Font Size
Psalm 68:5-7
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 68:5-7
New Catholic Bible
5 [a]Sing to God, sing praise to his name;[b]
exalt him who rides upon the clouds.
Rejoice in the presence of this God
whose name is the Lord.
6 [c]The Father of orphans and the defender of widows:
such is God in his holy dwelling place.
7 He gives a home to those who are forsaken
and leads out prisoners amid chants of exultation,
while rebels are forced to live in an arid land.
Footnotes
- Psalm 68:5 This second part calls for God to be praised as savior.
- Psalm 68:5 Name: see notes on Pss 5:12; 8:1. Who rides upon the clouds: the psalmist applies to Yahweh the image of the Canaanite storm-god Baal riding to battle on storm clouds; he thus stresses that Yahweh rather than Baal is the exalted God who makes the storm clouds his chariot (see v. 34; Pss 18:10f; 104:3; Deut 33:26; Isa 19:1; Hab 3:8; Mt 26:64).
- Psalm 68:6 The Lord watches over the whole human race, acting on behalf of those who seek protection and vindication: the fatherless, the widows, the forsaken, and the exiles. His rule brings about justice out of injustice and vindication out of oppression (see Pss 10:14; 25:16; 79:11; 102:20f; 103:6; 146:9; Ex 22:21-23; Deut 10:18; Isa 61:1; Bar 6:37).
