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Psalm 68:2

As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. A song. Let God arise! Let his enemies be scattered! Let them who hate him also flee before him.
2As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
3But let the righteous be glad. Let them rejoice before God. Yes, let them rejoice with gladness.
4Sing to God! Sing praises to his name! Extol him who rides on the clouds: to the LORD, his name! Rejoice before him!
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← Psalm 68:1Psalm 68:3 →
Notice

Smoke scattered and wax melted make this prayer for the wicked to perish stark: those who oppose God have no strength that can withstand his presence.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What do smoke and melting wax suggest about the strength of those who oppose God?

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What difference does it make that this plea addresses God rather than those called wicked?

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What would you want to write to God about the plea that the wicked perish?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 37:20But the wicked shall perish. The enemies of the LORD shall be like the beauty of the fields. They will vanish— vanish like smoke.Both passages compare the wicked to smoke and speak of their perishing as enemies of God.
Micah 1:4The mountains melt under him, and the valleys split apart like wax before the fire, like waters that are poured down a steep place.Both use wax melting before fire to picture what cannot withstand God, whether mountains or the wicked.
Hosea 13:3Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the dew that passes away early, like the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing floor, …Both compare people to smoke that disappears, using fragile, passing things to describe their removal.
Psalm 22:14I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within me.Both use melting wax, though Psalm 22 describes the speaker’s suffering and Psalm 68 seeks the destruction of the wicked.
Revelation 6:16–17They told the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,Both portray God’s presence as a threat to those facing judgment; Revelation records people seeking shelter from his face and wrath.
Isaiah 9:18For wickedness burns like a fire. It devours the briers and thorns; yes, it kindles in the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke.Both use fire and smoke imagery, though Isaiah describes wickedness burning while Psalm 68 asks God to make the wicked perish.
Psalm 97:5The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.Both describe melting like wax at God’s presence, applying the image to mountains in Psalm 97 and the wicked in Psalm 68.
Jeremiah 46:15Why are your strong ones swept away? They didn’t stand, because the LORD pushed them.Both describe people being swept or driven away because they cannot stand against God.
Exodus 15:15Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed. Trembling takes hold of the mighty men of Moab. All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.Both use melting language for people overcome, with Exodus naming the inhabitants of Canaan and Psalm 68 naming the wicked.
Psalm 80:16It’s burned with fire. It’s cut down. They perish at your rebuke.Both use fire imagery and speak of people perishing before God’s presence or rebuke.
Nahum 1:10For entangled like thorns, and drunken as with their drink, they are consumed utterly like dry stubble.Both picture the destruction of people through comparisons with things that offer little resistance: melting wax and dry stubble.
Genesis 4:16Cain left the LORD’s presence, and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.The shared thread is God’s presence: Cain leaves it, while Psalm 68 asks for the wicked to perish there.
Where this verse fits

Injustice and anger. sermon or Bible study notes.

What the Bible says about anger →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Write a prayer placing judgment in God’s hands

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Encouragement

This is a severe prayer for God’s enemies to perish. The judgment sought belongs to God; the verse gives you no commission to carry it out.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 68:2. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 68 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).