Psalm 108

Psalms 108:1

“And these things indeed we say according to the Jews. But according to the higher sense, it is the Lord who sings these things. "My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready." I am ready here, I am ready in the future: I save both on earth and I save in heaven; that is, I save both the angels and men.”

Psalms 108:1

“O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise,.... From hence to Psa 108:6 the words are taken out of Psa 57:7, which see. Even with my glory; my tongue; in Psa 57:8, it is read, "awake up my glory". See Gill on Psa 57:7,”

Psalms 108:1

“O God, my heart is fixed. Though I have many wars to disturb me, and many cares to toss me to and fro, yet I am settled in one mind and cannot be driven from it. My heart has taken hold and abides in one resolve. Thy grace has overcome the fickleness of nature, and I am now in a resolute and determined frame of mind. I will sing and give praise. Both with voice and music will I extol thee—"I will sing and play", as some read it.”

Psalms 108:2

"Arise, O psaltery and harp." O psaltery, O harp, you were made and created to make melody to God: arise and make melody, why do you lie idle? O monk, you who stand upright in body, why does your soul lie idle, and you do not make melody to the Lord? "Cursed is the man who does the work of God negligently." If you are a psaltery, if you are a harp, why are you deaf, and do not glorify God? "I will arise at daybreak."

Psalms 108:3

"I will confess to you among the peoples, O Lord." Understand "the peoples" as the Jews. "And I will make melody to you among the nations." He speaks of us. For by "the Jews" he means those who first believed from among the Jews. And notice the order: first he praises God among the peoples, and afterward he praises God among the nations. For first they believed from among the Jews, and afterward they believed from among the Gentiles.

Psalms 108:3

“I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people. Whoever may come to hear me, devout or profane, believer or heathen, civilized or barbarian, I shall not cease my music. David seemed inspired to foresee that his Psalms would be sung in every land, from Greenland's icy mountains to India's coral strand. His heart was large, he would have the whole race of man listen to his joy in God, and lo, he has his desire, for his psalmody is cosmopolitan; no poet is so universally known as he.”

Psalms 108:4

"For your mercy is great above the heavens." There is no creature that does not stand in need of God's mercy. All of us stand in need of God's mercy. Gabriel, Michael, the Seraphim, the Cherubim, the Powers, the Dominions, are indeed holy, but they stand in need of the mercy of their creator. I do not disparage the angels, but I proclaim the creator; since the angels themselves gladly have their creator proclaimed. And we can say it another way: "For your mercy raises up from the earth to the heavens. And your truth reaches even to the clouds."

Psalms 108:4

“For thy mercy is great above the heavens,..... It is in Psa 57:10, "thy mercy is great unto the heavens". See Gill on Psa 57:10.”

Psalms 108:5-6

"Be exalted above the heavens, O God." God is not exalted except above the heavens, he is not exalted above the earth. When we are earthly, we do not exalt God; but if from earthly we have been made heavenly, then we exalt God. And our Lord, when he was on earth, did not exalt us. Someone may say: You speak rashly, since he himself says in the Gospel: "When I have been lifted up, I will draw all things to myself."

Psalms 108:6

“That thy beloved may be delivered,.... From hence to the end of the psalm the words are taken out of Psa 60:5. See Gill on Psa 60:5.”

Psalms 108:6

“That thy beloved may be delivered: save with thy right hand, and answer me. Let my prayer avail for all the beloved ones. Sometimes a nation seems to hang upon the petitions of one man. With what ardour should such an one pour out his soul! David does so here.”

Psalms 108:7

"God has spoken in his holy one": whether in the temple, or in each one of the saints, or in a prophet. He is heard in Moses, he is heard in an apostle; and more truly I say, he has spoken in his Son. What, then, has God spoken? These things that follow. "I will be exalted, and I will divide Shechem." For this reason, he says, I am crucified, that I may divide Shechem. "Shechem" is interpreted in our language as "shoulders." And "shoulders" are interpreted as "works."

Psalms 108:7

“What he has promised he will perform, for it is the word both of his truth and of his power. An active faith can rejoice in what God has said, though it be not yet done; for with him saying and doing are not two things, whatever they are with us.”

Psalms 108:8

"Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine." Our Lord and Savior rejoices, possessing greater riches. "Gilead" is interpreted "migration": he rejoices, therefore, when the people migrated from among the Gentiles and came to him. "Manasseh" is interpreted "from forgetfulness." See, then, what he says. That son who received the substance and consumed it, and had forgotten me, now has remembered me; and he is called Manasseh, that is, "from forgetfulness," because he has not forgotten, but has returned to his father. And "Ephraim" is interpreted "fruitful." "Ephraim," he says, "is the receiving of my head."

