Canon Rob's Reflections

If you have read the heading above, you will see that today is the Sunday after Ascension Day, which was last Thursday. However, today is also the Seventh Sunday of Easter bringing an end to the Easter Season. We continue to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus, but also his glorious Ascension into Heaven. [See Luke 24.50-end and the Acts of the Apostles 1.9-11.] Yet the opening verses of today’s psalm appear to ignore these two wonderful events. Instead it speaks of God’s judgement: “Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered; let those that hate him flee before him.” C.S. Lewis in his book, “Reflections on the Psalms,” says our attitude towards judgement affects our understanding of Psalm 68 and other psalms which have that as their theme. Through the Parable of the Sheep and Goats in Matthew 25.31-46 Jesus taught about the final judgement and for centuries at least that was something to be feared. The parable makes very uncomfortable reading for all who take it seriously. In the Old Testament, God is often portrayed as being cruel and quick to punish those who did not obey His commandments and laws. Yet, C.S. Lewis again says that when the psalmists wrote about God’s judgement, they welcomed it because they knew it was just and good. Christians pray to God for mercy, but the ancient people of God prayed for justice instead of the injustice which they had experienced for many years. This may help in our understanding of today’s psalm as will trying to see it through the eyes of the author.


Verse 2, like the first, is clearly a judgement on God’s enemies: “As the smoke vanishes, so may they vanish away; as wax melts in the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.” But then verses 3 and 4 refer to those who are righteous who, the psalmist hopes, will be “glad and rejoice before God.” Then they can “Sing to God…who rides on the clouds.” So, as you reflect upon the verses of today’s psalm, you may find it helpful to consider how you understand God’s judgement. Is it something to be feared or, rather, something to be welcomed because you believe that God loves you? Certainly the psalmist believed that God was on the side of His people and would rescue them from their enemies as He had done in the past. As in other psalms, there is a clear distinction between those who are righteous and those who rebel against the One, True God. This God is the “Father of the fatherless, defender of widows” [Verse 5.] who “gives the solitary a home…” He really cares for His people. However those who are rebellious will “inhabit a burning desert.” [Verse 6.] Through these, and the following verses, the author of today’s psalm recalls what God has done in the past for His people and what He will continue to do as long as they obey Him. So, verse 7 onwards recall what the people will always remember as the turning point in their early history: the time when God freed them from slavery in Egypt. “O God, when you went forth before your people, when you marched through the wilderness,…” [See the Book of Exodus, especially Chapter 14.] The journey through the wilderness lasted forty years. It was painful and challenging. Yet here the psalmist recalls it as a triumphant march of God! 

It is in the final four verses that we see the real joy which we share during this season. “Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth; make music in praise of the Lord; He rides on the ancient heaven of heavens and sends forth his voice, a mighty voice.” [Verse 32 and 33.] Similar to verse 4, referred to above, these verses are a call to people of all nations to worship God in awe and wonder at what He has done and continues to do. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we pray to Our Father in Heaven, but we probably no longer take literally that God is sitting on a throne above the clouds, as verse 34 might suggest. However, in the words of Marshall Johnson, we worship “the Creator of all people and the One who will guide the entire cosmos toward the ultimate restoration.” [“Psalms through the Year.”] Words you may find helpful to reflect upon in these days after the Ascension of Christ.