Psalm 68 praises the God of Israel for his mighty acts of deliverance throughout the history of His people. It speaks not only of His awesome power, but also of His love, His compassion and His care.

I don’t know how many times over the years I have heard people complain about being afraid of the God of the Old Testament, because it speaks of Him carrying out vengeance and destruction. But have you read how God’s people describe Him? I hope you will take time to read all of Psalm 68 today.

The early church understood this psalm as a foreshadowing of the resurrection, ascension and rule of Christ now and His ultimate triumph on the last day (Ephesians 4:8–13). I can understand that when I read verse 20.

Psalm 68:20 Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.

We get an escape from death. It comes from God. We will still have an earthly death, which is a painful separation from this world and hurts those who are left behind. But we have a victory over death that Jesus earned for us.

I had a good friend die of a heart attack this past Monday, just one week after my mom died. I had visited with Him in church on Sunday. We were going to go do a clean up job together on Wednesday and then go fishing together on Saturday. But instead he got to go to heaven and we are left to grieve. But, as I reminded you last week, our grieving is different that those who do not believe in Christ, those who live without hope.

Psalm 68 reminds us of the goodness of our God, “… A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,  … God sets the lonely in families.”  He is concerned about us in our present state, and has provided us an eternity with Himself by His redeeming work.

Psalm 68:35 You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!

Our God is an awesome God!