Holy Bible

For that Thy name is near Thy wondrous works declare. Psalm 75 God's nearness to the world Homilist. I. He is near as the SUSTAINER OF A DISSOLVING SYSTEM (ver. 3). The force of disintegration operates every moment, not only in organized matter, but even in what we call simple substances, if, indeed, such things exist. The mountains falling come to nought. Every plant in the great system of vegetation is dissolving; and the great world of animal life, from the tiniest insect to the hugest monster of the forest or the sea, is ever in the process of dissolution. What prevents the whole universe tumbling to pieces, flying off part from part, particle from particle as a log of wood in the flames? No force short of God. The same principle of disintegration is at work in human society. Families, societies, Churches, nations, are dissolving; kingdoms are constantly breaking into pieces. God alone keeps things together, bears up the pillars of a dissolving universe. "He upholds all things by the word of His power." II. He is near as the REBUKER OF HUMAN WICKEDNESS (vers. 4, 5). 1. Three phases of wickedness are here indicated: —(1) Folly — "Deal not foolishly." Sin is folly. It is against the reason, the interests, the dignity and blessedness of existence. "He that sinneth against Me wrongeth his own soul."(2) Haughtiness — "Lift not up the horn." Pride and arrogance enter into the very essence of wickedness. "God resisteth the proud," etc.(3) Recklessness — "Speak not with a stiff neck." Bold, shameless, obstinate disregard to the claims of God and all the moral proprieties. 2. God is present in the world, reproving all the wickedness with the voice of Providence, by the admonitions of conscience, by the ministry of His Word and the stricings of Ills Spirit. III. He is near as THE SOVEREIGN DISPOSER OF ALL SOCIAL CHANGES. "For promotion cometh neither from the east," etc. "But God is the judge: He putteth down one, and setteth up another" ( 1 Samuel 2:7 ). He is in the rise and in the fall, not only of empires, but individual men. "He raiseth up the poor out of the dust," etc. IV. He is near — ADMINISTERING TO ALL MEN DISPENSATIONS FROM A COMMON SOURCE (ver. 8). What is that cup? Infinite benevolence; and from this cup "He poureth out of the same," great natural blessings. "God is good, and His tender mercies are over all the works of His hand." 1. The cup is a mixed cup. "Full of mixture." What an infinite variety of blessings are in this cup, this cup of level Something from it falls fresh upon every being every hour. 2. The contents of this cup have a different effect upon different characters. To the righteous it is a pleasant cup. Its blooming, sparkling mixture is delicious and inspiring. Not so to the wicked; what is delicious and sustaining to the good is distasteful and pernicious to the evil. Moral character changes subjectively the very nature of things. V. He is near to DESTROY THE POWER OF THE WICKED AND TO AUGMENT THE POWER OF THE RIGHTEOUS (ver. 10). Matthew Arnold has somewhere described God "as a stream of tendency that maketh for righteousness." His meaning, I presume, is that the whole procedure of God in the moral world tends to put down the wrong and to raise and glorify the right. ( Homilist. ) The nearness of God R. Simpson, M. A. : — God is near — I. TO OBSERVE OUR SINS ( Job 24:14, 15 ; Psalm 139:2-4 ; Genesis 3:9-24 ; Genesis 19:24-28 ; Joshua 7:24-26 ; Acts 5:1-10 ). II. TO NOTICE OUR DESIRES AFTER HIM ( Jeremiah 31:18-20 ; Luke 15:20 ). III. TO PARDON, SANCTIFY, AND JUSTIFY ( Isaiah 50:7-9 ). IV. TO ANSWER OUR PRAYERS ( Psalm 145:18, 19 ; Isaiah 65:24 ). V. TO RELIEVE OUR WANTS ( Psalm 34:10 ; Psalm 84:11 ; Habakkuk 3:17, 18 ). VI. TO SUCCOUR US IN DISTRESS ( Psalm 34:19 ; Isaiah 49:10 ). VII. TO SAVE US FROM DANGER ( Daniel 3:27 ). Job; Peter. From this subject we may derive warning to sinners, an encouragement to the penitent; comfort to believers. ( R. Simpson, M. A. ) God's works declare Him: When that great artist, Dore, was once travelling in Southern Europe, he lost his passport. When he came to the boundary line where he needed to produce it, the official challenged him. Said he, "I have lost my passport; but it is all right — I am Dore the artist. Please let me go on." "Oh, no," said the officer; "we have plenty of people representing themselves as this or that great one." After some conversation the man said, "Well, I want you to prove it. Hero is a pencil and some paper. Now, if you are the artist, draw me a picture." Dore took the pencil, and with a few master strokes sketched some of the features of the neighbourhood. Said the man, "Now I am perfectly sure of it. You are Dore; no other man could do that." Thus all the works of creation their great Original proclaim, "that Thy