Psalm 76, another song of Asaph, is "a celebration of the Lord's invincible power in defense of Jerusalem, his royal city. The psalm is thematically related to Psalms 46; 48; 87" (Zondervan NIV Study Bible, note on Psalm 76). Like Psalm 75, this psalm would provide encouragement when enemy forces seemed unstoppable.

Jerusalem is referred to here in the abbreviated form of Salem (Psalm 76:2; compare Genesis 14:18). The victory over military forces God achieved at Jerusalem (Psalm 76:3) concerns God delivering His own oppressed people from an assault there, as the rest of the psalm makes clear.

Asaph declares God "more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey" (verse 4). The expression "mountains of prey" is interpreted by the next verse: "The stouthearted [referring to the invading enemies] were plundered." Mountains are often symbolic in Scripture of kingdoms or nations. These enemy mountains, seeking to prey upon God's people, have themselves become prey. As God elsewhere says to Israel of the end time: "All those who devour you shall be devoured; and all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; those who plunder you shall become plunder, and all who prey upon you I will make a prey" (Jeremiah 30:16; compare also Isaiah 31:4).

Though speaking of the victory as already accomplished in most of Psalm 76 (see verses 3, 5-6, 8-9), Asaph was prophesying here of the future (compare verses 10, 12). On one level the prophecy could be looking forward to the overthrow of Sennacherib's army outside Jerusalem in Hezekiah's day (see 2 Kings 19:35). Yet the main focus is God's deliverance of the Jews there in the end time (see Zechariah 12:8-9)—as Psalm 76 shows that the rescue is part of God's deliverance of "all the oppressed of the earth" (verse 9) when He breaks the spirit of rulers in an awesome show of power to "the kings of the earth" (verse 12). This could also represent God's victory in delivering the people of spiritual Zion, His Church, from the unseen spiritual rulers of this world bent on destroying them.

Fear of God, mentioned in three verses in this psalm (7, 8, 11), is an important theme here. "For the righteous, the fear of God is a response of awe, wonder, adoration, and worship. For the wicked, the fear of God is terror, for there is no escape from Him (Psalm 14:5)" (Nelson Study Bible, note on Psalm 76:7).

Even the wrath of man directed against God will actually serve to praise and glorify Him (verse 10). This is because human attempts to fight against God (compare Revelation 19:19) will only demonstrate how irresistibly powerful He is (Revelation 17:14). God in such cases counters with His own wrath. "The remainder of wrath" (Psalm 76:10), indicates "that particular judgments do not exhaust his wrath; a remainder is left to deal with other hostile powers" (Zondervan, note on verse 10). Indeed, God will deal with all hostile powers when Jesus Christ returns and establishes the Kingdom of God throughout the earth.