PSALM 68 – A TALE of TWO MOUNTAINS

This psalm of David is noted as being “A prayer at the removing of the Ark.” The opening line is significant:

“Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: Let them also that hate him flee before him.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭68‬:‭1‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Compare it with this verse at the end of the instructions for when the camp of Israel set out in the wilderness:

“And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee.”
‭‭Numbers‬ ‭10‬:‭35‬ ‭KJV‬‬

I think that this psalm was probably written by David after the unfortunate attempt to move the Ark that ended in the death of Uzzah. Once he cooled down, David got with the Levites to search the scriptures about the ONLY correct way to move the Ark. The instructions left by Moses would be the logical place to start.

The many references to an exuberant, celebratory procession (verses 3, 4, 24-27, 32-34) are also in keeping with the bringing of the Ark into Jerusalem.

I love verse 5. It sounds like a vintage radio show describing the hero:

“Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.” ‭ESV‬‬

He puts the orphans and widows in families (v.6).

Then starting in verse 7 we get a remembrance of the Lord leading Israel out of Egypt and to Sinai and through the desert.

Then in verse 15 we get our first reference to the mountains. [The content that follows is based on the scholarship of Dr. Michael Heiser.]

“O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan; O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan! Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain, at the mount that God desired for his abode, yes, where the Lord will dwell forever? The chariots of God are twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭68‬:‭15‬-‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

There seems to be a competition between the “Mountain of Bashan” and “the mount that God desired for His abode.” The most significant mountain in the region of Bashan is (by far) Mount Hermon.

According to First Enoch this is the mountain where the Watchers fell in the days of Jared (Gen. 6).

The mountain that God desires for His abode is, of course, Mount Zion/Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. The “many-peaked” mountain of Bashan is looking down at Mount Moriah with hostility. Hermon represents the throne of the hostile fallen ones while Moriah is the place of Yahweh’s throne.

The line “Sinai is now in the sanctuary” is indicating that the powerful God that Israel encountered at Sinai has moved. He’s not on Sinai now. Indeed, they are signing this psalm as they move His throne (the Ark) to its new location in the special sanctuary tent that David has set up on Zion. There might not be the terrifying flames and black smoke like a furnace and the piercing sound of a trumpet blast, but Yahweh is very much present between the Cherubim on the Ark.

In conjunction with the 2 opposing mountains, we get a verse (18) familiar to readers of Ephesians. There the apostle provides inspired commentary on this portion of the psalm. And we really cannot do better than inspired commentary.

“Now to each one of us was given this grace, according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “Ascending on high he led captivity captive; he gave gifts to men.” Now “he ascended,” what is it, except that he also descended to the lower regions of the earth? The one who descended himself is also the one who ascended above all the heavens, in order that he might fill all things. And he himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ,”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬-‭12‬ ‭LEB‬‬

Psalm 68:18 prophesies the ascension of Christ but who are the captives He leads when He ascends? And is the earth where He “descended” or is there something lower – the “lower regions of the earth,” (i.e. the underworld, the realm of the dead)?

Let’s look at a couple texts that may shed some light on it.

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, in order that he could bring you to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, who were formerly disobedient, when the patience of God waited in the days of Noah, while an ark was being constructed, in which a few—that is, eight souls—were rescued through water.”
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭18‬-‭20‬ ‭LEB‬‬

“And the angels who did not keep to their own domain but deserted their proper dwelling place, he has kept in eternal bonds under deep gloom for the judgment of the great day,”
‭‭Jude‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬ ‭LEB‬‬

What was happening in the days of Noah? What event necessitated the Flood?

“And it happened that, when humankind began to multiply on the face of the ground, daughters were born to them. Then the sons of God saw the daughters of humankind, that they were beautiful. And they took for themselves wives from all that they chose. The Nephilim were upon the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God went into the daughters of humankind, and they bore children to them.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭6‬:‭1‬-‭2‬, ‭4‬ ‭LEB‬‬

Did the sons of God desert their proper dwelling place? Did they leave their domain of the unseen realm? Were they disobedient? Did they get cast into a gloomy prison as a result to await the day of Judgment?

So what is Jesus proclaiming to these imprisoned fallen angel spirits? And who are the captives that He transports?

