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Psalm 68 Bible study: You have ascended on high
Psalm 68 opens with nearly the words Moses spoke when the ark set out (Numbers 10:35). It puts the God "who rides on the clouds" (68:4) beside "A father of the fatherless" (68:5). And its "You have ascended on high" (68:18) is the verse Paul quotes in Ephesians 4:8, where the psalm's received gifts reads gave gifts.
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“A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“In Psalm 68, the verse after "Extol him who rides on the clouds" calls God a father of the fatherless.”
Is that in Psalm 68, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
It opens with the ark's words
After its title, "For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. A song." (68:1), the psalm begins, "Let God arise! Let his enemies be scattered! Let them who hate him also flee before him" (68:1) (tap arise, scattered). These are nearly the words Moses spoke "When the ark went forward": "Rise up, LORD, and let your enemies be scattered! Let those who hate you flee before you!" (Numbers 10:35). In Hebrew the two lines have the same six words in the same order: arise, be scattered, enemies, flee, those who hate, before. What changes is who is spoken to. Moses speaks to the LORD: your enemies, before you. Psalm 68:1 speaks about God: his enemies, before him, and it says God where Moses says LORD. Then the psalm follows God going out with his people: "God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness" (68:7), "The Lord is among them, from Sinai, into the sanctuary" (68:17), and "They have seen your processions, God, even the processions of my God, my King, into the sanctuary" (68:24). In Hebrew into the sanctuary is the same word in 68:17 and 68:24, baqqodesh.
Where it leads to Jesus
He ascended
Psalms 68:18leads toEphesians 4:9-10
The psalm says to God, "You have ascended on high. You have led away captives. You have received gifts among people" (Psalm 68:18). Paul (Ephesians 1:1) writes of "the gift of Christ" (Ephesians 4:7), and goes on, "Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to people.”" (Ephesians 4:8). Then he explains its words: "Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?" (Ephesians 4:9), and "He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things" (Ephesians 4:10). The gifts, in Paul's next words, are people given "to the building up of the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:12). Paul doesn't name the psalm, and the WEB words the line differently: the psalm has You have led away captives and received gifts among people; Paul has he led captivity captive and gave gifts to people.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Psalm 68
- "You have ascended on high" (68:18). Who is the psalm speaking to?
- The psalm says "received gifts" (68:18), and Ephesians says "gave gifts" (Ephesians 4:8). Why are they different?
- "God will strike through the head of his enemies" (68:21), and "dipping your foot in blood" (68:23). How can a psalm say that?
That was a taste
The rest of Psalm 68 is waiting in Favor
- The rider of the clouds, a father of the fatherless
- Where the rebellious dwell, and where God dwells
- Words from Deborah's song
- The rider in Moses' blessing
- 11 questions as you read
- 12 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Psalm 68 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
עָלָהalahsay a-LAH
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "go up, ascend, climb". Strong's: "to ascend". "You have ascended on high" (68:18): in Hebrew, alita lammarom. On high is marom, which Brown-Driver-Briggs gives as "height". Psalm 47 has the same verb: "God has gone up with a shout" (Psalm 47:5). Paul quotes 68:18 with the same English word: "When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to people" (Ephesians 4:8).
For your group
Psalm 68 Bible study questions
- 1The psalm calls God "A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows" (68:5), and says, "God sets the lonely in families" (68:6). Who around you is alone, and how could you be part of the family God sets them in?
- 2"Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burdens" (68:19). What burden are you carrying today that you need to let him carry?
- 3The psalm pictures a procession: "The singers went before, the minstrels followed after" (68:25), and it names "little Benjamin" first among the tribes (68:27). What does it mean to you to worship among God's people, great and small?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Psalm 68 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home