NOTES for Psa 68
An attempt to express the Lord’s greatness through images of a triumphal procession could not, of course, fully portray the One who surpasses all. Yet the feelings of people who had discovered even a small measure of His greatness become understandable to us through the customary ways in which they expressed them. The psalm allows us to recall the solemn transfer of the Ark of the Covenant into the House of God in Jerusalem, but this particular event can also be viewed as an image of the faithful following the Lord in procession; thus all the words of trust given here are entirely natural.
Then, unexpectedly, we encounter the words that the Lord received gifts not for Himself but for humanity, and moreover so that even those who rebelled might dwell with the Lord God. The psalmist was granted the insight that the Lord desires to be reconciled with sinful humanity that has fallen away from Him.
Several centuries later, He will go to the Cross for those who oppose Him.