Before we answer, this verse in the psalm may help:

“Our God is a God of deliverances, and to Yahweh the Lord belong escapes from death.” Psalms‬ ‭68‬:‭20‬ ‭LEB‬‬

You may recall some of our past encounters with the place called “Sheol,” the Grave. The souls of the righteous dead in the OT went there. They were still waiting there in the time of Jesus. When Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus the beggar, Lazarus talks with Abraham. Abraham is NOT in heaven. He’s still chillin in Sheol. What’s he waiting for? Atonement. No man – not even Abraham – can come to the Father except through Christ.

Once Jesus has died and made atonement, Abraham and Lazarus and Noah and Daniel and Deborah and David and ALLLLL the OT saints who trusted in Yahweh, their sins can be truly washed away.

THAT is a big part of the message of the letter to the Hebrews:

“The Holy Spirit was making this clear, that the way into the holy place was not yet revealed, while the first tent was still in existence, which was a symbol for the present time, in which both the gifts and sacrifices which were offered were not able to perfect the worshiper with respect to the conscience, concerning instead only food and drink and different washings, regulations of outward things imposed until the time of setting things right.”

“For Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf,”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭9‬:‭8‬-‭10‬, ‭24‬ ‭LEB‬‬

“For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

“And every priest stands every day serving and offering the same sacrifices many times, which are never able to take away sins. But this one, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, from now on waiting until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet. For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭10‬:‭4‬, ‭11‬-‭14‬ ‭LEB‬‬

Once Jesus’ atoning sacrifice was accomplished and His blood presented in the true heavenly Temple (the throne of God), all those OT saints who were captives to death could be released from captivity and ascend in a glorious parade in the spiritual realm into the heavens.

But the fallen ones? Nope. Not them. They’re still in prison. They don’t get out. They’re stuck in the realm of the dead. And it seems that what Jesus “proclaimed to the spirits in prison” was something along the lines of:

JESUS: “I’m taking these souls with me. And there isn’t a thing you can do about it. I AM the Resurrection and the Life. You underworld lords of the dead no longer have the final say. I do.”

“But God will shatter the head of his enemies, the hairy scalp of the one who continues on in his guilt. The Lord said, “I will bring them back from Bashan; I will bring them back from the depths of the sea, so that your foot may shatter them bloody for the tongues of your dogs to have their share from the enemies.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭68‬:‭21‬-‭23‬ ‭LEB‬‬

Bashan is being “rhymed” with “the depths of the sea.” If you’ve been reading the blog for a while you know we’ve encountered this before. The “depths of the sea” is code for the Grave. Davy Jones’s Locker.

And just who is being brought out of the Underworld? God’s enemies. (Apparently they have hair?) The Lord drags them out of the depths of the underworld – for what purpose? The answer is not for the faint of heart. The ESV has it:

“that you may strike your feet in their blood, that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭68‬:‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Yes. That is saying what you think it’s saying. Somebody is going to stomp in the blood of God’s enemies and the dogs are gonna eat some pieces (rather like Jezebel).

And just who do we see stomping in blood?

“Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength?

‘It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.’

Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his who treads in the winepress?

‘I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption had come. I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me. I trampled down the peoples in my anger; I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.’”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭63‬:‭1‬-‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

This is winepress imagery. In case you’re still not sure who this is…

“So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭14‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And he was dressed in an outer garment dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭19‬:‭13‬ ‭LEB‬‬

Psalm 68:22-23 is part of this whole prophetic mosaic. The Kingdom of Death – the Fallen in the Underworld and their human counterparts, both in the grave and on earth – are going to be stomped and crushed like grapes in a winepress. Perhaps the imagery of “dancing on their graves” is a bit crass, but it’s not altogether inaccurate.

So when King David and the whole nation are moving the Ark, this is what they’re celebrating. They don’t know that it’s going to take a few more millennia for God’s redemptive plan to unfold, but they sing these prophetic words and trust that it WILL happen. Yahweh, the One Who tamed the galaxies and rides through the heavens will triumph. He will deliver from Death any humans who come to Him. He will destroy and take vengeance on all the brutal oppressors and violent of the earth who have abused and victimized the vulnerable. And there isn’t anyone or any plan or scheme that can stop Him.