name is near Thy wondrous works declare." God revealed in nature The Signal. A legend has it that a prophet appealed to God for a sign such as had been granted to other prophets. In response a tuft of moss opened before the man, and from the rock beneath rose a lovely violet. As he looked admiringly on the opening leaves he had no need to ask for signs and wonders, for as he was leaving home his little daughter had given him a violet precisely like the one created before his eyes. We need not ask to see a new star flashing gorgeous lights on the darkness of a wintry night, or oaks to spring in a moment from acorns, as demonstrations of a Divine presence. God is as truly revealed in a little flower as in the most stupendous miracle that could amaze and overwhelm the mind; Archdeacon Farrar tells about a boy who took a flower with him to his work every morning. He put the flower on his desk in the schoolroom, and when asked why he did this, replied that the flower was to remind him of God and keep him from evil thoughts. ( The Signal. ) I bear up the pillars of it. Psalm 75:3 God behind nature A. G. Brown. : — It is literally true IN THE REALM OF NATURE. "I bear up the pillars of it." God is being gradually eliminated from His own world. In olden time God was brought in at every nook and corner and turn. If it rained, the Lord had opened the bottles of heaven. If there was a drought, the Lord had locked up the heavens. If a hurricane occurred, the Lord had raised up a mighty wind. In ancient times men saw God in all the phenomena of nature. We are more educated now — indeed, so educated that we have nearly excluded God from the realm of His own universe. There is a scientific explanation for everything. No matter what may happen, we are told, "There are the pillars that support, and there is nothing supernatural." But the Lord comes in and asks this question, "Who supports the pillars?" If a semi-infidel world says, "Everything can be explained by science, and that which at present seems almost insoluble has only to be waited for a little while, and the pillars will appear," God says, "True, but then 1 bear up the pillars." ( A. G. Brown. ) Speak not with a stiff neck. Psalm 75:5 Stiff necks W. Birch. The text is a figure of that pride, stubbornness, or wilful disobedience which refuses to yield to rightful and loving authority. I. Let me indicate THE CLASSES OF PERSONS WHO ARE MORALLY AND SPIRITUALLY STIFFNECKED 1. If you resist the conviction of sin, you are stiffnecked. 2. You have shown your stiff neck by despising faithful warnings. 3. Or, it may be, that you have rejected the counsel of godly parents. 4. Your stubbornness in tribulation shows that you have a stiff neck towards God. II. Let me EXHORT YOU TO REPENTANCE. Let the love of God draw you to turn to Him. ( W. Birch. ) God is the judge: He putteth down one, and setteth up another. Psalm 75:6, 7 Getting on A. K. H. Boyd, D. D. : — It is not a trivial question, whether your life, my young friend, is to be a failure or a success. Everybody is going on. We are all getting through our little span of daylight. But some people are not only going on, they are getting on. Each vocation has its rising men. How is it that men get on? It is a very simple and primary notion, capable of reception only by the most unsophisticated mind, that the most deserving always get on best. Whatever be the law, it is not that. To gain any advantage or eminence, a man must have a certain amount of merit. I am obliged to say, as the result of all my observations of the way in which human beings get on, that they get on mainly by chance or luck, in a fashion that looks fortuitous. There must be merit in walks where men have to make their own way; but that a man may get on, he must be seconded by good luck. We know, of course, that there is a Higher Hand, and we humbly recognize that. I believe that these words of the psalmist give us the entire philosophy of getting on. It is a matter of God's sovereignty; and God's sovereignty, as it affects human beings, we speak of as their good or ill luck. Of course, there is really no chance in the matter. Everything is rightly arranged and governed. Still, nothing can be more certain than the fact that there are men who are what we call lucky, and other men who are unlucky. The unlucky, perhaps, need it all; and the lucky can stand it all; but there is the fact. And we know that there are blessed compensations, which may make the crook in the lot a true blessing. Life is a lottery. No doubt, there is no real chance in life; but then there is no real chance in any lottery. Honest industry and perseverance, also resolute selfishness, meanness, toadyism, and unscrupulousness, tend to various forms of worldly success. But you can draw no assurance from