THE RETURN OF ISRAEL—PSALM 75

Dr. David L. Cooper
Biblical Research Monthly
June, 1959

For the Chief Musician; set to Al-tashheth. A Psalm of Asaph, a song.
[Psa 75:1] We give thanks unto thee, O God; We give thanks, for thy name is near: Men tell of thy wondrous works.
[Psa 75:2] When I shall find the set time, I will judge uprightly.
[Psa 75:3] The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I have set up the pillars of it. Selah
[Psa 75:4] I said unto the arrogant, Deal not arrogantly; And to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:
[Psa 75:5] Lift not up your horn on high; Speak not with a stiff neck.
[Psa 75:6] For neither from the east, nor from the west, Nor yet from the south, cometh lifting up.
[Psa 75:7] But God is the judge: He putteth down one, and lifteth up another.
[Psa 75:8] For in the hand of Jehovah there is a cup, and the wine foameth; It is full of mixture, and he poureth out of the same: Surely the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall drain them, and drink them.
[Psa 75:9] But I will declare for ever, I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
[Psa 75:10] All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; But the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

A Pageant

There are various types of the Psalms. The common experiences of men and women find expression in Israel's Song Book. A devotional note is sounded throughout the Book, but it is a mistake to assume that all the psalms are purely devotional. As a matter of fact, the Psalms ae largely prophetic, dealing with some phase of Messiah's reign on earth. At the same time they often discuss conditions of the end time.

Some Psalms, like Psalm 75, are antiphonal. Psalm 118 is of this type—being somewhat complicated. It is, therefore, necessary to note the structure of this type of psalm in order to understand the message.

Psalm Seventy-five—An Antiphonal Hymn

This Psalm begins with and address to God: "We give thanks unto thee, O God." The words "We give thanks" are then repeated. Obviously, the pronoun we refers to those who are singing.

In verse 2 the personal pronoun I occurs twice. The same pronoun appears in verse 3 and 4. It also occurs in verses 9 and 10.

Since the plural personal pronoun we occurs in verse 1, a person is logical in believing that more than one person sang that verse and that only one person sang the verses in which occurs the pronoun I.

The Interpretation of the Psalm

In the superscription of this Psalm we are told that Asaph was the human author and that it was written to be used by the chief musician. Since it was for the chief musician, obviously, it was to be used in the temple service.

As seen above, verse 1 was to be sung by the temple choir, whereas verses 2-10 were to be sung by a soloist. According to verse 2, the soloist sang,

"When I shall find the set time,
I will judge uprightly."

According to verse 3 the soloist sang,

"The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved:
I have set up the pillars of it."

For the moment let us assume that which we shall presently see is true—namely, that the soloist in this passage impersonates King Messiah. In response to the choir's thanking God that Messiah's name is near, Messiah declares, "When I shall find the set time, I will judge uprightly." The choir, representing the nation, as we shall see, knows that Messiah's coming is close at hand; but in order that it may make no hasty predictions, setting dates, the Messiah states that He will come at the time set in the counsel of God.

Could the soloist sing that he himself will judge uprightly? Moreover, could he truthfully say that he had set up the pillars of the earth? To both of these questions everyone answers no. Since the soloist was not speaking of what he had done, or would do, it is clear that he was impersonating the One who has set up the pillars of the earth, and who will judge uprightly. Who created the earth? The answer is found in John 1:1-3:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made." According to the Apostle Paul, Christ is the image of the invisible God, "the first-born of all creation; 16 for in Him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him; 17 and he is before all things, and in him all things consist" (Col. 1:15-17). Christ, therefore, is the Creator whom our soloist here impersonates.

Who will judge the world uprightly? The answer to this question if found in John 5:26, 27: "For as the Father hath life in himself, even so gave he to the Son also to have life in himself: 27 and he gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man."

When the Lord Jesus comes for His saints, He will gather all of them before His judgment seat and reward them for services rendered: "For we must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad (II Cor. 5:10).

When the Lord Jesus returns to earth at the end of the Tribulation, all nations—those of the nations who survive the Tribulation—will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them, as the shepherd separates sheep from the goats. At the end of the Millennium all the lost will be raised and be brought before Christ, who will sit upon the Great White Throne and pass judgment upon them, judging uprightly and sending them to their eternal doom (Rev. 20:11-15). In view of all these facts, it is clear that the soloist impersonated Christ as the Creator of the universe who upholdeth all things by the Word of His power, and who will judge all men.

Since the soloist impersonated the living Christ who is the Creator and Judge of the world, whom did the choir impersonate? Since the chorus singing verse 1 was the temple choir, and since the temple was the shrine at which the Israelites worshipped, evidently, the choir impersonated the nation of Israel. In view of all these facts, the Temple choir and the soloist, rendering this Psalm, constitute a musical pageant, dramatically showing forth Israel's return to God.

The Hymn began with the choir's singing, "We give thanks unto thee, O God." It is in God that all men live, and move, and have their being. Man is utterly helpless, being dependent upon God for everything, even the air which he breathes. It is, therefore, proper for men to thank God for all things. The author of Psalm 136 recounts largely Israel's history and follows each statement of fact with the declaration "for his loving kindness endureth forever." Is it, therefore, for the blessings of life that the Temple choir sings "We give thanks unto thee, O God"? If not, for what are they giving thanks? The answer is, as seen in the second line of verse 1, "for thy name is near." What is the meaning of this expression? The word name in the Hebrew has various shades of meaning. To Israel at Sinai God threw out this warning concerning the angel or messenger whom He would send before Israel: "Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee by the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. 21 Take ye heed before him, and hearken unto his voice; provoke him not; for he will not pardon our transgression: for my name is in him" (Ex. 23:20,21). The people of Israel were urged not to provoke this angel who would not pardon their transgression, the reason being "for my name is in him." This angel was not an ordinary angel because God's name or nature was in Him. In dealing with this angel, Israel was dealing with God.

As already seen, the Temple choir thanks God "for thy name is near." What is meant by "thy name is near"? This question is answered in the following quotation: "Behold, the name of Jehovah cometh from far, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is as a devouring fire; 28 and his breath is as an overflowing stream, that reacheth even unto the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction: and a bridle that causeth to err shall be in the jaws of the peoples"(Isaiah 30:27,28). From all these facts, it is clear that the Temple choir in thanking God "for thy name is near" expresses the conviction that the coming of the Lord is near at hand.

How do they know that the Lord's coming is near at hand? The answer is found in the last line of verse 1: "Men tell of thy wondrous works." The reason, therefore, that Israel will know that the coming of the Lord is near at hand is that those who study the prophecies and interpret current events in the light of the prophetic Word will proclaim the truth to all Israel. God has thrown a bright light in the prophetic Word on the times of the end. Christians should pray as the Psalmist did: "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law" (Ps. 119:18). Only by the illumination and understanding that God imparts by His Spirit can people see the wondrous things in the Word.

God is working all things according to the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11). Moreover He is working all things together for good for a certain class, for those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). Without a doubt God is steering the course of history in accordance with His eternal plan and is winding up the present age. Those who have spiritual discernment and understanding see the invisible hand of God as He is directing the traffic of the nations and at the same time, is allowing them to carry out their plans and purposes. God both rules and overrules.

Our Psalmist declares, "Men tell of thy wondrous works." This passage assumes that men will evangelize the Jewish nation and convince them of the truthfulness of the message. Only those who have a grip on the Scriptures, especially upon the Gospels and the prophetic portions of the Word, can convince the Jews, who demand clear logical proof of a proposition before they accept it.

Who are these evangelists? Speaking for God, the Prophet Isaiah urged certain ones to remove the stumbling blocks from the path of Israel ".. Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up he stumbling-block out of the way of my people"(Isa. 57:14). Again Isaiah urged certain ones to evangelize Israel: "Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up an ensign for the peoples. 11 Behold, Jehovah hath proclaimed unto the end of the earth, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold his reward is with him and his recompense before him" (Isa. 62:10, 11.)

To the arrogant of the end time—especially to the Antichrist—God throws out this warning:

4 "I said unto the arrogant, Deal not arrogantly;
   And to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:
5 Lift not up your horn on high;
   Speak not with a stiff neck.
6 For neither from the east, nor from the west,
   Nor yet form the south, cometh a lifting up" (Ps. 75:4-6).

Pride always goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. From Daniel 11:36ff, we see that the world dictator will be arrogant and haughty. In fact he will oppose all that is called God or is worshipped as God. The Apostle Paul speaks of the same individual in II Thessalonians, chapter 2.

The Psalmist warns the arrogant that lifting up—deliverance and justification—does not come from the East, from the West, or from the South, implying, however, that the lifting up comes from the North where God's throne is.

God at the present time is the judge who is overruling all things. In His providence He lifts up one and puts down another:

7 "But God is judge:
   He putteth down one and lifteth up another.
8 For in the hand of Jehovah there is a cup, and the wine foameth;
   It is full of mixture, and he poureth out the same;
   Surely the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall drain them, and drink them.    (Ps.75:7,8).

That God is overruling an directing the movements and activities of the nations is seen in a study of Jeremiah 27:1-8:

"In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came the word unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, 2 Thus said Jehovah to me: Make thee bonds and bars, and put them upon they neck; 3 and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and the king of the children of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers that come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah: 4 and give them a charge unto their masters, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say unto your masters; 5 I have made the earth, the men and the beasts that are upon the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I give it unto whom it seemeth right unto me. 6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field also have I given him to serve him. 7 And all the nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his own land come: and then many nations and great kings shall make him their bondman. 8 And it shall come to pass, that the nation and the kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar king Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith Jehovah, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand."

From this passage it is clear that God is behind the scenes, figuratively speaking, and is directing the movements and activities of the nations.

The Psalmist calls attention to the fact that in Jehovah's hand is a cup of wine of the wrath of God and that He is going to make the nations of the end time drink it to the very dregs. In connection with this thought, read Jeremiah 25:15-26. In this passage Jeremiah speaks of a banquet to which God invites all the kings of the world. Jeremiah is the cupbearer who passes from one to another the cup of the wine of the wrath of God, of which each one must drink. Nations, like individuals, reap what they sow.

In the concluding verses, 9 and 10, the soloist, still impersonating Messiah, declares that he will praise God forever, that he will cut off all the horns of the wicked, and that he will establish the horns of the righteous.

In view of all the facts presented in Psalm 75, it is clear that Israel's return to God is set forth in this musical pageant. Let all who love God co-operate with Him in proclaiming these glorious truths of the Word to Israel—God's Chosen People.