And this is Who Israel has in their camp. THIS is Who they carry on their shoulders to their capital. No wonder David danced like a fool. I’d be dancing wildly too! 💃🏼🕺🏼

---

PSALM 89

This post is already plenty long and I really should consider washing dishes and getting some sleep… 😬

But this psalm is also AMAZING! How we ended up with two jam-packed psalms on the same day…. 🤦‍♀️

Most of what we unpacked in Psalm 68 applies here as well. Just like we can’t seem to get away from the events of Genesis 6 we also keep bumping into references to the unseen realm. Check this out…

“For who in the sky is equal to Yahweh? Who is like Yahweh among the sons of God, a God feared greatly in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all surrounding him?

You yourself crushed Rahab like one who is slain; you scattered your enemies with your strong arm. The heavens are yours, the earth yours as well, the world with its fullness, because you founded them.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭89‬:‭6‬-‭7‬, ‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭LEB‬‬

The writer – Ethan the Ezrahite – writes of the heavenly inhabitants surrounding Yahweh; “the council of the holy ones” and “the sons of God.”

God has sons. Lots of them. Jesus is unique as the only begotten Son of God and the eternal Word, but just as redeemed humans have been given the right “to be called the sons of God” (1 John 3:1) so the Lord has heavenly sons that He made. We tend to call them “angels” but that’s not strictly true. “Angel” means messenger. It’s more a job description than a class of beings.

😯 Angel means messenger?

Yes.

😐 That’s not very romantic.

What do you mean?

😐 Well, some men call their wives “angel.” If the wives find out they’re being called messenger, I don’t think that’s gonna go over well.

🤦‍♀️

So God has sons, but it is NOT an instance of “Like Father like son.” Yahweh is singular. None of His sons (besides the Word) compare to Him. No one is His equal.

🤔 Who is Rahab? The Harlot from Jericho?

No. Actually this Rahab is an ancient mythical sea monster that represents chaos.

🫣 Again with the sea monsters? Didn’t we just read about Leviathan? 🐉

Yes. That’s why verse 9 talks about ocean waves. The ocean – complete with sea monster – represented the things that cannot be controlled. Chaos.

😏 Like that preschooler we all know? Chaos. Things that cannot be controlled.

😑

But Yahweh defeated Chaos when He brought substance and order out of nothing. And “Rahab” may be a reference to a spiritual entity, not just a poetic way to describe the uncontrolled primordial sea. 🌊

This is not a new idea with David. Remember Job? Look what he said about Yahweh…

“By his power he stilled the sea, and by his understanding he struck down Rahab.”
‭‭Job‬ ‭26‬:‭12‬ ‭LEB‬‬

This concept of Yahweh as Chaos-Dragon-Slayer is as ancient as time itself.

And it’s not just at the beginning that Yahweh handled the Rahab.

“Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon? Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?“
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭51‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The Prophet Isaiah is referencing the parting of the Red Sea. The Rahab/Chaos Dragon imagery is linked to “the face of the deep” in Genesis 1:2. The oceans and seas are still beyond the control of man, but they are not beyond the control of Yahweh. That also why it was such a big deal when Jesus walked on water and calmed the sea. He was showing the disciples that He was indeed the Ancient Chaos-Dragon-Slayer.

For “extra credit” today if you have time, Isaiah chapters 25-26 are worth a read in this context. In them you will see repeats of the trampling the enemy imagery from Psalm 68. In 25 there is a description of a triumphant banquet.

“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭25‬:‭6‬-‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The ultimate manifestation of the Chaos Dragon – the thing that cannot be controlled – is Death. And Death is going to be eaten (swallowed up) at this banquet. To put it as Dr. Heiser does, “At this feast the Dragon is on the menu.”

David is an essential part of bringing this about because God has chosen him to be the progenitor of Messiah. Psalm 89 speaks a lot about David but it’s also about the Son of David, Jesus. He is the descendant of David who will reign forever.

He is the Word that defeated the “monster” of Chaos in the Beginning. He is the Son of God Who actually IS like the Father.

So these two Psalms today give us a peek into the unseen realm and the battles fought there. And they tell us Who the winner is.

FINAL SCORE:

Jesus – 1 (He only needed 1 point)

Chaos Dragon – 0