Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 75:5

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 75:5. Speak not with a stiff neck. — Mr. Bruce has observed that the Abyssinian kings have a horn on their diadem; and that the keeping it erect, or in a projecting form, makes them appear as if they had a stiff neck; and refers to this passage for the antiquity of the usage, and the appearance also.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 75-76 Exalting God, not self

In a psalm designed for use in public worship, the congregation begins by thanking God for all his mighty deeds (75:1). A singer representing God replies that even when conditions in the world look hopeless, God is still in control. He will intervene when he sees fit (2-3). Therefore, the wicked should not be proud or stubborn like an ox that struggles against its master (4-5). The only exaltation that matters is that which comes from God. The opinions of people mean nothing (6-7). Punishment also comes from God, and the wicked will drink his cup of anger to the last drop (8).
The leader of the congregation then responds on the people’s behalf. He gives the assurance that they will always remain loyal to their God and will cooperate with him in doing good and opposing evil (9-10).
In the next psalm God is again praised, this time for some great deliverance in saving Jerusalem from an enemy (76:1-3). His glory, majesty and power are seen in the decisive way he crushed the enemy (4-6). The one who defends Jerusalem is also Lord of the universe. Nothing can stand before him. His power is absolute in the heavens and on the earth (7-9).
Angry rebellion against God is turned into a source of praise to him, for his triumph brings glory to his name. Since God will be glorified whether people submit or rebel, they will do well to bring glory to him willingly by offering true and humble worship (10-12).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

“I said unto the arrogant, Deal not arrogantly; And to the wicked, Lift not up the horn: Lift not up your horn on high; Speak not with a stiff neck. For neither from the east, nor from the west, Nor yet from the south, cometh lifting up.”

Some interpreters ascribe the words of these verses to the psalmist, or to the “congregation,” but we believe Delitzsch is correct. “The utterance of God is also continued after the Selah. It is not the people of God who turn to the enemies with words of warning; it is God himself who speaks.”F. Delitzsch, Vol. V-B, p. 339.

“Lift not up the horn” This means that, “One should not vaunt his own powers.”New Bible Commentary Revised, p. 498. Rawlinson gave the meaning as, “Be not fierce and menacing like a bull threatening with his horns.”The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 8-B, p. 91.

“Neither from east… west… south… cometh lifting up” The significance of the omission of “north” here lies in the fact that, “Foreign invasions of Israel generally came from the north; and deliverance would logically have been expected from some other direction.”J. R. Dummelow, p. 359.

McCaw suggested that this affords presumptive evidence that the threatened destruction of Jerusalem by Sennacherib might have been the occasion.New Bible Commentary Revised, 498.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Lift not up your horn on high - In a proud, self-confident, arrogant manner.

Speak not with a stiff neck - With arrogance and pride; in a haughty, imperious manner. The word rendered “stiff” (literally “a neck of stiffness”) - עתק ‛âthâq - means properly bold, impudent, wicked; and the idea is that of speaking as those do who are impudent, shameless, bold, licentious - indicating confidence in themselves, and a reckless disregard of truth and of the rights of others. The Septuagint and the Vulgate render it, “And speak not unrighteousness against God.”

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 75:1-10

Psalms 75:1-10 :

Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare. When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly ( Psalms 75:1-2 ).

This is, of course, God answering now.

The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it ( Psalms 75:3 ).

And so many times in the psalms, we find God's response to the cry of the psalmist. And it is always a beautiful thing when God responds directly to the prayer, to the cry. This happens in many psalms. Psalms 32:1-11 , Psalms 75:1-10 , Psalms 91:1-16 , where God Himself responds.

I said to the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn: Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck. For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: and he puts down one, and sets up another ( Psalms 75:4-7 ).

