Ps. 68.3 (vibrant stability)

But the righteous / may they rejoice
may they exult / before God
and jubilate / with joy. 

Now, after the smoke of the wicked has been cleared by the breath of God (vs. 2) do the righteous emerge. This is not a mere rhetorical flourish: the fact that the wicked are dealt with first in this psalm is important. We must point out the constant, driving and repeated call to remove the wicked: “...his enemies be scattered; …flee before him; …blow them away; …melt/perish before God.” Every single line up to this point has focused on the enemy-hater’s ‘casting out’. The action has been one of removal, of ‘clearing the stage’ and it has all occurred “before God”—the ‘arising-forth’ of God. Now, with the land cleansed, the righteous are brought into focus “before God”. That same stance that caused the wicked’s dispersal (“before God”) is now portrayed as the source of the righteous’ rejoicing, exultation and jubilation with joy. This is, in other words, a victory song. The ‘breath of God’ that blew away the residue of fire (the smoke) and the flame that, of its own nature, melted the wicked, has become for the righteous a flame that ‘does not consume’. They can be before the face of God and not experience it as a force of expulsion but a dynamic force of unity. The enemy-haters fled from the presence of God and were scattered; the righteous “jubilate with joy”. Whereas the enemy-haters perish in the flame (vs. 2), the righteous (like the three men in Daniel; or the bush of Moses) rejoice within the fire. We might even say that, whereas the breath of God blew away the wicked, here the breath of God would, Adam-like, bring life to the righteous. In addition, to pick up the thematic threads of verses 1-2, we can say that whereas the ‘rising-forth’ and ‘passive-activity’ of God is displayed in the movement of the wicked through their ‘fleeing’ (active) and ‘melting’ (passive), for the righteous, they are marked by a vibrant-stability—they are jubilant with joy (vibrant) before God (stability). Finally, it must be pointed out that the ‘clearing/scattering of the enemy haters’ is not merely a display of power; it is a preamble, a necessary prologue to the righteous liturgy. God’s power is, ultimately, seen not simply in his redemptive power of judgment but by the fact that his presence is one that engenders unity, praise and life. The goal reveals the source.