June 27, 2020
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Psalm? Here’s today’s reading:
Psalm 108 (ESV)
With God We Shall Do Valiantly
A Song. A Psalm of David.
1 My heart is steadfast, O God!
I will sing and make melody with all my being!......Continue Reading
Already registered? Click here to log in.
Not registered? Click here (LHCC members only)
Need help registering or commenting? Watch this video tutorial! 🙂
To comment on this chapter, you must be registered and logged in. Once you are logged in, the comment box will appear at the bottom of this page. LHCC Commenting Policy
It’s the song….
I will give thanks to thee, O Lord, among the peoples
I will sing praises to thee among the nations.
For thy steadfast love is great
is great to the heavens
and thy faithfulness, thy faithfulness to the clouds!
Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens
Let thy glory be over all the earth!
Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens
Let thy glory
Let thy glory
Let thy glory
be over all the earth!
It’s a song born out of a military situation, a strategy meeting even. David first brings praise to God, bringing what He can to exalt God and bless Him with music. He is worthy of our best! He recognizes all that God is in His praise and on the basis of that asks for God’s help and strength. David then recognizes God’s sovereignty and power over all nations. Israel’s enemies are nothing to God. But God has seemed to be absent in battle, and so David calls out to God for direction (who will bring me to the fortified city?) and aid. And with it, Israel will be victorious.
Psalm 108 is made up of the endings of Psalms 57 and 60. In the earlier psalms David was writing under stress. According to the title of Psalm 57, David was hiding in a cave in order to escape from Saul, who was trying to kill him. The title of Psalm 60 refers to a time of war between David’s armies and the Edomites. The earlier psalms each begin by describing the perils David faced, then they end on a positive note of praise and hope for the future. It is these two endings that are combined in Psalm 108 to produce what I have called “a warrior’s morning psalm.” In this psalm the king begins his day by praising God. He is awake even before the dawn, asking God for help in his battles and trusting that God will soon give him victory over his enemies, particularly those in the fortified cities of the secure mountain stronghold of Edom, which is where the psalm ends.
James Montgomery Boice, Psalms, Volume 3: Psalms 107-150, Paperback ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1998), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 878.
I can imagine David waking before dawn and taking the time to pick up his harp and lyre and singing praises to God. His song reflects on God’s faithfulness and steadfast love. It is not to remind God of His own qualities but to remind the king of these qualities and how God is sovereign over all kingdoms, particularly Edom.
I have to ask myself, is my heart steadfast and faithful? Do I glory in God’s faithfulness and steadfast love? I don’t face a foe like Edom as did King David, and perhaps as did the author of this Psalm who compiled the words from Psalm 57 and 60. However, like all, we face trouble of various sorts. Is my first thought of the day to praise the living God or to churn over the trouble?
Consider that unless God is central to solving the ‘troubles of life’, then the salvation of man is vain. Trusting God to deliver does not mean that we abdicate any role in the process. It is ‘WITH’ God that we have victory. We move ahead, not trusting in the chariots and horses, men, swords, and shields. Rather we move ahead trusting in God who brings victory.
1 My heart is steadfast, O God!
I will sing and make melody with all my being!
2Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn!
3I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
4For your steadfast love is great above the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.