501_The lasting victory of God

Psalm 68 God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered;
and those who hate him shall flee before him!
2 As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;
as wax melts before fire,
so the wicked shall perish before God!
3 But the righteous shall be glad;
they shall exult before God;
they shall be jubilant with joy!

4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
his name is the Lord;
exult before him!
5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
6 God settles the solitary in a home;
he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

In 1945, World War II officially ended, but for a Japanese soldier named Hiroo Onoda, the news never sank in. Stationed on a remote Philippine island, he continued fighting for 29 more years, hiding in the jungle and carrying out guerrilla missions. Leaflets were dropped, announcements were made, and even his own family tried to reach him—but he dismissed it all as enemy propaganda. When he was finally persuaded to surrender in 1974, he discovered that the war had been over for decades. Yet he had lived as if the battle was still raging.

How foolish and yet how tragic his story is. This is what Psalm 68 tells us – that victory belongs to our God. God’s victory over evil is not tentative, not temporary, and certainly not pending—it is complete, decisive, and everlasting. Our calling is to live as people who know and believe that the war is already won.

Psalm 68 is a majestic song of triumph, likely composed to celebrate the moment the ark of the covenant was brought into Jerusalem in David’s day (2 Samuel 6). But its reach is far greater than a single historical event. It recalls God’s victories from Israel’s wilderness journey, celebrates His faithfulness in the present, and prophetically points toward Christ’s resurrection and ascension. It is a psalm that opens with the certainty of God’s triumph and closes with the global call to worship Him for it.

It starts: “Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered.” David is quoting Moses’ words from Numbers 10:35, spoken when the ark set out from Mount Sinai. It’s the battle cry of a people who know that their God does not merely participate in the fight—He determines the outcome. His enemies don’t slowly retreat in exhaustion; they vanish like smoke in the wind, like wax melting before fire. The psalm gives us the image of a victory so overwhelming that resistance simply dissolves.

Early in the morning of the day when Jesus Christ rose again, the enemies of God thought they had prevailed. The Son of God lay dead, the tomb was sealed, and soldiers stood guard. But when He rose, death itself—the enemy that holds sway over every human life—was undone. In Paul’s words: “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

Beyond the fall of God’s enemies, David paints a picture of the joy of His people: “But the righteous shall be glad; they shall exult before God; they shall be jubilant with joy!” Praise erupts from God’s people, rooted in knowing God’s character. His name, “Yah,” a shortened form of Yahweh, tells us He is all-sufficient. He is our salvation, and our peace. He is the Father of the fatherless, the Defender of widows. He sets the lonely in families and brings prisoners into freedom and abundance. While the rebellious wandered for 40 years and eventually fell in the wilderness, the people of God entered into the land of milk and honey to live under His abundant provision.

David’s mind travels back to Israel’s wilderness journey. “You went out before your people,” he says. God’s presence was never abstract. He fought for his people, opened up new ways for them, provided for them, and led them safely. His works were not confined to the battlefield. Interestingly, verse 11 notes that “The Lord gives the word; the women who announce the news are a great host.” In Israel’s story, as in the resurrection story, women were the heralds of God’s victory. Those at home shared in the spoils, reminding us that God’s work involves and blesses all His people.

David then turns to Zion, the hill of God. Though small and unimpressive compared to other mountains, it was blessed beyond all in God’s choice to dwell there. God’s people are not innately stronger or more excellent than any other great and ancient nation. Our worth lies only in his presence with us. Israel was forbidden to rely on horses and chariots, not because military strength was inherently wrong, but because their real security came from the “chariots of God”—thousands upon thousands, with the Lord Himself at their head.

In verse 18, David soars into prophetic vision: “You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.” David saw a reality beyond his own time: the ultimate victory procession of Christ, triumphant over sin, death, and the powers of darkness. Ephesians 4 looks back on this verse, seeing in it the ascension of Christ and the gifts of the Holy Spirit that he poured out upon his people, whom he had freed from the captivity of sin and death.

And so David sings: “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation.” This is the God who, in Christ, bore our burden on the Cross, delivering us from death. He struck the head of the serpent, as he promised in Eden. And daily he continues to bear our burdens, of anxiety and temptation to sin. He bids us cast all our cares on him who cares for us.

The psalm moves toward a vivid scene: the procession of the ark into Jerusalem. Leading the way is Benjamin, the smallest tribe, a reminder that God delights to honor the least. Benjamin was the tribe of Saul, who had hunted him for years. Yet they wholeheartedly gave their support to David when he became the king, after Saul’s only surviving son was assassinated. And David shows no bitterness. Victory in God’s kingdom is never about petty revenge—it’s about the joy of God’s deliverance, and worship of the one who alone is mighty.

In verses 28–29, David prays for God’s power to be seen again, confident that kings will one day bring tribute to Jerusalem. This isn’t wishful thinking; it’s a settled conviction that God’s kingdom will stand when all others fall. The psalm closes with a breathtaking call: “Ascribe power to God, whose majesty is over Israel, and whose power is in the skies. Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God!”

The victories of this world, no matter how great, are always temporary. Time, decay, and death eventually claim them. But the victory of God is everlasting because it is rooted in His very nature. When Christ rose from the dead, He stripped death of its sting. For those in Him, death is no longer an enemy to be feared, but a doorway into His presence.

Unlike Hiroo Onoda, let us recognize and live, not as though the war is still undecided, but in the reality of God’s lasting victory. That means refusing to surrender to fear when circumstances look bleak. It means serving with joy even when faithfulness costs us. It means worshipping the King enthroned on high.

The final victory belongs to those who trust in Him and hope in His salvation. Let us not waste our lives in the jungles of unbelief, fighting battles He has already won. Instead, let us walk in the open, under the clear sky of His triumph. Let us live daily in the power of the Lord who has risen, ascended, and will reign forever. God bless.