“Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people that delight in war.”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 68:30 Mean?
"Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people that delight in war." The psalmist prays for God to rebuke the military powers — "the company of spearmen" (literally "the beast of the reeds," likely referring to Egypt, symbolized by the hippopotamus or crocodile of the Nile). The "bulls" and "calves" represent powerful nations and their subject peoples. The prayer asks God to break militaristic powers until they submit — bringing tribute silver rather than weapons.
The final petition — "scatter the people that delight in war" — is a prayer for the dispersal of warmongers. Not all warriors. The ones who delight in it. The ones who love violence for its own sake. God is asked to scatter them because their delight in destruction is a threat to everyone.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Where do you see people or systems that 'delight in war' — that thrive on conflict rather than peace?
- 2.What's the difference between fighting because you must and delighting in the fight?
- 3.How does the prayer for transformation (not annihilation) of warmongers reflect God's kingdom values?
- 4.Where in your own life do you delight in conflict when you should be pursuing peace?
Devotional
Scatter the people who delight in war. Not the people who fight because they must. The people who love it. Who delight in destruction. Who find their identity and their joy in conflict and violence.
The psalmist distinguishes between necessary conflict and the love of conflict. There are times when nations must fight. There are people who serve honorably in warfare. But there are also people — and nations — who delight in war. For whom violence is not a last resort but a first preference. Whose economy runs on conflict. Whose identity depends on having an enemy.
The prayer is: scatter them. Break their power. Make them submit. Take away their ability to do what they love doing — because what they love doing kills people. The people who delight in war are the most dangerous people on earth, and the psalmist asks God to deal with them specifically.
"Till every one submit himself with pieces of silver." The submission the psalmist envisions isn't destruction — it's transformation. The nations that came with spears leave with tribute. The bulls that charged in aggression are brought to the ground in submission. The prayer isn't for annihilation. It's for the conversion of warmongers into contributors.
This is what God's kingdom looks like: swords beaten into plowshares. Spear-bearers submitting with silver. The energy that was directed toward destruction redirected toward contribution. God doesn't just stop wars. He transforms warriors.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Rebuke the company of spearmen,.... Or, "of the reed" (d); that is, men that use and fight with spears, like to reeds,…
Rebuke the company of spearmen - Margin, “the beasts of the reeds.” This is in the form of a prayer - “Rebuke;” but the…
In these verses we have three things: -
I. The gracious promise which God makes of the redemption of his people, and…
the company of spearmen Better as R.V., the wild beast of the reeds, i.e. the crocodile, or rather, the hippopotamus,…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture