Psalm 108

1My heart is steadfast, God. I will sing and I will make music with my soul. 2Wake up, harp and lyre! I will wake up the dawn. 3I will give thanks to you, Yahweh, among the nations. I will sing praises to you among the peoples. 4For your loving kindness is great above the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. 5Be exalted, God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth. 6That your beloved may be delivered, save with your right hand, and answer us. 7God has spoken from his sanctuary: “In triumph, I will divide Shechem, and measure out the valley of Succoth. 8Gilead is mine. Manasseh is mine. Ephraim also is my helmet. Judah is my scepter. 9Moab is my wash pot. I will toss my sandal on Edom. I will shout over Philistia.” 10Who will bring me into the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? 11Haven’t you rejected us, God? You don’t go out, God, with our armies. 12Give us help against the enemy, for the help of man is vain. 13Through God, we will do valiantly, for it is he who will tread down our enemies.

This psalm begins with praise and concludes with prayer, and faith is at work in both. I. David here gives thanks to God for mercies to himself (Psa 108:1-5). II. He prays to God for mercies for the land, pleading the promises of God and putting them in suit (Psa 108:6-13). The former part it taken out of Psa 57:7, etc., the latter out of Psa 60:5, etc., and both with very little variation, to teach us that we may in prayer use the same words that we have formerly used, provided it be with new affections. It intimates likewise that it is not only allowable, but sometimes convenient, to gather some verses out of one psalm and some out of another, and to put them together, to be sung to the glory of God. In singing this psalm we must give glory to God and take comfort to ourselves.

A song or psalm of David.

Cross-references: Ps 108:1 · Ps 108:6 · Ps 57:7 · Ps 60:5

Introduction