To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.
A Psalm of Asaph.
A Song.
1-3 God is known in Judah, in Israel His name is great. 2 His lair [סך, soch] has been established in Salem, His den [מענה, ma’onah] in Zion. 3 There He broke the bow’s flashing arrows, the shield, the sword, and the [weapons of] battle. Selah
4-6 Radiant are You, more majestic than the mountains of prey [טרף, treiph]. 5 The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil; they sank into sleep. All the men of war were unable to find their hands. 6 By Your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both rider and horse lay stunned.
7-9 But You, You fearsome One! Who can stand before You when once Your anger is roused? 8 From the heavens You made heard judgment [דין, din]. The earth feared and was still, 9 when God arose to establish judgment [משפט, mishpat], to save all the humble of the earth. Selah
10-12 Surely the wrath of man shall praise You when You gird on wrath like a belt. 11 Make Your vows to Adonai your God and perform them. Let all around Him bring tribute [שי, shai] to the fearsome One. 12 He plucks the spirit of princes. He is fearsome to the kings of the earth.
What is appropriate fear of God?
Exodus 20:18-20 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of Him may be before you, that you may not sin.”
REFERENCES:
Verse 2
Jeremiah 25:38 Like a lion he has left his lair [סך, soch] …
Psalm 10:9 He lurks in ambush like a lion in his lair [סך, soch]…
Psalm 104:21-22 The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. When the sun rises, they steal away and lie down in their dens [מְענה, ma’onah].
Amos 3:4 Does a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey [טרף, treiph]? Does a young lion cry out from his den [מְעֹנה, ma’onah], if he has taken nothing?
Nahum 2:12 The lion tore [טרף, treiph] enough for his cubs and strangled prey for his lionesses. He filled his caves with prey and his dens [מְענה] with torn flesh [טרפה, treiphah].
Verse 11
Psalm 68:29 Because of Your temple at Jerusalem kings shall bear tribute [שי, shai] to You.
Isaiah 18:7 At that time tribute [שי, shai] will be brought to Adonai of hosts from a people tall and smooth, from a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide, to Mount Zion, the place of the name of Adonai of hosts.