<<  PSALM LXXV. >>

For the Chief Musician; set to Al-tashheth.
A Psalm of Asaph, a Song.

1. We give thanks unto thee, O God;
We give thanks, for thy name is near:
Men tell of thy wondrous works.
2. When I shall find the set time,
I will judge uprightly.
3. The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved:
I have set up the pillars of it. [Selah
4. I said unto the arrogant, Deal not arrogantly;
And to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:
5. Lift not up your horn on high;
Speak not with a stiff neck.
6. For neither from the east, nor from the west,
Nor yet from the south, cometh lifting up.
7. But God is the judge:
He putteth down one, and lifteth up another.
8. For in the hand of Jehovah there is a cup, and the
wine foameth;
It is full of mixture, and he poureth out of the same:
Surely the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth
shall drain them, and drink them.
9. But I will declare for ever,
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10. All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off;
But the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

1. We give thanks unto thee, O God;
We give thanks, for thy name is near:
Men tell of thy wondrous works.
2. When I shall find the set time,
I will judge uprightly.

1. See Psalm xviii. 1. R. 279.

See Psalm xviii. 1. E. 326.

1-4. When the Lord comes He will raise up the fallen church. P. P.

2. Confessing and confession mean to acknowledge Jehovah, or the Lord, and the things which are His. That this acknowledgment is doctrine and the Word is manifest. A. 1880.

3. The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved:
I have set up the pillars of it. [Selah]

3, 4. See Psalm xxvii. 13. R. 285.

By the inhabitants of the earth being dissolved are signified those of the church who are not in truths, but who nevertheless desire to know them. To bear up the pillars of the earth signifies to support the church by those truths upon which it is founded. E. 219.

The earth stands for the church which is said to be dissolved when truths fail by which good is attained. Because truths support the church they are called its pillars which God bears up. As the restoration of the church is here described it is therefore said "When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly." E. 304.

By a pillar is signified a stay which supports, and it is predicated of the natural, because the natural is like a support or basis to the spiritual, for the spiritual terminates in the natural and there rests. A. 8106.

The pillars of the earth stand for the goods and truths which support the church, for earth in the Word is the church. A. 9674.

4. I said unto the arrogant, Deal not arrogantly;
And to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:
5. Lift not up your horn on high;
Speak not with a stiff neck.
6. For neither from the east, nor from the west,
Nor yet from the south, cometh lifting up.

5-7. Let not the evil exalt themselves above the good, P. P.

5, 6, 11. The horns of the wicked stand for the power of falsity from evil, the horns of the. just for the power of truth from good. A. 2832.

See Psalm xviii. 2, 3. R. 270.

By lifting up the horn on high is signified to defend strongly what is false against the truth, wherefore it is also said, speak not with a stiff neck. By cutting off their horns is signified to destroy their falsities, and by exalting the horns of the righteous is signified to render the truth of good powerful and strong. E. 316.

7. But God is the judge:
He putteth down one, and lifteth up another.

8. for the judgment comes in which the evil perish, and the good are saved. P. P-

8. For in the hand of Jehovah there is a cup, and the
wine foameth;
It is full of mixture, and he poureth out of the same:
Surely the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth
shall drain them, and drink them.

9. A cup in these passages also stands for insanity from falsities and their evils. It is called the cup of the fury of Jehovah, and also of the right hand of Jehovah, for the reason that the Jewish nation, like the common people, believed evils and the punishment of evils to come from no other source than from Jehovah, when yet they are from the man himself, and from the infernal crew with him. A. 5120.

As most expressions in the Word have also a contrary sense, so also has wine, in which sense it signifies falsity from evil. A. 6377.

That wine signifies holy truth may also be evident from its opposite sense in which it signifies truth falsified and profaned. R. 316.

By the wine of the anger of God in Revelation xiv. the truth of the Word adulterated and falsified is signified. The same is here signified by mixing wine and by its being poured out. R. 635.

See Psalm xi. 6. R. 672.

To be made drunk signifies to be insane in spiritual, that is, in theological things. R. 721.

Wine in the opposite sense signifies truth falsified, also falsity itself. E. 376.

See Psalm xi. 6. E. 960.

By the cup in the hand of Jehovah and by the wine is signified Divine truth. By mixing and by mixture is signified profanation, for the mixing together of the false with truth is understood. By pouring out thence, and the impious of the earth draining the dregs and drinking them is signified the punishment of profanation. E. 11 16.

9. But I will declare for ever,
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10. All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off;
But the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

9, 10. See Psalm xlvi. 7, 8. A. 3305.

9. 11. The evil will then perish through direful falsities. P. P.

10. but the good will worship the Lord. P. P.

11. In these passages by horns is signified power, and indeed power in each sense, namely, the power of truth against the false, and of the false against truth, for the subject treated of in the internal sense of the Word throughout is concerning the state of the church. A. 10182.

Author: EMANUEL SWEDENBORG (1688-1772)