1 Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered; let them also who hate Him flee before Him. 2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. 3 But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God; yes, let them rejoice exceedingly. 4 Sing to God, sing praises to His name; extol Him who rides on the clouds, by His name Yah, and rejoice before Him. 5 A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation. 6 God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; but the rebellious dwell in a dry land. —Psalm 68:1-6
David uses a series of contrasts, which he often did, as he petitions God to arise and then follows up with a series of comparisons between feeble man, false gods, and JAH (or YAH), the true and living God. David says that when God chooses to move, His enemies will be scattered. They’ll be like smoke driven by the wind or like wax before the flame, completely incapable of resisting the greater force, and they will perish in their efforts to oppose God.
On the other hand, the righteous will have an experience of gladness, exceeding joy, and reasons to sing, all because the Champion of the chosen rides the clouds. He is a Father to the fatherless, the Defender of the widows; He sets lonely people into God’s family, and He brings those who are bound in the horror of sinfulness into the bountiful blessings of the wonderful newness of life in Christ.
Sadly, rebellious people live in a contrasting state of constant drought, and David tells us in verse 6 that this is a long-established pattern among the rebellious, using the Exodus from Egypt as an example (Exodus 3:19-22).
In those verses, God tells Moses that Pharaoh won’t let them go, even by a mighty hand (i.e., military might), so He himself will stretch out His hand. This tells us that God’s hand is mightier than any human army! David presents the Lord in the poetic terms as “a rider of the clouds.” This phrase is commonly associated with the Canaanite deity Baal, and David follows this statement with a qualifier, lest any mistake his statement, “His name is Yah” (which is a contraction of YHWH, meaning “the Existing One”).
Notice the Holy Spirit’s choice of title for the Lord here, which contains a bit of sarcasm that the God of Israel actually exists, unlike Baal. So how does all of this play out for you and me—all of these comparisons between feeble man, false gods, and Yah, the Existing One? The Bible tells us that the Existing One is the Champion of the chosen. Remember this: Our enemies will never have the advantage over us. No matter how many there are, or who they are, or what they have, say, or do, or even the size of their army—when God arises, they are like smoke in the wind and wax before the flame. They don’t stand a chance!
Some of you may be thinking, “What can man do to me?” Well, sadly, the answer is “plenty!” But the truth is that man can do nothing of eternal consequences. Even in this life when God allows things we may not like or understand, no one who belongs to Him is ever snatched out of the Father’s hand or separated from His love. He is a Champion of the chosen, and so we can know that our enemies will never have the advantage over us. Go out in confidence today!
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