To illustrate further how hard it is to understand Psalm 68, let us also consider verses 25 through 27. "Singers go before; players after;/In the midst of virgins sounding the tambourines./Bless God in the congregations,/Even Jehovah, O you who are of the fountain of Israel./There are little Benjamin, who rules them,/And the princes of Judah in their company, /The princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali." Do you understand all this? Why are the names of four of the twelve tribes mentioned—Benjamin, Judah, Zebulun, and Naphtali—but not the names of the other tribes? Once again, we must admit that this matter is difficult to understand.

An even more difficult matter to understand is the reason Psalm 68 was written. Why was this psalm written, and why was it composed in the way it was? In order to answer this question, we need to consider the way the psalm begins. Verse 1 says, "Let God arise; let His enemies be scattered;/And let those who hate Him flee before Him." This is a quotation of Moses' prayer in Numbers 10:35, uttered when the ark of the covenant set out from Mount Sinai.

After Moses brought the children of Israel to Mount Sinai, they stayed there for quite a long time. During that time, God decreed His law to them through Moses. However, the main thing that happened at that time was not the decreeing of the law but God's charging Moses to build the tabernacle with the ark, the incense altar, the lampstand, the showbread table, the laver, the altar, and all the utensils.

What was God's purpose in decreeing the law and in charging Moses to build the ark and the tabernacle with all its furnishings? The law was decreed for the purpose of exposing and subduing Israel. God intended to use the law to expose the people's weakness, incapacity, defects, and shortages in order to make them realize that they were sinful and could do nothing for Him. Thus, the law was decreed to convince them of this and even to condemn them.

Exodus 19 speaks of the experience of the children of Israel at Mount Sinai. On the one hand, they were fearful, for they heard the thunder, saw the lightning and the thick cloud, and realized that God was present with them at the mountain. On the other hand, they were proud of all these things concerning God. When Moses laid before them all the words which God had commanded him, the people answered and said, "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do" (v. 8). Moses told the words of the people to the Lord, and then He came in to decree the law. Even before the law had been decreed to the children of Israel, they broke the Ten Commandments and committed sin by worshipping the golden calf. When Moses learned about this, he became angry and broke the two tablets of stone. The point here is that the law was given in order to expose the people of Israel, to convince, condemn, and subdue them, and to cause them to realize that they could not do anything to please God. This was God's purpose in decreeing the law.

Now we need to see God's purpose concerning the building of the tabernacle. God wanted the children of Israel to build Him a tabernacle so that He could dwell among them and they could contact Him and even dwell with Him. However, because they were sinful, they needed an altar to take care of their sins. In addition, they needed the showbread table for spiritual food, the lampstand for spiritual light, and the incense altar for them to pray to the Lord.