Psalms 75

Psalms 751. To the Chief Musician. Al-tashheth. A Psalm by Asaph. A song (of praise). See above, on Psalms 68:1. In this psalm the ancient church expresses a confident anticipation of divine assistance and deliverance from the domination of some great hostile power, the catastrophe of which is here foretold. The immediate historical occasion we have no direct means of determining; but the one to which the psalm itself seems most appropriate is the destruction of the Assyrian host in the reign of Hezekiah. See above, on Psalms 46:1, and below, on Psalms 76:1, and compare Isaiah 36 and Isaiah 37. That the psalm has reference to a period of imminent and extraordinary danger, is moreover indicated by the phrase al-tashheth, or destroy not. See above, on Psalms 57:1.

2. (Psalms 75:1). We give thanks to thee, 0 God, we give thanks; and (near) is thy name; they recount thy wonders. The thanksgiving is in anticipation of some great event, and implies a strong faith in the certainty of its occurrence. Thy name is near, a signal manifestation of thine attributes is just at hand, so that men begin already to recount thy wondrous works, as if actually past. Or this may mean that they recount God’s former dealings with them, as a reason for expecting like or greater things to come. Another construction of the last clause, perhaps still more natural, is that adopted in the English Bible: thy name is near, thy wondrous works declare. For the sense and usage of the last word in Hebrew, see above, on Psalms 9:1; Psalms 26:7; Psalms 40:5; Psalms 71:17.

3. (Psalms 75:2). For I will take a set time; I will equitably judge. The best interpreters are now in favour of explaining these as the words of God himself, containing the promise upon which was built the hope expressed in the preceding verse. Take then includes the two ideas of choosing and using for the end proposed. The word translated set time is the same that means assembly in Psalms 74:4; Psalms 74:8. The idea of constituted time, which is included even there, is here predominant.

The same use of the word occurs in Psalms 102:13, Habakkuk 2:3, Daniel 8:19; Daniel 11:27; Daniel 11:35. There is here an obvious allusion to the stated times at which justice is publicly administered. Compare Acts 19:38. As if he had said, I will appoint a time, and when it comes, I will ascend the judgment-seat. The parties to be tried are the foes and oppressors of God’s people. The pronoun is emphatic; I, and no other, will be judge.

See above, on Psalms 1:6. Equitably, literally equities or rectitudes. See above, on Psalms 17:2; Psalms 58:1. The use of the plural, as an abstract, and that of the noun in an adverbial sense, are both familiar Hebrew idioms. The judging of the wicked at God’s bar implies their condemnation, and, as a necessary consequence, the deliverance of those whom they oppress or injure.

4. (Psalms 75:3). Melted (are) the earth and all dwelling on it; I have weighed the pillars of it. Selah. Dissolved with fear, enfeebled, or reduced to nothing. See above, on Psalms 46:6. The figure in the last clause is obscure. The act of weighing may be intended to suggest that of raising, bearing up. Compare Isaiah 40:12-13; Isaiah 40:15. Some suppose, however, that it means to measure, estimate, or value, and implies not only perfect knowledge but creative power. As a part of the promise or encouraging assurance begun in the preceding verse, the one before us must mean that God himself will prevent or rectify the evils caused or threatened by his enemies.

5. (Psalms 75:4). I said to the boasters, Boast not, and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn! Some regard these as the words of the psalmist, speaking again in the person of the church. The sense will then be that, encouraged by God’s promise of protection and deliverance, his people warn their adversaries not to triumph. It seems more natural, however, to explain them as a continuation of the words of God himself, whose very assurance of protection to his people was in fact a warning of destruction to his enemies. The objection, that what follows must then be referred to the same speaker, is of little weight, as the transition from one person to another, in the psalms of a dramatic structure, is not commonly a marked one, and is often quite insensible.

The concluding metaphor is borrowed from the habits of horned animals, and nearly equivalent to the act of holding the head high, as a sign of human pride. For a different application of the figure, see above, on Psalms 18:2.

6. (Psalms 75:5). Do not raise on high your horn (and) speak with a proud neck, or speak with (outstretched) neck proudly. The last word is an adjective meaning insolent or arrogant. See above, on Psalms 31:18. It may either agree with neck, and signify a position and carriage of the neck indicative of pride (Psalms 73:6), or constitute the object of the verb, in which case with the neck may mean with outstretched or prolonged neck, not projecting forwards but inclining backwards. See Isaiah 3:16, and compare Job 15:26 in Hebrew. For a similar ellipsis, see below, Psalms 77:15.

