Old Testament Commentary - Psalms 76

by Don R. Hender

CHIASMIC parallelism does not always merely restate the same thing in simple form, but it can also put in contrasts, which have a variance of perspective view in respect to each situation or circumstance. Consider that Judah is the Jewish Kingdom centered at Jerusalem and that Israel is the Kingdom of Ephraim whose righteous center is Zion, that particular center of the kingdom of latter-day Ephraim. Then the contrast of views becomes quite apparent in respect to the Lord's relationship to Judah and his Kingdom and Ephraim and the kingdom of Zion of the latter-days.

Scriptural Text [& Editorial] Commentary & Explanation Footnotes ~ References ~ JST

CHAPTER 76
God is known in Judah and dwells in Zion—He shall save the meek of the earth
God is known in Judah and his tabernacle is in Salem [Jerusalem], but His Name is Great in Israel [Ephraim] and He dwells in Zion—The meek, those who submit unto the mind and will of the Lord, shall be saved.

To the cheif Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm or Song of Asaph

1 In Judah is God known^a: his name is great in Israel^b.
2 In Salem also is his tabernacle^a, and his dwelling place in Zion^b.
3 There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah.
1^a In Judah is God known While the Bible, the stick of Judah is of the Jews who claim to 'know' God, it is Judah, the Jewish, who failed to recognize their God when he came unto them. And they did crucify him.
1^b his name is great in Israel As the true Messiah in Ephraim, the Lord who was rejected by 'his own' of Judah, will be gloried and become renoun at the hand of Ephraim [Israel] through the process of the restoration of all things in the latter-days.
2^a In Salem also is his tabernacle That was true in the days of David, but in the days of Jesus, his 'tabernacle' or 'temple' was poluted and corrupted and at about 70 A.D. it was entirely destoryed, and has not been in Jerusalem since.
2^b his dwelling place in Zion The true 'House of the Lord', his true dwelling place, the Temple of the Lord has been established and built in the latter-day in that Zion associated with the restoration effected by Ephraim and his fellows. And as Zion spreads throughout the world, not being confined to only one place, temples are beginning to dot the world in what will eventually come to be in every nation of the earth where Zion, the pure in heart of the Church of Jesus Christ may be found in significant numbers.

4 Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey.
5 The stouthearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands.
6 At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep^a.
6^a both the chariot and the hourse are cast into a dead sleep Certainly this is an allusion to the events which occured at the closing up of the Red Sea upon the chariots of Pharaoh. For they where swallowed up in the deep and did die unto that slumber from which there is no return in this life but must wait for that next life to come.

7 Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may ^astand in thy sight when once thou art angry?
8 Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still,
9 When God arose to judgment, to save all the ^ameek of the earth. Selah.

10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou ^arestrain.
11 ^aVow, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be round about him bring ^bpresents unto him that ought to be feared.
12 He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible to the kings of the earth.

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 76 God is known in Judah and dwells in Zion—He shall save the meek of the earth	God is known in Judah and his tabernacle is in Salem [Jerusalem], but His Name is Great in Israel [Ephraim] and He dwells in Zion—The meek, those who submit unto the mind and will of the Lord, shall be saved.
To the cheif Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm or Song of Asaph
1 In Judah is God known^a: his name is great in Israel^b. 2 In Salem also is his tabernacle^a, and his dwelling place in Zion^b. 3 There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah.	1^a In Judah is God known While the Bible, the stick of Judah is of the Jews who claim to 'know' God, it is Judah, the Jewish, who failed to recognize their God when he came unto them. And they did crucify him. 1^b his name is great in Israel As the true Messiah in Ephraim, the Lord who was rejected by 'his own' of Judah, will be gloried and become renoun at the hand of Ephraim [Israel] through the process of the restoration of all things in the latter-days. 2^a In Salem also is his tabernacle That was true in the days of David, but in the days of Jesus, his 'tabernacle' or 'temple' was poluted and corrupted and at about 70 A.D. it was entirely destoryed, and has not been in Jerusalem since. 2^b his dwelling place in Zion The true 'House of the Lord', his true dwelling place, the Temple of the Lord has been established and built in the latter-day in that Zion associated with the restoration effected by Ephraim and his fellows. And as Zion spreads throughout the world, not being confined to only one place, temples are beginning to dot the world in what will eventually come to be in every nation of the earth where Zion, the pure in heart of the Church of Jesus Christ may be found in significant numbers.
4 Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey. 5 The stouthearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands. 6 At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep^a.	6^a both the chariot and the hourse are cast into a dead sleep Certainly this is an allusion to the events which occured at the closing up of the Red Sea upon the chariots of Pharaoh. For they where swallowed up in the deep and did die unto that slumber from which there is no return in this life but must wait for that next life to come.
7 Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may ^astand in thy sight when once thou art angry? 8 Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still, 9 When God arose to judgment, to save all the ^ameek of the earth. Selah.
10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou ^arestrain. 11 ^aVow, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be round about him bring ^bpresents unto him that ought to be feared. 12 He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible to the kings of the earth.