For not from the east nor from the west, nor yet from the south doth exaltation [come]
Psalm 75 warns the proud not to lift up their horn — not to boast in their own strength. Verse 6 answers the question that warning raises: if not from human strength, where does a person's rise really come from?
Older translations read "promotion" here. One writer says that word hides what the psalm is really doing, and traces the right word through the whole song.
Deliverance comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. "Promotion" is a poor and misleading translation. The word is 'lifting up,' and continues the thought of verses 4 and 5. It does not mean lifting a person into a place of prominence. It means the rescue of the crushed, lifting them up out of the dust. The word comes again in verse 10, where 'exalted' should be translated 'lifted up.' You find this thought of 'lifting up' in verses 4, 5, 6, 7 and 10.
So the verse is not about climbing a career ladder. It is about rescue.
Verse 6 begins with "For." It gives the reason behind the rebuke in the two verses just before it.
Man's boasting in himself and in what he does, and his rebellion against God, will call down the judgment of God. So the psalmist warns man not to boast, and not to exalt himself in his own strength. That strength is pictured by a horn, the fighting strength of an animal. And he warns him not to rebel against God.
The horn stands for a man's own strength. Verse 6 names the places that strength cannot come from.
The verse names three directions: east, west, and the wilderness. One writer explains that the wilderness lay to the south, and gives the reason why the north is left out. His older rendering says "exaltation" where the ESV says "lifting up."
"For not from the east" (where the sun rises), "and not from the west" (the place of evening), "and not from the wilderness" (which lay south of the land), "is exaltation." This marks out very plainly where Israel stands: at the time when the king of the north attacks Jerusalem (Dan. 11:45). So the north is not mentioned, because from the north there is no hope. Help might be found in other directions, but in fact it is not coming from any point of the compass.
So every direction is closed at once. Help is not waiting somewhere on the map. It comes from God.
These words are not just a poet's advice. One writer asks who is speaking here, and finds only one person who fits.
The speaker is clearly One who has absolute power in government (verse 10), and yet can sing praises to the God of Jacob (verse 9). This can apply to Him, who is both God and Man… It is fitting that He should speak. He reminds people that promotion (or lifting up) comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south, but only from God. God acts as He will, putting down one and setting up another, and dealing in unsparing judgment with the wicked.
The next verse says God is the judge, who puts one down and lifts another up. That could sound like raw power with no reasons behind it. One writer guards against that reading.
He does not do this at random, or without regard to fitness or merit. No, His sovereignty does not set aside the question of moral fitness or proper preparation of those He is pleased to advance in His service.
If lifting up is God's to give, the drive to climb loses its point. One writer contrasts two kinds of people.
Neither a believer nor a people going on with God needs promotion. His life, his character and his service speak for themselves as he moves quietly in the place God has appointed for him. Ambition leaves such people cold — except the ambition to honour God. But a man without grace, who lives for himself, will gladly take the praise of foolish men. He will climb over them into a position of tyranny. It can only be compared to the pride that goes before destruction. Christ, by contrast, humbled Himself. God highly exalted Him.
The verse also guards against being impressed by outward splendour.
Satan may deceive people by outward grandeur, but promotion comes not from the east, nor the west, nor the south. Why not? God is the Judge. He puts down one and sets up another. So believers can separate, with discernment, where the world sees a contradiction.
- Lifting up. The key word is "lifting up," not promotion. It means the crushed being raised out of the dust, and it runs through verses 4, 5, 6, 7 and 10.
- No direction. The psalm names east, west and south, and leaves out the north, because the attacker comes from there. No point of the compass can lift you up.
- One Judge. God alone puts down and sets up. The One who says so rules with absolute power, and still sings praise to the God of Jacob.
- Not arbitrary. His sovereign choice does not bypass moral fitness or preparation in those He advances in His service.
- No promotion needed. The one going on with God is content in the place God gave him. Christ humbled Himself, and God highly exalted Him.
For God is the judge; he putteth down one and exalteth another.
In Psalm 75 God announces that He has a set time to judge. This verse names the one hand that brings a person down or raises a person up.
One writer traces how the psalm moves, and shows verse 7 standing inside a warning to the proud.
In Psalm 75 Messiah speaks, though the psalm begins with the remnant thanking God for wonderful works He has already done. Then God's judgments bring Messiah into the kingdom. He receives the congregation of Israel, and then comes upright judgment. The earth is dissolved in guilt and confusion, and Messiah upholds its pillars. In the verses that follow He warns the wicked and the despisers of God not to exalt themselves, for God is the Judge; He puts up and puts down.
Why does evil run on so long? The answer is the time God has fixed.
It is the announcement by God Himself that, in His set time, God will judge uprightly. We are often impatient for God to deal with evil. God, however, has His set time — when evil is ripe, and His people have learned their lesson — for stepping in with judgment.
The older word "promotion" in verse 6 can mislead. The picture is not a career ladder but a rescue.
"Promotion" is a poor and misleading translation. The word is 'lifting up,' and continues the thought of verses 4 and 5. It is not the idea of raising a person to a place of prominence. It is the deliverance of the crushed by lifting them up out of the dust. The same expression appears again in verse 10, where the word 'exalted' should be translated 'lifted up.' This thought of lifting up runs through verses 4, 5, 6, 7 and 10. The north is not mentioned. One suggestion is that the enemy who attacks the land of Israel comes from that direction, so no help would be looked for from the north. The people of God have to learn that help does not come from any quarter of the earth. It comes from God: it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.
So the missing compass point is deliberate. Every direction has been searched, and the search comes back empty.
In other directions help might possibly be found; but in fact it is not coming from any point of the compass. God is coming in: "for God it is that judges; He abases one and exalts another."
The putting down and the lifting up are not random. One writer names this Judge as Christ, and shows which people each one falls on.
Verse 7 says that "it is God who executes judgment," and this God, their King, is of course Christ. He knows how to put one down and lift another up. His judgment will sort people exactly. He brings down those who exalt themselves and lifts up those who have been humbled.
The one who judges is also God's witness on earth.
In the second half of the psalm we find Him as the "faithful Witness," the Representative of God on earth, testifying for God. As Judge He lifts up and brings down, in keeping with grace and holiness alike.
What holds for one person holds for empires.
He rules or over-rules the hearts of all people. He rules the whole realm of human thought and action. He rules public opinion in all its forms, at all times, with all the characters great and small who appear in it. So He orders the rise and fall of nations, the course of their histories and the size of their territories. The way human history unfolds proves that God governs it, in events and in morals, as clearly as the heavens prove His power and glory. "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He will." (Prov. 21:1.)
If God alone lifts a person up, does character count for anything? One writer answers directly.
Let us remember what Scripture says: "For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another" (Ps. 75:6-7). Yet He does not do it at random, or without regard to fitness or merit. No, His sovereignty does not set aside the question of moral fitness or proper preparation in those He is pleased to advance in His service.
- Set time — God has fixed the hour when He will judge. Our impatience does not move it. Ripe evil does not escape it.
- Set direction — Help is not in the east, the west or the south. The north is left out because that is where the enemy comes from. No direction on earth holds the answer.
- Set hand — Only God's hand is left. The word is "lifting up": He raises the crushed out of the dust rather than handing out prominence.
- Set standard — The lifting and the lowering sort people. He brings down those who exalt themselves and lifts up those who have been humbled, and grace and holiness both show in it.
- Set scope — The same hand turns the king's heart and orders the rise and fall of nations. Yet when He advances someone in His service, fitness and preparation still count.