URC Daily Devotion Sunday 9 February 2025

Psalm 68

Let God arise, let his foes be scattered.

Let those who hate him flee before him.
As smoke is blown away so will they be blown away;
like wax that melts before the fire,
so the wicked shall perish at the presence of God.

But the just shall rejoice at the presence of God,
they shall exult and dance for joy.
O sing to the Lord, make music to his name;
make a highway for him who rides on the clouds.
Rejoice in the Lord, exult at his presence.

Father of the orphan, defender of the widow,
such is God in his holy place.
God gives the lonely a home to live in;
he leads the prisoners forth into freedom;
but rebels must dwell in a parched land.

When you went forth, O God, at the head of your people,
when you marched across the desert, the earth trembled:
the heavens melted at the presence of God,
at the presence of God, Israel’s God.

You poured down, O God, a generous rain;
when your people were starved you gave them new life.
It was there that your people found a home,
prepared in your goodness, O God, for the poor.

The Lord gives the word to the bearers of good tidings:
“The Almighty has defeated a numberless army
and kings and armies are in flight, in flight
while you were at rest among the sheepfolds.”

At home the women already share the spoil.
They are covered with silver as the wings of a dove,
its feathers brilliant with shining gold
and jewels flashing like snow on Mount Zalmon.

The mountains of Bashan are mighty mountains;
high-ridged mountains are the mountains of Bashan.
Why look with envy, you high-ridged mountains,
at the mountain where God has chosen to dwell?
It is there that the Lord shall dwell for ever.

The chariots of God are thousands upon thousands.
The Lord has come from Sinai to the holy place.
You have gone up on high; you have taken captives,
receiving men and women in tribute, O God,
even those who rebel, into your dwelling, O Lord.

May the Lord be blessed day after day.
He bears our burdens, God our saviour;
this God of ours is a God who saves.
The Lord our God holds the keys of death.
And God will smite the head of his foes,
the crown of those who persist in their sins.

The Lord said: “I will bring them back from Bashan;
I will bring them back from the depth of the sea.
Then your feet will tread in their blood
and the tongues of your dogs take their share of the foe.”

They see your solemn procession, O God,
the procession of my God, of my king, to the sanctuary:
the singers in the forefront, the musicians coming last,
between them, maidens sounding their timbrels.

“In festive gatherings, bless the Lord;
bless God, O you who are Israel’s sons.”
There is Benjamin, least of the tribes, at the head,
Judah’s princes, a mighty throng,
Zebulun’s princes, Naphtali’s princes.

Show forth, O God, show forth your might,
your might, O God, which you have shown for us.
For the sake of your temple high in Jerusalem
may nations come to you bringing their tribute.

Threaten the wild beast that dwells in the reeds,
the bands of the mighty and rulers of the peoples.
Let them bow down offering silver.
Scatter the peoples who delight in war.
Envoys will make their way from Egypt;
Ethiopia will stretch out her hands to God.

Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God, praise the Lord
who rides on the heavens, the ancient heavens.
He thunders his voice, his mighty voice.
Come, acknowledge the power of God.

His glory is on Israel; his might is in the skies.
God is to be feared in his holy place.
He is the Lord, Israel’s God.
He gives strength and power to his people.

Blessed be God!

Reflection

If you’ve managed to plough through all those verses to reach this point – congratulations and well done.  Just be thankful that it’s not Psalm 119!  As for what to reflect on, there is so much to choose. 

This psalm starts quite promisingly with words and images we can easily relate to – foes scattering like smoke being blown away or like wax melting in the heat.  It continues in colourful snippets of God as defender and champion of the orphan and widow, of God descending like rain upon parched earth and of God defeating a numberless army to keep Israel safe.  By the time we get to the verse where the women are covered in silver we might be wondering what’s going on especially as it is followed by many references to Bashan. By this point many will be losing the plot – literally.  It dots around festivals and processions and different tribes which would have been familiar to the original hearers but who send us scurrying to our Bibles or to Google to look them up.  

This Psalm was likely to have been written by Deborah – judge and prophetess – as it so closely echoes Judges chapters 4 and 5 which contain the ‘Song of Deborah’ possibly the oldest biblical writings.  Its combination of narrating history, recounting and witnessing the events that led to victory, and poetry  draws us into a deeper understanding.  We each alight on some phrase which captures our imagination or hooks into our own experience of life and faith.  I guess that’s what will happen today. It’s worth noting that when choirs sing such a long psalm it is usually given more than one tune which changes after a certain number of verses.   This keeps the listener’s attention and also can serve to highlight a particular mood as the backdrop to the words. 

My own pick from the psalm – 

May the Lord be blessed day after day.

He bears our burdens, God our saviour.

But what is yours?

Prayer 

When we are overwhelmed
by a mass of information and detail in your holy Word
help us to focus on what you are saying to each of us now. 
Keep us reading and praying with clarity and integrity,
always remembering that you feed us daily
when we turn to you for sustenance and encouragement. Amen