Chapter Overview
Summary
Psalm 75 (MT) / Psalm 74 (LXX) is a short Asaphite psalm organized around a divine-oracle (vv. 2–5) that declares: 'when I choose my appointed time, I will judge uprightly.' The psalm's signature image is the cup-of-foaming-wine (v. 8) — the cup of divine-wrath that the wicked must drink to the dregs. This cup-of-wrath theology develops across Isaiah 51:17, Jeremiah 25:15–28, Revelation 14:10, and Gethsemane's 'Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me' (Matt 26:39).
Notable Variants
75:8 'cup of foaming wine' as divine-wrath → Isa 51:17, Jer 25, Rev 14:10, and Matt 26:39 Gethsemane cup-tradition; 75:7 'not from east or west, but God who executes judgment' as anti-horoscope source-of-judgment; 75:10 'horns of the wicked I will cut off' as wicked-power-stripping.
Structural Notes
MT Ps 75 = LXX Ps 74. 10 verses (MT/LXX), 10 verses (English).
For the director of music. To 'Do Not Destroy.' A psalm of Asaph. A song.
Superscription 'to the choirmaster; according to Do Not Destroy. A Psalm of Asaph; a Song' tracks MT.
We give thanks to You, O God; we give thanks, for Your name is near. Your wonders are recounted.
'We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds' tracks MT. 'YOUR NAME IS NEAR' (eggys to onoma sou) — the near-name theology. Deut 4:7's 'what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us?' develops the same.
"When I seize the appointed time, I Myself will judge with equity."
'At the set time that I appoint I will judge with equity' tracks MT. DIVINE-APPOINTED-TIME theology. The kairos-of-judgment — not human-determined, but God-appointed. Habakkuk 2:3's 'the vision awaits its APPOINTED TIME' and Galatians 4:4's 'when the fullness of time had come' extend.
"When the earth totters with all who dwell in it, it is I who steady its pillars." Selah.
'When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars' tracks MT. PILLARS-OF-THE-EARTH cosmology — divine-maintenance of cosmic-stability. Job 26:11 ('the pillars of heaven tremble') shares the imagery.
I said to the arrogant, 'Do not boast!' and to the wicked, 'Do not lift up your horn!'
'I say to the boastful: Do not boast, and to the wicked: Do not lift up your horn' tracks MT. HORN-IMAGERY for power/strength — lifting-the-horn is boasting-of-strength. 1 Samuel 2:1 (Hannah: 'my horn is exalted in the LORD') and Luke 1:69 (Zechariah: 'horn of salvation') deploy the image.
Do not raise your horn on high; do not speak with an arrogant neck.
'Do not lift up your horn on high, or speak with haughty neck' tracks MT.
For not from the east or from the west, and not from the desert comes exaltation —
'For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up' tracks MT. ANTI-DIRECTIONAL-SOURCE theology. Judgment does not come from cardinal-directions (astrological sources, perhaps anti-Babylonian omen-theology). God alone lifts up.
but God is the judge: this one He brings low, and that one He raises up.
'But it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another' tracks MT. The putting-down-and-lifting-up reversal — Magnificat theology (Luke 1:52 'put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of low degree').
For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, and the wine foams, full of spiced mixture. He pours from it, and all the wicked of the earth must drain its dregs and drink.
'For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs' tracks MT. CUP-OF-WRATH theology. The 'cup' (kos / potērion) image becomes central to biblical-theology: Isaiah 51:17 ('you have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath'), Jeremiah 25:15 ('take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath'), and Revelation 14:10 ('he will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger'). Gethsemane's 'let this cup pass from me' (Matt 26:39) — Christ taking the cup-of-wrath in substitution for sinners. 'The wine he has mixed he must drink' is the aphorism-for-deserved-consequence.
But I will declare it forever; I will make music to the God of Jacob.
'But I will declare it forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob' tracks MT.
All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous will be raised high.
'All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up' tracks MT. WICKED-HORNS-CUT / RIGHTEOUS-HORNS-LIFTED — the final-reversal echoing Hannah, Magnificat, Beatitudes.