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Meditation Psalm 108

A song. A psalm of David.

My heart, O God, is steadfast;
    I will sing and make music with all my soul.
Awake, harp and lyre!
    I will awaken the dawn.
I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
    I will sing of you among the peoples.
For great is your love, higher than the heavens;
    your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
    let your glory be over all the earth.

Save us and help us with your right hand,
    that those you love may be delivered.
God has spoken from his sanctuary:
    ‘In triumph I will parcel out Shechem
    and measure off the Valley of Sukkoth.
Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine;
    Ephraim is my helmet,
    Judah is my sceptre.
Moab is my washbasin,
    on Edom I toss my sandal;
    over Philistia I shout in triumph.’

Who will bring me to the fortified city?
    Who will lead me to Edom?
Is it not you, God, you who have rejected us
    and no longer go out with our armies?
Give us aid against the enemy,
    for human help is worthless.
With God we shall gain the victory,
    and he will trample down our enemies.

(Ps. 108:1-13 NIV)

For v1-5 see Psalm 57:7-11

My heart, O God, is steadfast,
    my heart is steadfast;
    I will sing and make music.
Awake, my soul!
    Awake, harp and lyre!
    I will awaken the dawn.

I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
    I will sing of you among the peoples.
For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
    your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
    let your glory be over all the earth.

(Ps. 57:7-11 NIV)

For v6-13 see Psalm 60:5-12

Save us and help us with your right hand,
    that those you love may be delivered.
God has spoken from his sanctuary:
    ‘In triumph I will parcel out Shechem
    and measure off the Valley of Sukkoth.
Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;
    Ephraim is my helmet,
    Judah is my sceptre.
Moab is my washbasin,
    on Edom I toss my sandal;
    over Philistia I shout in triumph.’

Who will bring me to the fortified city?
    Who will lead me to Edom?
Is it not you, God, you who have now rejected us
    and no longer go out with our armies?
Give us aid against the enemy,
    for human help is worthless.
With God we shall gain the victory,
    and he will trample down our enemies.

(Ps. 60:5-12 NIV)

It is likely that the Psalm was composed of the two earlier Psalms to suit another occasion. Psalm 108 is often neglected as it is felt the verses have already been dealt with.

V1-4 the Psalmist offers a song of praise celebrating God’s covenant love, which extends higher than the heavens. V5-6 the Psalmist asks the Lord to display His glory cosmically, so that all across the earth will see who God is and that this will lead to the deliverance of God’s people. In v7-9 God has prophesied of a coming great triumph. The Psalmist pleads that the Lord will help the Lord’s people triumph. They have been defeated because the Lord has not gone with them into battle. The people of God had gone through the motions as before. Did they even realise that the Lord was not with them? Was the Lord in our battle, or were we alone? How long after the Lord has left us do we realise? These are challenging thoughts.

The Psalm started out on a positive note. The Psalmist is prepared to sing, his heart is steadfast. He will pour his whole soul into the praise of God. Not half-hearted but a full commitment to singing the praise of God. He calls upon the musical instruments to awake, like the drone of an orchestra as each member adds the final tuning touches to the instruments. Like a conductor the Psalmist stands ready, baton in hand, to bring the instruments into harmony, and, with the noise of the opening bars, cause the dawn to awake. The Psalmist will allow the song to reach all the nations so that all peoples will hear of the Lord. The Lord is worthy of this wide audience because His love (hesed) reaches to the heavens. The faithfulness of the Lord has no limit, reaching way into the skies.

The Lord’s glory is spread across the earth, whether that be in judgement or salvation. The Lord expresses His triumph over the land as if it was just a mere march of triumph. There is no foe that is a match for the Lord, but every foe is more than a match for the people of God when they go into battle without Him.

When God comes to our aid, we shall gain the victory. Human help is worthless, but when God is with us, we will triumph over all our enemies.

Prayer
Lord God, we see evidence of the Kingdom of God being extended in many other countries across the world. Once our nation was greatly blessed. We used to be the country that sent the missionaries across the world. Lord let us not go into battle without You. Come to the aid of Your people and pour out a blessing upon us that we might see Christ magnified in our midst. Be pleased to hear our prayer, in Jesus’ name. Amen.