My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Selah
Psalm 68:20 Our God is a God of salvation, and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.
Psalm 68:21 But God will strike the heads of his enemies, the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.
Psalm 68:22 The Lord said, “I will bring them back from Bashan, I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
Psalm 68:23 that you may strike your feet in their blood, that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”
Our God is a God who bears us up. He supports us, provides strength, motivation and energy, direction and guidance.
He bears us up daily.
In our text, the psalmist uses a term that describes a burden, a load to be carried, and for the Lord, the load is Israel, and by extension ourselves. Each day He carries us, bearing us as the burden that He has taken on as His task.
Each day, He carries us through our trials, through our victories and through our heartbreaks. The picture is of a mighty One with a load on His back, moving the burden, His people, from point A to point B.
He speaks of His people being His burden later in Isaiah, when He reminds them of the duration of His lifting His people, even from birth.
Isaiah 46:3-4 “Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.
There is much that can be spoken of regarding the goodness and kindness of God toward His people in our verse in Psalm 68. The psalmist speaks of God being the Blessed One, Our Salvation, and the deliverer from death! He is the deliverer from death! So great is our God that He is the deliverer from death. May His Name be praised.
The link between Psalm 68 and Isaiah 46 begs me to consider the duration of His carrying us in both passages. Isaiah makes it clear that He will carry His people, even to gray hairs, or to the end of life. God is faithful to His people.
Take note of the psalm, where he again speaks of time passing.
striking the heads of His enemies, the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways
Let me explain my thoughts.
God bears us as a burden, yet He strikes the head of the guilty, those who are the enemy of His people. The author speaks of the hairy crown of the guilty being struck.
So which is it? Does He carry His people even to gray hair (old age) or does He strike those who walk in guilty ways? As His people, we must confess that we have not obeyed His will perfectly! At times we fall into sin and incur guilt in our lives before Him. And with guilt comes the striking!
Let us not fool ourselves to think “strike” may mean a glancing blow, or a simple nudge to correct the guilty. The word used is מָחַץ mâchats, and Strong’s dictionary provides synonyms such as “to crush, smash or violently plunge; figuratively, to subdue or destroy”
He carries His people, but the guilty He crushes. To refine the message better, it is the one “who walks in his guilty ways” that is struck.
Now as I continue in this post, I need to reiterate that I have no training in the ancient languages, and I rely only on the skimpiest understanding of verbs. With that said, the term “walk” in relation to the guilty in this verse refers to a continuous action. The NASB catches this thought somewhat clearer.
Psalm 68:21 Surely God will shatter the head of His enemies, The hairy crown of him who goes on in his guilty deeds. NASB
The NET captures the thought without any chance of misunderstanding
Psalm 68:21 Indeed God strikes the heads of his enemies, the hairy foreheads of those who persist in rebellion.
For the believer, we are to bless the Lord for His many mercies, for the constant carrying of His people. We are without hope without Him.
Yet the Word speaks of those who persist in rebellion as being the ones who will be struck!
How important is it for us as His people to trust and obey. To be in persistent rebellion against the One who carries us is to fall into great danger. Are not our lives are to be of a constant learning of the Holy One and a recurring, continual repentance of our known rebellion against Him. He carries us as a burden, and as He carries, we have the privilege of learning of Him.
I can’t help but think of the Lord as He spoke to His disciples (and us) when He voiced these words of His burden.
Matthew 11:29-30 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
His yoke is easy, and His burden is light (or manageable). This is the God who carries His people, and He continues to invite those who are heavy laden (with burdens) to find rest in Him. And as we find rest in Him, we are provided a yoke and burden to join in with Him.
He carries us. We need to learn from Him. As we learn of how great of a God we have come to know, we are to follow after Him, changing our minds (repentance) and actions (obedience) to reflect what we know of Him. As we learn we find a different burden, a manageable burden that He shares with us.
And yet in all of our lives, He carries us! He is the God to be blessed by a thankful people, for all His mercies. Praise His name for His many mercies.
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Considering the Bible 