these general principles, as to what either may do for yourself. My text is not the resort of soured disappointment: it is the confession of humbled and shamed success. The worthier way of getting on is, when a man, by his doings and character, makes a position important, which in other hands would not be so. In treatises on the arts of self-advancement and self-help, there is a fallacy at the foundation of all their instructions. They all say, "Do so and so, and you will get on." But they all fail to allow for chance or Providence. Let us always keep it in our remembrance that there is something far better than any amount of worldly success, which may come of worldly failure. A wise and good man in this world will not set his heart on getting on, and will not push very much to get on. He will do his best, and humbly take, with thankfulness, what the Hand above sends him. It is not worth while to push. "Seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not." It is not worth while. Let us trust in God, and do right, and we shall get on as much as He thinks good for us. ( A. K. H. Boyd, D. D. ) For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red. Psalm 75:8 God's threatenings against incorrigible sinners T. Horton, D. D. : — In this verse we have a lively description and amplification of the judgments of God upon the world, which are here set forth unto us under a threefold representation of them. First, in their preparation. Secondly, in their execution. Thirdly, in their participation. I. THE PREPARATION. 1. The vessel — a cup. By this we may understand whatsoever it is which is the means, and conveyance, and derivation of any evil unto us. God makes the same providences to be a cup of physic to His children, for the recovering of them from their spiritual infirmities, and a cup of poison to His enemies, for the destroying of them, in the midst of their sins. 2. The liquor.(1) Red wine — a cup of blood prepared for the inhabitants of the world, as an expression of God's vengeance upon them.(2) Full of mixture, i.e . wrath and revenge. 3. The preparer — God Himself. II. THE EXECUTION. God will not be always in the forewarnings of judgment, He will be at last in the dispensations of it. He will not be always tempering it, He will be at last pouring out of it. The Lord is full of patience and longsuffering, and bears much with the sons of men for a long while together; but when His patience and longsuffering is once abused, He then comes on to punishment and execution. And this I say it is, when sin is come to its ripeness and maturity, and is at its full growth. There are three aggravations of sin which do put God upon the execution of judgment, and this pouring forth of wrath. 1. Boldness and insolence in sinning ( Jeremiah 8:12 ). 2. Generality in sinning; when it comes to taint and overspread a whole nation. 3. Security and presumption. III. THE PARTICIPATION. 1. The persons mentioned. "The wicked of the earth," that is, such as are more scandalous, and presumptuous, and impenitent, and farthest from reformation; such as those who, for the nature of sin, are more abominable, and for the continuance in it, are more incorrigible; these are they which the Holy Ghost does here point at in a more principal manner. 2. The evil denounced against them.(1) The potion or draught itself, it is the dregs of the cup. This is the potion of wicked men, while 'tis said they shall drink the dregs, there are three things implied in this expression as belonging unto it. (a) The reservation of judgment, they shall drink the last. (b) The aggravation of judgment, they shall drink the worst. (c) The perfection and confirmation of judgment, they shall drink up all. They shall drink the last, they shall drink the worst, they shall drink all; each of these are implied in the dregs. ( T. Horton, D. D. ) The Lord's cup W. Gilpin. I. THE CONTENTS OF THE LORD'S CUP. "The wine is red; it is full of mixture;" that is, however fair the appearance of things may be, however splendid any state of happiness, or any situation of life may appear, there is always added to it a certain portion of evil. By evil, I mean only the usual misfortunes and afflictions of human life. These are what temper the cup of the Lord; and in this mixed state it is poured out to the inhabitants of the earth. Man being compounded of good and evil, all his labours partake of the mixture. Let him form what schemes he will; let him employ all his little prudence and foresight in bringing them to perfection, still we will find mixed with them in one shape or other, uncertainty, disappointment, and miscarriage. II. HOW THE UNGODLY MAN DRINKS. IV. The text says, "He drinks the dregs." Now, the dregs of any liquor are the pernicious parts. It is fairly implied, therefore, that