God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness...
Parallel Translations
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God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness...
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O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah:
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(68-8) O God, when Thou wentest forth before Thy people, when Thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to Psalms 68:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 13:21 Yahweh went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, that they might go by day and by night:
- Judges 5:4 “Yahweh, when you went out of Seir, when you marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the sky also dropped. Yes, the clouds dropped water.
- Judges 4:14 Deborah said to Barak, “Go; for this is the day in which Yahweh has delivered Sisera into your hand. Hasn’t Yahweh gone out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.
- Habakkuk 3:12-13 You marched through the land in wrath. You threshed the nations in anger. You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the land of wickedness. You stripped them head to foot.
- Deuteronomy 4:34 Or has God tried to go and take a nation for himself from among another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
- Psalms 114:1-8 When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of foreign language, Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion. The sea saw it, and fled. The Jordan was driven back. The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs. What was it, you sea, that you fled? You Jordan, that you turned back? You mountains, that you skipped like rams; you little hills, like lambs? Tremble, you earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of waters.
- Micah 2:13 He who breaks open the way goes up before them. They break through the gate, and go out. And their king passes on before them, with Yahweh at their head.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 7 O God! when thou wentest forth before thy…
7 O God! when thou wentest forth before thy people, etc. The Psalmist now proceeds to show that the Divine goodness is principally displayed in the Church, which God has selected as the great theater where his fatherly care may be manifested. What follows is evidently added with the view of leading the posterity of Abraham, as the Lord’s chosen people, to apply the observations which had been just made to themselves. The deliverance from Egypt having been the chief and lasting pledge of the Divine favor, which practically ratified their adoption under the patriarch, he briefly adverts to that event. He would intimate that in that remarkable exodus, proof had been given to all succeeding ages of the love which God entertained for his Church. Why were so many miracles wrought? why were heaven and earth put into commotion? why were the mountains made to tremble? but that all might recognize the power of God as allied with the deliverance of his people. He represents God as having been their leader in conducting them forth. And this not merely in reference to their passage of the Red Sea, but their journeys so long as they wandered in the wilderness. When he speaks of the earth being moved, he would not seem to allude entirely to what occurred upon the promulgation of the law, but to the fact that, throughout all their progress, the course of nature was repeatedly altered, as if the very elements had trembled at the presence of the Lord. It was upon Mount Sinai, however, that God issued the chief displays of his awful power; it was there that thunders were heard in heaven, and the air was filled with lightnings; and, accordingly, it is mentioned here by name as having presented the most glorious spectacle of the Divine majesty which was ever beheld. Some read, This Sinai, etc., connecting the pronoun זה, zeh, with the mountain here named; but it is much more emphatical to join it with the preceding clause, and to read, the heavens dropped at the presence of This God; David meaning to commend the excellency of the God of Israel. The expression is one frequently used by the prophets to denote that the God worshipped by the posterity of Abraham was the true God, and the religion delivered in his law no delusion, as in Isaiah 25:9, “This, this is our God, and he will save us.” To establish the Lord’s people in their faith, David leads them, as it were, into the very presence of God; indicates that they were left to no such vague uncertainties as the heathen; and indirectly censures the folly of the world in forsaking the knowledge of the true God, and fashioning imaginary deities of its own, of wood and stone, of gold and silver.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He teacheth that God’s favor peculiarly belongeth to his…
He teacheth that God’s favor peculiarly belongeth to his Church, as appeareth by their wonderful deliverance out of Egypt.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 68:7 O God, when thou wentest forth before…
Psa 68:7 O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah:
Ver. 7. O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people] Here the former benefits of God to his people are recited, et additis miris coloribus depicta potius quam descripta, and rather depainted out in lively colours than described. We must stir up ourselves to thankfulness for what God hath done for our forefathers; neither must the memory of his mercies ever grow stale with us.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain In the cloudy pillar, as their Captain leading them…
In the cloudy pillar, as their Captain leading them out of Egypt.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain The psalmist here, having occasion to give God thanks…
The psalmist here, having occasion to give God thanks for the great things he had done for him and his people of late, takes occasion thence to praise him for what he had done for their fathers in the days of old. Fresh mercies should put us in mind of former mercies and revive our grateful sense of them. Let it never be forgotten,
I. That God himself was the guide of Israel through the wilderness; when he had brought them out of their chains he did not leave them in the dry land, but he himself went before them in a march through the wilderness, Psa 68:7. It was not a journey, but a march, for they went as soldiers, as an army with banners. The Egyptians promised themselves that the wilderness had shut them in, but they were deceived; God's Israel, having him for their leader, marched through the wilderness and were not lost in it. Note, If God bring his people into a wilderness, he will be sure to go before them in it and bring them out of it. Sol 8:5.
