Psalms 76
Big idea: A battlefield the morning after, and nothing is moving. Valiant men lie plundered; they have slept their last sleep; none of the men of war can lift their hands. Chariot and horse cast into a dead sleep at a rebuke. The psalm's most compressed line is verse 10: surely the wrath of man praises you — human rage ends up serving the very purpose it meant to defeat. And the stated aim of the whole intervention is in verse 9: God arose to judgment, to save all the afflicted ones of the earth.
Psalm 76 shows a God who cannot be resisted. Psalm 77 is a man who cannot feel him at all.
76:1–6 — There he broke the flaming arrows
A victory psalm with no battle in it. Weapons are broken at Zion — arrows, shield, sword — and the army is described as asleep: valiant men who have 'slept their last sleep', chariots and horses cast into a dead sleep at a rebuke. Nothing is fought. The most dangerous force in the region is put to bed by a voice.
1 For the Chief Musician. On stringed instruments. A Psalm by Asaph. A song. In Judah, God is known. His name is great in Israel. 2 His tabernacle is also in Salem. His dwelling place in Zion. 3 There he broke the flaming arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah. 4 Glorious are you, and excellent, more than mountains of game. 5 Valiant men lie plundered, they have slept their last sleep. None of the men of war can lift their hands. 6 At your rebuke, God of Jacob, both chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep.
76:7–12 — The wrath of man praises you
The second movement holds the psalm's strangest sentence: the wrath of man PRAISES you. Human rage is described as being conscripted — it ends up doing the work it was aimed against, and whatever is left over is put on a leash. And in the middle of the silence and fear, verse 9 gives the purpose: he arose to judgment in order to SAVE the afflicted.
7 You, even you, are to be feared. Who can stand in your sight when you are angry? 8 You pronounced judgment from heaven. The earth feared, and was silent, 9 when God arose to judgment, to save all the afflicted ones of the earth. Selah. 10 Surely the wrath of man praises you. The survivors of your wrath are restrained. 11 Make vows to Yahweh your God, and fulfill them! Let all of his neighbors bring presents to him who is to be feared. 12 He will cut off the spirit of princes. He is feared by the kings of the earth.
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).