The Book of Psalms

Word Study

"give thanks," Hebrew hodinu (הוֹדִינוּ), repeated for emphasis. The psalm opens in doubled thanksgiving, "Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks." The repetition is deliberate, and it comes immediately after a psalm of lament over ruins.

"thy name is near," qarov shemekha (קָרוֹב שְׁמֶךָ). Here is the ground of the praise. It is not that everything is going well, but that God has not gone far off; His works "declare" that His presence is close, even when His people cannot see the outcome.

"judge uprightly," meisharim eshpot (מֵישָׁרִים אֶשְׁפֹּט). Then God Himself speaks in the first person: "I will judge uprightly." The promise is not merely that judgment will come but that when it comes it will be straight, without partiality.

"dissolved," nemogim (נְמֹגִים), melting, coming apart. Picture what the word means. The world can feel like it is melting, coming apart at the seams, institutions crumbling, certainties dissolving, the very ground giving way.

"I bear up," tikkanti (תִּכַּנְתִּי), I have set firm, established. Into that God speaks again in the first person: I hold it up. When everything else is dissolving, there is a hand underneath the structure of the world keeping it from collapsing altogether, and it is God's hand.

"the pillars of it," ammudeha (עַמּוּדֶיהָ). The pillars of the earth do not rest on human strength or on the stability of nations; they rest on God. This is a steadying word for any age that feels like it is coming undone: when the earth dissolves, its Maker still holds it.

Explanation

Two lines here anchor the whole psalm. The first is the reason for thanksgiving: "for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare." The ground of praise is not that everything is going well, the previous psalm was a lament over ruins, but that God's name is near. His works keep declaring that He has not gone far off; His presence is close, even when His people cannot see the outcome. The second line is God's own answer to a dissolving world: "The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it." Picture what that means. The world can feel like it is melting, coming apart at the seams, institutions crumbling, certainties dissolving, the very ground giving way. And into that God speaks in the first person: I hold up the pillars. When everything else is dissolving, there is a hand underneath the structure of the world, keeping it from collapsing altogether, and it is God's hand. The pillars of the earth do not rest on human strength or on the stability of nations; they rest on God, who "upholdeth all things by the word of his power." This is a steadying word for any age that feels like it is coming undone: the world is not held up by the powers that seem to be failing, but by God, who bears its pillars and has promised to "judge uprightly." When the earth dissolves, its Maker still holds it, and He will set all things right.

Gospel Focus

"The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it", the God who upholds a dissolving world is revealed in Jesus Christ, "by whom also he made the worlds," and who is "upholding all things by the word of his power" (Hebrews 1:2-3). It is Christ who holds up the pillars of the earth, "by him all things consist" (Colossians 1:17), so that the universe does not fly apart. In an age that feels like it is coming undone, the believer's confidence is that the Lord Jesus still bears its weight, and His kingdom "cannot be moved" (Hebrews 12:28). And His promise to "judge uprightly" is sure, for the Father "hath committed all judgment unto the Son" (John 5:22), and He "will judge the world in righteousness" (Acts 17:31). The thanksgiving of this psalm, grounded in the truth that "thy name is near," is deepened in the gospel, for in Christ God's name has come nearest of all, "God with us" (Matthew 1:23), and He has promised, "lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20). So when the world seems to dissolve, give thanks with Asaph: the pillars are held by the hand that was nailed to the cross, the Judge of all the earth is near, and He will do right.

Word Study

"promotion," Hebrew harim (הָרִים), lifting up, exaltation. The psalm strips away every earthly explanation for who rises and who falls. Real promotion comes down, not across; you cannot climb your way to exaltation from any earthly direction.

"the east," motza (מוֹצָא), the going-forth (of the sun). The first of three directions ruled out. Men move east for opportunity, but the sunrise cannot lift a man up.

"the west," ma'arav (מַעֲרָב). The second. There is a telling gap in this list, for east, west and south are named while north, in the imagery of Scripture often the direction of the heights and of God's own dwelling, is pointedly left out.

"the south," midbar (מִדְבָּר), the wilderness (south). The third and last of the earthly points named. Lifting-up comes from no direction a man can travel or scheme toward, but from above.

"God is the judge," Elohim shofet (אֱלֹהִים שֹׁפֵט). The reason is stated plainly. The rise and fall of every person and every power, kings, empires, careers, reputations, is not finally decided by luck, talent, connections, or ambition, but by the sovereign hand of God the Judge.

"putteth down," yashpil (יַשְׁפִּיל). This levels every proud boast. The proud cannot secure their high place, for the God who set them up can put them down.

"setteth up," yarim (יָרִים). And it steadies every anxious heart. The lowly need not despair, for the God who has kept them low can lift them up; so the wise course is not frantic self-promotion but humble trust in the God who alone lifts up.

