Psalms / Chapter 75

Psalms 75

11 verses • Westminster Leningrad Codex

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

A psalm of divine judgment. After an opening thanksgiving, God speaks directly (verses 3-4), declaring that He will judge with equity at the appointed time and that He is the one who keeps the earth's foundations stable. The psalmist then warns the arrogant not to lift their horns, because exaltation comes from God alone. The central image is the cup of judgment — foaming wine mixed with spices — that the wicked must drain to the dregs. The psalm closes with praise and a promise that the horns of the wicked will be cut off while the horns of the righteous are lifted high.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

Psalm 75 is one of the rare psalms where God speaks in first person within the body of the poem. God's direct speech in verses 3-4 gives the psalm an oracular quality — the psalmist is not merely praying but reporting what God has said. The image of the cup (verse 9) is one of the Hebrew Bible's most powerful metaphors for judgment: God holds a cup of foaming, spiced wine, and the wicked must drink every drop. This cup reappears in Isaiah 51:17, Jeremiah 25:15-28, and Revelation 14:10. The psalm's theology is compact and unyielding: God alone determines who rises and who falls.

Translation Friction

The phrase al tashchit ('do not destroy') in the superscription is shared with Psalms 57, 58, and 59. It may refer to a tune, a liturgical instruction, or a thematic marker. Its meaning is uncertain. The shift between speakers in the psalm (congregation in verse 2, God in verses 3-4, the psalmist in verses 5-10) requires careful attention — without quotation marks in the Hebrew, identifying who is speaking depends on context and content.

Connections

The cup of judgment imagery connects to Isaiah 51:17-22 (Jerusalem drinks the cup of staggering), Jeremiah 25:15-28 (the cup passed to all nations), Habakkuk 2:16 (the cup of the LORD's right hand), and Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane ('Let this cup pass from me,' Matthew 26:39). The horn imagery connects to Hannah's song (1 Samuel 2:1, 10) and the Magnificat tradition. Psalm 75 answers the plea of Psalm 74 — if Psalm 74 asks 'How long?', Psalm 75 answers 'At the appointed time.'

Psalms 75:1

לַמְנַצֵּ֥חַ אַל־תַּשְׁחֵ֑ת מִזְמ֖וֹר לְאָסָ֣ף שִֽׁיר׃

For the director of music. To 'Do Not Destroy.' A psalm of Asaph. A song.

KJV To the chief Musician, Altaschith, A Psalm or Song of Asaph.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The superscription contains multiple performance indicators: lamnatse'ach ('for the director'), al tashchit ('do not destroy' — likely a tune name), mizmor ('psalm' — a sung composition with instrumental accompaniment), and shir ('song'). The combination suggests a liturgical piece with specific musical requirements.
Psalms 75:2

ה֘וֹדִ֤ינוּ לְּךָ֨ ׀ אֱ‍ֽלֹהִ֗ים ה֭וֹדִינוּ וְקָר֣וֹב שְׁמֶ֑ךָ סִ֝פְּר֗וּ נִפְלְאוֹתֶֽיךָ׃

We give thanks to You, O God; we give thanks, for Your name is near. Your wonders are recounted.

KJV Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The verb sipperu ('they recount, they tell') can be read as 'they declare' or 'Your wonders declare' — the subject is ambiguous. Either the community tells of God's wonders, or the wonders themselves serve as testimony.
Psalms 75:3

כִּ֤י אֶקַּ֥ח מוֹעֵ֑ד אֲ֝נִ֗י מֵישָׁרִ֥ים אֶשְׁפֹּֽט׃

"When I seize the appointed time, I Myself will judge with equity."

KJV When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

מוֹעֵד mo'ed
"appointed time" — appointed time, set season, meeting place, assembly, festival

Mo'ed implies divine scheduling — God's interventions are not impulsive but planned. The same word is used for Israel's festival calendar (Leviticus 23) and for the tent of meeting (ohel mo'ed). Here it means God has a set time for judgment, and He will not miss it.

Translator Notes

  1. God's direct speech begins here without a speech formula ('God said'). The shift from 'we' (verse 2) to 'I' signals the change in speaker. This oracular style — God speaking within a psalm — appears also in Psalms 46:11, 50:5, 81:7-17, and 82:2-7.
Psalms 75:4

נְמֹגִ֣ים אֶ֭רֶץ וְכׇל־יֹשְׁבֶ֑יהָ אָנֹכִ֨י תִכַּ֖נְתִּי עַמּוּדֶ֣יהָ סֶּֽלָה׃

"When the earth totters with all who dwell in it, it is I who steady its pillars." Selah.

