In spite of the way I have handled this first stanza, using it to ask who God is and where knowledge of the true God may be found, we must not think that the subject matter of this psalm is theoretical. This is not a matter for polite debate with little or no consequences attached. According to this psalm, this true God is a righteous Judge whose wrath is constantly hanging over those who are enemies both of himself and of his people.

The opening stanza of this psalm (vv. 1-3) sounds to most people today like the narrowest possible provincialism: that God is known only in Israel. However, those who believe the Bible will know that, first, that it is true—that is where God was known—and second, that this is merely the same kind of exclusiveness we also demonstrate when we declare that God has revealed himself uniquely in Jesus Christ.

God's assurance of the righteous and his warnings to the wicked would seem to be sufficient in themselves. But preachers always seem to like to have the last word, even with God, and Psalm 75 is an example. God has spoken (in vv. 2-5). But now the preacher or priest adds his observations and applications to God's teaching (vv. 6-8).

It is not entirely clear from the Hebrew text how much of the following is spoken by God or at what point the writer breaks in to give his own personal comment or reflection of God's words. The New International Version makes as good a judgment as any when it puts verses 2-5 together as being spoken in one way or another by God. But they fall into two parts. In the first two verses (vv. 2, 3) God speaks to assure the righteous. These words concern the nature of God's judgments. In the next two verses (vv. 4, 5) God addresses the wicked to warn them about their evil actions.