Images of God in Psalm 68:6-7

Lingamish claims the God of Psalm 68 is a nasty ogre. Or, at the very least, those who have sung this psalm down through the ages – that would be Jews and Christians – have nasty ideas about God. The God we worship, if we worship a God, is not like this at all.

Before a final decision is made on the matter, it might be helpful to read the Psalm sequentially. In this psalm as in most, one subsection of the whole sets the stage for the next. Verses 6-7 celebrate who God is by means of a series of concrete images:

 

   6אֲבִי יְתוֹמִים

וְדַיַּן אַלְמָנוֹת

אֱלֹהִים בִּמְעוֹן קָדְשֹׁו

4

 7אֱלֹהִים מוֹשִׁיב

יְחִידִים בַּיְתָה

 

מוֹצִיא אֲסִירִים בַּכּוֹשָׁרוֹת

אַךְ סוֹרֲרִים שָׁכְנוּ צְחִיחָה

Father of the fatherless,

champion of widows,

God is in his holy habitation.

 

God, who resettles

the homeless to homes;

 

who releases prisoners-of-war to fertile places,

and opponents settle a parched land.

 

The speaking voice of Psalm 68 comes across as a worship leader. He or she[1] begins by praying for God’s intervention. Life is described as a war zone, not because the psalmist wishes for war, I would argue, but because that was the reality faced. In my view, no one has the right to judge this psalm except from the perspective of a shocked nation which has just experienced a Pearl Harbor or a 9/11. The psalmist prays for God’s intervention because she is convinced that should God arise and his face fill the horizon, the enemy will no longer have the upper hand and a defeated people will once again have reason to rejoice.

Next, the worship leader summons those gathered to sing out to God and celebrate who he is. What gives the celebration bite is that it is counter-factual to reality but expressive of the nation’s deepest hopes and values evidence to the contrary notwithstanding.

The summons, as usual in the Psalms, is followed by execution thereof. The war has produced an unbearable number of orphans and widows. But God is the father of the fatherless, and the champion of widows. Many have been deprived of their homes; God will resettle them. Prisoners-of-war have been taken; God will deliver them and assign them fertile places; the adversaries in war, who now occupy land formerly within the domain of the nation, will be forced to inhabit a parched land.

In my next post, I will discuss the phrases of Psalm 68:6-7 one by one.

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[1] I wouldn’t exclude by any means that the speaker is a woman. For what it’s worth, the persona of the speaker seems feminine to me.

Comments

[Suzanne]

Hi John,

I have just posted my translation of these verses. I have taken a different approach to verse 7a. Instead of "the homeless to homes" I have translated "to the childless children". What do you think?

[JohnFH]

Hi Suzanne,

I'm getting there.

Ps 113:9 might be taken to confirm your interpretation. But you might want to take a look at Hosea 11:11; Ps 107:36; Jer 32:37, and Ezek 36:11.

[Nell 1]

I disagree with Lingamish, God does not appear to be a nasty ogre, at least not in these selected versus of the psalm. I suppose that it would be beneficial for me to research who Lingamish is and his religious views because I disagree with that fact that it is assumed that Jews and Christians have nasty views about God. This Psalm, in particular, discusses God in high regards, not in a nasty way. For me, I understand the Psalm to be describing how God helps those in need and brings them out of misery that may be currently in their lives. I also agree that this Psalm was not directly written for situations like war and other tragedies. This psalm can be applied to any life situation because God helps His people in need. I believe that God will help His people in any life situation if it is His will.

[Breaker Morant 5]

Like Nell 1, I do not see God as a “nasty ogre”, especially in these verses. I’m not sure exactly where Lingamish gets that view from. Perhaps Lingamish comes from a God-fearing religious community and the image has been derived that way. I see these verses as very positive and uplifting. To me, these verses are saying that if you lose your way, or come across hard times, you should find comfort in the fact that God is watching over you and through him everything will work out. As long as you put your faith in Him, He will always watch over you.

[Pulp Fiction 4]

I would like to agree with the other blog posts above, I disagree completely with Lingamish's view of seeing God as a "nasty ogre." I personally don't understand where Lingamish is getting this from. I feel like this verses have a very positive outlook to them. As Breaker Morant 5 says above, "if you lose your way we should find comfort in the fact that God is watching over us." I agree with this, I believe that if life hands you tough times, you just need to look to God for guidance and support. We have to have faith that he will always be watching over us, and in the end, everything will work itself out.

[Pup Fiction 3]

I also agree with everyone's posts above. I do not in any way agree with Lingamish's view. To me God is anything but a "nasty ogre." These Psalm versus seem to portray God as someone that will help aid/assist anyone in danger or harm. Whenever people seem to be in any type of struggle they look to God for guidance and assistance. If God was such a nasty ogre none of us would be praying to him in tough times like we do now.

[shawshank redemption 5]

It’s astounding for Lingamish to call God a “nasty ogre” because God is the Lord, how could anyone say such a thing? Like verses 6-7 say, God is the father of the fatherless. Even if someone has no other family, they always have God. These verses tell us that no matter the hardships in your life, God will always be there and will always help you as long as you are willing and faithful. If you reject the Lord, he’s much less likely to help you.

[The Truman Show 4]

I must agree with the posts before me about how shocking and ridiculous it seems to call God a "nasty ogre." I was interested about the comment "no one has the right to judge this psalm except from the perspective of a shocked nation which has just experienced a Pearl Harbor or a 9/11." It's interesting because in my life, I have come across many situations where my peers question their faith, or even worse may think like Lingamish that God is "nasty". For example, losing family members in 9/11 or just losing a loved one, period. It goes back to a different comment I read on another post, that if there weren't tough times there would be no need for this world, it would be just like heaven.

[Nell 4]

Yes, I would most definitely agree with others about this post. I think that it's just appalling that Lingamish called God a "nasty ogre," but that's his opinion I guess, in which everyone is entitled to.

I personally think God is quite the opposite of a “nasty ogre.” Like many other threads on this site, God is there when we need him the most even if one doesn’t think he is at the time, because we are not getting the answers we want right away. Even of how upset we are, we all still end up turning to God in prayer and that’s what makes him so great, because we can always rely on him to be there. And that’s what you call true love.

[True Grit 3]

I don’t agree at all when it is said that God is a “nasty ogre”, I don’t feel this way at all because I was raised in a church where we believe God is the creator and he forgives our sins. He is the higher power that I was brought up to believe in and I still do believe. Some people of other religions may feel that God is not good, simply because that was the way they were taught, or other people around them believed that, so they just jumped on the band wagon.

[True Grit 2]

The image of God is different to everyone. I think thats why it's so special. My God doesn't look like a "nasty ogre" though.

[Dead Man Walking 3]

God cannot be seen so he is taken as whatever the people want to see him. It is one of the great mysteries of the bible. I would agree with the other posts saying he is not like a “Nasty Ogre.” A “Nasty Ogre,” does not have the soft side god shows being the “father of the fatherless, champion of widows.” Yes there are terrible things that happen on this earth and if you focus on the bad it will turn ugly for you, but there is good that people look past. If there wasn’t any bad it would just be another heaven like they said above. The bad really shows you how good you really have it.

[True Grit 4]

Like some of the other posts earlier in this thread I do not agree at all with calling God a disgusting ogre. I find these verses comforting. It says he sets the lonely in families. This is not something a God who was an ogre would do. By setting the lonely in families he is giving the lonely exactly what the lonely needs someone to be with. It also says that he leads the prisoners with singing. This to me says that God gives prisoners hope because it is exactly what they need. This verse show that God gives us exactly what we need. He even gives those who seem to not have anything the things that they need. To put it simply God blesses all of us.

[chariots of fire 3]

I don’t just want to jump on the band wagon, but in this situation I feel it is completely necessary. I agree with the other posts on this page, and feel that it is ridiculous that any person could possibly call God a “Nasty Ogre.” For Lingamish to call God a “nasty ogre” is out of line and shows a great deal of disrespect. Do nasty ogres have billions of people praying, believing, and putting their faith in them on a daily basis? God is a forgivng almighty being, not some type of nasty ogre.

[The Truman Show 5]

There is no way that our God could possibly be a "Nasty Ogre." While there are some instances where he invokes fear within us, it's for good reason. That reason is usually to show us how deeply he loves us. I just can't see why Lingamish would refer to him as a "Nasty Ogre," maybe it had to do with how he was brought up and his experiences with faith. But like most of us here I do not believe his interpretation of what God looks like. Like chariots of fire 3 stated "God is a forgiving almighty being," so there is no way he could ever be a "nasty ogre."

[Pulp Fiction 4]

I know there are a lot of people who would disagree with this, but I’ve always thought of God as just a very powerful person, and Psalm 68 shows that really well. Most of the time, He is helpful and loving. But there are times when He shows anger toward those He doesn’t like, even offering to let His beloved bathe their feet in the blood of His enemies (Psalms 68:23). In Exodus 20:5, He admits to feeling jealousy. Most human traits can be found in God at some point in the Bible, whether or not it’s because He is very human-like or because the writers of the Bible could not express God’s thoughts in anything but human terms. I like to think it’s the former, because I feel like I can connect with Him better that way.

As for Lingamish, I agree that the extreme language used to describe God’s violence is troubling. While the term “big ogre” is harsh, the idea that God is willing to inflict such severe punishment on His own creation is disheartening. I think that Lingamish’s second option is much more believable: the ancient Jews really hated their enemies, and that hatred leaked into their writing.

[The Mission 21]

Never in my life have I ever viewed God as a "nasty ogre." Anyone with any familiarity with the Bible will know that God's image is one of light and warmth and peacefulness. Now. on the other hand, He was invoked fear in us from time to time. But it is my belief that this is because he is trying to help us learn from our mistakes just like any father figure would. In my opinion, he does this because he loves us. Another idea that proves that calling God a "Nasty Ogre" is the number of followers that he has. Is it logical to think that God would have billions of followers that pray and worship him over all these years?