Bible Commentaries

PSALM 108

A COMPOSITE OF PS. 57:7-11 UNITED WITH PS. 60:5-12

"My heart is fixed, O God;

I will sing, yea, I will sing praises, even with my glory.

Awake, psaltery and harp:

I myself will awake right early.

I will give thanks unto thee, O Jehovah, among the peoples;

And I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.

For thy lovingkindness is great above the heavens;

And thy truth reacheth unto the skies.

Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens,

And thy glory above all the earth.

That thy beloved may be delivered,

Save with thy right hand, and answer us.

God hath spoken in his holiness:

I will exult;

I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.

Gilead is mine;

Manasseh is mine;

Ephraim also is the defense of my head;

Judah is my sceptre.

Moab is my washpot;

Upon Edom will I cast my shoe;

Over Philistia will I shout.

Who will bring me into the fortified city?

Who hath led me unto Edom?

Hast not thou cast us off, O God?

And thou goest not forth, O God, with our hosts.

Give us help against the adversary;

For vain is the help of man.

Through God we shall do valiantly:

For he it is that will tread down our adversaries."

As Dummelow suggested in the quotation at the beginning of the previous chapter, this psalm was evidently put together for some type of liturgical use in one of the various Temple services of the Jews. Nothing whatever is known about who arranged this psalm or actually for what purpose.

The variations here are of such a slight nature that we consider them absolutely insignificant.

As we have already commented fully upon the passages united to form this psalm, we are content to refer the reader to those passages without further elaboration here.

Leupold proposed the following as an outline of what is written here.

A. Resolution to praise God for deliverance (Psalms 108:1-6).

B. The recalling of God's ancient promises (Psalms 108:7-9).

C. Looking to the conquest of Edom (Psalms 108:1-13).¹