almighty, Shaddai, are mentioned throughout, for it is primarily about His supremacy, about His Divine ruling power. This God is all that Israel and all the nations need.

God is both an almighty Helper against enemies and a merciful “father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows” (Psa 68:5; cf. Jer 49:11). His people have been like orphans and also like a widow. The cause of this is their rejection of Him, which caused Him to leave them to themselves. But now He takes care of them (cf. Exo 22:22-23; Deu 27:19).

Thus “is God in His holy habitation”, which is heaven (Jer 25:30). That is, we now see revealed on earth that God is the Protector of the weak. In this context, the weak are the faithful remnant described as orphans and widows.

God is no different in His holy dwelling than He is in His actions on earth. Man’s actions in public are often different from those in his home, in the private sphere. With God it is not so. The holiness that marks His dwelling place also marks His actions on earth. He can be merciful to those in need because all His holy requirements have been met by His beloved Son, the Messiah and LORD of His people. He can be merciful to His people because of their confession and accept them into His holy presence.

He is a God Who “makes a home for the lonely” (Psa 68:6). His people have been scattered and lonely. Now that He has taken care of His people, their members are together again as a household. Man was not created to be alone. God established the family in order to develop a sense of fellowship. In this way He wants to show the world the value He as a Father attaches to have fellowship with His children. It is good to keep an eye on God’s original in this regard as well, because the family as an institution of God has been rejected. The reason for this is that everything is about the satisfaction of individual needs.

God is also a God “who leads out the prisoners into prosperity”. The members of His people have been prisoners among the nations. Now God has set them free from captivity and brought them into the prosperity of the realm of peace. “The rebellious”, on the other hand, do not come into a land of prosperity, but “dwell in a parched land”, a land where there is a lack of everything (cf. Deu 21:18-21).

As an application for us, we know that after our deliverance from the bondage of sin, we have come to belong to the family of God’s children. We are “no longer strangers and aliens”, but we have become “fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household” (Eph 2:19). We have been showered with spiritual, heavenly, and eternal blessings that we may enjoy in fellowship with the Father.