Psalms 108:8

“Gilead is mine. Thankful hearts dwell upon the gifts which the Lord has given them, and think it no task to mention them one by one. Manasseh is mine. I have it already, and it is to me the token and assurance that the rest of the promised heritage will also come into my possession in due time. If we gratefully acknowledge what we have we shall be in better heart for obtaining that which as yet we have not received.”

Psalms 108:9

"Moab is the pot of my hope." A great mystery is recognized in few words. I beg you, pay careful attention: since it profits both me who speak, and you who hear. "Moab" is interpreted "from the father." "AB" means "father," "MO" means "from." Who is this one "from the father"? He who lost his father, who abandoned his father, who did not return to his own father, and is not worthy to be called Manasseh. Who is this Moab?

Psalms 108:9

“Moab is my washpot. This nation had shown no friendly spirit to the Israelites, but had continually viewed them as a detested rival, therefore they were to be subdued and made subject to David's throne. He claims by faith the victory, and regards his powerful enemy with contempt. Nor was he disappointed, for "the Moabites became David's servants and brought him gifts" (2Sa 8:2). As men wash their feet after a long journey, and so are revived, so vanquished difficulties serve to refresh us: we use Moab for a washpot. Over Edom will I cast out my shoe.”

Psalms 108:10

"Who will lead me into the fortified city?" No one, O Lord, for you are the one who says: "I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the nations there was no man with me." "For all have turned aside, together they have become useless: there is none that does good, there is not even one." Who, then, will lead me into the fortified city? No one, O Lord: since even Peter, who had promised to die for you, afterward denied you. What is this fortified city?

Psalms 108:10

“Faith leads on to strong desire for the realization of the promise, and hence the practical question, Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom? The difficulty is plainly perceived. Petra is strong and hard to enter: the Psalmist warrior knows that he cannot enter the city by his own power, and he therefore asks who is to help him.”

Psalms 108:11

"You who have cast us off." Was it not you, O God, who have cast us off? He did not say, "Who cast us off," but "Who once cast us off." "And will you not go out, O God, in our powers?" These things are to be read interrogatively: "And will you not go out, O God, in our powers?" You who suffered for us, why do you not help us, but allow us to be trampled by the most cruel devil? "And will you not go out, O God, in our powers?" See what he says.

Psalms 108:11

“And wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts?.... In Psa 60:10, it is, "and thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies". See Gill on Psa 60:10.”

Psalms 108:11

“Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? This is grand faith which can trust the Lord even when he seems to have cast us off. Some can barely trust him when he pampers them, and yet David relied upon him when Israel seemed under a cloud and the Lord had hidden his face. O for more of this real and living faith. The casting off will not last long when faith so gloriously keeps her hold.”

Psalms 108:12

"Give us help from tribulation." He did not say, "Give us help from delights," but "from tribulation." "To the Lord, when I was in tribulation, I cried out, and he heard me." He did not say, "when I was in delights I cried out," or "sleeping I cried out." Do you wish to be heard by the Lord? Be in tribulation: cry out, and you will be heard. If, then, anyone is not in tribulation, he cannot call upon the help of the Lord. "For vain is the salvation of man."

Psalms 108:12

“Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. This prayer has often fallen from the lips of men who have been bitterly disappointed by their fellows, and it has also been poured out unto the Lord in the presence of some gigantic labour in which mortal power is evidently of no avail. Edom cannot be entered by any human power, yet from its fastnesses the robber bands come rushing down; therefore, O Lord, do thou interpose and give thy people deliverance. Help divine is expected because help human is of no avail.”

Psalms 108:13

“God's help shall inspire us to help ourselves. Faith is neither a coward nor a sluggard: she knows that God is with her, and therefore she does valiantly; she knows that he will tread down her enemies, and therefore she arises to tread them down in his name. Where praise and prayer have preceded the battle, we may expect to see heroic deeds and decisive victories. Through God is our secret support; from that source we draw all our courage, wisdom, and strength. We shall do valiantly.”

Psalms 108:13

“Blessed Paul will own that even he can do nothing, nothing to purpose, but through Christ strengthening him, Phil. iv. (2.) When we have acquitted ourselves ever so well, yet we cannot speed by any merit or might of our own; it is God himself that treads down our enemies, else we with all our valour cannot do it. Whatever we do, whatever we gain, God must have all the glory.”

Psalms 108:13

“13 Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies. We may here learn how to pray as well as praise. We must be public-spirited in prayer, and bear upon our hearts, at the throne of grace, the concerns of the church of God,”