Psalm 76

“To the chief musician on Neginoth, a psalm of Asaph, a song. God [is] known in Judah, great his name in Israel; and in Salem his pavilion and his dwelling-place in Zion. There he broke the fiery shafts of the bow, the shield and the sword and the battle. Selah'. Glorious [art] thou, excellent, more than the mountains of prey. The strong of heart have been spoiled, they have slumbered their sleep; and none of the men of might have found their hands. At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both chariot and horse [are] cast into a dead sleep. Thou, terrible [art] thou; and who shall stand in thy presence when once [in] thine anger? From the heavens thou didst cause judgment to be heard; the earth feared and was still, when God rose for the judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah. For the fury of man shall praise thee; the remainder of furies wilt thou restrain [or ingird]. Vow and pray to Jehovah your God: all around him will bring a present to the fear [or him that should be feared]. He will cut off the spirit of princes, terrible to the kings of the earth” (vers. 1-13).
The second of these psalms is an inward dealing suited to that day of distress when God will have heart-searching in His ancient people before their complete deliverance. The remembrance of the past may produce anguish in the present but gives hope for the future. God's way is in the sanctuary as well as in the sea; and faith lays hold of both. For the Christian, it is the settled favor and everlasting deliverance in Christ, dead, risen, and ascended, that we rest on. But the Israelite, if he looks on His way in the sanctuary, enjoys the wonders of His arm; if he turn as a man to His way in the sea, he has to acknowledge that His footsteps are not known.