Bird's-eye view
These two verses form the concluding exhortation and declaration of Psalm 76. Having celebrated God's triumphant victory over the proud armies of men (vv. 1-10), the psalmist now turns to the practical and necessary response. The response is twofold. First, for the covenant people of God, the duty is to make and keep solemn promises to their victorious King. Second, for the surrounding nations, the only sane course of action is to bring tribute and acknowledge His fearsome authority. The reason for this universal summons to submission is given in the final verse: God is the one who humbles the proudest rulers on earth. He cuts down the arrogance of princes and is the rightful object of fear for every king. This is a call to worshipful submission, grounded in the reality of God's absolute and terrifying sovereignty over all human power.
In short, this passage teaches that right worship involves both personal integrity before God (keeping vows) and a public recognition of His authority over the nations (bringing gifts). Both of these are fueled by a proper understanding of His awesome power to bring low the loftiest of men. It is a missionary conclusion to a psalm of triumph, calling all the earth to bow before the God of Jacob.
Outline
- 1. The Response to God's Victory (Ps 76:11-12)
- a. The Duty of the Covenant People: Vows (Ps 76:11a)
- b. The Duty of the Nations: Tribute (Ps 76:11b)
- c. The Reason for Universal Submission: God's Sovereignty (Ps 76:12)
- i. He Humbles the Proud (Ps 76:12a)
- ii. He is Feared by Kings (Ps 76:12b)
Context In Psalm
Psalm 76 is a song of praise celebrating a great military victory that God has won for His people. It begins by declaring that God is known in Judah and His name is great in Israel (v. 1). His dwelling is in Salem, His abode in Zion (v. 2). From there, He shattered the weapons of war, the shield, sword, and battle (v. 3). The psalm describes the utter helplessness of the mighty warriors before God; their hands could not even fight, and they were cast into a deep sleep at His rebuke (vv. 5-6). This leads to the declaration of God's terror in judgment: "You, You are to be feared; and who may stand in Your presence when once You are angry?" (v. 7). The conclusion in verses 11-12 is therefore the logical application of all that has come before. Because God has demonstrated such overwhelming power against His enemies, His people must be faithful to their commitments to Him, and all other nations must recognize His lordship and pay homage.
Key Issues
- The Nature of Vows
- The Fear of God
- Tribute and Submission
- God's Sovereignty over Civil Rulers
- The Missionary Call to the Nations
Tribute to the Terrible King
The entire psalm builds to this crescendo. God has shown Himself glorious, more majestic than the mountains of prey (v. 4). He has shown Himself to be a God of judgment who saves the afflicted (v. 9). Even the wrath of man, in a stunning display of sovereignty, will praise Him (v. 10). What then is the appropriate response to such a God? Our passage provides the answer. It is not a sentimental feeling. It is concrete, public, and rooted in a healthy terror of who He is. The response is covenantal faithfulness from within the camp and tribute from without. Both are required because He is the King, not just of Israel, but of all the earth. This is not a suggestion box for the nations; it is a summons.
Verse by Verse Commentary
11 Make vows to Yahweh your God and pay them; Let all who are around Him bring gifts to the Fearsome One.
The verse is divided into two parallel commands. The first is for God's covenant people: Make vows... and pay them. A vow is not a tool for manipulating God, as though we could bargain with Him. Rather, a vow is a solemn, voluntary promise made to God, often in a time of distress or out of gratitude for deliverance. It is an expression of earnest dependence. But the crucial part of the command is to pay them. The Bible takes this with the utmost seriousness. "It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay" (Eccl 5:5). Why? Because our faithfulness in our commitments is a reflection of God's own covenant faithfulness. To make a promise to the ultimate Promise Keeper and then break it is a high-handed sin. It treats God lightly. In the wake of His mighty victory, the people are called to a renewed seriousness in their personal integrity before Him.
The second command is for all who are around Him, which refers to the surrounding nations. They are to bring gifts. These are not birthday presents. This is the language of tribute. This is what a vassal king does when he comes before his conquering emperor. He brings gifts to acknowledge submission and fealty. The psalmist is calling the nations, who have just witnessed God's power, to surrender. And they are to bring these gifts of tribute "to the Fearsome One," or more literally, to the one who is to be feared. This is the proper foundation for international relations: a shared and rightly ordered fear of the God of Heaven.
12 He will cut off the spirit of princes; He is feared by the kings of the earth.
This final verse provides the unshakeable foundation for the commands in verse 11. Why should we pay our vows? Why should the nations bring tribute? Because of who God is and what He does. He will cut off the spirit of princes. The Hebrew here for "cut off" is a word used for harvesting grapes. God, in His sovereignty, simply snips the pride of the most arrogant rulers. The word for "spirit" (`ruach`) can mean their breath, their life, but it carries the strong connotation of their courage, their mettle, their defiant arrogance. God humbles the proud. He deflates the egos of the most powerful men on the planet as easily as a gardener prunes a vine. He is not impressed by their titles, their armies, or their pomp.
Therefore, He is feared by the kings of the earth. This can be read as both a statement of what is and what ought to be. In the context of the psalm's victory, the kings who witnessed it are certainly filled with dread. But it is more than that; it is a statement of universal reality. God is the one who is properly terrible to the kings of the earth. They may demand fear from their subjects, but they themselves are subjects of the King of Heaven, and they will either learn to fear Him willingly, as a son fears a father, or they will be made to fear Him as a criminal fears the judge. There is no third option. This is the message of Psalm 2, and it is the message here. The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of all political wisdom.
Application
This passage has a sharp, two-edged application for us today. The first edge is personal. We are to be a people of our word, especially our word to God. In a culture where promises are cheap and commitments are disposable, Christians are called to a radical integrity. When we make a commitment, whether in marriage, in church membership, or in a simple promise to a neighbor, we are to reflect the character of our God who keeps His covenant forever. We do this not to earn His favor, but because His favor in Christ has made us into people who love the truth. We pay our vows because we love the Vow Keeper.
The second edge is public and missional. The Church is God's embassy on earth, and our task is to proclaim the victory of our King, Jesus Christ, who has triumphed over sin, death, and every principality and power. We are to issue the summons of Psalm 76 to the nations. We are to tell the "princes" and "kings of the earth," our modern presidents, prime ministers, and potentates, that they must bow the knee to Jesus. We are to call them to bring the "gifts" of their national life, their laws, their culture, their art, and lay them at the feet of the Fearsome One as tribute. The gospel is not a private hobby. It is a public declaration that the world has a new King, and He is rightly and terribly feared, for He is the one who cuts off the spirit of princes.