Companion: Deep Study
A condensed companion to the full study. For each section of the expanded outline: key insights, applications, and the application questions for discussion.
Section 1 — God Arises, the Father of the Fatherless (Psalm 68:1–6)
Key Insights
- The psalm opens with Moses’ cry when the ark set out, now sung as a truth God has proved in history (Numbers 10:35).
- The same presence of God that melts the wicked like wax makes the righteous glad (v. 3).
- The God who rides through the deserts is “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows” (v. 5).
- God settles the solitary in a home and leads prisoners out, as He brought Israel out of bondage (v. 6).
- In Christ, the God who rose from the dead adopts orphans and promises, “I will not leave you as orphans” (John 14:18).
Applications
- Bring your loneliness to the Father of the fatherless, expecting Him to answer through His church (Mark 10:29–30).
- Let your congregation look like its God by caring for widows, orphans and the lonely (James 1:27).
- Do not cast personal or political opponents as God’s enemies; Christ commands us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44).
Application Questions
- When I feel overlooked, alone, or without a protector, do I run to God as the Father of the fatherless, or do I assume He is too exalted to notice me?
- Does my care for widows, orphans, and lonely people in my church reflect the character of the God I worship?
Section 2 — The God of Sinai Marches Before His People (Psalm 68:7–10)
Key Insights
- God marched before His people through the wilderness like a commander at the head of His army (v. 7).
- At Sinai the earth quaked before “the God of Israel” (v. 8), who bound Himself to them in covenant.
- God’s rain on His weary inheritance was a rain of free gifts, not wages earned (v. 9).
- In His goodness God provided for the needy, anticipating their wants before they arose (v. 10).
- The terror of Sinai gives way in Christ to Mount Zion, “the city of the living God” (Hebrews 12:22).
Applications
- Keep a record of God’s past faithfulness and rehearse it when you are discouraged (Psalm 77:11).
- Receive daily provision as free grace and give thanks from the heart (1 Timothy 4:4).
- The abundant rain of verse 9 is not a promise of wealth; God’s provision means He will not forsake the needy (Philippians 4:19).
Application Questions
- When I am weary or languishing, do I remember the specific ways God has gone before me in the past?
- Do I receive my daily provision as gifts of free grace, or as wages I think I have earned?
Section 3 — The Lord Gives the Word and Kings Flee (Psalm 68:11–14)
Key Insights
- “The Lord gives the word” (v. 11), and God’s word, not human strategy, decides the battle.
- Women heralds announced the victory in song, as Miriam and Deborah had done (Exodus 15:20).
- Enemy kings flee and even those at home divide the spoil, sharing a victory they did not fight (v. 12).
- Verses 13–14 are obscure, but they picture grace adorning the undeserving like a dove covered with silver (v. 13).
- Christ won the decisive battle alone, and women were the first heralds of His resurrection (Matthew 28:8).
Applications
- Make God the subject when you tell of victories in your life and church (1 Corinthians 3:7).
- Be eager to announce the good news, as the women did (Psalm 96:2).
- Verse 11 describes victory song, not church office, and should not be enlisted for ordination debates.
Application Questions
- Do I credit the victories in my life and church to God’s word or to my own planning and effort?
- Am I eager to announce the good news of what God has done, as these women were?
Section 4 — The Mountain God Desired and the Ascended King (Psalm 68:15–18)
Key Insights
- The many-peaked mountains of Bashan look with envy at little Zion, the mountain God chose (v. 16).
- Zion’s hidden glory is the chariots of God, myriads of angels with the Lord among them (v. 17).
- “Sinai is now in the sanctuary” (v. 17): the God of Sinai has taken up His throne among His people.
- The conqueror ascends with captives and receives gifts so that the LORD God may dwell with His people (v. 18).
- Paul reads verse 18 of Christ’s ascension, when He “gave gifts to men” (Ephesians 4:8).
Applications
- Do not envy worldly greatness or measure the church by its standards (1 Corinthians 1:27).
