Verse 1
"To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song."
"To the choirmaster" points to the one who leads the singing; "A Psalm of David, a Song" presents the chapter as praise and prepares us for a great song of victory.
Verse 2
"God shall arise, His enemies shall be scattered, and those who hate Him shall flee before Him."
A powerful opening — "God shall arise" and His enemies are scattered: the very words spoken each time the Ark set out. God's appearance scatters evil.
Verse 3
"As smoke is driven away, so You shall drive them away; as wax melts before fire, so the wicked shall perish before God."
Two images — smoke scattered by the wind, wax melting before flame — so evil dissolves before the presence of God once the light arrives.
Verse 4
"But the righteous shall be glad; they shall exult before God; they shall be jubilant with joy."
The opposite: while the wicked vanish, the righteous are glad. Three words for joy — glad, exult, jubilant — for before God there is no fear, only open joy.
Verse 5
"Sing to God, sing praises to His name; lift up a song to Him who rides upon the heavens, by His name Yah, and rejoice before Him."
The heart of this part: sing to God, extol His name, prepare the way for the One who rides the heavens, and rejoice before Him.
Verse 6
"Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in His holy habitation."
Here God's heart is revealed: a father to orphans and defender of widows. The Great One above the skies is closest to the weak and the lonely.
Verse 7
"God settles the solitary in a home; He leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land."
God brings the lonely into a home and frees the bound into relief; only the rebellious, who chose defiance, remain in a parched land.
Verse 8
"O God, when You went out before Your people, when You marched through the wilderness, Selah,"
A look to the past: when God led Israel out of Egypt and marched before them through the wilderness, He did not send them alone — He walked at the front.
Verse 9
"the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel."
The revelation at Sinai: the earth quaked and the heavens poured down before God; "this Sinai" marks the moment the Torah was given, and all creation responded.
Part 1 of Psalm 68 carries us from victory to joy, and from joy to song. This great God who scatters evil is also a father to orphans and a defender of widows, who marched before His people through the wilderness. From it rises the simple cry: Sing to God, and rejoice before Him.