This is the most picturesque—and obscure—of all the psalms. In the liturgy, it especially celebrates the Ascension of Christ. Furthermore, no wonder: it is a hymn suited for God’s climactic victory, fighting for his people, and there is a wild joy running through it. God rides on the clouds but also marches across the desert. He feeds his starving people and takes willing captives to his holy hill; his might is in the skies. Likewise, the Son of Man, whose chariot was a cloud (Dn 7:13, cf. Mt 26:64), traveled on foot through the wilderness and fed his people there (Jn 6). When He ascended, He took a host of ‘captives’ with him (Eph 4:8), and his power is felt from heaven, where He sits at the right hand of the Father. This psalm properly celebrates our liberation as we journey toward the Promised Land.