Thursday: God Who Saves, Part 2

Theme: The Epilogue

In this week’s lessons from the second part of Psalm 68, we learn that this psalm looks beyond David’s time to a day of future blessing concerning the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Scripture: Psalm 68:19-35

We come, then, to the final stanza, the epilogue, in which the kingdoms of the earth are called upon to praise God (vv. 32-35): “Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord, to him who rides the ancient skies above, who thunders with mighty voice. Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the skies. You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary, the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.”

Here it is worth thinking back to the prologue where the psalm began. The prologue was uniquely Israel's, harking back to the days at Sinai and to God's going before the advancing hosts of Israel in the glory of the Shekinah cloud. No other nation has ever had an experience of God and his glory that was like that. But now, in the epilogue, the praise of God that was once Israel's alone has become universal (“Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth"), reflecting the movement of the psalm from Sinai, to Jerusalem and on to the Messianic age. Nevertheless, as pointed out in comments on the previous section, God is still "the God of Israel." Jehovah remains the one, only and true God. He alone is to be worshiped.

Study Questions:

1. How is the prologue to the psalm unique for Israel?
2. What is the shift at this point in the psalm?

Review: Read all of Psalm 68. Why is God praised in this psalm? How is the psalm a model for your own praise? What does verse 18 have to say about Christ? What is the theme of verses 19-21? How does the psalm conclude? What application can you draw from this?