From The Wilderness to Zion

Victory

Two things distinguished Israel’s history from that of all other nations.

  1. Divine presence - (vv. 7, 8) - Picture Israel marching out of Egypt wrapped in a Shekinah cloud. When, in all of history, has this world ever seen anything like this?
  2. Divine providence - (vv. 9, 10) - For many this was the first time they had seen rain, for there was no rain in Egypt. The promised land must have looked like a paradise to these Israelites.

The psalmist next rehearses the victorious occupation of the land of Canaan from which the kings (vv. 11-14) were driven out.

  1. Victory appropriated - As the victories were handed to the Israelites by God, they would go through the abandoned tents of the enemy collecting the spoil (vv. 11-12).
  2. Victory acclaimed - In contrast to their former slavery, the people are now sheltered by the wings of a dove (v. 13). This dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit.
  3. Victory acknowledged - The psalmist saw the mountain symbolizing a great victory over the enemy (v. 14). He saw the enemy driven before the wind like snowflakes. Israel’s victories were of an earthly, temporal nature while ours are heavenly and eternal.

God’s victory is pictured as beautiful and refreshing as freshly fallen snow.

Application

It is God’s Word that gives the victory. All I need to do is divide the spoil when the defeated foes flee from His almighty word.

Psalms 68:11-14 (English Standard Version)


Warning: MagpieRSS: Failed to parse RSS file. (Space required at line 39, column 24) in /var/www/html/familytimes/includes/magpie6-1/rss_fetch.inc on line 230

Warning: array_slice() expects parameter 1 to be array, null given in /var/www/html/familytimes/includes/rss/esvLookup.php on line 15

View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway) »