76 To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.
1. God is Known Among His People (76:1-3)
1 In Judah God is known;
his name is great in Israel.
2 His abode has been established in Salem,
his dwelling place in Zion.
3 There he broke the flashing arrows,
the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah
It is a great truth that God is known among His people.
There is a very critical progression in these first three verses. God is known…He is great…He is with His people…He is the shield and defender of those who know Him.
How is God known? He is known through the pages of the Scriptures and He is known through His deeds of salvation and He is known even in a greater way through His Son Jesus Christ who is the Savior of the Church.
God has been revealed in a much greater way to His Church through Jesus His Son.
This Psalm was a song sung to commemorate the victory over Assyria.
Watch with me just how it was that God…
3 There he broke the flashing arrows,
the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah
2 Kings 18:1–8 (ESV)
18 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. 4 He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). 5 He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. 6 For he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses. 7 And the Lord was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. 8 He struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.
In those days Assyria went on a rampage of conquest and were conquering many nations. Each nation prayed to their god and each nation was destroyed. Now its Judah’s turn. Here comes Assyria with their massive army to destroy Judah.
2 Kings 19:14–19 (ESV)
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said: “O Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 16 Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 17 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands 18 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 19 So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone.”
Here is God’s reply…
2 Kings 19:32–37 (ESV)
32 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. 33 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. 34 For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
35 And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh. 37 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
I want to make sure we understand the dynamic of what just took place in Judah.
God is known…He is great…He is with His people…He is the shield and defender of those who know Him.
What made the difference here between this event and times when God’s people were carried off to exile? They knew God…they praised Him as great…He was with His people…He was their Defender.
No weapons were used by Judah and the enemy did not even get off one shot.
There is a very important pattern and truth found in the OT. When God is known, revered, and praised then it’s for His namesake He fights for His people.
What happens when God is not known or not revered as great among His people?
Then God uses His enemies to judge His people.
When God is known and loved by His people, He fights for them
When God is not known and loved he fights against His people to bring them to repentance.
We learned that in Christ God is known and in Christ and in our salvation, He is greatly to be praised.
John 17:6–12 (ESV)
6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
We know the Father because Jesus has made Him known. We have experienced God fighting for us as He has brought us into His care through the cross of Christ.
2. To Praise God is Better Armament Than Ten Thousand Soldiers (76:4-6)
4 Glorious are you, more majestic
than the mountains full of prey.
5 The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil;
they sank into sleep;
all the men of war
were unable to use their hands.
6 At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
both rider and horse lay stunned.
To know God and to praise Him through Christ is far better than a vast army.
The Assyrians were greatly defeated by God fighting for His people.
In Christ we discover that God has defeated our enemies.
Sin has been defeated…
Romans 6:6 (ESV)
6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
Satan has been defeated…
Hebrews 2:14–15 (ESV)
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
Revelation 12:10 (ESV)
10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
Death has been defeated…
1 Corinthians 15:26 (ESV)
26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Our Lord Jesus is glorious and majestic. He has defeated our enemies. For all who know Him, He is the Victor who has been victorious for us, His Church.
He will strip Satan of the spoil.
5 The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil;
Jesus will retake rightful possession of this earth and restore it to its once glorious splendor. Our Lord will win this victory with just a word. Much like this Psalm and how God defeated the Assyrians there will be no weaponry involved, no armaments engaged and no armies deployed.
Revelation 20:7–10 (ESV)
7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
3. God is to Be Feared (76:7-9)
7 But you, you are to be feared!
Who can stand before you
when once your anger is roused?
8 From the heavens you uttered judgment;
the earth feared and was still,
9 when God arose to establish judgment,
to save all the humble of the earth. Selah
As we look to verse 7, our fear of God should be aroused as we read about His wrath that was poured out on Christ for us.
No human can stand before God in His anger. No human and no angel.
7 But you, you are to be feared!
Who can stand before you
when once your anger is roused?
2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
God will judge all the earth and will save all His people.
What is the proper response to this kind of judgement? Humbly submit to God. To be silent and surrender.
We see that those who don’t know God through Jesus Christ will experience judgement and those who do will be saved.
4. God is Victorious Over All Enemies (76:10-12)
Psalm 76:10–12 (ESV)
10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise you;
the remnant of wrath you will put on like a belt.
11 Make your vows to the Lord your God and perform them;
let all around him bring gifts
to him who is to be feared,
12 who cuts off the spirit of princes,
who is to be feared by the kings of the earth.
All who rebel against God will be defeated, no exceptions. Those who oppose Him; those who discard His Word; those who rebel against Him will suffer great and eternal loss.
Their wrath against God, He will wear as a trophy around His waist.
None can endure when God’s anger is kindled.
Luke 12:4–5 (ESV)
4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!
Come to Christ today.
This is a Psalm about defeating your enemies. How do you fight against the enemies of this current world order? We must know God and praise Him for our salvation in Christ. We must know Him and He us. Then and only then will we be victorious in this life and the life to come.
I fear there are those who are losing the battle over sin, and the devil because they are not seeking God. Don’t fight instead praise the greatness of the only true God who fights for His people.
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