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II. That he manifested his glorious presence with them at Mount Sinai, Psa 68:8. Never did any people see the glory of God, nor hear his voice, as Israel did, Deu 4:32, Deu 4:33. Never had any people such an excellent law given them, so expounded, so enforced. Then the earth shook, and the neighbouring countries, it is likely, felt the shock; terrible thunders there were, accompanied no doubt with thunder-showers, in which the heavens seemed to drop; while the divine doctrine dropped as the rain, Deu 32:2. Sinai itself, that vast mountain, that long ridge of mountains, was moved at the presence of God; see Jdg 5:4, Jdg 5:5; Deu 33:2; Hab 3:3. This terrible appearance of the Divine Majesty, as it would possess them with a fear and dread of him, so it would encourage their faith in him and dependence upon him. Whatever mountains of difficulty lay in the way of their happy settlement, he that could move Sinai itself could remove them, could get over them.
III. That he provided very comfortably for them both in the wilderness and in Canaan (Psa 68:9, Psa 68:10): Thou didst send a plentiful rain and hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor. This may refer, 1. To the victualling of their camp with manna in the wilderness, which was rained upon them, as were also the quails (Psa 78:24, Psa 78:27), and it might be fitly called a rain of liberality or munificence, for it was a memorable instance of the divine bounty. This confirmed the camp of Israel (here called God's inheritance, because he had chosen them to be a peculiar treasure to himself) when it was weary and ready to perish: this confirmed their faith, and was a standing proof of God's power and goodness. Even in the wilderness God found a comfortable dwelling for Israel, which was his congregation. Or, 2. To the seasonable supplies granted them in Canaan, that land flowing with mild and honey, which is said to drink water of the rain of heaven, Deu 11:11. When sometimes that fruitful land was ready to be turned into barrenness, for the iniquity of those that dwelt therein, God, in judgment, remembered mercy, and sent them a plentiful rain, which refreshed it again, so that the congregation of Israel dwelt therein, and there was provision enough, even to satisfy their poor with bread. This looks further to the spiritual provision made for God's Israel; the Spirit of grace and the gospel of grace are the plentiful rain with which God confirms his inheritance, and from which their fruit is found, Isa 45:8. Christ himself is this rain, Psa 72:6. He shall come as showers that water the earth.
IV. That he often gave them victory over their enemies; armies, and kings of armies, appeared against them, from their first coming into Canaan, and all along in the times of the judges, till David's days, but, first or last, they gained their point against them, Psa 68:11, Psa 68:12, Psa 68:14. Observe here, 1. That God was their commander-in-chief: The Lord gave the word, as general of their armies. He raised up judges for them, gave them their commissions and instructions, and assured them of success. God spoke in his holiness, and then Gilead is mine. 2. That they had prophets, as God's messengers, to make known his mind to them. God gave them his word (the word of the Lord came unto them) and then great was the company of the preachers - prophets and prophetesses, for the word is feminine. When God has messages to send he will not want messengers. Or perhaps it may allude to the women's joining in the triumph when the victory was obtained, as was usual (Exo 15:20, Sa1 18:7), in which they took notice of the word of God, triumphing in that as much as in his works. 3. That their enemies were defeated, and put to confusion: Kings of armies did flee, did flee with the greatest terror and precipitation imaginable, did not fight and flee, but flee and flee, retired without striking a stroke; they fled apace, fled and never rallied again. 4. That they were enriched with the plunder of the field: She that tarried at home divided the spoil. Not only the men, the soldiers that abode by the stuff, who were, by a statute of distributions, to share the prey (Sa1 30:24), but even the women that tarried at home had a share, which intimates the abundance of spoil that should be taken. 5. That these great things which God did for them were sanctified to them and contributed to their reformation (Psa 68:14): When the Almighty scattered kings for her (for the church) she was white as snow in Salmon, purified and refined by the mercies of God; when the host went forth against the enemy they kept themselves from every wicked thing, and so the host returned victorious, and Israel by the victory were confirmed in their purity and piety. This account of Israel's victories is applicable to the victories obtained by the exalted Redeemer for those that are his, over death and hell. By the resurrection of Christ our spiritual enemies were made to flee, their power was broken, and they were for ever disabled to hurt any of God's people. This victory was first notified by the women (the she-publishers) to the disciples (Mat 28:7) and by them it was preached to all the world, while believers that tarry at home, that did not themselves contribute any thing towards it, enjoy the benefit of it, and divide the spoil.
