to sing · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
God
לֵֽאלֹהִים֮le.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
praises
זַמְּר֪וּza.me.Ru
H2167
play upon it · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
name
שְׁ֫מ֥וֹshe.Mo
H8034
an appellation · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
extol
סֹ֡לּוּSo.lu
H5549
to mound up (especially a turnpike) · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
rideth
לָרֹכֵ֣בla.ro.Khev
H7392
to ride (on an animal or in a vehicle) · preposition with the article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
heavens
בָּ֭עֲרָבוֹתBa.'a.ra.Vot
H6160
a desert · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
name
שְׁמ֗וֹshe.Mo
H8034
an appellation · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Jah
בְּיָ֥הּbe.Yah
H3050
Jah · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
rejoice
וְעִלְז֥וּve.'il.Zu
H5937
to jump for joy · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
before
לְפָנָֽיוle.fa.Nav
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Deuteronomy 33:26 There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.
Isaiah 12:4-6 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalte…
Psalms 66:4 All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name. Selah.
Psalms 104:3 Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:
Psalms 66:2 Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious.
Psalms 68:33 To him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens, which were of old; lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice.
Exodus 6:3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
Psalms 18:10 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 68:1-6
In these verses,
I. David prays that God would appear in his glory,
1. For the confusion of his enemies (Psa 68:1, Psa 68:2): "Let God arise, as a judge to pass sentence upon them, as a general to take the field and do execution upon them; and let them be scattered, and flee before him, as unable to keep their ground, much less to make head against him. Let God arise, as the sun when he goes forth in his strength; and the children of darkness shall be scattered, as the shadows of the evening flee before the rising sun. Let them be driven away as smoke by the wind, which ascends as if it would eclipse the sun, but is presently dispelled, and there appears to remainder of it. Let them melt as…
extol him . . . heavens--literally, "cast up for Him who rideth in the deserts," or "wilderness" (compare Psa 68:7), alluding to the poetical representation of His leading His people in the wilderness as a conqueror, before whom a way is to be prepared, or "cast up" (compare Isa 40:3; Isa 62:10).
by his name JAH--or, "Jehovah," of which it is a contraction (Exo 15:3; Isa 12:2) (Hebrew).
name--or, "perfections" (Psa 9:10; Psa 20:1), which--
John Gill on Psalms 68:4
Sing unto God,.... Manifest in the flesh, risen from the dead, ascended on high, set down at the right hand of his divine Father; having exerted his great strength in their redemption; and therefore should sing the song of redeeming love, with grace and melody in their hearts, unto him;
sing praises to his name: to the honour of his name Jesus, a Saviour, because of the great work of salvation wrought out by him; give him all the praise and glory of it, which due unto his name;
extol him that rideth upon heavens: having ascended above them, and being higher than they, and so is exalted above all blessing and praise; and uses his power and greatness for the help of his people: see Deuterono…
Thus the Psalmist says to them: Make a way for him who ascends over the setting. For the Lord ascended over the setting because from that by which he fell in his passion, from that same thing he manifested his greater glory by rising again. He ascended over the setting, namely, because he trampled down by rising again the death which he had endured. Therefore we make a way for him who ascends over the setting when we preach his glory to your minds, so that he himself also, coming afterward, may illuminate them through the presence of his love.
Sing to God, sing a psalm to his name. "Sing" — in Scripture this always signifies contemplation (theoria): that is, consider the mysteries and the meaning of divine Scripture. But "to make melody" (psallere) Scripture signifies as a good work: for example, that the hearing should furnish its own work, and likewise the mouth, and the eyes, and the hands, and all the members should as it were agree, and thus strike the psaltery in the virtues. Make a way for him who ascends above the sunset: the Lord is his name. If the sun of iniquity does not set for us, the sun of righteousness cannot rise for us, whose healing is in his wings.
Secondly, he turns himself to those very persons to whom he has given so great hope, and to them while here living he speaks and exhorts: "Sing ye to God, psalm ye to His name" [Psalm 68:4]. Already on this subject in the exposition of the Title we have before spoken that which seemed meet. He sings to God, that lives to God: He psalms to His name, that works unto His Glory. In singing thus, in psalming thus, that is, by so living, by so working, "a way make ye to Him," he says, "that has ascended above the setting." A way make ye to Christ: so that through the beautiful feet of men telling good tidings, [Isaiah 52:7] the hearts of men believing many have a way opened to Him. For the Same is He that has ascended above the "setting:" either because the new life of one turned to Him receives Him not, except the old life shall have set by his renouncing this world, or because He ascended above the setting, when by rising again He conquered the downfall of the body. "For The Lord is His name." Which if they had known, the Lord of glory they never would have crucified. [1 Corinthians 2:8]
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Jah — A contraction for Jehovah (Ps. 68:4).
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on Psalms 68:1-6
Psalm 68:1-6
1. God shall arise: his enemies shall be scattered; and they who hate him shall flee before him. 2. As smoke is driven away, thou shalt drive them away; as wax melteth before the fire, the wicked shall perish from the presence of God. 3. But the righteous shall be glad; they shall rejoice before God, and leap for exultation. 4. Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: exalt him that rideth upon the clouds in Jah [7] his name, [or, in his name Jah,] and rejoice before him. 5. A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in the habitation of his holiness. 6. God who setteth the solitary in families, who bringeth, out those who are bound with chains; [8] but the r…
The Psalm begins with the expression of a wish that the victory of God over all His foes and the triumphant exultation of the righteous were near at hand. Ewald and Hitzig take יקום אלהים hypothetically: If God arise, He enemies will be scattered. This rendering is possible in itself so far as the syntax is concerned, but here everything conspires against it; for the futures in Psa 68:2-4 form an unbroken chain; then a glance at the course of the Psalm from Psa 68:20 onwards shows that the circumstances of Israel, under which the poet writes, urged forth the wish: let God arise and humble His foes; and finally the primary passage, Num 10:35, makes it clear that the futures are the language o…
The psalmist praises God’s powerful and compassionate reign.
68:4 him who rides the clouds: This is an ancient description of Baal, a Canaanite deity. The psalmist applies it to the Lord as the true “Rider of the Clouds” (see 68:33; 104:3). God wields power over the clouds and the rain.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 68:4
Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name Jah, and rejoice before him.
Sing unto God, sing praises to his name. To time and tune, with order and care, celebrate the character and deeds of God, the God of his people. Do it again and again; and let the praise, with resolution of heart, be all directed to him. Sing not for ostentation, but devotion; not to be heard of men, but of the Lord himself. Sing not to the congregation, but "unto God, " Extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name Jah. Remember his most great, incomprehensible, and awful name; reflect upon his self existence and absolute dominion, rise to the highest pitch of joyfu…
