The final section of this historical psalm begins with the re-telling of the final plagues against Egypt (Exodus 12) and God’s deliverance of the Israelites to the Promised Land, where He “drove out the nations” and settled His people in (verse 55 ). The text then turns attention back to their idolatry – always the problem in Israel’s history. In verses 60-62, the phrases “He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh” and “delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe” refer to when the Philistines captured the Ark in 1 Samuel 4.

The lion is the symbol of the Tribe of Judah. It is often represented in Jewish art, such as this sculpture outside a synagogue (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The psalm continues, showing once again the Lord’s love for His people, as He delivers them from their enemies in spite of their unfaithfulness to Him. Verses 67-72 then conclude the psalm, noting that God’s ultimate remedy for His people was to choose a shepherd from the tribe of Judah (David, leading of course to Jesus Christ, also from Judah) to shepherd them.  Verse 72 concludes: “With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand.”

The purpose of the psalm, stated in the first eight verses, was to commit to a song to be remembered the works of God, so that they would be passed on in the generations to come. The words “remember” and “not forget” ring throughout the psalm constantly in order to try to save the future generations from the foolish mistakes of their fathers.

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy

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some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.