KJV The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The selah at the end may indicate a musical interlude or a pause for reflection. Its exact meaning is debated, but its placement after God's declaration of cosmic sovereignty creates a moment of silence that allows the claim to resonate.
Psalms 75:5

אָמַ֣רְתִּי לַ֭הוֹלְלִים אַל־תָּהֹ֑לּוּ וְ֝לָרְשָׁעִ֗ים אַל־תָּרִ֥ימוּ קָֽרֶן׃

I said to the arrogant, 'Do not boast!' and to the wicked, 'Do not lift up your horn!'

KJV I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The horn metaphor is pervasive in the Hebrew Bible: horns represent strength (Deuteronomy 33:17), royal power (1 Samuel 2:10), and aggressive self-assertion. To 'lift the horn' is to claim authority and dominance.
Psalms 75:6

אַל־תָּרִ֣ימוּ לַמָּר֣וֹם קַרְנְכֶ֑ם תְּדַבְּר֖וּ בְצַוָּ֣אר עָתָֽק׃

Do not raise your horn on high; do not speak with an arrogant neck.

KJV Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The phrase be-tsavvar ataq ('with an arrogant/stiff neck') describes someone who holds their head high in defiance, refusing to bow. The word ataq ('arrogant, presumptuous, old/hardened') suggests stubbornness calcified into permanent posture. The stiff-necked person cannot look down at the vulnerable or up at God — they can only look straight ahead at their own ambition.
Psalms 75:7

כִּ֤י לֹ֣א מִ֭מּוֹצָא וּמִֽמַּעֲרָ֑ב וְלֹ֝֗א מִמִּדְבַּ֥ר הָרִֽים׃

For not from the east or from the west, and not from the desert comes exaltation —

KJV For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The four compass directions are reduced to three (east, west, south), with north conspicuously absent. Some scholars suggest this is because God's dwelling was associated with the north (tsafon, cf. Psalm 48:3 and Isaiah 14:13), and the psalmist is about to reveal that exaltation comes from God, not from any earthly direction.
Psalms 75:8

כִּֽי־אֱלֹהִ֥ים שֹׁפֵ֑ט זֶ֥ה יַ֝שְׁפִּ֗יל וְזֶ֣ה יָרִֽים׃

but God is the judge: this one He brings low, and that one He raises up.

KJV But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. This verse is the psalm's theological thesis: sovereignty over human destiny belongs to God alone. It answers the arrogance described in verses 5-6 and provides the foundation for the judgment imagery in verse 9.
Psalms 75:9

כִּ֤י כ֥וֹס בְּיַד־יְהוָ֗ה וְיַ֤יִן חָמַ֨ר ׀ מָ֥לֵא מֶ֗סֶךְ וַיַּגֵּ֥ר מִזֶּ֑ה אַךְ־שְׁ֭מָרֶיהָ יִ֝מְצ֗וּ יִשְׁתּ֥וּ כׇּל־רִשְׁעֵי־אָֽרֶץ׃

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.

KJV For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

כּוֹס kos
"cup" — cup, goblet, chalice; by metaphor, one's lot or destiny, especially judgment

The cup in God's hand is not a drinking vessel but a sentence — it contains the portion allotted to the wicked. The metaphor works because drinking is involuntary once the cup is pressed to the lips: the wicked cannot refuse what God has poured.

Translator Notes

  1. The cup of wrath becomes a major prophetic image: Jeremiah is told to make all nations drink from God's cup of fury (Jeremiah 25:15-28), and Isaiah tells Jerusalem she has drunk the cup of staggering to its dregs (Isaiah 51:17). In the New Testament, Jesus asks the Father to 'let this cup pass' (Matthew 26:39), identifying the cross with the cup of divine judgment.
Psalms 75:10

וַ֭אֲנִי אַגִּ֣יד לְעֹלָ֑ם אֲ֝זַמְּרָ֗ה לֵאלֹהֵ֥י יַעֲקֹֽב׃

But I will declare it forever; I will make music to the God of Jacob.

KJV But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The psalmist responds to the vision of judgment with worship. The phrase Elohei Ya'aqov ('the God of Jacob') is a covenant name — it connects God's present act of judgment to His ancient relationship with Israel's ancestor. The commitment to declare le-olam ('forever') matches the permanence of God's sovereignty.
Psalms 75:11

וְכׇל־קַרְנֵ֣י רְשָׁעִ֣ים אֲגַדֵּ֑עַ תְּ֝רוֹמַ֗מְנָה קַרְנ֥וֹת צַדִּֽיק׃

All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous will be raised high.

KJV All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The verb agaddea ('I will cut off') is from gada, meaning to hew, to chop, to cut down — the same verb used for cutting down Asherah poles and idolatrous pillars (Deuteronomy 7:5). The horns of the wicked are treated as objects of demolition.
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