Psalm 75 explained: God Brings Down and Lifts Up

Thanks to a near God (v. 1)

Saying God's "name is near" means his presence and help feel close at hand. The proof is the remarkable things people keep telling about him.

God speaks: I set the time (vv. 2-3)

The voice shifts, and most readers take it as God promising to judge fairly at the moment he chooses. When the world seems to shake apart, he says he is the one holding its foundations, pictured as pillars, steady.

A warning to the proud (vv. 4-5)

A horn stood for an animal's strength, so lifting your horn meant flaunting your power. The proud are told to stop boasting and stop speaking in stubborn defiance, as if they could stand against heaven itself.

Only God raises people (vv. 6-7)

No direction on the map, east, west, or the desert to the south, is the real source of a person's rise; God lowers one and lifts another. The Hebrew ending of verse 6 is uncertain, and its last word may mean "mountains" or "lifting up," which is why translations differ.

The cup of judgment (v. 8)

Foaming spiced wine pictures God's judgment as a strong drink the wicked must finish down to the bitter sediment at the bottom. Christians later read this image alongside Jesus praying that a "cup" of suffering be taken from him.

A closing vow (vv. 9-10)

The singer promises to keep praising "the God of Jacob," an old name for Israel's God. The final line, likely God speaking again, promises to break the power of the wicked and raise up the righteous.

Key verse: Psalm 75:7

Where Christians differ

Readers differ on who speaks in verses 2 to 5: most take it as God himself, while some older interpreters heard a king, often thought to be David, vowing to rule justly.

Something to think about

When you watch someone rise to power or fall from it, what do you think is really behind it?