Psalms 68:7

GOD'S PROCESSION BEGAN WITH THE EXODUS

"O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people,

When thou didst march through the wilderness; (Selah)

The earth trembled,

The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God:

Yet Sinai trembled at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain,

Thou didst confirm thine inheritance when it was weary.

Thy congregation dwelt therein:

Thou, O God didst prepare of thy goodness for the poor."

There seems to be an intention here of comparing this journey of "bringing to Jerusalem the ark of God," with the procession of God leading his people out of Egypt, through the wilderness to Sinai, and onward through history. Thus quite early we have the singers of Israel shouting the praises of God for his mighty triumph in the Exodus.

"Thou didst march through the wilderness" (Psalms 68:7). This refers to the period of forty years in the wilderness prior to the entry into Canaan.

"Rain ... plentiful rain" (Psalms 68:8-9). This may be a reference to the manna that literally `rained' out of heaven to feed Israel during that forty years. Such an understanding makes the `rain' a metaphor of the blessings that sustained Israel in the wilderness.

"The earth trembled ... Sinai trembled" (Psalms 68:8). This refers to the dreadful natural phenomena that attended the giving of the Law through Moses at Sinai.

"The psalmist here gives a brief resume of the exodus and its inerasable memories which was then, at that very moment being relived by the people."[10]