Ps. 68.5-6 (filling the void)

he Father / of the fatherless / and defender / of widows
God / from his holy dwelling
God / who settles the homeless / in a household
who brings out prisoners / with music
while the rebellious / dwell in arid wastes. 

These are immensely important verses in this psalm. They not only strengthen our previous reflections but they deepen it in a direction that, until now, was not anticipated—the Warrior King is now understood to be the Father, defender, provider for the homeless and the jail-breaker. What began as a seemingly external act of deliverance (blowing away the enemy-haters) has now become the internal act of binding-up and healing. Initially, we can observe that the dual movement we have tracked in regard to the wicked (the ‘rising-forth’ and the ‘passive-activity’) are now turned inward in healing: father of fatherless, defender of widows, home-provider for homeless and liberator of the jailed. The ‘great reversal’ of dispersing of the enemy-haters is here the ‘great-reversal’ of healing. God’s movement is very similar as well—although God, and this healing-power, is “from his holy dwelling” he “settles the homeless” and “brings out prisoners”. God is both supremely passive (in his holy dwelling) and active (settling and ‘bringing out’). We might say this is Sinai (leading out in exodus) and Zion (the ‘home of God’). It is important to note here how, formally, “God dwelling on his holy mountain” is the center-piece of this litany to his healing: father--defender—holy mountain—“land-provider”--“prisoner-freeing”. Everything pivots around this; or, everything is nourished from this pinnacle. Here, what we witness is that God does not merely remove the external threat but, importantly, fills the void created by their absence. We must say that, at least in part, they were the father and husband killers; they were the ones who dispossessed the homeless and they were the ones who (falsely?) sentenced men to jail. Into this void, God becomes the ‘head of the family’ in the first instance: the Father and the defender of widows. In the second, he becomes the protective sovereign/judge by providing land and release from inequity.  This is not, as said above, merely the ‘filling of a void’. The enemy-haters left chaos and destruction when they fled (were ‘blown away’). And here we see something crucial: just as God’s presence melted the wax-wicked, so too, now, will it, by its own flame, not only heal but joyously erupt in providing for his own; he will become a father and he will not only release the prisoners but lead them out with music. This is prodigal provision (the ‘prodigal father’ we might say). All of this is confirmed by the closing phrase: ‘rebellious dwell in arid wastes’. As over-abundant as God’s healing redemption of his people is, is here contrasted with the arid waste of the rebellious.