Psalms 75 Study Notes: God the Judge Who Humbles and Exalts
The people thank God, and God Himself answers that He will judge with justice at the time He chooses and holds the earth steady. The proud are warned that only God lifts people up or brings them down, and the wicked must drink the cup of His judgment while the righteous are raised.
General
In 75:8, the LORD holds a cup of foaming wine that the wicked must drain completely. What does this cup represent?
Answer: God's judgment, which the wicked cannot escape
The psalm backs up God's role as Judge with a vivid picture: the LORD holds a cup of foaming, spiced wine, pours it out, and every wicked person on earth must swallow it to the last sediment (75:8). The cup stands for God's judgment. None of the wicked escape it, and they must drink all of it. The same image appears across Scripture. Jeremiah was told to take the cup of wrath from God's hand and make the nations drink it (Jeremiah 25:15), Isaiah described Jerusalem as having drained the cup of the LORD's fury (Isaiah 51:17), and Revelation speaks of those who worship the beast drinking God's undiluted anger (Revelation 14:10).
- Psalm 75:8 (BSB)“For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the dregs.”The LORD holds a cup of spiced, foaming wine that all the wicked must drink to the dregs.
- Jeremiah 25:15 (BSB)“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it.”Jeremiah is given a cup of the wine of God's wrath for the nations to drink.
- Isaiah 51:17 (BSB)“Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs—the cup that makes men stagger.”Jerusalem is said to have drunk the cup of the LORD's fury to the dregs.
- Revelation 14:10 (BSB)“he too will drink the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.”Revelation speaks of the wine of God's anger poured into the cup of His wrath.
Theological
What does the cup in the LORD's hand in 75:8 signify?
Answer: God's judgment, which the wicked cannot escape
75:8 grounds God's role as Judge in the image of a cup of foaming, spiced wine in the LORD's hand, which He pours out and which every wicked person in the world must drain completely. The cup is the standard prophetic image of divine wrath, inescapable and complete. Jeremiah bears the cup of wrath to the nations (Jeremiah 25:15), Isaiah depicts Jerusalem having drained God's goblet of fury (Isaiah 51:17), and Revelation applies the image to final judgment (Revelation 14:10).
- Psalm 75:8 (BSB)“For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the dregs.”The LORD holds a cup of spiced, foaming wine that all the wicked must drink to the dregs.
- Jeremiah 25:15 (BSB)“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it.”Jeremiah is given a cup of the wine of God's wrath for the nations to drink.
- Isaiah 51:17 (BSB)“Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs—the cup that makes men stagger.”Jerusalem is said to have drunk the cup of the LORD's fury to the dregs.
- Revelation 14:10 (BSB)“he too will drink the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.”Revelation speaks of the wine of God's anger poured into the cup of His wrath.
General
According to 75:4-7, why should the proud stop boasting and raising their horn?
Answer: Because God is the Judge who brings one down and raises another
God tells the arrogant to stop bragging and tells the wicked not to raise their horn, a picture of strength and pride, against heaven or to speak with a stiff, defiant neck (75:4-5). The reason follows with for: promotion does not come from east or west or from the wilderness; God is the Judge, and He humbles one person and lifts up another (75:6-7). No human power can raise a person up or keep him there against God's will. Hannah praised the LORD in the same way as the one who brings low and raises up (1 Samuel 2:7), Mary rejoiced that God topples rulers and lifts the lowly (Luke 1:52), and Daniel confessed that God removes and installs kings (Daniel 2:21).
- Psalm 75:4-7 (BSB)“I say to the proud, ‘Do not boast,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn. Do not lift up your horn against heaven or speak with an outstretched neck.’” For exaltation comes neither from east nor west, nor out of the desert, but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.”God warns the proud not to raise their horn, for promotion comes from no direction on earth but from God the Judge.
- 1 Samuel 2:7 (BSB)“The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.”Hannah praises the LORD as the one who humbles and exalts.
- Luke 1:52 (BSB)“He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble.”Mary praises God for bringing down rulers and lifting up the humble.
- Daniel 2:21 (BSB)“He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.”Daniel confesses that God removes kings and sets them up.
Theological
What reason does 75:6-7 give for God's warning to the proud in 75:4-5?
Answer: Because God is the Judge who brings one down and raises another
God commands the boastful not to boast and the wicked not to lift their horn, the image of power and pride, toward heaven or talk with an insolent neck (75:4-5). The ground is given in 75:6-7: exaltation originates from no earthly direction; God is Judge, abasing one and exalting another. Human advancement lies wholly within God's sovereign providence. The Song of Hannah (1 Samuel 2:7), the Magnificat (Luke 1:52), and Daniel's doxology (Daniel 2:21) all confess the same sovereign reversal.
- Psalm 75:4-7 (BSB)“I say to the proud, ‘Do not boast,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn. Do not lift up your horn against heaven or speak with an outstretched neck.’” For exaltation comes neither from east nor west, nor out of the desert, but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.”God warns the proud not to raise their horn, for promotion comes from no direction on earth but from God the Judge.
- 1 Samuel 2:7 (BSB)“The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.”Hannah praises the LORD as the one who humbles and exalts.
- Luke 1:52 (BSB)“He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble.”Mary praises God for bringing down rulers and lifting up the humble.
- Daniel 2:21 (BSB)“He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.”Daniel confesses that God removes kings and sets them up.
General
After the people give thanks in 75:1, who speaks in 75:2-3, promising to judge fairly at the time He chooses?
Answer: God Himself, speaking in the first person
The psalm opens with the people thanking God because His Name is near and His wonders are being told (75:1). Then the voice changes: God Himself speaks. He says that when He decides the moment has come, He will judge with fairness, and that when the world and everyone in it shake, He is the one who keeps its pillars standing (75:2-3). God's judgment is not random; it comes at the time He chooses, and He upholds the world until then. Paul told the Athenians that God has fixed a day for judging the world justly (Acts 17:31), and the Teacher of Ecclesiastes trusted that God would judge righteous and wicked alike in due season (Ecclesiastes 3:17). Hannah likewise praised the LORD as the owner of the earth's foundations (1 Samuel 2:8).
- Psalm 75:1 (BSB)“For the choirmaster: To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Psalm of Asaph. A song. We give thanks to You, O God; we give thanks, for Your Name is near. The people declare Your wondrous works.”The psalm of Asaph opens with the people's thanksgiving because God's Name is near.
- Psalm 75:2-3 (BSB)““When I choose a time, I will judge fairly. When the earth and all its dwellers quake, it is I who bear up its pillars. Selah”God Himself speaks, promising to judge fairly at His chosen time and declaring that He holds the earth steady.
- Acts 17:31 (BSB)“For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.””God has fixed a day on which He will judge the world with justice.
- Ecclesiastes 3:17 (BSB)“I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.””The Teacher trusts that God will judge righteous and wicked, for there is a time for every deed.
- 1 Samuel 2:8 (BSB)“He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, and upon them He has set the world.”Hannah's song says the foundations of the earth belong to the LORD.
Theological
Who is the speaker of 75:2-3, which follows the people's thanksgiving in 75:1?
Answer: God Himself, speaking in the first person
The communal thanksgiving of 75:1, grounded in the nearness of God's Name, gives way to a divine oracle: God declares that at the time He appoints He will judge uprightly, and that when the world and its inhabitants totter, He sustains its pillars (75:2-3). Judgment is certain and timed by God's sovereign decree, and meanwhile He upholds the created order. Paul proclaims a fixed day of righteous judgment (Acts 17:31); Ecclesiastes affirms that God will judge righteous and wicked in His time (Ecclesiastes 3:17); and the Song of Hannah locates the earth's foundations in the LORD's hands (1 Samuel 2:8).
- Psalm 75:1 (BSB)“For the choirmaster: To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Psalm of Asaph. A song. We give thanks to You, O God; we give thanks, for Your Name is near. The people declare Your wondrous works.”The psalm of Asaph opens with the people's thanksgiving because God's Name is near.
- Psalm 75:2-3 (BSB)““When I choose a time, I will judge fairly. When the earth and all its dwellers quake, it is I who bear up its pillars. Selah”God Himself speaks, promising to judge fairly at His chosen time and declaring that He holds the earth steady.
- Acts 17:31 (BSB)“For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.””God has fixed a day on which He will judge the world with justice.
- Ecclesiastes 3:17 (BSB)“I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.””The Teacher trusts that God will judge righteous and wicked, for there is a time for every deed.
- 1 Samuel 2:8 (BSB)“He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, and upon them He has set the world.”Hannah's song says the foundations of the earth belong to the LORD.
General
True or False: Psalm 75 ends by saying that the wicked and the righteous alike will have their horns cut off.
Answer: False
This is false. The psalmist promises to declare God's greatness forever and to sing to Jacob's God (75:9), and the psalm ends with God's own words: He will break off every horn the wicked raise, but the upright will have their horns lifted high (75:10). The horn stands for strength and honor, so the ending shows a reversal: the strength of the wicked is taken away while the righteous are honored. Hannah's song ends on the same note, with the LORD shattering His opponents and raising up the strength of His anointed king (1 Samuel 2:10). Other psalms also speak of God lifting the horn of the righteous (Psalm 92:10; Psalm 112:9).
- Psalm 75:9-10 (BSB)“But I will proclaim Him forever; I will sing praise to the God of Jacob. “All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous will be exalted.””The psalmist vows to praise God forever, and God declares He will cut off the horns of the wicked but lift up the horns of the righteous.
- 1 Samuel 2:10 (BSB)“Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder from heaven against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth and will give power to His king. He will exalt the horn of His anointed.””Hannah's song ends with the LORD shattering His opponents and exalting the horn of His anointed.
- Psalm 92:10 (BSB)“But You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; with fine oil I have been anointed.”Another psalmist praises God for lifting up his horn.
- Psalm 112:9 (BSB)“He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor.”The horn of the generous righteous person will be raised in honor.
Theological
True or False: 75:10 declares that both the wicked and the upright will have their horns cut off.
Answer: False
This is false. After the psalmist's vow of perpetual praise to Jacob's God (75:9), the closing oracle distinguishes sharply: God will sever every horn of the ungodly, while the upright will have theirs raised high (75:10). The horn, emblem of power and dignity, is removed from one and raised for the other, completing the reversal announced in 75:7. The Song of Hannah closes with the same pattern, the LORD shattering His adversaries and exalting His anointed's horn (1 Samuel 2:10), and the image recurs for the righteous in Psalm 92:10 and Psalm 112:9.
- Psalm 75:9-10 (BSB)“But I will proclaim Him forever; I will sing praise to the God of Jacob. “All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous will be exalted.””The psalmist vows to praise God forever, and God declares He will cut off the horns of the wicked but lift up the horns of the righteous.
- 1 Samuel 2:10 (BSB)“Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder from heaven against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth and will give power to His king. He will exalt the horn of His anointed.””Hannah's song ends with the LORD shattering His opponents and exalting the horn of His anointed.
- Psalm 92:10 (BSB)“But You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; with fine oil I have been anointed.”Another psalmist praises God for lifting up his horn.
- Psalm 112:9 (BSB)“He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor.”The horn of the generous righteous person will be raised in honor.