the ungodly man turns both the good and evil of life to his own destruction. III. HOW THE GODLY MAN DRINKS IT. As the ungodly man drinks the dregs, the finer parts of the liquor are, of course, the portion of the godly man. In the first place, he expects to find a degree of bitterness in his cup. He sees the propriety of it, and fully acknowledges the great usefulness of this mixture of good and evil. If the potion were perfectly palatable, he fears he might drink to excess. When it pleases Heaven to bless him; when his designs succeed; and his hopes dilate in some view of happiness before him, "Now is the time" (he suggests to himself) "when I must guard my heart with double care. Now is the time when insolence, and wantonness, and pride, the attendants of a prosperous hour, are most liable to corrupt me. Let prosperity soften my heart, instead of hardening it. Let me be humble, and mild, and condescending, and obliging to all. In the midst of my own enjoyments, let my heart expand. Let me feel the misery of others; and turn my plenty to the relief of their necessity." Again, when it pleases Heaven to mix some bitter ingredients in his cup, still he has the same sense of acting under the will of God. "Now," he cries, "is the time when I am to exercise patience and resignation. Now my religion is put to the test. Shall I receive good at the hand of the Lord, and not receive evil? Gracious God! grant that I may improve my heart under this trial of my faith; and make my sufferings, through Jesus Christ, the means of purifying my affections. Let me for His sake bear a Lifting part of what He bore for me; and let me keep that great pattern of suffering resignation always before my eyes." Thus the godly man drinks of the Lord's cup, and his draught, whether sweet or bitter, is wholesome to him. ( W. Gilpin. ) But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. Psalm 75:9, 10 A model of devout praise W. Jones. : — The praise resolved upon here is worthy of our imitation, inasmuch as it — I. LOSES SIGHT OF SELF IN DEVOUT ADMIRATION OF THE CHARACTER AND DOINGS OF GOD. 1. He will praise God for His doings.(1) Undeserved by us. "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."(2) Unsought by us. We did not seek God, but He sought us by Jesus Christ.(3) Freely and heartily given by God out of His own sovereign love. "Bless the Lord, O my soul." 2. He will praise God for His faithfulness. With Him there is "no variableness, neither shadow of turning." 3. He will praise God "for ever." "Let not thy praises be transient — a fit of music, and then the instrument hung by the wall till another gaudy day of some remarkable providence makes thee take it down. God comes not guest-wise to His saints' house, but to dwell with them. David took this up for a life-work: 'As long as I live, I will praise Thee.'" II. EVINCES ITS REALITY BY RESOLVING TO IMITATE HIM. Our praise of the excellences of others is a very hollow affair unless we also cultivate those excellences. We praise God for His "unspeakable gift"; are we imitating His pure generosity? We praise Jesus Christ for His great self-sacrifice for us; are we denying ourselves in His spirit that others might be benefited? We bless God for the Gospel; are we exemplifying the spirit of the Gospel? A certain Dr. Whitaker, on reading the fifth chapter of Matthew, brake out, saying, "Either this is not the Gospel, or we are not of the Gospel." And is it not to be feared that the spirit of the Gospel for which men praise God, and the spirit of their lives, are often widely different? Let us evince the sincerity of our praise to God by imitating Him in our spirit and life. Let us admire Him, commune with Him, adore Him, until we are transformed into the same image. ( W. Jones. ).

Benson Commentary Psalm 75:1 To the chief Musician, Altaschith, A Psalm or Song of Asaph. Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare. Psalm 75:1 . Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks — I, in my own, and in thy people’s name; for that thy name — Thy self, or thy power; is near — That is, is present with us, and most ready to help us when we cry unto thee; thou art not departed from us; thou dost not now stand afar off, as once thou didst, Psalm 10:1 , as thy wondrous works declare — Wrought for the good of thy people. “Upon whatever occasion,” says Dr. Horne, “these words were originally endited, the Christian Church now celebrates in them that great deliverance which, by so many miracles of mercy and power, hath been accomplished for her through the Messiah, who is, in Scripture, frequently styled the NAME of Jehovah.” Psalm 75:2 When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly. Psalm 75:2 . When I shall receive the congregation — The first verse was spoken by many