Psalm 68

The subtitle wasn’t part of the original psalm. And the possible byline “of David,” isn’t necessarily a byline. The vague phrase could mean the song was written by David, about David, or was inspired by David. Almost half of the psalms are attributed to David in this way, 73 of 150. Ancient Jewish history tells of David playing a lyre and writing songs. For one, he wrote a song of mourning at the battlefield death of King Saul and his sons: “How have the mighty fallen!” (2 Samuel 1:19-27 New American Standard Bible). An ancient Jewish scroll from about the time of Jesus, discovered among the famous Dead Sea Scrolls, reports that David wrote 3,600 songs.

“Clouds” could also mean “desert.” In that case, the image is reminiscent of a prophecy in Isaiah 57:14, urging people to prepare the road for the Lord, and make a highway through the desert.

This “LORD” in all capital letters is different than other “Lord” spellings in Psalms and throughout the Bible. “LORD” appears around 7,000 times in the Christian Bible, which makes it the most common way of referring to God.  The lower-case “Lord” is a translation of the Hebrew word Adonai. It refers to God as our master, our life coach, or the boss. He’s in charge of us, and we try to obey him. “LORD” is the spelling most Bibles use when the writer refers to the name of God. Moses asked God what his name was, and God said Moses should tell the Israelite ancestors of the Jews that his name is “I AM” (Exodus 3:14). In the original Hebrew language, the name is spelled with only consonants—no vowels. It’s an ancient shorthand, to save hides used to make scrolls. The name is YHWH. Without knowing which vowels, most scholars have settled on YAHWEH, pronounced YAH-way.

The word in the original language of Hebrew is selah. Bible scholars haven’t figured out what it means yet, so all we can do is guess. It could mean “pause for effect,” “instrumental interlude,” or “choir singing ‘Amen.’” We’re offering a guess instead of selah. Though selah might be the better way to go because it’s always correct, it’s also always incomprehensible. “Instruments” has a good chance of being wrong, but at least we convey the idea that the Hebrew word behind it probably has something to do with enhancing the song.

The Hebrew word for this descriptive title of God is Shaddai.

Location unknown. There was a Mount Zalmon near Shechem, modern Nablus (Judges 9:48). The city is near the center of the Holy Land, shared by the Israeli and Palestinian people.

Bashan was a region east of the Sea of Galilee, along the borders of Israel, Syria, and Jordan. It’s unknown which mountain the writer was talking about.

It’s unclear which story the writer is talking about. It could be Deborah’s defeat of an invading chariot corps at the Battle of Mount Tabor (Judges 4).

This “Lord” is not in all capital letters like most other “LORD” spellings in Psalms and throughout the Bible. “LORD” appears around 7,000 times in the Christian Bible, which makes it the most common way of referring to God.  The lower-case “Lord” is a translation of the Hebrew word Adonai. It refers to God as our master, our life coach, or the boss. He’s in charge of us, and we try to obey him. “LORD” is the spelling most Bibles use when the writer refers to the name of God. Moses asked God what his name was, and God said Moses should tell the Israelite ancestors of the Jews that his name is “I AM” (Exodus 3:14). In the original Hebrew language, the name is spelled with only consonants—no vowels. It’s an ancient shorthand, to save hides used to make scrolls. The name is YHWH. Without knowing which vowels, most scholars have settled on YAHWEH, pronounced YAH-way.

In the parched lands of the Middle East, any source of freshwater was a source of life.

Benjamin was the youngest of Jacob’s 12 sons, whose extended families grew to become the 12 tribes of Israel. Some scholars say the writer may have been describing the procession King David led when he brought to Jerusalem the Ark of the Covenant, the gold-covered chest with the Ten Commandments—Israel’s most sacred object (2 Samuel 6:1-19; 1 Chronicles 13—16:43).

Possibly the riverside nation of Egypt. Nearly all Egyptians lived alongside the Nile River.

Cush, also known as Nubia, was a region along the Nile River south of Egypt, in what is now Sudan. The Nubian Desert lay just beyond the few miles of fertile land alongside the river. Most people lived on the narrow stretch of land beside the river, then as now.