- Use the gifts of the ascended Christ to build up His body (Ephesians 4:12).
- God’s choice of Zion does not make any earthly city or nation holy in itself (Hebrews 12:22).
Application Questions
- Am I tempted to envy the many-peaked mountains of worldly power, wealth, or influence, rather than prize the humble place where God dwells?
- How am I using the gifts the ascended Christ has given me to build up His body?
Section 5 — The God Who Daily Bears Us Up (Psalm 68:19–23)
Key Insights
- The Lord “daily bears us up” (v. 19), carrying His people’s burdens every day.
- God’s salvations are plural, and to Him belong “deliverances from death” (v. 20).
- God strikes the heads of His enemies who persist in their guilty ways, as the first gospel promise foretold (Genesis 3:15).
- The hard images of verses 22–23 show how precious God’s people are to Him, not divine cruelty (v. 23).
- Christ bears our burdens, crushed the serpent’s head, and holds “the keys of Death and Hades” (Revelation 1:18).
Applications
- Bring your daily burdens to God, “casting all your anxieties on him” (1 Peter 5:7).
- Face death and serious illness with hope in the Lord of life, seeking pastoral and medical help alongside prayer (Philippians 1:21).
- Never use these verses to justify revenge or delight in suffering; pray for your enemies (Matthew 5:44).
Application Questions
- What burdens am I trying to carry alone that the Lord offers to bear for me daily (v. 19)?
- When I read the hard words of verses 21–23, do I find myself wanting God’s judgment on my personal enemies rather than their repentance?
Section 6 — The Procession of My God, My King (Psalm 68:24–27)
Key Insights
- Israel watches the procession of “my God, my King” (v. 24) into the sanctuary, likely the ark’s ascent to Zion.
- Worship is ordered and joyful, with singers, musicians and young women with tambourines (v. 25).
- “Israel’s fountain” (v. 26) is Jacob, yet true belonging requires Abraham’s faith.
- Little Benjamin leads, and old rivals Judah and Benjamin march together with the northern tribes (v. 27).
- Christ leads His people “in triumphal procession” (2 Corinthians 2:14) and gathers every tribe into one.
Applications
- Come to worship as one who has seen God’s goings in Christ, not as a spectator (Acts 2:46).
- Honor the overlooked “Benjamins” in your church (1 Corinthians 12:24).
- The passage does not prescribe a musical style or liturgical procession for the church.
Application Questions
- Do I come to corporate worship as one who has seen God’s procession (v. 24), or as a spectator of a weekly routine?
- Is there a “Benjamin” in my church, someone small or overlooked, whom I should honor rather than ignore (v. 27)?
Section 7 — Kingdoms of the Earth, Sing to God (Psalm 68:28–35)
Key Insights
- The people pray for God to summon His power and confirm what He has begun (v. 28).
- Kings shall bear gifts to God because of His temple, and proud warlike powers are rebuked (v. 29).
- “Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God” (v. 31), a promise first fulfilled in the Ethiopian official.
- All kingdoms of the earth are summoned to sing to the God who rides the ancient heavens (v. 32).
- The God of Israel “gives power and strength to his people” (v. 35), now through the ascended Christ and His Spirit.
Applications
- Pray daily for God to strengthen what He has begun in you (Philippians 1:6).
- Pray, give and welcome for the sake of the nations (Romans 10:15).
- The nations’ submission comes by the gospel, not by coercion or conquest (2 Corinthians 10:4).
Application Questions
- Do I depend on God to strengthen what He has begun in me, or do I assume that past grace makes present prayer unnecessary (v. 28)?
- Do my prayers and giving reflect the psalm’s expectation that distant nations will stretch out their hands to God (v. 31)?
The God who arose at Sinai and ascended Zion has risen and ascended in Jesus Christ, who scatters every enemy, adopts the fatherless, gives gifts to His church, and gathers the nations to sing, “Blessed be God!”
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