Explanation

There is a telling gap in the list of directions here, and it is the whole point. "Promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south." Count them: east, west, south, three directions of the compass. And the fourth, north, is pointedly left out. In the imagery of Scripture, north is often the direction of the heights, of God's own dwelling; and by omitting it, the psalm quietly says: lifting-up does not come from any point of the earthly horizon, from no direction a man can travel or scheme toward, but from above, from God. You cannot climb your way to exaltation from any earthly direction; you cannot win it by moving east for opportunity or west for fortune. Real promotion comes down, not across. And the reason is stated plainly: "But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another." The rise and fall of every person and every power, kings, empires, careers, reputations, is not finally decided by luck, talent, connections, or ambition, but by the sovereign hand of God the Judge, who "putteth down one, and setteth up another." This levels every proud boast and steadies every anxious heart. The proud cannot secure their high place, for the God who set them up can put them down; and the lowly need not despair, for the God who has kept them low can lift them up. Whether you rise or fall is in the hand of the Judge, not in the hand of men, and not even, finally, in your own. So the wise course is not frantic self-promotion, but humble trust in the God who alone lifts up.

Gospel Focus

"But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another", this truth runs straight to the heart of the gospel, supremely in the humbling and exalting of Jesus Christ. Mary sang it before He was born, "he hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree" (Luke 1:52); and it was fulfilled in her Son, who "humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him" (Philippians 2:8-9). The Lord Jesus is Himself the great example of God's setting up the lowly: put down into the grave, He was set up at the right hand of the Majesty on high. And He teaches His people the same way, "whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted" (Matthew 23:12), and "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time" (1 Peter 5:6). So do not scramble for promotion from east, west, or south, from the world's directions and devices; humble yourself under the hand of God, and let the Judge lift you up in His time and His way. The One who was put down to the depths and set up above the heavens is Lord over every rise and fall, and He exalts the lowly who trust Him.

Word Study

"a cup," Hebrew kos (כּוֹס). The psalm gives one of Scripture's great and sobering images: "in the hand of the LORD there is a cup." The cup stands for His wrath against sin, and it runs all through Scripture, "the wine of the wrath of God" (Revelation 14:10) and the "cup of trembling" (Isaiah 51:17).

"the wine is red," chamar (חָמַר), foaming, red. The word pictures wine still working and foaming in the cup. It is not a stale draught but something active and potent, ready for the moment it is poured.

"full of mixture," male mesekh (מָלֵא מֶסֶךְ), mixed strong drink. Wine mixed with spices was the strongest kind, and the cup is "full" of it. Nothing has been watered down; the measure is complete.

"poureth out," yaggir (יַגִּיר). "He poureth out of the same." The cup does not stay in God's hand as a threat only; the God who bears up the pillars of the earth and judges uprightly will see that justice is actually served.

"the dregs," shemareha (שְׁמָרֶיהָ), the sediment at the bottom. Not just the top of the cup but the thick, bitter sediment at the very bottom. There is no escaping this cup for those who persist in wickedness.

"wring them out, and drink," yimtzu yishtu (יִמְצוּ יִשְׁתּוּ). "All the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them" -- draining the cup of judgment to its last, worst drop. That any sinner should escape it is only because Another drank it first, in their place.

Explanation

This verse gives one of Scripture's great and sobering images: the cup of God's judgment. In the LORD's hand is a cup of strong, foaming, spiced wine, and it stands for His wrath against sin. The picture is vivid and terrible: God "poureth out of the same," and the wicked must drink it, and not just the top of the cup but "the dregs thereof", the thick, bitter sediment at the very bottom. They "wring them out, and drink them", draining the cup of judgment to its last, worst drop. There is no escaping this cup for those who persist in wickedness; the God who bears up the pillars of the earth and judges uprightly will see that every impenitent sinner drinks the full measure of what justice requires. This image runs all through Scripture, "the wine of the wrath of God" (Revelation 14:10), the "cup of trembling" (Isaiah 51:17), and it is a real and fearful thing, the settled truth that sin will be judged and the wicked will drink their portion. But the cup is also the very place where the gospel shines most brightly, for there is One who took this cup out of the hands of His people and drank it Himself. The wicked drinking the dregs is what every sinner deserves; that any sinner should escape it is only because Another drank it first, in their place. The cup of wrath is real; the wonder is that it need not be ours.

Gospel Focus

"In the hand of the LORD there is a cup... the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them", the cup of God's wrath in this psalm is the very cup the Lord Jesus Christ took upon Himself at the cross, that His people might never drink it. In Gethsemane He prayed, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matthew 26:39), and then, resolved, "the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" (John 18:11). The cup He drank was the cup of judgment that this psalm describes, the wrath against sin, and He drank it to the dregs, so that all who trust in Him will never taste it. He was "made a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13), and "his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24), drinking down the judgment that was ours. This is the great exchange of the gospel: the cup of wrath, which the wicked must drink, Christ drank in our place, so that we might drink instead "the cup of salvation" (Psalm 116:13) and "the cup of blessing" (1 Corinthians 10:16). So flee to Christ, who drained the cup of God's judgment for sinners; in Him the dregs are gone, and there remains for His people only the cup of blessing and the wine of the wedding feast of the Lamb.