Psalms 75:1-10: a reflection

1We give thanks to you, God. We give thanks, for your Name is near. Men tell about your wondrous works. 2When I choose the appointed time, I will judge blamelessly. 3The earth and all its inhabitants quake. I firmly hold its pillars. Selah. 4I said to the arrogant, “Don’t boast!” I said to the wicked, “Don’t lift up the horn. 5Don’t lift up your horn on high. Don’t speak with a stiff neck.” 6For neither from the east, nor from the west, nor yet from the south, comes exaltation. 7But God is the judge. He puts down one, and lifts up another. 8For in the LORD’s hand there is a cup, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours it out. Indeed the wicked of the earth drink and drink it to its very dregs. 9But I will declare this forever: I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. 10I will cut off all the horns of the wicked, but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

Psalm 75 makes a striking claim about where advancement and exaltation come from. Not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness, it says, comes lifting up; but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another. The rising and falling of people, who is exalted and who is brought low, does not come from any earthly direction or human effort, but from God, the judge who lifts up and puts down.

Notice what the psalm denies and what it affirms. It denies that exaltation comes from the usual sources, from geography, from human standing, from our own striving and positioning. And it affirms that it comes from God alone: God is the judge; he puts down one and lifts up another. Whatever heights we reach, or fail to reach, are finally in God's hands, not ours or anyone else's. He is the one who exalts and humbles.

That truth speaks both a warning and a comfort. A warning to the arrogant, do not boast, the psalm says, do not lift up your horn; exaltation is not yours to seize, and God brings the proud low. And a comfort to those who long to be lifted up but cannot secure it themselves: your advancement is not finally in your own hands or others', but in God's, and he lifts up in his time. Do not grasp anxiously for your own exaltation, and do not despair when it does not come by your own efforts. It comes from God, the judge who puts down one and lifts up another. Leave your rising and falling in his hands, and trust him to lift you up in his time.

Lord, the psalm says that exaltation comes not from the east or west or from my own striving, but from you, the judge who puts down one and lifts up another. Keep me from grasping anxiously for my own advancement, as if I could seize it, and from despairing when it does not come by my efforts. My rising and falling are in your hands, not mine or anyone else's. Guard me from the pride that lifts up its own horn, and help me leave my exaltation to you, who lift up in your time. I trust you with my place.