Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered: let them alone that hate Him flee before Him.
A good prayer
This was what was always said by Moses, when the ark set forward afresh in the wilderness. Enemies were in the path of its progress, and if the ark was to advance, God must scatter them Advance of all kinds is accompanied with the scattering of enemies. The reformer, the teacher, the pioneer emigrant have all to fight. The very sun, as he scatters the darkness, seems to rise in a sea of blood. And God’s cause in the world and the hearts of men must fight its way through enemies.
I. This prayer is to be urged in reference to the enemies of the progress of the Gospel in the world. Selfishness in all its forms, tyranny, hate, worldliness, and unbelief, must be scattered by God’s power.
II. This prayer is to be urged in reference to the enemies of the peace and sanctification of God’s people, and of the sinner’s salvation. The Old Testament speaks much about enemies; the New far more about enmity. God’s avenging sword of old cut off His enemies; the Sword of the Spirit slays enmity. The reason of the difference is found in the different stages of God’s work in the world. God in the old dispensation had to carve out a little space for His garden and vineyard on the earth; now the whole earth is His garden, and He must root out every plant that He has not planted. It is not human beings that are God’s enemies; it is sin in man that is the enemy against which God fights. God’s enemies and man’s real enemies are the same. We do not conquer our enemies, because we do not sufficiently feel that they are God’s too. (Homiletic Magazine.)
God’s interposition invoked, worship enforced, and character portrayed
I. The interposition of God invoked (Psalms 67:1-2).
1. An impression of God somewhat general. “Let God arise.” The suppliant seemed to regard the Almighty as quiescent, as either unconscious or indifferent to what was occurring in the affairs of mankind. This view of God is unphilosophic, pernicious. God is all consciousness and all motion. He sees all, and is never at rest.
2. A conception of sinners always true. “His enemies.” They “hate Him.” What is sin? Practical antagonism to what God is.
3. A feeling towards man that is wrong. “Let His enemies be scattered,” etc.
II. The worship of God enforced (verses 8, 4).
1. Worship is the prerogative of the righteous--i.e. those whose spirit is ruled in everything by the only righteous law, supreme love to God. Such only can worship. Their hearts alone overflow with those sentiments of gratitude, filial reverence, and adoration which enter into the essence of all worship.
2. It is the outflow of the highest happiness. “Let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice,” etc. Worship is not a task, it is a gratification; it is not an effort, it is an effluence; it is not a service, it is a spirit; and it is a spirit radiant and jubilant in the conscious presence of the all-loving One. It is the spirit pouring itself out to Him as freely and naturally as the healthy tree pours out its fruit and its blossoms to the sun, or as the overflowing fountain pours forth its waters to the ocean.
III. The character of God portrayed.
1. His majesty. “Him that rideth upon the heavens,” etc.
2. His mercy. “A father of the fatherless,” etc. (Homilist.)