Psalm 75 · a question people ask
Who is the I who speaks in verses 2 to 5, and in verse 10?
The psalm doesn't name him, and it has no "God says"; the WEB's only quotation marks are round the words said to the arrogant and the wicked (75:4-5). The psalm opens with a we: "We give thanks to you, God" (75:1). Then an I speaks: "When I choose the appointed time, I will judge blamelessly" (75:2), "I firmly hold its pillars" (75:3), and "I said to the arrogant, “Don’t boast!”" (75:4). Later the psalm says, "But God is the judge" (75:7); in Hebrew judge in 75:2 and in 75:7 is one verb, shafat (tap judge). Then an I speaks about God: "I will sing praises to the God of Jacob" (75:9). And the last verse has an I again: "I will cut off all the horns of the wicked, but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up" (75:10). The psalm doesn't mark where one voice stops and another starts, and these notes don't mark it either.
The verses
“For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Psalm by Asaph. A song. We give thanks to you, God. We give thanks, for your Name is near. Men tell about your wondrous works. When I choose the appointed time, I will judge blamelessly. The earth and all its inhabitants quake. I firmly hold its pillars. Selah. I said to the arrogant, “Don’t boast!” I said to the wicked, “Don’t lift up the horn. Don’t lift up your horn on high. Don’t speak with a stiff neck.””
“But God is the judge. He puts down one, and lifts up another.”
“But I will declare this forever: I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. I will cut off all the horns of the wicked, but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.”