Psalm 68:7-18: The Unfamous Becomes Famous

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—
Verses
7-18 of Psalm 68 retell Israel’s historical process from deliverance to
settlement in the Promised Land and the victories the Lord had given them.  Read these verses retelling of the Lord’s
past deliverances and remember how the Famous One took the unfamous and made
them famous.

 

⁷ When you,
God, went out before your people,

when you marched through the
wilderness, 

⁸ the earth
shook, the heavens poured down rain,

before God, the One of Sinai,

before God,
the God of Israel.

⁹ You gave
abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance.

¹⁰ Your people
settled in it, and from your bounty, God, you provided for the poor.

¹¹ The Lord
announces the word,

and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng:

¹² “Kings and
armies flee in haste; the women at home divide the plunder.

¹³ Even while you
sleep among the sheep pens,

the wings of my dove are sheathed with silver,
its feathers with shining gold.”

¹⁴ When the
Almighty scattered the kings in the land,

it was like snow fallen on Mount
Zalmon.

¹⁵ Mount Bashan,
majestic mountain, Mount Bashan, rugged mountain,

¹⁶ why gaze in
envy, you rugged mountain,

at the mountain where God chooses to reign,

where
the Lord himself will dwell forever?

¹⁷ The chariots
of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands;

he Lord has come from
Sinai into his sanctuary.

¹⁸ When you
ascended on high, you took many captives; you received gifts from people, even
from the rebellious— that you, Lord God, might dwell there.

 

When
the Lord gave the Promised Land to His people, He not only gave the people the
land, He secured a “home” for Himself. 
It is very interesting that the Lord—the Almighty Creator of the
Universe—chose Mount Zion to set up His place of dwelling.  Mount Zion is not the tallest mountain in the
region.  It’s much smaller and less
imposing than other mountains in the same region.  Yet, it was still this mountain where
Jerusalem was built and where David’s son, Solomon, constructed the
temple. 

 

Aren’t
you glad the Lord Almighty doesn’t just chose the best and brightest to be used
by Him?  I certainly am.  One thing is for certain, when God chooses
that which is small and seemingly insignificant, there can be no doubt it is
the Lord winning the victories.  As verse
7 reminds us, it was the Lord that “marched
through the wilderness” and shook the earth.  This was
THE GOD of the Sinai mountain where He thundered and gave His law through
Moses.  

 

It
was the Lord preceding the children of Israel as they conquered the Land (verse
14).  He was the Powerful Warrior.  This Powerful Warrior commands an army of
infinite size and strength (verse 17).

 

Then
verse 18 reminds us that when our Great King ascended to His throne, He
accepted and gave gifts to all people. 
Even those who only bowed by force still bowed.  Our King, who came down to earth in the life
of His Son, Jesus, also ascended to Heaven and gave gifts to His dear people
(Acts 1:9).  Philippians 2:10-11 reminds
us that “at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue
acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

 

In
Him, the unfamous can become famous. 
Maybe not on earth, but in Heaven we can be heroes of the faith by
remembering Who really fights the battles and Who goes before us as we serve
Him in a life of worship.

 

When your
enemy presses in hard do not fear

The battle
belongs to the Lord

Take
courage my friend your redemption is near

The battle
belongs to the Lord

 

And we
sing glory,  honor, power and strength to
the Lord

We sing
glory, honor, power and strength to the Lord

 

“The
Battle Belongs to the Lord”

CCLI
Song No. 21583

©
1985 Fairhill Music (Admin. by Fairhill Music)

Jamie
Owens-Collins

For
use solely with the SongSelect Terms of Use. 
All rights Reserved. www.ccli.com

CCLI
License No. 196315