Psalm 68 (67)
Triumphal procession of the God of victories. To the eyes of the believer, the history of the Church is a new triumphal march. The risen Christ present through his Spirit leads her to heaven, where he has prepared a place for her.
2 Arise, O God, scatter your ene mies; let your foes flee before you.
3 As smoke is blown by the wind, so blow them away; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish before you.
4 But let the righteous be glad and exult before God;
let them sing to God and shout for joy.
5 Sing to God, sing praises to his name; open the way to him who rides upon the clouds; the Lord is his name. Rejoice in his presence.
6 Father of orphans and protector of widows – such is our God in his holy dwelling.
7 He gives shelter to the homeless, sets the prisoners free, but keeps the rebels in their jail.
8 O God, when you went forth, when you led your people through the desert,
9 the earth trembled, the heavens poured down rain, at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
10 Then you gave a rain of blessings to comfort your weary children.
11 Your people found a dwelling and in your mercy, O God, you provided for the needy.
12 The Lord has dispatched messengers: “The Lord has shattered an army!”
13 The kings and their armies flee, yes, they flee, they flee!
14 A woman at home divides the spoils: wings of dove covered with sil ver, their pinions with shining gold.
15 When the Lord routed the kings, snow fell on the Dark Mountain.
16 O mighty mountain of Bashan, high and rugged mountain,
17 why look with envy upon the mountain where God chooses
to reign, where the Lord will dwell forever?
18 With myriads of powerful char iots, the Lord came from Sinai into his sanctuary.
19 He ascended the high moun tain, leading captives in his train, taking peo ple as tributes, even rebels, to his dwelling.
20 Blessed be the Lord, God our savior, who daily bears our burdens!
21 Ours is a God who saves; our Lord lets us escape from death.
22 But he crushes the heads of his enemies, the hairy crowns of the crim inals.
23 The Lord said, “I will bring them back from Ba shan, back from the depths of the sea,
24 that you may bathe your feet in blood, and the tongues of your dogs may have their share of your foes.”
25 I remember the procession of the King, of my God, as they came into the sanctuary:
26 the singers in front, the musicians last, between them maidens playing tambourines.
27 Praise God in the great congre gation, praise the Lord in the feasts of Israel.
28 There in the lead is the least of them, the tribe of Benjamin; the princes of Judah in a body; the princes of Naphtali, and of Zebulun.
29 Summon your power, O God, with the strength you have wielded for us.
30 To your temple in Jerusalem, kings will come with gifts.
31 Rebuke the beast that dwell in the reeds, and the herd of bulls. Hum ble them; let them bring gold and silver. Scatter the nations who delight in war.
32 Let wealth come from Egypt; let Ethiopia extend its hands to God.
33 Sing to God, O kingdoms of the world; sing praises to the Lord,
34 to him who rides the ancient heavens and speaks in the voice of thunder.
35 Proclaim the might of God; he is great in Israel, powerful in heavens.
36 Awesome in his sanctuary is the God of Israel. He gives his peo ple power and strength.
Blessed be God!