If the previous psalm was a prayer for faith in battle, this one is thanksgiving for the victory. And again, we reckon this song is in two parts. The first seems as the voice of the congregation singing about their king. The second part starting in verse 8 is addressed to the king himself.
In our minds we should note this question: If the king did not bow before God, why should anyone call him king? The fundamental purpose in having a king, chief for simple head of household is that someone has to shepherd the flock. This flock is both a grant of joy and severe duty from God’s hand, a stewardship from His divine throne. As much as this first section thanks God for His own divine justice, but it cites what a king should expect only if he serves faithfully. So much is plainly stated in the last verse of this first half of the psalm. If the king is inclined to glorify God, the Lord will make him able to serve faithfully.
To the king they note his dominance over threats. If the king goes out as a fireball of fierce battle, it is the Lord who devours them. The king is God’s instrument of justice. This is not simply nationalistic zeal. What Israel took from the Canaanites was at the behest of God, and their victory against the odds was sufficient proof. Those who later rose up for whatever imaginary justification to attack Israel where she justly occupied the land threatened an attack that God took personally. Nobody ignores the other half of that: When Israel ignores God, they lose their place on the earth. So it’s a different sense of justice than holds sway in our modern Western world, and there is no moral flaw in what today is called “genocide.” People who hate God and His agenda on the earth, as an aspect of His divine revelation, will be very fortunate to leave any progeny at all. Who dares question the decision of Our Creator?
The closing verse returns to the theme of basking in the glory of being used by God.
