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Psalms 108

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A Heart Fixed on God's Praise 1–5

1
My heart is fixed, O God; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises, even with my glory. ​
2
Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake right early.
3
I will give thanks unto thee, O Jehovah, among the peoples; And I will sing praises unto thee among the nations. ​
4
For thy lovingkindness is great above the heavens; And thy truth reacheth unto the skies.
5
Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens, And thy glory above all the earth.

Prayer for Deliverance and Confidence in Victory 6–13

6
That thy beloved may be delivered, Save with thy right hand, and answer us. ​
7
God hath spoken in his holiness: I will exult; I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth. ​
8
Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the defence of my head; Judah is my sceptre. ​
9
Moab is my washpot; Upon Edom will I cast my shoe; Over Philistia will I shout. ​
10
Who will bring me into the fortified city? Who hath led me unto Edom? ​
11
Hast not thou cast us off, O God? And thou goest not forth, O God, with our hosts. ​
12
Give us help against the adversary; For vain is the help of man.
13
Through God we shall do valiantly: For he it is that will tread down our adversaries. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalms 108

Verse 1

my heart is fixed — Kun, to be set firm and upright. Vv.1–5 are Ps 57:7–11 and vv.6–13 are Ps 60:5–12, joined into one psalm of David. Ps 57:7 says it twice, 'my heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed'. 'Even with my glory' is added here; 'my glory' is the same word as in Ps 16:9, 'my glory rejoiceth', which Acts 2:26 gives as 'my tongue was glad'.

Verse 3

among the people… among the nations — 'Praise' is yadah and 'sing praises' is zamar; the word for nations here is leom. Ps 18:49 makes the same vow, 'Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen', and Paul quotes it for the Gentiles who 'glorify God for his mercy' (Rom 15:9).

Verse 6

thy beloved — Yedid, the word of Deut 33:12, 'The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him', said of Benjamin, and of Ps 127:2, 'so he giveth his beloved sleep'. 'Delivered' is chalats, to be drawn out. Ps 60:5 ends 'and hear me' where this verse has 'and answer me'.

Verse 7

God hath spoken in his holiness — The ground of the vow is a word God has spoken. Shechem and Succoth are the two places Jacob came to on his return, Succoth east of the Jordan (Gen 33:17) and Shechem in Canaan (Gen 33:18–19). 'Divide' is chalaq and 'mete out' is madad, to measure with a line.

Verse 8

Judah is my lawgiver — Gilead lay east of the Jordan and was given to Machir 'the son of Manasseh' (Num 32:39–40). Chaqaq, 'lawgiver', is the word of Gen 49:10, 'nor a lawgiver from between his feet'. Ps 78:67–68 says God 'chose not the tribe of Ephraim' but 'the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved'.

Verse 9

Moab is my washpot — Sir rachats, a pot for washing. David 'smote Moab' so that 'the Moabites became David's servants' (2 Sam 8:2), and 'all they of Edom became David's servants' (2 Sam 8:14). Ps 60:8 reads 'Philistia, triumph thou because of me'; here it is 'over Philistia will I triumph', using rua, to shout in victory.

Verse 10

the strong city — Mibtsar, a fortified place. Edom's stronghold lay in the rock: 'thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock' (Obad 1:3). 'Lead' is nachah, the verb used of God in Ex 15:13, 'Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed'; the question looks to him as the leader.

Verse 11

who hast cast us off — Zanach, to push aside and reject. Ps 44:9 uses the same three words: 'thou hast cast off… and goest not forth with our armies'. 'Go forth' (yatsa) is what the LORD did before David in battle: 'then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines' (2 Sam 5:24).

Verse 13

Through God we shall do valiantly — Chayil, force or an army; to 'do valiantly' is the phrase of Num 24:18 and Ps 118:15–16, 'the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly'. 'Tread down' is bus, to trample, as in Ps 44:5, 'through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us'. The verse is word for word Ps 60:12.