This to me shows the folly of our endeavor to promote ourselves, or to promote our own efforts, or even to promote the program of God. So many churches have promotional programs. I was in that trap for years. In fact, we were sharing with some pastors in Portland this week, as I was asked to speak at a conference up there. And I had breakfast with some pastors and this one pastor was telling me, we were talking about contests and giveaways and gimmicks and all to get people to church. And he was telling me how this one pastor that pastored the church prior to his moving there advertised that they were going to give a baby chick to everyone that came to church on Easter Sunday morning. And so they brought the chicks there the night before, and they said when came into the church it smelled like a barn on Easter Sunday. And there was one lady whose husband was unsaved, and they had been praying for this man for years. But he was just bitter and stubborn and hard, and he just wouldn't go to church. But finally, this Easter Sunday he consented to go to church. And, of course, everybody was rejoicing and praising the Lord that her husband finally consented to go to church. So the next week when the pastor saw this lady, he said, "Well, how did your husband enjoy the service?" And she said, "Oh pastor, when we came up to the door, they were having so much problem passing the chicks out, someone asked him if he wouldn't help pass out chicks. And so he never did get into the service. He spent the whole time passing out chicks."

How tragic when we try to promote God, or to promote the work of God, or even try to promote ourselves. God said, "Promotion doesn't come from east, the west, from the south, God is the judge. He is the one that raises up and he is the one that puts down." And oh, that we would learn to just let the Lord do the promotion if He so desires. That we would not try to promote ourselves or the work of God.

For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he pours out the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them. But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted ( Psalms 75:8-10 ).

God's cup of wrath, the wine is red. In the book of Revelation we read also of that wine cup of God's wrath in chapter 14, where we read, "The third angel followed them saying with a loud voice, 'If any man worship the beast, his image, receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation, and shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb." That wine of the fierceness of God's wrath that is to be poured out upon the earth. And so referred to here in the psalm, and also made mention of in the Revelation. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 75

This communal thanksgiving psalm anticipated a victory in Israel when God as Judge would destroy the wicked and establish the righteous (cf. 1 Samuel 2:1-10; Luke 1:46-53).

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

These verses call the wicked to repent. The writer said they should stop boasting and acting proudly, as an animal does that defiantly wields its horn against a foe. The wicked refuse to bow before God, as an ox tossing its neck refuses the yoke. No help from any direction will deliver the ungodly when God judges them.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. God’s character as Judge 75:4-8

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Lift not up your horn on high,.... Or "against the most High" q; as the little horn, or the beast with ten horns, antichrist, does, whose look is more stout than his fellows, and opens his mouth in blasphemy against God, his name, his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven, Daniel 7:8,

speak [not with] a stiff neck; arrogantly, proudly, and haughtily: or "hard things with a neck" r; hard speeches against Christ and his people with an outstretched neck, in an imperious and insolent manner; for the righteous Judge will convince such of their hard speeches, and condemn them for them; Judges 1:14.

q למרום "contra excelsum", Junius & Tremellius. r בצואר עתק "collo durum", Michaelis.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

To the chief musician, Al-taschith. A psalm or song of Asaph.

      1 Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.   2 When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.   3 The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.   4 I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:   5 Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.

      In these verses,

      I. The psalmist gives to God the praise of his advancement to honour and power, and the other great things he had done for him and for his people Israel (Psalms 75:1; Psalms 75:1): Unto thee, O God! do we give thanks for all the favours thou hast bestowed upon us; and again, unto thee do we give thanks; for our thanksgivings must be often repeated. Did not we often pray for mercy when we were in pursuit of it; and shall we think it will suffice once or twice to give thanks when we have obtained it? Not only I do give thanks, but we do, and I and all my friends. If we share with others in their mercies, we must join with them in their praises. "Unto thee, O God! the author of our mercies (and we will not give that glory to the instruments which is due to thee only), we give thanks; for that thy name is near (that the complete accomplishment of thy promise made to David is not far off) thy wondrous works, which thou hast already done for him, declare." Note, 1. There are many works which God does for his people that may truly be called wondrous works, out of the common course of providence and quite beyond our expectation. 2. These wondrous works declare the nearness of his name; they show that he himself is at hand, nigh to us in what we call upon him for, and that he is about to do some great things for his people, in pursuance of his purpose and promise. 3. When God's wondrous works declare the nearness of his name it is our duty to give him thanks, again and again to give him thanks.