persons, We give thanks, &c. here the speaker is one, and that one is plainly a ruler, who promises that when he shall have received the congregation, or, as ???? may be properly rendered, an appointed, or fit time, or season; that is, when he shall be established in power and authority, at a fit time and place, he will judge uprightly, and introduce a thorough reformation into a kingdom which, as the following verse makes manifest, stood greatly in need of it. From these circumstances Dr. Horne, with several other commentators, thinks it probable “David is speaking here of his advancement to the throne of Israel, and the intended rectitude of his administration when he should be settled thereon.” Psalm 75:3 The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah. Psalm 75:3 . The earth — Or land; and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved — Or melted, as ????? , nemogim, may be rendered. It seems to mean, either that the Israelitish affairs were thrown into confusion, and the frame of the government dissolved by their civil distractions, or that the people were consumed and destroyed by the continual irruptions of foreign enemies. I bear up the pillars of it — How much soever I am traduced by mine enemies, as the great disturber of the land, I must do myself this right to affirm that, under God, I do support and establish it, by maintaining religion and justice, by appointing, countenancing, and supporting good magistrates, and by encouraging the Lord’s prophets and servants, and all good men, who are indeed the pillars of a nation. Psalm 75:4 I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn: Psalm 75:4-5 . I said — With authority and command; unto the fools — The wicked: I charged them; Deal not foolishly — Desist from your impious and injurious practices, which shall not now go unpunished as they have done. Lift not up your horn, &c. — Do not carry yourselves with pride and arrogance, boasting of your own strength; or with scorn and contempt toward me or any others of God’s people. It is a metaphor taken from untamed oxen, which will not bow their heads to receive the yoke, but lift up their heads and horns to avoid it. Or, ????? , lammarom, rendered, on high, means, against the high one, that is, against God, who is mentioned under this same title, Psalm 56:2 ; Isaiah 57:15 . Speak not — Against me and my government; with a stiff neck — With pride and contempt of my person, and with rebellion against God’s will declared concerning my advancement, of which you are not ignorant: see 2 Samuel 3:17-18 . Psalm 75:5 Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck. Psalm 75:6 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. Psalm 75:6-7 . For promotion cometh not, &c. — Though you envy and oppose my advancement, because I was but a poor shepherd, and of a mean family; yet you ought to know and consider what is notorious and visible in the world, that the dignities and sceptres of the earth are not always conferred according to human expectations and probabilities, but by God’s sovereign will and providence, as it follows. But God is judge — Namely, the righteous Judge, and supreme Lord and Governor of all the kingdoms of the earth; giving them to whomsoever he pleaseth. He putteth down one and setteth up another — It is he who hath rejected Saul and his family, and put me in his stead: and who art thou that disputest against God, and resistest his declared will? Psalm 75:7 But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another. Psalm 75:8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them . Psalm 75:8 . For, &c. — This verse is added, either, 1st, As a reason or confirmation of the assertion, Psalm 75:7 , and to show that God, in removing one king to make way for another, did not proceed in a way of absolute sovereignty, but in a way of justice and equity. Or, 2d, As another argument to enforce his advice given Psalm 75:4-5 , which he had already pressed by one argument, Psalm 75:6-7 . In the hand of the Lord there is a cup — God is here compared to the master of a feast, who, in those days, used to distribute portions of meats or drinks to the several guests, as he thought fit. A cup, in Scripture, is sometimes taken in a good sense for God’s blessings, as Psalm 16:5 ; Psalm 23:5 , and sometimes, and more frequently, in a bad sense, for his vengeance and judgments, Psalm 11:6 ; Isaiah 51:22 ; Jeremiah 49:12 ; Matthew 20:23 ; and so it is here understood, as the following words show. And the wine is red — Such as the best wine in Judea was, ( Deuteronomy 32:14 ; Proverbs 23:31 ,) and therefore strong and intoxicating. Or, is troubled, as ??? , chamar, more properly signifies, and is rendered by divers learned men. Thus he expresses the power and fierceness of God’s wrath and judgments. It is full of mixture — The wine is mingled, not with water, but with strengthening and intoxicating ingredients. “Calamity and sorrow, fear and trembling, infatuation and despair, the evils of the present life, and of that which is to come, are the bitter ingredients of this cup of mixture.” And he poureth out of the same — As it is entirely in the hand and disposal of God, so, through every age, he has been pouring out, and administering of its contents, more or less, in proportion to the sins of men; but the dregs thereof — The worst and most dreadful part of those tribulations; all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out — Shall be compelled to squeeze out every drop of wrath and misery which they contain; and drink them — For the curse shall enter into their bowels like water, and like oil into their bones. They shall be compelled to endure the utmost effects of the divine vengeance upon their sins, partly in this life, but more fully in the life to come, when the cup of the Lord’s indignation will be to them in an especial manner a cup of trembling, of everlasting trembling; when burning coals, fire and brimstone, and a horrible eternal tempest shall be the portion of their cup, Psalm 11:6 . And they shall be thus tormented in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb, and shall have no rest day nor night, and the smoke of their torment shall ascend up for ever and ever, Revelation 14:10-11 . Psalm 75:9 But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. Psalm 75:9-10 . But I will declare for ever — These dispensations of mercy and judgment to the world. I will sing praises to the God of Jacob — He will praise God, and give him glory for the power to which he had advanced him, and that not only at first, while the mercy was fresh, but for ever; as long as he lives he will remember, and be grateful for, this instance of the Lord’s goodness. Thus the exaltation of the Son of David will be the subject of the saints’ everlasting praises. And he will give glory to God, not only as his God, but as the God of Jacob, knowing it was for his servant Jacob’s sake, and because he loved his people Israel, that he made him king over them. All the horns of the wicked — Their honour and power, which they made instruments of mischief to oppress good men; a metaphor taken from horned and mischievous beasts; will I cut off — I will humble their pride and break their power; I will disable them to do mischief. But the horns of the righteous shall be exalted — Good men shall be encouraged and promoted, and intrusted with the management of all public affairs, which will be a great blessing to all my people. Thus he determines to use the power wherewith he was intrusted for the great ends for which it was put into his hands, as every governor ought to do, and as every good governor will do. And herein David was a type of Christ, who, with the breath of his lips, slays the wicked, Isaiah 11:4 ; but exalts with honour the horn of the righteous, Psalm 112:9 . Psalm 75:10 All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Psalm 75:1 To the chief Musician, Altaschith, A Psalm or Song of Asaph. Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare. Psalm 75:1-10 THIS psalm deals with the general thought of God’s judgment in history, especially on heathen nations. It has no clear marks of connection with any particular instance of that judgment. The prevalent opinion has been that it refers, like the next psalm, to the destruction of Sennacherib’s army. There are in it slight resemblances to Psalm 46:1-11 , and to Isaiah’s prophecies regarding that event, which support the conjecture. Cheyne seems to waver, as on page 148 of " Orig. of Psalt. " he speaks of "the two Maccabean Psalm 74:1-23 ; Psalm 75:1-10 ," and on page 166 concludes that they "may be Maccabean, but we cannot claim for this view the highest degree of probability, especially as neither psalm refers to any warlike deeds of Israelites. It is safer, I think, to assign them at the earliest to one of the happier parts of the Persian age." It is apparently still safer to refrain from assigning them to any precise period. The kernel of the psalm is a majestic Divine utterance, proclaiming God’s judgment as at hand. The limits of that Divine word are doubtful, but it is best taken as occupying two pairs of verses ( Psalm 75:2-5 ). It is preceded by one verse of praise, and followed by three ( Psalm 75:6-8 ) of warning spoken by the psalmist, and by two ( Psalm 75:9-10 ) in which he again praises God the Judge, and stands forth as an instrument of His judicial acts. In Psalm 75:1 , which is as a prelude to the great Voice from heaven, we hear the nation giving thanks beforehand for the judgment which is about to fall. The second