Can The Wrath Of Man Bring Glory To God? - Psalm 76

Psalm 76 seems to have two aims. The first is that this psalm encourages God’s people to give God thanks and glory for His mighty deliverance through judgment. The second is to warn the rulers of the earth and their peoples to fear God and repent of there evil and idolatry before God rises to execute His just wrath upon them for their rebellion against His government. 

The great puritan pastor and biblical commentator Matthew Henry observed that this psalm is “appropriate for times of thanksgiving. It is notable that many years ago when I was pastor of the Gainsville Baptist congregation in Lincolnton, North Carolina this chapter was next in line the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I had not planned it. In fact, I had been preaching through the Psalms for four years when it came time to expound this great chapter. After many years of preaching expository and consecutively through books of the Bible, I can give testimony to the sovereign and providential “scheduling” when a book, chapter, or paragraph comes into the congregation's view in the worship times. 

Not only is this a powerful word for praise from God’s people because of His mighty deliverance, but it is also a call to the rebellious of the world to fear Him as the true God who will judge the world with wrath sometime in the near future.