V. That from a low and despised condition they had been advanced to splendour and prosperity. When they were bond-slaves in Egypt, and afterwards when they were oppressed sometimes by one potent neighbour and sometimes by another, they did, as it were, lie among the pots or rubbish, as despised broken vessels, or as vessels in which there was no pleasure - they were black, and dirty, and discoloured. But God, at length, delivered them from the pots (Psa 81:6), and in David's time they were in a fair way to be one of the most prosperous kingdoms in the world, amiable in the eyes of all about them, like the wings of a dove covered with silver, Psa 68:13. "And so," says Dr. Hammond, "under Christ's kingdom, the heathen idolaters that were brought to the basest and most despicable condition of any creatures, worshipping wood and stone, and given up to the vilest lusts, should from that detestable condition be advanced to the service of Christ, and the practice of all Christian virtues, the greatest inward beauties in the world." It may be applied also to the deliverance of the church out of a suffering state and the comforts of particular believers after their despondencies.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people,....…
O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people,.... In the pillar of cloud, and in the pillar of fire, as the Targum adds; and this divine Person was the Son of God, the Angel of his presence, in whom his name was, even his name JAH or Jehovah before mentioned;
when thou didst march through the wilderness; at the head of the Israelites, leading, guiding, and directing them; providing for them all things necessary, and protecting them against their enemies. And so Christ goes before his people, as they pass through the wilderness of this world; and does the like good offices for them, until he, as the great Captain of their salvation, brings them safe to glory: for what is here said is taken notice of as a resemblance of what he now does, or has done, under the Gospel dispensation, to which this psalm belongs; particularly of his marching through the wilderness of the Gentile world, in the ministry of the word by his apostles, wherein he went forth conquering and to conquer.
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Selah; on this word; see Gill on Psa 3:2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Wentest - In the cloudy pillar, as their captain…
Wentest - In the cloudy pillar, as their captain leading them up out of Egypt.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 7. O God, when thou wentest forth] This…
Verse 7. O God, when thou wentest forth] This and the following verse most manifestly refer to the passage of the Israelites through the wilderness.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 68:7-8. O God, when thou wentest forth before…
Psa 68:7-8. O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people — In the cloudy pillar, as their captain, leading them out of Egypt; the earth shook — Or, trembled, that is, either the inhabitants of those parts of the earth, according to Exo 15:14; or the earth itself, through an earthquake, as a token of God’s dreadful presence, as seems to be intimated, Psa 114:5-7. The heavens also dropped — Dissolved into showers, as the consequence of those mighty thunders and lightnings, which also bespoke his presence, and of the thick cloud that covered the mount. Even Sinai itself, &c. — Shook, or dropped, for either verb may be supplied from the former clause, there being no verb in the Hebrew text of this clause. Sinai was even melted, or dissolved with fear. It is a poetical representation of the terribleness of God’s appearance. Dr. Chandler supposes that this part of the Psalm, from Psa 68:7 to the 14th, was sung just as the procession began, and the Levites moved along with the ark, placed by its staves on their shoulders.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people…
O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people ... - That is, in conducting them through the desert to the promised land. The statement in regard to the paternal character of God in the previous verses is here illustrated by his guiding his own people, when fleeing from a land of oppression, through the barren desert - and his interpositions there in their behalf. All that had been said of him in the previous verses is here confirmed by the provision which he made for their needs in their perilous journey through the wilderness.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain (Compare Exo 19:16-18).
(Compare Exo 19:16-18).
thou wentest--in the pillar of fire.
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thou didst march--literally, "in Thy tread," Thy majestic movement.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 7. Wentest forth… didst march—Military phrases, specially denoting the…
7. Wentest forth… didst march—Military phrases, specially denoting the going forth to battle, Psa_44:9; Hab_3:13; Num_27:17. The triumphal march of Psa_68:4 is resumed, and the proper theme of the psalm is here taken up, which is, to show that God, who has always acted as the captain and leader of his people, disposing every thing concerning them by his supreme command, has now directed the settlement of the ark at Zion. See Psa_68:15-16. Psa_68:7-9 are a quotation from Jdg_5:4-5.
Wilderness—The desert of Sinai, which Moses calls “the waste, howling wilderness.” Deu_32:10. In Jdg_5:4 the desert of Sinai and the Arabah south of the Dead Sea, (Psa_68:4,) are both mentioned.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 7, 8. These verses are borrowed, with some omissions…
7, 8. These verses are borrowed, with some omissions and alterations, from the Song of Deborah (Jdg_5:4-5):
“Jehovah, when thou wentest forth out of Seir,
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When thou didst march out of the field of Edom,
The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped,
Yea, the clouds dropped water;
The mountains quaked at the presence of God,
Even yon Sinai at the presence of Jehovah, the God of Israel.”
When God brought Israel out of Egypt, He “went before them … to lead them in the way” (Exo_13:21 f.; cp. Mic_2:13), and in the great Theophany of Sinai the mystery and marvel of His self-revelation were concentrated. Earthquake and storm are the symbols of His Presence and Power. See Exo_19:16 ff., and cp. Psa_18:7 ff.; Hab_3:3 ff.
