Devotional Short Note on Psalm 75: The special feature theme for this Psalm is to ask the question, how did the Vetus Latina translate this Psalm? The Old Latin is distinct from the Vulgate that Jerome translated in 389 A.D. Scholars thought it was translated from the Septuagint, but my own experience with it is contrary. Some errors came only from a misreading of the Hebrew manuscript. The original translation was probably made in 190 A.D. but solely for convenience, pastors of the Latin related languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese or Italian, can download Volume two of Pierre Sabbathier, Bibliorum sacrorum latinae a Versiones antique seu vetus Italica (1743-1749) and a Latin Dictionary with a grammar. This Psalm is on page 151-152 at Liber Psalmorum. One can see where the translators made their errors. An error in the Vetus Latina that was shared also by the Septuagint translators, who used the same or copies of the same errorful copies that survived bookburning and book-stealing practices common in those years, which were made from degenerative “Qumran” like defective Hebrew copies of the originals. If the Qumran on this Psalm survived one may have seen the same variant here. Sometimes the Syriac also shared this variant and to a lesser degree sometimes the Targum as well. What happened here is that the translators who was reading the word to the copier of the Hebrew by dictation, by a slip of the eye divided the word too short of the final root, leaving out the final letter which makes it just a simple adverb meaning “near” but now a shorter word with a phonetic different swing ends to mean “call”. The errorful word-division is in the Hebrew and when it came to translations, all wanted to use Antiochian Library Hebrew manuscript of Psalms and like modern Associate Press News Outlet shoppers, they all introduced the error in their translations. It comes as no surprise to Adventists since the church of Ephesians in the Book of Revelation “left the first love” (Revelation 2:4). The Hebrew read: “We give thanks, and near is Your name” but the Vetus Latina read “We give thanks, and we call Your name” and so did Jerome in 389 A.D. and also the Greek translators of the so-called Septuagint (so-called, because there was a good one originally, but a degenerative corrupt one later of the time of Antiochus Epiphanes in 164 BCE).

Also in the next sentence, the Vetus Latina made an error. The Hebrew letter for /n/ was left out or smeared and not clear, so the scribe wrote it supralinearly meaning that it was supposed to be placed back when the reader read it to someone. They all read the errorful word in text correct, but for the Vetus Latina translators in 190 A.D. and the shared Hebrew manuscript of the corrupt Septuagint translators, the supralinear /n/ looked like a /k/ an since it was closer to the /l/ two letters further they ended with a plus word in their translation: “all”. Whereas the Hebrew read: “they tell of Your wonderful works” the Vetus Latina (shared by the corrupt Septuagint) read in 190 A.D. “[I] tell [all] of Your wonderful works”. The reason is that the waw of the first word at the end was read as a shorter yod due to bad handwriting.

At this point I want to stop analyzing the Vetus Latina in this Psalm since there are very interesting points in the Psalm that commentators totally missed since they are either from the Catholic or Reformistic preteristic persuasions and thus tried to fit everything in at the time of Sennacherib. Stop the bus. Asaph knew about the 2300 days prophecy that Daniel would also present later in Daniel 8:14. God is at word here in 75:3 saying that “Because I will take the appointed time” [moed at the end of 2300 days = 2300 years with the day equals a year principle starting in 457 BCE and ending in 1844] “I Myself [Christ our High Priest, see the book online by Edward Heppenstall] will judge from uprightness”. It is the Investigative Judgment in Heaven when Christ the High Priest will go into the Day of Atonement function of His ministry in Heaven before the Father and the jury of unfallen world and angels.

“When the earth will be dissolved and all the inhabitants thereof” [at the Hell event after the millennium when the Executive Judgment will take place of the wicked since the righteous are safely in heaven] “I Myself [Christ the recreator, see Revelation 20ff] “will establish the pillars of it” [the earth is created anew] (75:4). Asaph was probably citing from a well-known eschatological book they all read frequently since he used the citation mark “Selah”.

Christ says to the “arrogant” the following: “Be no arrogant” and to the wicked “Lift not up the horn” (75:5). Whenever Lucifer is portrayed in the Bible, it is said that he wanted to raise himself, put himself on God’s throne, thus, a Rebellion that started in Heaven and this battle is continued on earth with arrogant selfish desires to rebel and replace and set themselves higher than powers and authority over them. Daniel 7:25 described the Little Horn and Daniel 8:9-12 described the Little Horn motions of self-exaltation against the Sanctuary of the Lord.

Christ admonishes the Little Horn again saying “Lift not up your horn on high” (75:6a). “Speak not insolence with a haughty neck” (75:6b). The Little Horn of Daniel 8:9-10 and 12 is the Roman Catholic Church during the Middle Ages since they took over as empire from Pagan Rome, the beast. But, verse 11 of Daniel 8 is Satan himself and his actions of selfappraisal. Compare in Isaiah 14:12-14 this desire of Satan to lift himself up. So different than Christ stooping down to wash His disciples feet before the Lord’s Supper and commanding us to do the same.

The “lifting up one” (harim) is not coming from the east [Iran], west [USA] or the wilderness [south, Africa?] for Satan is unseen and the backdrop to all evil everywhere here (75:7).

The same words as Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar and the kings in his book, is that God is the One Who lift people up and put them down (75:8). Empires grow big and become bullies, why? Satan lift them up but there is a God in Heaven that changes regimes and He has a calendar with a final date for the empire and the bullies. That is what the prophets and Revelation says about the cup of God’s wrath (75:9). The Second Harvest of the evil experiencing God’s wrath is described in Revelation 14:18-19.

It is at this point that Asaph says that when this happens and he is part of the First Harvest of the saved ones, that “I will declare forever, I will sing praises to the God of Jacob” (75:10). Why Jacob? The last Time of Trouble is the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” because the faithful will suffer without a Mediator in Heaven, but they will actually be perfect but not yet physically in body, thus the agony for a short time. Very short indeed says the Bible. Shortened says Christ because He is in a hurry to come at that point.

Christ will cut off the horns of the wicked. Horns were cut off in the visions of Daniel 7 and 8 because the referred to political powers (75:11).

The righteous will be given authority in heaven by Christ. Christ promised that His saints will be like kings in heaven. They will rule among other things.