Psalm 68

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Psalm 68 is a long, dramatic poem in the Bible. It’s known for being one of the most challenging psalms to understand, and in English it has 35 verses (36 in Hebrew). It begins with the same idea you hear in the opening line: “Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered,” and in Latin it’s “Exsurgat Deus.”

Big idea
- The psalm celebrates God’s power to save and protect His people, and it describes Him as marching to deliver them and scattering those who oppose them.
- It also praises God for caring for the weak and the needy, and it calls all nations to worship Him.

Names of God
- Psalm 68 uses several different names for God, including Jehovah (YHWH), Adonai, El, Shaddai, Jah, Jehovah-Adonai, and Jah-Elohim.

Importance and use
- The psalm is used in both Jewish and Christian worship. It has been especially important in Rastafari and Ethiopian Christian traditions.
- It has inspired a lot of music since the 17th century (for example, Charpentier’s Exurgat Deus and parts of Handel’s Messiah). Other composers used verses 11, 18, or 31 in their works.

Key verses and themes
- Verse 18 describes God ascending to heaven, which Christians see as connected to Jesus’ Ascension (referenced in Ephesians 4:8).
- Verse 31 contains a famous line about Ethiopia reaching out to God. This verse has played a role in Ethiopian culture and, for some, in Rastafari imagery.
- The line about “the runagates” in the King James Version talks about rebels or wanderers, and has given rise to varied wording in different translations.

Liturgical notes
- Some traditions recite parts of the psalm on Shavuot; in the Easter season, it is especially prominent in Eastern Orthodox practice. In other Christian liturgies, it appears at different times in the church year.

If you’d like, I can tailor this summary for a specific audience (children, students, a study guide) or pull out the main themes for quick study.