Three times in this Psalm (7, 19, 32) Selah occurs not at the close of a stanza, but after the first verse of a stanza. If the text is right, it would seem that a musical interlude was employed to enforce the thought with which the stanza begins.
7–10. The Exodus from Egypt and the Entry into Canaan.
7–18. After this general introduction the Psalmist proceeds to review the past history of Israel in proof of God’s victorious power and of His gracious love towards His people.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 7-10. In the central portion of the psalm,…
Vers. 7-10. In the central portion of the psalm, from ver. 7 to ver. 28, God is praised for his doings in connection with the history of Israel; and, first of all, in the present passage, for his doings at Sinai and in the wilderness.
O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people. (see Exo_13:20-22) The present verse and the next are an echo of the Song of Deborah, (Jud_1:5:4, 5) "Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water; the mountains melted from before the Lord, even that Sinai from before the Lord God of Israel." When thou didst march through the wilderness. The entire march from Etham to Pisgah is in the poet"s mind; but he can touch only certain features of it. And first, the scene at Sinai.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 7. O God, when thou wentest forth before…
Ver. 7. O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people. What a sweetly suitable association, "thou" and "thy people; "--thou before, and thy people following! The Lord went before, and, therefore, whether the Red Sea or burning sand lay in the way, it mattered not; the pillar of cloud and fire always led them by a right way.
When thou didst march through the wilderness. He was the Commander in chief of Israel, from whom they received all orders, and the march was therefore his march. "His stately step the region drear beheld." We may speak, if we will, of the "wanderings of the children of Israel, "but we must not think them purposeless strayings, they were in reality a well arranged and well considered march.
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SELAH. This seems an odd place for a musical pause or direction, but it is better to break a sentence than spoil praise. The sense is about to be superlatively grand, and, therefore, the selah intimates the fact to the players and singers, that they may with suitable solemnity perform their parts. It is never untimely to remind a congregation that the worship of God should be thoughtfully and heartily presented.
None.
Ver. 7-8.
I. God has his seasons for delivering his people from
their troubles: When thou, etc.
II. His deliverance is complete: The earth shook, etc.;
all things gave way before him.
III. The deliverance is greater for the delay.
1. It is so in itself.
2. It is more prized: as in the case of Job, Abraham, Israel at the Red Sea, Daniel, his three companions, etc. G. R.
Ver. 7-9.
I. The presence of God in his church.
1. His preeminence: "before."
2. As covenant God of Israel.
3. As active and making active.
4. His rule within: they follow.
5. His design without: marching for war. II. The blessed consequences.
1. The most stolid shake.
2. The lofty bow.
3. Difficulties removed: "Sinai."
4. Blessings plenteous.
5. Church revived.
Psalms 68:8*
Ver. 7-8. See Psalms on "Ps 68:7" for further information.
Ver. 7-9. See Psalms on "Ps 68:7" for further information.
Psalms 68:9*
Ver. 7-9. See Psalms on "Ps 68:7" for further information.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain O God, when Thou wentest forth before Thy people,…
Psa_68:7-18
O God, when Thou wentest forth before Thy people, when Thou didst march through the wilderness.
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The progress of humanity
I. It commences with the Divinely terrible (Psa_68:7-8). As a rule, if not always, the very first step of the soul on its moral march is preceded by visions of God that startle and alarm. God seems to enwrap the soul in blackness and darkness and tempests, to roll thunders and flash lightnings on the conscience, as on Sinai of old; so that the soul cries out, Lord, what shall I do to be saved? (Isaiah; St. Paul; people on day of Pentecost.)
II. It proceeds under the leadership of God Himself.
1. He supplied Israels needs (Psa_68:9).
2. He conquered their enemies (Psa_68:11-12). And this is what God is always doing for His people. No moral progress can we make unless He leads us on, supplying our needs and striking down our foes.
III. Every stage conducts to higher privileges. Three stages in the march of the Hebrews are indicated here. From Egypt they advanced to the wilderness, and the wilderness, with all its trials and inconveniences, was better than the land of despotism. From the wilderness they entered Canaan. Every stage that a man reaches in moral progress is better than the preceding. He moves on from strength to strength, from glory to glory. The glories reached are nothing to be compared to the glories yet to be enjoyed. (Homilist.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
David begins to tell the story of God leading the Israelites through the desert to Mt. Sinai.
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when you went out ... when you marched through
These two phrases refer to the same event. (See: Parallelism)
you went out before your people
"you led your people"
when you marched through the wilderness
God is spoken of as if he was a soldier marching ahead of the people of Israel. (See: Metaphor)
the heavens also dropped rain ... God's presence
"God caused it to rain"
in the presence of God
This idiom here refers to God's appearance before the Israelites. AT: "when God appeared to the Israelites" (See: Parallelism)
translationWords
people of God
desert
selah
heaven
Sinai
Israel
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.