      II. He lays himself under an obligation to use his power well, pursuant to the great trust reposed in him (Psalms 75:2; Psalms 75:2): When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly. Here he takes it for granted that God would, in due time, perfect that which concerned him, that though the congregation was very slow in gathering to him, and great opposition was made to it, yet, at length, he should receive it; for what God has spoken in his holiness he will perform by his wisdom and power. Being thus in expectation of the mercy, he promises to make conscience of his duty: "When I am a judge I will judge, and judge uprightly; not as those that went before me, who either neglected judgment or, which was worse, perverted it, either did no good with their power or did hurt." Note, 1. Those that are advanced to posts of honour must remember they are posts of service, and must set themselves with diligence and application of mind to do the work to which they are called. He does not say, "When I shall receive the congregation I will take my ease, and take state upon me, and leave the public business to others;" but, "I will mind it myself." 2. Public trusts are to be managed with great integrity; those that judge must judge uprightly, according to the rules of justice, without respect of persons.

      III. He promises himself that his government would be a public blessing to Israel, Psalms 75:3; Psalms 75:3. The present state of the kingdom was very bad: The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved; and no marvel, when the former reign was so dissolute that all went to wrack and ruin. There was a general corruption of manners, for want of putting the laws in execution against vice and profaneness. They were divided one from another for want of centering, as they ought to have done, in the government God had appointed. They were all to pieces, two against three and three against two, crumbled into factions and parties, which was likely to issue in their ruin; but I bear up the pillars of it. Even in Saul's time David did what he could for the public welfare; but he hoped that when he had himself received the congregation he should do much more, and should not only prevent the public ruin, but recover the public strength and beauty. Now, 1. See the mischief of parties; they melt and dissolve a land and the inhabitants of it. 2. See how much one head frequently holds up. The fabric would have sunk if David had not held up the pillars of it. This may well be applied to Christ and his government. The world and all the inhabitants of it were dissolved by sin; man's apostasy threatened the destruction of the whole creation. But Christ bore up the pillars of it; he saved the whole world from utter ruin by saving his people from their sins, and into his hand the administration of the kingdom of Providence is committed, for he upholds all things by the word of his power,Hebrews 1:3.

      IV. He checks those that opposed his government, that were against his accession to it and obstructed the administration of it, striving to keep up that vice and profaneness which he had made it his business to suppress (Psalms 75:4; Psalms 75:5): I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly. He had said so to them in Saul's time. When he had not power to restrain them, yet he had wisdom and grace to reprove them, and to give them good counsel; though they bore themselves high, upon the favour of that unhappy prince, he cautioned them not to be too presumptuous. Or, rather, he does now say so to them. As soon as he came to the crown he issued out a proclamation against vice and profaneness, and here we have the contents of it. 1. To the simple sneaking sinners, the fools in Israel, that corrupted themselves, to them he said, "Deal not foolishly; do not act so directly contrary both to your reason and to your interest as you do while you walk contrary to the laws God has given to Israel and the promises he has made to David." Christ, the son of David, gives us this counsel, issues out this edict, Deal not foolishly. He who is made of God to us wisdom bids us be wise for ourselves, and not make fools of ourselves. 2. To the proud daring sinners, the wicked, that set God himself at defiance, he says, "Lift not up the horn; boast not of your power and prerogatives; persist not in your contumacy and contempt of the government set over you; lift not up your horn on high, as though you could have what you will and do what you will; speak not with a stiff neck, in which is an iron sinew, that will never bend to the will of God in the government; for those that will not bend shall break; those whose necks are stiffened are so to their own destruction." This is Christ's word of command in his gospel, that every mountain will be brought low before him,Isaiah 40:4. Let not the anti-christian power, with its heads and horns, lift up itself against him, for it shall certainly be broken to pieces; what is said with a stiff neck must be unsaid again with a broken heart, or we are undone. Pharaoh said with a stiff neck, Who is the Lord? But God made him know to his cost.