Psalm 76: “Who Can Stand Before Him When He Is Indignant?”
“...bring presents to Him Who ought to be feared”
Tradition has connected this psalm with the destruction of the army of Sennacherib (of Assyria, see 2 Kings 18,19). After the blasphemies against God were committed by the Assyrians, Isaiah prophesied of the wrath of God against them (2 Kings 19:20-34). Verses 32-34 say:
"Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria:
'He shall not come into this city,
Nor shoot an arrow there,
Nor come before it with shield,
Nor build a siege mound against it.
By the way that he came,
By the same shall he return;
And he shall not come into this city,'
Says the LORD.
'For I will defend this city, to save it
For My own sake and for My servant David's sake.' "
That very night, an angel of the Lord destroyed 185,000 Assyrians. Now let us read the Psalm as a unit.
In Judah God is known; His name is great in Israel. In Salem also
is His tabernacle, And His dwelling place in Zion.
There He broke the arrows of the bow, The shield and sword of battle.
Selah
You are more glorious and excellent Than the mountains of prey.
The stouthearted were plundered; They have sunk into their sleep; And none
of the mighty men have found the use of their hands. At Your rebuke, O
God of Jacob, Both the chariot and horse were cast into a dead sleep.
You, Yourself, are to be feared;
And who may stand in Your presence When once You are angry?
You caused judgment to be heard from heaven;
The earth feared and was still,
When God arose to judgment, To deliver all the oppressed of the
earth.
Selah
Surely the wrath of man shall praise You;
With the remainder of wrath You shall gird Yourself.
Make vows to the LORD your God, and pay them; Let all who are around
Him bring presents to Him who ought to be feared. He shall cut off the
spirit of princes; He is awesome to the kings of the earth.
(NKJ)
There are five points that serve as our outline of Psalm 76. Let us learn them in light of the historical background we have just noted. Remember the theme: “Who Can Stand Before Him When He Is Indignant?”
HIS MESSAGE: “HIS NAME IS GREAT” (vv. 1-3).
In spite of the incredible arrogance of evil men, God has made Himself known. Often, He did it through miraculous judgments against sin and sinners. By so doing, He makes it clear that His name is great!!! And those who are a part of His covenant (Judah, Israel, and Salem in Psalm 76), can take great comfort in this. His power has easily demonstrated that no enemy can make good on their threats against His name. Even the young boy David had demonstrated this in the killing of Goliath (1 Samuel 17:26,45-47). Those who depend on a Goliath, a huge army, or any other powers, shall learn that none of that is anything when God decides to use His wrath.
HIS ACTION: TO PUNISH THE STUBBORN vv. 4-6).
The contrast in character between God (glorious and excellent) and the enemies of His people (stouthearted; described in Isaiah 10:12ff) is used to show that when someone returns from the “mountains of prey” (where the Assyrians had filled his caves; Nahum 2:11ff; 3:1)—the Someone who would return would be God! The Assyrian “had met his match” (Kirkpatrick, p. 454; see Isaiah 14:25).
God’s position would remain (glorious and excellent), while they would be plundered, would sink into sleep, and be unable to use their hands!
And what would cause this? The rebuke of the God of Jacob! He would not have to leave His throne, bring a company of angels, find the enemy, fight for years—no—He would only have to REBUKE them! And 185,000 would fall in one night! (On the word “rebuke,” see Psalm 9:5; 18:15; Isaiah 17:13).
HIS PRESENCE: CREATES FEAR (vv. 7-9).
Our author now asks the best question that would possibly be asked—
“And who may stand in Your presence
When once you are angry?”
The “fear” of verse 7 is the “awesome” of verse 12 and 47:2 (NKJ). Human language, even with this strong word, pales in any attempt to describe how AWESOME He is and how much He is to be FEARED when He is angry.
The example of this in verses 8,9 is moving—when God made His pronouncement that He would deliver the oppressed—THE EARTH STOOD STILL. And in light of this, the wicked ought to fall on their faces in repentance, for there is no other way to escape His wrath (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10).
IV. HIS DESIRE: TO RESTRAIN WRATH (v. 10).
The holy desire of the God of Jacob is to hold back the wrath of the wicked so that it cannot damage His servants.
Thus, by overcoming the wrath of men, He is able to make it “redound to God’s glory” (Joe Gilmore; Ninth Annual Southwest Lectures, p. 31). The use that God made of Pharaoh in Exodus is an example of this (Exodus 9:15).
The futility of the wrath of man only seems to emphasize the glory of God. No one can work against God and mar His glory.
HIS INVITATION: “PAY YOUR VOWS TO ME” (vv. 11,12).
In verse 11, the poet encourages the readers to make and pay their vows to God. The reason He gives here is that God ought to be feared. The word for “fear” in this verse is also found in Isaiah 8:13, and it refers to reverence (It is a form of the word in vv. 7 and 12). The basic word means “to fear from an apprehension of danger and a sense of our own weakness” (Wilson’s O.T. Word Studies, p. 159).
The psalm closes with one more reminder that God “will destroy the plans of the Assyrians just as they are coming to maturity” (Kirkpatrick, p. 456).
The conclusion for us ought to be that we take heart in the fact that God will certainly deal with all who are against Him—AND that we examine ourselves so that we can be certain that we are not “in the line of fire” when He executes His wrath!
— Skip Andrews
Next Week:
Psalm 77
You Led Your People
Like a Flock
Listen to our Sunday and Wednsday services on the Web.
Just go to
duluthcofc.org
and follow the instructions.
SICK LIST: Zolia Pineda
is recovering from her broken elbow. Larry Rutherford, Rod’s brother,
is in ICU following surgery. Lewis O’Neal was to have eye surgery
Tuesday. Jerry Elliott, Jeff Houston, and Prince Williams were ill
last week.
SYMPATHY: Mike Bullard’s
grandmother passed away last Friday. Her funeral was planned for
yesterday in Crawfordville, Georgia. Also, Steve Fishel passed
away Sunday afternoon; his funeral was Wednesday in Tennessee. Our
prayers are with these families in this time of loss.
PLANTATION SOUTH: Group 4 is in charge of the services today
at 1:30.
CHILDREN’S CLASS: 5:30 today.
LADIES’ CLASS: Tuesday at 10:00.
FOR THE RECORD:
AM Class
129
AM Worship
157
PM Worship
123
Wednesday Class 113
Contribution $6167
Budget
$6800
EVENING LADIES’ CLASS: Our monthly ladies’ class will meet Monday,
February 25, at 7:30. The class will be studying “The Poor Widow.”
WINDER: There will be a gospel meeting at Winder February 25-27
with Bob Knox (their new preacher). Bob has spoken here on our lectureship
and worked at our camp. We invite you to go with us as a group from
Duluth Monday, February 26. We can meet at the building and ride
together. Please see Paul Boaz or Skip if you are able to go.
MYSTERY DINNER:
There will be a mystery dinner Saturday, March 17, at 6:00. There
is more information about this event on the bulletin board in the foyer.
Please check it out—and sign up if you would like to come. There
are reservation forms in the foyer—RSVP by March 11.
BACK PEWS FOR OUR VISITORS: The elders are asking our
members to leave the center two back pews for our visitors who may arrive
late. Your cooperation is appreciated.
KIEV: Paul Jr. and Paul III Meacham are in Kiev.
They would like email; their email address is: pmeacham@altavista.com
VOLUME 3:3 February 25, 2001