The Returning Conqueror; Or, God Glorified in His Triumph Over Evil
Psalm 76:4
You are more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey.


The actual triumph over the Assyrian army is poetically presented in the sudden exclamation of ver. 3, "There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle." In ver. 4 God is regarded as returning to Zion with the spoils of the camp. The precise figure is difficult to trace. Some render, "Bright art thou and glorious from the mountains of spoil;" and understand the mountains to be referred to on which the hostile army had encamped. The Prayer book Version has, "Thou art of more honour and might than the hills of the robbers." Others read, "Enlightened art thou, and glorious, coming down from the mountains of prey;" and this seems to give the most simple and suggestive explanation. Having the lion figure still in mind, the psalmist sees the lion returning from his prey, with the pride of his triumph on him; and this suggests the glory of God the Conqueror and Deliverer. Compare the songs the women sang when Saul and David returned from the conquest of the Philistines; or Moses' song at the Red Sea; or Deborah's song at the defeat of Sisera; or the cry of Isaiah, "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?" Our joy in the returning Conqueror, our glory in his triumph for us, may be said to depend on three things.

I. THE GREATNESS OF THE DISTRESS FROM WHICH WE ARE DELIVERED. Illustrate from the hopeless condition of Hezekiah at this time. He had no force effective to combat Assyria; and internal conflict broke up and weakened the little force he had. It was a time of uttermost distress; the very independence, the very existence, of the nation was imperilled. Then contrast the state of things when the hostile army became dead men. Imagine the relief, and the joy of the relief. Such feeling is thus expressed elsewhere: "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing." Lead on to show what that deliverance must be which God wrought, in Christ Jesus, for those whose hopeless distress is described in Romans 3:10-19.

II. OUR SENSE OF THE POWER SHOWN IN OUR DELIVERANCE. The agency used for the destruction of the Assyrian army cannot be certainly known. But we feel this - that destruction was a unique and amazing display of Divine power. There had been nothing like it before. God had lifted up a mighty hand, and stretched forth a strong arm. Show that, in Christ's dealings with the sin foe, the same impression is made on us. See the doxologies in the Book of Revelation.

III. OUR APPREHENSION OF THE FULNESS AND COMPLETENESS OF THE DELIVERANCE WROUGHT. Compare the results of God's intervention with the consequences of a mere victory on an ordinary battlefield; God wrought a perfect triumph. So Christ "leads captivity captive," and "saves to the uttermost." - R.T.



Parallel Verses
KJV: Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey.

WEB: Glorious are you, and excellent, more than mountains of game.




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