Lessons From the Psalms - Psalm 76

[00:00:07] Welcome to Lessons From the Psalms. This is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. On this podcast we will be going over the book of Psalms.

[00:00:21] Let's open in prayer. Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this Psalm today. Lord, I pray that you would reveal to everyone listening how much you truly love each and every one of them. I ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

[00:00:36] This is Psalm 76 beginning in verse 1.

[00:00:42] In Judah God is known. His name is great in Israel. In Salem also is his tabernacle and his dwelling place in Zion.

[00:00:55] There he broke the arrows of the bow, the shield and sword of battle. Selah.

[00:01:02] You are more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey.

[00:01:08] The stout-hearted were plundered. They have sunk into their sleep.

[00:01:14] And none of the mighty men have found the use of their hands.

[00:01:18] At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse were cast into a deep sleep.

[00:01:26] You yourself are to be feared.

[00:01:30] And who may stand in your presence when once you are angry?

[00:01:35] You caused judgment to be heard from heaven.

[00:01:39] The earth feared and was still.

[00:01:42] When God arose to judgment to deliver all the oppressed of the earth.

[00:01:49] Selah.

[00:01:49] Surely the wrath of man shall praise you.

[00:01:54] With the remainder of wrath you shall gird yourself.

[00:01:58] Make vows to the Lord your God and pay them.

[00:02:03] Let all who are around him bring presents to him who ought to be feared.

[00:02:10] He shall cut off the spirit of princes.

[00:02:13] He is awesome to the kings of the earth.

[00:02:17] Now friends, Psalm 76 is attributed to Asaph.

[00:02:23] And this is the fifth one, I think, that has Asaph as the author.

[00:02:30] And it was originally written to the chief musician.

[00:02:33] But it says on stringed instruments.

[00:02:37] So even though this is a psalm with words attached to it, I think it was accompanied by stringed instruments when it was originally performed.

[00:02:49] But what I'd like to do is I am reading out of the Nelson Study Bible.

[00:02:54] And I'd like to give a little bit more detail about Psalm 76.

[00:03:00] Psalm 76 is a psalm of praise with a strong focus on the fear of God.

[00:03:08] The psalm has four movements.

[00:03:10] Number one, a celebration of the center of worship in Jerusalem.

[00:03:16] Let's look at those three verses.

[00:03:20] In Judah, God is known.

[00:03:23] His name is great in Israel.

[00:03:26] In Salem, and here we are referring to the city of Jerusalem,

[00:03:32] also is his tabernacle and his dwelling place in Zion.

[00:03:37] There he broke the arrows of the bow, the shield and sword of battle.

[00:03:45] Selah.

[00:03:46] So Selah always reminds us to think about what we just heard.

[00:03:52] So God is to be praised.

[00:03:55] And God is centered in the city of Jerusalem.

[00:04:01] Let's go to the second part.

[00:04:03] A celebration of the victories of God against his enemies.

[00:04:09] Now let's look at these three verses.

[00:04:12] You are more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey.

[00:04:17] The stout-hearted were plundered.

[00:04:20] They have sunk into their sleep.

[00:04:23] And none of the mighty men have found the use of their hands.

[00:04:28] At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse were cast into a deep sleep.

[00:04:38] Now friends, verse 6 here we're referring to the army of Pharaoh.

[00:04:45] After the Israelites had been delivered from the country of Egypt when Moses did the Exodus.

[00:04:53] And so what happened was the people left and followed by all of the animals.

[00:04:59] There must have been at least half a million people that left.

[00:05:02] And a few days later, Pharaoh said, you know, we shouldn't have let them go.

[00:05:07] Let's go out after them.

[00:05:09] And so the entire army went after them.

[00:05:12] And we all know what happened.

[00:05:14] They chased after Moses and the Israelites.

[00:05:18] And Moses and the Israelites were able to pass through the Red Sea on dry ground.

[00:05:26] But when the Egyptians followed after that, the seas fell down on them and they were all killed.

[00:05:36] That's what it means a deep sleep.

[00:05:39] They were all put to death.

[00:05:41] Let's look at the third part of this psalm.

[00:05:45] A description of the fear of the earth at the anger of God.

[00:05:50] Now this entails verses 7 through 10.

[00:05:54] You yourself are to be feared.

[00:05:58] And who may stand in your presence when once you are angry?

[00:06:03] You cause judgment to be heard from heaven.

[00:06:07] The earth feared and was still.

[00:06:11] When God arose to judgment to deliver all the oppressed of the earth.

[00:06:17] Say law.

[00:06:18] Surely the wrath of man shall praise you.

[00:06:23] With the remainder of wrath, you shall gird yourself.

[00:06:28] And friends, these verses tell us that we should have a healthy fear of God.

[00:06:37] We are to reverence him.

[00:06:39] We are to come to the realization that he is God and we are not.

[00:06:47] And verses 11 and 12 are an exhortation to the righteous to worship the Lord.

[00:06:55] So let's quickly look at these two verses.

[00:06:58] Make vows to the Lord your God and pay them.

[00:07:02] Let all who are around him bring presents to him who ought to be feared.

[00:07:09] You shall cut off the spirit of princes.

[00:07:13] He is awesome to the kings of the earth.

[00:07:17] And friends, we should always be thinking about giving praise to God.

[00:07:22] He has been good to us.

[00:07:25] He meets all of our needs.

[00:07:27] And if we ever have a need, we should go directly to him.

[00:07:33] Friends, please join me again soon as we take a closer look at Psalm 77.

[00:07:39] We'll see you next time.

[00:07:39] We'll see you next time.

[00:07:40] Bye.

[00:07:40] Bye.

[00:07:40] Bye.

[00:07:40] Bye.