He has been speaking on judgment that will come on the world, and now he is speaking of judgment that will come on Moab, and eventually the world.
Worship and judgment, can they go together? They can if you are the people of God and receive deliverance from the violent. And that’s what happens here. God is delivering His people from the barbarians, the ones who thought they could never be overthrown:
- “the fortress of barbarians is no longer a city” (v. 2)
- “the cities of violent nations will fear you” (v. 3)
- “When the breath of the violent is like a rain against a wall, like heat in a dry land, You subdue the uproar of barbarians” (v. 5)
- “As the shade of a cloud cools the heat of the day, so He silences the song of the violent” (v. 5)
This is a chapter on God’s deliverance and man’s praise for His salvation. The violent have had their way long enough, and now God acts. It is both a word for the time and word for yet to come.
“He will destroy death forever. The LORD God will wipe away the tears from every face and remove His people’s disgrace from the whole earth, for the LORD has spoken” (v. 8).
“On that day it will be said, “Look, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us. This is the LORD; we have waited for Him. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation“” (v. 9).
It’s a beautiful thing when the Lord delivers. When he delivers a nation, the people rejoice. When he will deliver us all, let us rejoice forever.
