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Let's be honest about this:
When you live in a world where the enemies of faith seem to have it all their own way, you can get a little bit fed up with that as a believer.
It can sometimes feel a bit like ...
Supporting a 'minor league' side?
Those supporters never really seem to sing very loud, do they? And they don't FLAUNT their fan-ship either.
How many consecutive defeats can a supporters club really sustain, I wonder ...
So how does it work out for believers in a culture where the devil seems to have ALL the good music?
How do you cope with living in a world of poor music?
In the context of our Verse for the Day, that is pretty much what has been going on ... but the way that Psalm 68 handles that is really quite instructive.
“Sing to God,
sing in praise of his name,
extol him who rides on the clouds;
rejoice before him
– his name is the Lord.”
Psalms 68:4
https://www.bible.com/113/psa.68.4.nivuk
So, WHAT's going on with this psalm?
Celebrating one triumph in a time of small things
Most commentators believe this psalm is connected with the coming of the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6), celebrating not only that event, but also the faithfulness of God to give Israel victory over her enemies, and to make Jerusalem secure enough to bring the ark into the city.
It celebrates what CAN be celebrated in history but focuses in the main on what can be celebrated about God Himself ... because things in their own time were as yet far from perfect!
You can see that's the case from the way the psalm opens:
“May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him. May you blow them away like smoke – as wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God. But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.”
Psalms 68:1-3
That doesn't sound as if the team's yet made it to the top of the league!
So how do believers who feel they are on the back foot handle it?
Here's where Verse for the Day now comes in:
“Sing to God,
sing in praise of his name,
extol him who rides on the clouds;
rejoice before him – his name is the Lord.”
Psalms 68:4
They move to a paean of praise
From prayers in a difficult situation ... beset by enemy and foes in verses 1-3 ... and having prayed, they don't linger and mope.
They chose to go straight on to worship and praise.
Praising God's Character
“Sing to God,
sing in praise of his name"
It's not quite simple repetition but has a development of the first thought in the second ... it's specifically God's Name they want to praise.
His Name is what expresses His character ... and that's where the following verses take us.
In their sense of being a bit on the back foot, the psalmist chooses to pray then to move on promptly to praise ... not praising God for the lovely time they were having, but for the untouched excellence of the Lord and His character.
And, obviously, when you're feeling a bit weak, the first port of call is God's MIGHT!
Praising God's MIGHT
They might be feeling a bit weak, but they're going to lift the Name of the LORD, Who 'rides upon the clouds'.
“By the ascription ‘who rides on the clouds,’ the psalmist contrasts the all-sufficiency of the God of Israel with the powers of Baal whom the Canaanites worshipped as ‘the Rider on the clouds.’” Van Gemeren
Their enemies are dead-keen on Baal, but it is actually their God Who is all powerful and rides upon the storm.
So they praise Him as such, by decision and choice.
But unlike Baal, Jehovah the rider on the clouds actually uses His power in compassion ...
Extolling God's compassion
“He is a father to the fatherless and an advocate for widows. God rules from his holy palace. God settles those who have been deserted in their own homes; he frees prisoners and grants them prosperity. But sinful rebels live in the desert.”
Psalms 68:5-6
Celebrating the Covenant King's Care
Unlike the irascible and disloyal deities of their enemies' pantheon, Israel's God is celebrated for being faithful to the covenant that He keeps with His people:
“O God, when you lead your people into battle, when you march through the desert, (Selah)
the earth shakes,
yes, the heavens pour down rain before God,
the God of Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
O God, you cause abundant showers to fall on your chosen people.
When they are tired, you sustain them, for you live among them.
You sustain the oppressed with your good blessings, O God.”
Psalms 68:7-10
How encouraging is THAT for God's back-footed people?
They are restoring their crest-fallen hearts by God's praise.
The Point
Feeling under threat and as if on the back foot, God's people go to prayer but move on deliberately to praise.
It might not immediately be what they FEEL, but is definitely what they move on to do.
They show gratitude for the good things they have, but they go on to praise God for the excellencies of His Person ... His Name, as revealing His character.
And his character is such that He deploys His greatness not in caprice or in personal self-interest, but to show care and compassion to the weak, and covenant loyalty and faithfulness to his people.
The Takeaway
No doubt lament is a large, important thing in Scripture ... but God's faithful folks don't stop when they've gone there.
This psalm shows them going on from the small victories to further fervent prayer then praise, focusing on God's power, care and faithfulness.
And when we feel as if we're placed one the back foot ... that's the way we, perhaps, should handle it too.
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