Psalms 68:7,8

These verses are borrowed, with some omissions and alterations, from the Song of Deborah (Judges 5:4-5):

"Jehovah, when thou wentest forth out of Seir,

When thou didst march out of the field of Edom,

The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped,

Yea, the clouds dropped water;

The mountains quaked at the presence of God,

Even yon Sinai at the presence of Jehovah, the God of Israel."

When God brought Israel out of Egypt, He "went before them … to lead them in the way" (Exodus 13:21 f.; cp. Micah 2:13), and in the great Theophany of Sinai the mystery and marvel of His self-revelation were concentrated. Earthquake and storm are the symbols of His Presence and Power. See Exodus 19:16 ff., and cp. Psalms 18:7 ff.; Habakkuk 3:3 ff.

Three times in this Psalm (7, 19, 32) Selahoccurs not at the close of a stanza, but after the first verse of a stanza. If the text is right, it would seem that a musical interlude was employed to enforce the thought with which the stanza begins.