Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 76:10

"Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: The residue of wrath shalt thou gird upon thee." — Psalms 76:10 (ASV)

Surely the wrath of man shall praise you - It shall be the occasion of praise; or, honor shall accrue to you from it, as if it were employed in your praise, and as if it were voluntarily engaged in promoting your glory. The deliverance of the people by the direct interposition of God in the case referred to in the psalm, the sudden and entire overthrow of the invading forces by His power, led to this reflection. The overruling power of God was displayed.

The wrath of the invading host had given occasion for this manifestation of the divine perfections; or, in other words, His character would not have been displayed in this manner if it had not been for these wicked purposes of people. It is not that there was anything in the wrath itself, or in their plans or intentions, that was in itself adapted to honor God; but that it was overruled by Him, so that He took occasion from it to display His own character.

The wicked conduct of a child is an occasion for the display of the just character and the wise administration of a parent; the act of a pirate, a rebel, a murderer, furnishes an occasion for the display of the just principles of law, and the stability and power of a government. In like manner, the sins of the wicked are made an occasion for the display of the divine perfections in maintaining law, in administering justice, and in preserving order.

But there is another sense, also, in which the wrath of man is made the occasion for glorifying God. It is that since there is such wrath, or since there are such wicked purposes, God makes use of that wrath, or of those wicked purposes, as He does of the powers of nature—of pestilence, disease, and storms—as instruments to accomplish His own designs, or to bring about great results.

Thus He made use of the treasonable purpose of Judas, and the mad passions and angry feelings of the Jews, in bringing about the work of redemption by the death of His Son. Thus He made use of the purposes of Sennacherib in order to punish His own people (see the notes at Isaiah 10:5-7). Thus He employed Cyrus to execute His counsel (Isaiah 46:10). And thus He made use of the wrath evinced in persecuting the church to secure its permanent establishment in the world. Whether these things could be accomplished without that wrath is a question too high for man to determine.

It is certain, also, that the fact that God overrules the wrath of people does not justify that wrath. The purposes of people are, like the pestilence and the storm, what they are in themselves; and the nature of their conduct is not affected by any use that God may make of it. People must be judged according to their own deeds, not for what God does through their wickedness.

The remainder of wrath - The word remainder here—שׁארית sh^e'êrı̂yth—means properly part; what remains, especially after a defeat or slaughter—the survivors of a battle (Jeremiah 11:23; Jeremiah 44:14; Micah 7:18; Zephaniah 2:7). Gesenius renders it here (Lexicon) extreme wrath, retained even in extremity. The Septuagint, ἐγκατάλειμμα engkataleimma—the things which are left. So the Vulgate, reliquiae. Luther says, "When men rage against you, you turn it to honor; and when they rage yet more, you are still prepared.” Venema supposes that the meaning is the whole wrath. As in Arabic the word used here means wholeness, or the whole of anything; and according to this, the idea would be that it was not merely wrath in general, or in a general sense, that would be made use of, but all that there was in wrath; it would all be made use of in advancing the divine purposes.

The allusion seems to be to something that had been laid up in a magazine—as provision or arms, when the soldier went forth to war—which he would make use of if necessary, so that all might be ultimately consumed or employed. The control of God was over this as well as over that which was actually employed; He could overrule that which was employed. He could restrain people from at all using this that was kept in reserve. The idea seems to be that all the wrath which is manifested among people would be made to praise God, or would be overruled for His glory—and all which would not contribute to this end He would keep back, He would check; He would prevent its being put forth—so that all should be under His control, and all disposed of as He should will.

There was nothing in the heart or the purposes of man that was beyond His jurisdiction or control; man could do nothing in his wrathful plans that God could not dispose of in His own way, and for His own honor.

You shall restrain - The word used here—חגר châgar—means literally to bind around; to gird; to gird up, as of a garment or sword that is girded on (1 Samuel 17:39; 1 Samuel 25:13; Psalms 45:3), or sackcloth (Isaiah 15:3; Jeremiah 49:3). The Septuagint renders this, and the remainder of wrath shall make a feast to you, ἐορτάσει σοί heortasei soi—that is, it shall praise or honor you as in a festival. So the Vulgate. Prof. Alexander renders it, “You shall gird about you;” that is, God would gird it on as a sword, and would make use of it as a weapon for executing His own purposes.

So DeWette says, “And with the last wrath you shall gird yourself.” Others render it, “You restrain the remainder of your wrath”—that is, punishment—“when the wrath of man will not promote the knowledge of yourself.”

It seems to me, however, that our translators have expressed the exact idea in the psalm. The meaning is that the whole of the wrath of man is under the control of God; and whatever there is, or would be, in the manifestation of that wrath, or in carrying out the purposes of the heart, which could not, in the circumstances, be made to promote His glory, or which would do injury, He would check and restrain.

He would suffer it to proceed no further than He chose, and would make it certain that there should be no exhibition of wrathful feelings on the part of man which would not, in some way, be made to promote His honor, and to advance His own great purposes. He has absolute control over the passions of people, as He has over the pestilence, over earthquakes, and over storms, and can make all tributary to His glory, and executioners of His will.