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75. Psalm 75

¹ We praise you, God,
we praise you, for your Name is near;
people tell of your wonderful deeds.

    ² You say, “I choose the appointed time;
   it is I who judge with equity.
³ When the earth and all its people quake,
   it is I who hold its pillars firm. The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
⁴ To the arrogant I say, ‘Boast no more,’
   and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horns. Horns here symbolize strength; also in verses 5 and 10.
⁵ Do not lift your horns against heaven;
   do not speak so defiantly.’”

    ⁶ No one from the east or the west
   or from the desert can exalt themselves.
⁷ It is God who judges:
   He brings one down, he exalts another.
⁸ In the hand of the LORD is a cup
   full of foaming wine mixed with spices;
he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth
   drink it down to its very dregs.

    ⁹ As for me, I will declare this forever;
   I will sing praise to the God of Jacob,
¹⁰ who says, “I will cut off the horns of all the wicked,
   but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”

3. The earth is dissolved, and all its inhabitants. Many commentators are of opinion that these words are properly applicable to Christ, at whose coming it behoved the earth and its inhabitants to be shaken. He reigns, as we know, that he may destroy the old man, and he commences his spiritual kingdom with the destruction of the flesh; but he conducts his administration in such a manner as that afterwards there follows the restoration of the new man. Of the second part of the verse, I will establish the pillars of it, they make the same application, explaining it as if Christ had said, As soon as I come into the world, the earth with its inhabitants shall melt and be dissolved; but immediately after I will establish it upon firm and solid foundations; for my elect ones, renewed by my Spirit, shall no longer be like grass or withered flowers, but shall have conferred upon them new and unwonted stability. I do not, however, think that such a refined interpretation ever entered into the mind of the prophet, whose words I consider as simply meaning, that although the earth may be dissolved, God has the props or supports of it in his own hand. This verse is connected with the preceding; for it confirms the truth that God in due time will manifest himself to be an impartial and righteous judge; it being an easy matter for him, although the whole fabric of the world were fallen into ruins, to rebuild it from its decayed materials. At the same time, I have no doubt that there is a reference to the actual state of things in the natural world. The earth occupies the lowest place in the celestial sphere, and yet instead of having foundations on which it is supported, is it not rather suspended in the midst of the air? Besides, since so many waters penetrate and pass through its veins, would it not be dissolved were it not established by the secret power of God? While, however, the prophet alludes to the natural state of the earth, he, nevertheless, rises higher, teaching us, that were the world even in ruins, it is in the power of God to re-establish it.