Commentary on Selected Psalms

                                 Psalm 68:18 (KJB)

Every believer whether saved by grace or by Christ's appearance to them in the end of the world will take part in the ascension of Christ or of the Holy Spirit. John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14 (KJB). In Psalm 68:18, the phrase "thou hast led captivity captive" can only refer to God's plan to save the entire human race. Every human is born into captivity to the Devil because the Devil injects spiritual death into every human which causes every human to sin and/or commit evil acts except for those who die before they can sin. Nevertheless, spiritual death, by itself, could cause eternal death in every human unless Christ saves them. Romans 5:12-14 relates that although God does not hold humans accountable for their sins who are ignorant of His Law, they nevertheless suffer spiritual death inside of them which could become an eternal death. Even today, God does not hold humans accountable who have never heard of God's Law or the gospel of Christ, but when they die, their spiritual deaths cause them to descend into one of the regions of death where they will remain forever unless Christ comes to rescue them. But God's Word assures every human that He will save them either by His grace or by His lesser form of salvation. John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14; Romans 5:18; I Corinthians 15:22; I Timothy 4:10; II Timothy 1:10; Romans 11:36; Revelation 21:1-5 (KJB). God will lead all humans in "captivity" to become "captive" to God's grace or to His lesser form of salvation.

The phrase in this verse, "thou hast received gifts for men" refers to the fact that God has given His Son the power to deliver His gifts of salvation to all living humans whether saved by grace or by His lesser form of salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 5:18 (KJB). God will also give rewards to all of His living humans whether saved by His grace or by His mercy. Matthew 5:10-12; Revelation 22:11-12 (KJB).

The phrase in this verse, "yea, for the rebellious also" refers to the fact that God will save even those humans who practiced rebellion against God in their lives on the former earth. Any human can be overcome by temptation and fall into sin because of their weakness, but when any human knows fully well that they will disobey God but commits that sin anyway, that happens to be an evil act which is always rebellion against God. When king David fell in love with several women and married them, the evidence shows that those were sins of weakness. But when king David planned to commit the sins of adultery and murder, the evidence shows that that was a sin of rebellion against God. II Samuel 12:1-7 (KJB). When the Apostle Peter denied the Lord, the evidence shows that that was a sin of weakness, but when the Apostle Paul disobeyed God and went to Jerusalem instead of going to Rome, the evidence shows that that was a sin of rebellion. Romans 1:10-13; Acts 21:4 (KJB). All through the Bible, humans committed sinful acts in weakness and rebellious acts that were evil. But both king David and the Apostle Paul were saved by grace. When any human commits evil and cruel acts against their fellow humans, deep within themselves they know they are being evil despite whatever philosophy or religion they have that tells them they were right. Evil acts happen to be far more serious that sinful acts of weakness because evil acts cause a person's spiritual death to come much closer to eternal death. But God has a plan to save all of His living humans from all sin and evil and their spiritual deaths that causes it. John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14 (KJB).

The phrase in this verse, "that the Lord might dwell among them" refers to the fact that God will dwell among all saved humans either in Heaven and/or on His recreated earth. When Christ ascended into Heaven, he raised all of His Old Testament saints saved by His grace, and the Paradise where they were, to Heaven with Him. Matthew 27:51-53; I Peter 3:18-22 (KJB). The New Testament reference to Psalm 68:18 expands its meaning to include the ascension of the Old Testament saints, the Rapture of the Church, and the resurrection from the dead of all of God's repentant living humans confined to the regions of death. Ephesians 4:7-10 (KJB). Ephesians does not refer to the resurrection of the Tribulation saints because if any of them committed any act of rebellion against God, that would nullify their salvation by grace because they will not possess the Holy Spirit within them who would ensure their eternal salvation by grace. Revelation 20:4-6 (KJB).

Ephesians 4:7-10 further expands the meaning of Psalm 68:18 to include all living humans confined to the regions of death, Their salvation is based on the descent of the Holy Spirit into Hell, which is a general term for all three regions of death, to leave behind there all of the sins and evil of all humans not saved by grace that Jesus bore on the cross. The Holy Spirit then ascended immaculate from the dead to reanimate the perfect body of Jesus so that He could rise from the dead with complete victory over all sin, evil, spiritual death, and the Devil. I John 2:2; Acts 2:25-31; Revelation 1:17-18 (KJB). Because of the work of the Holy Spirit that cleanses all living humans not saved by grace of all of their sins and evil, Christ will appear to all of His living humans confined to the regions of death to cause them all to repent and return to faith in Him as the Lamb of God their Savior. Revelation 5:11-14 (KJB). The salvation that the Holy Spirit makes possible, Christ will make actual. When they repent, Christ will activate their salvation supplied to them by the Holy Spirit. Christ will use His fiery wrath against evil to melt them down to separate their cleansed, living natures from them for Him to recreate to live forever on His new earth, and He will cast their spiritual deaths into the eternal lake of fire. I Corinthians 3:11-15; II Peter 3:9-13; Psalm 75:3; Matthew 13:36-43 (KJB). God will "reconcile all things unto Himself." Colossians 1:20 (KJB).

The phrase in Ephesians 4:10, "that He might fill all things" refers to the fact that Christ will purge all sin, evil, spiritual death, and the Devil from His entire creation so that He will have full control over all of it. At present, the Devil has his own kingdom of evil in the world, but Christ will purge it all from His world and recover and recreate His entire creation, including all of His living humans. Revelation 21:1-5; II Corinthians 4:4; Romans 8:18-25 (KJB). God promised in the beginning that He would crush the head of the Devil, and God always does a thorough job. Genesis 3:15 (KJB).