Commentary - Psalm 76:4-6

Bird's-eye view

Psalm 76 is a song of triumph. It is a psalm of gratitude and gladness after the fact. The previous psalm, Psalm 75, was a song of anticipatory thanksgiving for a deliverance that was still on its way. This psalm is what you sing after God has shown up and done the deed. The smoke has cleared, the enemy is routed, and God is standing glorious in the field. The central theme is the awesome and terrible power of God in judgment, a power that reduces the mightiest of human empires to nothing. He is the God who dwells in Zion, and from there He shatters the weapons of war. This psalm celebrates a specific historical deliverance, likely the destruction of Sennacherib's army (2 Kings 19:35), but it serves as a potent reminder for all time that God is a warrior, and that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, especially for kings and nations who would dare to oppose Him.

The passage before us, verses 4 through 6, forms the heart of this celebration. It moves from adoring God for His majestic glory to describing the utter collapse of His enemies. The language is stark and absolute. The proud are plundered, the strong are paralyzed, and the most advanced military hardware of the day is put to sleep by a simple rebuke from the God of Jacob. This is not a contest; it is a display of absolute sovereignty. It teaches us that all human power, pomp, and pride are a vapor before the manifest presence of the living God.

Outline

Context In Psalms

This psalm, attributed to Asaph, is part of a collection of psalms that often deal with themes of God's judgment and His sovereign rule over the nations. It follows Psalm 75, which speaks of God as the judge who puts down one and exalts another. As we noted, Psalm 75 is the anticipation, and Psalm 76 is the celebration. This psalm is what it looks like when the cup of God's wrath, mentioned in Psalm 75:8, is poured out upon His enemies. The setting is Jerusalem, called Salem and Zion here, which God has established as His dwelling place. It is from this place of covenant presence that God exercises His global authority. The historical background is most likely the miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem from the Assyrian army under Sennacherib, an event that Isaiah also prophesied and recorded. The Assyrians were the "mountains of prey," a global superpower, and their sudden and complete destruction overnight by the angel of the Lord is a perfect illustration of the truths celebrated in this psalm.

Verse by Verse

vs. 4 You are shining, Majestic from the mountains of prey.

The psalm turns now to direct address. The singer, overwhelmed by the reality of God's victory, speaks to God directly. "You are shining, Majestic..." This is the language of theophany, of the glorious, unapproachable light of God's presence. When God acts, His inherent glory is put on display for all to see. He is not a distant, abstract deity; He is a present and radiant King. The second clause is striking: "from the mountains of prey." This is a picture of a lion returning from a successful hunt. The "mountains of prey" are the strongholds of the predatory empires of this world. Think of Babylon, Assyria, or Rome. They are mountains, yes, formidable and high. But they are mountains that live by plunder, by devouring others. God is more majestic than they are, and He shows this by returning from having made them His prey. He has gone into the lion's den and broken the lion's teeth. He is not glorious like the mountains of prey; He is glorious from them, returning as the victor who has plundered the plunderers. All their ill-gotten glory now serves only as the backdrop for His far superior glory.

vs. 5 The stouthearted were plundered, They sank into sleep; And none of the warriors could use his hands.

Here we see the result of God's majestic expedition. The "stouthearted," the proud and courageous warriors of the enemy, are themselves "plundered." The very thing they came to do to Jerusalem has been done to them. This is divine irony, a recurring theme in Scripture. God delights in turning the tables on the proud. Their bravado and self-confidence meant nothing. They were full of valor one moment, and stripped bare the next. And then, "They sank into sleep." This is not the peaceful sleep of a weary soldier. This is a euphemism for death, and a particularly ignominious one. They did not fall in a blaze of glory; they simply went to sleep and never woke up. The angel of the Lord passes through, and the whole affair is quiet, still, and final. The last clause drives the point home: "And none of the warriors could use his hands." Imagine an entire army, armed to the teeth, suddenly and completely paralyzed. Their hands, trained for the sword and spear, were useless. This is a picture of utter helplessness. Human strength, no matter how great, is utterly nullified when God decides to act. It is not that they fought and lost; it is that they were rendered incapable of even fighting. Their strength was shown to be no strength at all.

vs. 6 At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob, Both chariot rider and horse slumbered into a deep sleep.

How did this happen? What weapon did God use to bring about such a swift and total collapse? The psalmist tells us here. It was "At Your rebuke." A rebuke is a word. God did not need to muster His own chariots. He simply spoke. This is the creative and decretal power of the word of God. The same power that said, "Let there be light," and there was light, is the power that rebukes kings and armies and they are not. The title used here is significant: "O God of Jacob." This is the covenant God, the God who made promises to a man who was himself a deceiver and a supplanter. This is the God of grace, who fights on behalf of His undeserving people. His rebuke is not the abstract anger of a distant god; it is the specific, covenantal defense of His own. And the effect of this rebuke was total. "Both chariot rider and horse slumbered into a deep sleep." The most fearsome military technology of the ancient world was the chariot. It was the equivalent of a modern tank battalion. But before the rebuke of God, the man and the animal, the technology and the power behind it, all simply stopped. They "slumbered," again that word for a death that is like a deep, sudden sleep. The whole war machine just came to a dead halt. This is the gospel. The principalities and powers that stood against us were disarmed not by a long, drawn-out battle, but by the decisive act of God in Christ on the cross. At His word, the enemy is silenced and put into a deep sleep from which he cannot awake to threaten God's people ever again.