Bible Commentaries

Psalms 108:1-5. O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory. Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, O LORD, among the people: and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth;

Here, we begin with praise, — the very praise with which we finished the other Psalm, — praise in a very joyous, confident spirit, for the praise which precedes prayer has more of the “Jubilate” note in it than ordinary praise has. The prayer in Psalms 57:1, which preceded the praise, was earnest, and fervent, and confident, yet it did not reach so high a note as this: —

Psalms 108:6-9. That thy beloved may be delivered: save with thy right hand, and answer me. God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth. Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my law-giver; Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; over Philistia will I triumph.

David is claiming the kingdom which God promised to him by the mouth of Samuel the prophet; — looking first upon the kingdom itself, and then upon the surrounding territories, and laying hold upon them all as his own because God had given them to him.

Psalms 108:10. Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?

In the spirit of a truly courageous leader, he means to fight with that ancient foe of Israel; and wisely appeals to God to lead his army: —

Psalms 108:11-13. Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts? Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 57:7-11; Psalms 108,