7. (Psalms 75:6). For not from east, and (not) from west, and not from the wilderness of mountains, is the judgment on these sinners to proceed, but from a verydifferent quarter. The word translated east means properly the sunrise, or rather the place of his coming forth; the parallel term the sunset, or the place of evening. A third point of the compass is denoted by the wilderness, the great Arabian desert lying to the south of Palestine. The last word in Hebrew admits of two entirely different explanations. One of these, given in the English Bible, makes it the infinitive of the verb translated raise in Psalms 75:4-5, and supposes it to mean the act of raising, or a state of exaltation.

The sense will then be that promotion cometh not from any quarter upon earth, but from God and God alone. Others object that the question here is not one of promotion but of judg-ment, as appears from the foregoing and the following context.

They accordingly adhere to the ancient versions in making the plural of the common Hebrew word for hill or mountain, and explain the whole phrase to mean a hilly desert or a wilderness of mountains, a description eminently applicable to Idumcea and Arabia Petraea. The essential idea is still that of the south, here added to the east and west, as a general description of the countries contiguous to Palestine. The south is mentioned last, perhaps for the sake of an emphatic reference to Egypt, as the foreign power, on which the Jews were supposed by the Assyrians to rely with special confidence. Compare Isaiah 36:4-6. The omission of the north may either be fortuitous or (as some suppose) intended to suggest that this was the quarter from which the hostile incursion had proceeded, as it was in fact, invaders even from the furthest east commonly entering the country from that side. The meaning of the whole verse then is, that the danger which impended from one quarter could not be averted by mere human aid from any other, but only by the means referred to in the next verse.

8. (Psalms 75:7). For God (is) judge (or actually judging); this (one) he will humble, and this (one) will exalt. The for at the beginning introduces the reason of the negative statement in the verse preceding. It is not man, for it is God, who can perform this. The same relation of the sentences is commonly expressed in our idiom by but. The act of judging, or the office of a judge, here implies absolute sovereignty. This and this is the idiomatic Hebrew phrase answering to one and another in English. See above, on Psalms 20:7).
9. (Psalms 75:8). For a cup (is) in the hand of Jehovah, and the wine ferments, and it is full of mixture, and he pours out from this (cup); only its dregs shall they wring (or suck) out, shall they drink— all the wicked of the earth (or land). This is a common figure in the Scriptures for the wrath of God. See above, on Psalms 11:6. The cup contains the prescribed or allotted portion of the sinner to whom it is administered. Ferments or has fermented, implying that it is real wine and strong wine.

The translation it is red is now supposed to rest upon a doubtful etymology. Some interpreters explain the phrase, it foams with wine; but this construction is not only in itself less simple, but puts a sense upon the verb not entirely authorised by usage, and requires the noun cup, which is elsewhere feminine, to be construed as a masculine. It (the wine) is full of mixture, i.e. mixed with spices to increase its strength and stimulating power. Only its dregs is an idiomatic Hebrew phrase, which does not mean, as it may seem to do in English, that they shall drink nothing but the dregs. The meaning rather is, that they shall have nothing left for it, no resource, or no alternative, except to drain the cup to the very dregs, i. e. to suffer God’s wrath to the uttermost (1 Thessalonians 2:16). The position given to the subject of the sentence at its close makes it more emphatic.

See above on Psalms 11.

10. (Psalms 75:9.) And I will declare for ever, I will sing praise to the God of Jacob. The emphatic pronoun puts him in opposition to the wicked of the earth or land. “While they are thus destroyed, I will declare,” etc. The object of the verb in the first clause is determined by the second. Sing praise, make music, as a means of celebrating the divine praise. See above, on Psalms 9:11; Psalms 30:4; Psalms 47:6; Psalms 66:4. To the God of Jacob, to him who has proved himself to be such, by fulfilling the promise made of old to Israel. The personal name of the patriarch is poetically substituted for the one which properly belonged to him as founder of the nation. See above, on Psalms 24:6.

11. (Psalms 75:10). And all horns of wicked ones will I cut of; lifted up shall be the horns of the righteous. The same noun and verb, that were used in Psalms 75:4-5, to denote the self-exaltation of the wicked, are here used in a good sense to denote God’s gracious exaltation of the righteous. Compare Matthew 23:12, Luke 14:11; Luke 23:14. In the first clause, to the simple correlative idea of humiliation is superadded that of violent destruction. While the horns of the righteous are to be exalted, those of the wicked are not only to be lowered but cut off.

The change from the plural (wicked men) to the singular (a righteous man), if meant to be significant at all, may have reference to the speaker as an ideal individual. The construction of these words as those of God himself is a gratuitous and harsh one. They are rather uttered by the Church, as representing him, or acting in his strength and under his authority.