“And who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry?”
The full verse · Psalm 76:7 · KJV
Thou, even thou, art to be : and who may in thy once thou art ?
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Addressed directly to God in worship, though spoken aloud for the congregation of Israel assembled for worship.
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionAsaph asks rhetorically to magnify God’s terrifying holiness and to underscore the impossibility of resisting divine judgment. The question format invites worshipers to contemplate their own vulnerability before God’s righteous wrath, creating reverent awe rather than merely stating God’s power.
The Response
What Scripture recordsNo verbal response is recorded. The psalm continues with Asaph’s own answer: God’s judgment came from heaven, the earth feared and was still, and God arose to save the afflicted (Psalm 76:8-9).
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyAsaph’s question captures the essence of the fear of the Lord by making God’s terrifying holiness personally confrontational. The Hebrew construction uses an emphatic pronoun (attah, ‘you yourself’) repeated for intensity, isolating God as uniquely fearsome among all beings. The word nora (to be feared) appears throughout Scripture describing God’s awesome deeds that inspire both worship and dread. By asking ‘who can stand?’ rather than declaring ‘no one can stand,’ Asaph invites each worshiper to imagine themselves before God’s throne when His anger burns. This rhetorical strategy transforms abstract theology into visceral reality, driving home that divine wrath is not theoretical but devastatingly personal. The psalm’s theological weight rests on this tension: the God who dwells in Salem (Psalm 76:2) and delivers His people is the same God whose fury obliterates His enemies instantaneously.
Have you considered that the God you casually approach is the same God no one can stand before in His anger? This psalm reminds us that worship without reverence is presumption. While Christ grants us bold access to the Father (Hebrews 4:16), we never outgrow our need for holy fear. When you’re tempted to treat sin lightly or God casually, remember Asaph’s unanswerable question. The grace that saves you from God’s wrath should produce trembling gratitude, not flippant familiarity. As Paul writes, ‘work out your salvation with fear and trembling’ (Philippians 2:12), knowing the terrifying holiness of the One who loved you enough to die for you.
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources