Psalms for Turbulent Times - Psalm 76: From rage to praise

Psalm 76[1] 

¹ God is well known in the land of Judah. He is famous throughout Israel,
² making his home in Jerusalem, living here on Mount Zion.
³ That’s where he smashes every weapon of war that comes against him.
That’s where he uses the broken arrows as kindling for his mighty bonfire.

Pause in his presence


⁴ God, you are so resplendent and radiant!
Your majesty shines from your everlasting mountain.
Nothing could be compared to you in glory!
⁵ Even the mightiest of men have been paralyzed by your presence.
They were so stunned and lifeless,
not even the strongest one could lift a hand.
⁶ When Jacob’s God roared his rebuke,
soldiers and their steeds all fell to the ground, stunned and lying still.
⁷ No wonder you are greatly feared! You are the awe-inspiring God!
For who could ever stand before your face
when your fierce anger burns and live to tell about it.
⁸ As the earth itself holds its breath in awe before you,
judgment is decreed from heaven.
⁹ You arise to punish evil and defend the gentle upon the earth.

Pause in his presence


¹⁰ You have power to transform man’s futile anger into praise.
The fury of your enemies only causes your fame to increase.
¹¹ So you’d better keep every promise you’ve ever made
to the Awesome One, Jehovah-God!
Let all people bring their extravagant gifts to him alone.
¹² He is famous for breaking the spirit of the powers that be.
And the kings of the earth will know him as the Fearsome One!

This is a translation from the relatively new paraphrased version, The Passion Translation. But each translations struggles in particular to interpret verse 10, whose Hebrew is not clear. I focus in on this verse today because it centres on the anger of God’s opponents – who could be all of us. And this verse is set amid a context of praise of God who comes to us in such awe and splendour and that even the mightiest of rulers are ‘paralysed by God’s presence’ (vs5). This God, whose dwelling place is Jerusalem in the psalmist's tradition, comes to punish evil and ‘defend the gentle upon the earth’ (vs9). With this sense of motion and action, the God of justice and peace, who is ‘famous for breaking the spirit of the powers that be’ (vs12) and who puts rulers of this world in their place, takes on humanity’s propensity to rage and anger in this disputed verse 10.

Here are a collection of translations of this verse:

·      New Revised Standard Version:

             Human wrath serves only to praise you,

when you bind the last bit of your wrath around you.

·      New American Standard Bible:

            For the wrath of man shall praise You;

With a remnant of wrath You will gird Yourself.

·      New International Version:

            Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise, 
             and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.

What are we to make of these elusive translations? Can even our anger be turned to praise? If so, what kinds of anger? Is this specifically about the anger of God’s opponents – the self-sufficient and boastful ones of Psalm 75? And is their anger caused by the realisation that events in life cannot be controlled quite so smoothly as they hope or expect? Is the root of the fury, simply frustration – a frustration that takes time to build into this kind of rage? If so in what sense does human wrath serve only to praise God? And in what way can my own anger be turned to praise?

A small example. Yesterday I experienced road rage. I was not driving, I was a passenger. The scene, a narrow residential street. An oncoming car had the chance to wait in a more spacious part of the road as our car had already travelled a fair distance along the tight-packed route. But the other car kept coming and forced our vehicle into a space where it was impossible to pass and then stood their ground. Frustration built up in me. The situation was ridiculous. We could not budge and they would not reverse. A stand-off. And I got out of the car (big mistake) to ask the other car to move back. A volley of abuse. Anger rising in me, barely controlled. Urged by the others in our car to get back in, we finally edged back into a slightly wider passing point. They drove past at gathering speed. Further abuse volleyed at us. Disturbed and shaken. We drove on to our destination. Upset. Reflecting. Ashamed by my hot-headed decision to try and remonstrate where it clearly was a fool’s errand. Further reflection on how I handle this kind of conflict situation. This futile anger has not turned to praise. But it has put me in a place where I am wanting to learn ways that are more praiseworthy. Being ashamed can be profitable rather than futile. Shame’s feedback can ripple through your sense of identity. But it can also be a transformative tutor. And this psalm teaches there can be nothing more transformative than the path from self-justifying rage to God-focused praise.

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 1The Passion Translation (TPT) The Passion Translation®. Copyright © 2017 by BroadStreet Publishing® Group, LLC. Used by permission. All rights reserved. thePassionTranslation.com