part of the verse is doubtful. It may be taken thus: "And Thy name is near; they ( i.e ., men) declare Thy wondrous works." So Delitzsch, who comments: The Church "welcomes the future acts of God with fervent thanks, and all they that belong to it declare beforehand God’s wondrous works." Several modern scholars, among whom are Gratz, Baethgen, and Cheyne, adopt a textual alteration which gives the reading, "They who call upon Thy name declare," etc. But the rendering of the A.V, which is also that of Hupfeld and Perowne, gives a good meaning. All God’s deeds in history proclaim that He is ever at hand to help. His name is His character as revealed by His self manifestation; and this is the glad thanks-evoking lesson, taught by all the past and by the judicial act of which the psalm is the precursor-that He is near to deliver His people. As Deuteronomy 4:7 has it, "What nation is there that hath God so near unto them?" The Divine voice breaks in with majestic abruptness, as in Psalm 46:10 . It proclaims impending judgment, which will restore society, dissolving in dread or moral corruption, and will abase insolent wickedness, which is therefore exhorted to submission. In Psalm 75:2 , two great principles are declared-one in regard to the time and the other in regard to the animating spirit of God’s judgment. Literally, the first words of the verse run, "When I lay hold of the appointed time." The thought is that He has His own appointed time at which His power will flash forth into act, and that till that moment arrives evil is permitted to run its course, and insolent men to play their "fantastic tricks" before an apparently indifferent or unobserving God. His servants are tempted to think that He delays too long; His enemies, that He will never break His silence. But the slow hand traverses the dial in time, and at last the hour strikes and the crash comes punctually at the moment. The purposes of delay are presented in Scripture as twofold: on the one hand, "that the long suffering of God may lead to repentance"; and on the other, that evil may work itself out and show its true character. To learn the lesson that, "when the set time is come," judgment will fall, would save the oppressed from impatience and despondency and the oppressor from dreams of impunity. It is a law fruitful for the interpretation of the world’s history. The other fundamental truth in this verse is that the principle of God’s judgment is equity, rigid adherence to justice, so that every act of man’s shall receive accurately "its just recompense of reward." The "I" of Psalm 75:2 b is emphatic. It brings to view the lofty personality of the Judge, and asserts the operation of a Divine hand in human affairs, while it also lays the basis for the assurance that, the judgment being His, and He being what He is, it must be "according to truth." Such a "set time" has arrived, as Psalm 75:3 proceeds to declare. Oppression and corruption have gone so far that "the earth and its inhabitants" are as if "dissolved." All things are rushing to ruin. The psalmist does not distinguish between the physical and the moral here. His figure is employed in reference to both orders, which he regards as indissolubly connected. Possibly he is echoing Psalm 46:6 , "The earth melted," though there the "melting" is an expression for dread occasioned by God’s voice, and here rather refers to the results of "the proud man’s wrong." At such a supreme moment, when the solid framework of society and of the world itself seems to be on the point of dissolution, the mighty Divine Personality intervenes; that strong hand is thrust forth to grasp the tottering pillars and stay their fall; or, in plain words, God Himself then intervenes to reestablish the moral order of society, and thus to "save the sufferers." {Comp. Hannah’s song in 1 Samuel 2:8 } That intervention has necessarily two aspects, being on the one hand restorative, and on the other punitive. Therefore in Psalm 75:4 and Psalm 75:5 follow Divine warnings to the "fools" and "wicked," whose insolent boasting and tyranny have provoked it. The word rendered "fools" seems to include the idea of boastfulness as well as folly in the Biblical sense of that word, which points to moral rather than to merely intellectual aberration. "Lifting up the horn" is a symbol of arrogance. According to the accents, the word rendered "stiff" is not to be taken as attached to "neck," but as the object of the verb "speak," the resulting translation being, "Speak not arrogance with a [stretched out] neck"; and thus Delitzsch would render. But it is more natural to take the word in its usual construction as an epithet of "neck," expressive of superciliously holding a high head. Cheyne follows Baethgen in altering the text so as to read "rock" for "neck"-a slight change which is supported by the LXX rendering ("Speak not unrighteousness against God")-and renders "nor speak arrogantly of the rock." Like the other advocates of a Maceabean date, he finds here a reference to the mad blasphemies of Antiochus Epiphanes; but the words would suit Rabshakeh’s railings quite as well. The exact point where the Divine oracle passes into the psalmist’s own words is doubtful. Psalm 75:7 is evidently his; and that verse is so closely connected with Psalm 75:6 that it is best to make the break at the end of Psalm 75:5 , and to suppose that what follows is the singer’s application of the truths which he has heard. Two renderings of Psalm 75:6 b are possible, which, though very different in English, turn on the minute difference in the Hebrew of one vowel sign: The same letters spell the Hebrew word meaning mountains and that meaning lifting up. With one punctuation of the preceding word "wilderness," we must translate "from the wilderness of mountains"; with another, the two words are less closely connected, and we must render, "from the wilderness is lifting up." If the former rendering is adopted, the verse is incomplete, and some phrase like "help comes" must be supplied, as Delitzsch suggests. But "lifting up" occurs so often in this psalm, that it is more natural to take the word in that meaning here, especially as the next verse ends with it, in a different tense, and thus makes a sort of rhyme with this verse. "The wilderness of mountains," too, is a singular designation, either for the Sinaitic peninsula or for Egypt, or for the wilderness of Judah, which have all been suggested as intended here. "The wilderness" stands for the south, and thus three cardinal points are named. Why is the north omitted? If "lifting up" means deliverance, the omission may be due to the fact that Assyria (from which the danger came, if we adopt the usual view of the occasion of the psalm) lay to the north. But the meaning in the rest of the psalm is not deliverance, and the psalmist is addressing the "foolish boasters" here; and that consideration takes away the force of such an explanation of the omission. Probably no significance attaches to it. The general idea is simply that "lifting up" does not come from any quarter of earth, but, as the next verse goes on to say, solely from God. How absurd, then, is the self-sufficient loftiness of godless men! How vain to look along the low levels of earth, when all true elevation and dignity come from God! The very purpose of His judicial energy is to abase the lofty and raise the low. His hand lifts up, and there is no secure or lasting elevation but that which He effects. His hand casts down, and that which attracts His lightnings is "the haughtiness of man." The outburst of His judgment works like a volcanic eruption, which flings up elevations in valleys and shatters lofty peaks. The features of the country are changed after it, and the world looks new. The metaphor of Psalm 75:8 , in which judgment is represented as a cup of foaming wine, which God puts to the lips of the nations, receives great expansion in the prophets, especially in Jeremiah, and recurs in the Apocalypse. There is a grim contrast between the images of festivity and hospitality called up by the picture of a host presenting the wine cup to his guests, and the stern compulsion which makes the "wicked" gulp down the nauseous draught held by God to their reluctant lips. The utmost extremity of punitive inflictions, unflinchingly inflicted, is suggested by the terrible imagery. And the judgment is to be world wide; for "all the wicked of the earth" are to drink, and that to the dregs. And how does the prospect affect the psalmist? It moves him, first, to solemn praise-not only because God has proved Himself by these terrible things in righteousness to be the God of His people, but also because He has thereby manifested His own character as righteous and hating evil. It is no selfish nor cruel joy which stirs in devout hearts, when God comes forth in history and smites oppressing insolence. It is but a spurious benevolence which affects to recoil from the conception of a God who judges and, when needful, smites. This psalmist not only praised, but in his degree vowed to imitate. The last verse is best understood as his declaration of his own purpose, though some commentators have proposed to transfer it to the earlier part of the psalm, regarding it as part of the Divine oracle. But it is in its right place where it stands. God’s servants are His instruments in carrying out His judgments; and there is a very real sense in which all of them should seek to fight against dominant evil and to cripple the power of tyrannous godlessness. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.