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76. Psalm 76

¹ God is renowned in Judah;
   in Israel his name is great.
² His tent is in Salem,
   his dwelling place in Zion.
³ There he broke the flashing arrows,
   the shields and the swords, the weapons of war. The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 9.

    ⁴ You are radiant with light,
   more majestic than mountains rich with game.
⁵ The valiant lie plundered,
   they sleep their last sleep;
not one of the warriors
   can lift his hands.
⁶ At your rebuke, God of Jacob,
   both horse and chariot lie still.

    ⁷ It is you alone who are to be feared.
   Who can stand before you when you are angry?
⁸ From heaven you pronounced judgment,
   and the land feared and was quiet—
⁹ when you, God, rose up to judge,
   to save all the afflicted of the land.
¹⁰ Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise,
   and the survivors of your wrath are restrained. Or Surely the wrath of mankind brings you praise, / and with the remainder of wrath you arm yourself

    ¹¹ Make vows to the LORD your God and fulfill them;
   let all the neighboring lands
   bring gifts to the One to be feared.
¹² He breaks the spirit of rulers;
   he is feared by the kings of the earth.

7. Thou, even thou, art terrible. The repetition of the pronoun Thou, is intended to exclude all others from what is here predicated of God, as if it had been said, Whatever power there is in the world, it at once vanishes away, and is reduced to nothing, when He comes forth and manifests himself; and, therefore, He alone is terrible. This is confirmed by the comparison added immediately after, which intimates that, although the wicked are so filled with pride as to be ready to burst with it, yet they are unable to abide the look and presence of God. But as he sometimes keeps silence, and seems merely to look on as an idle spectator, it is expressly asserted, that as soon as he begins to be angry, ruin will be near all the wicked. Although they may then for a time not only stand, but also rise above the clouds by their fury, we are here, notwithstanding, admonished that we ought to wait for the time of wrath. Let us also mark that this terror is denounced against the wicked in such a manner as that it sweetly draws all true believers to God.