Psalm 108

Psalm Category: Praise & Thanksgiving

Central Thought: The Lord leads the Christian into spiritual warfare.

It’s hard to find a good leader. President Abraham Lincoln spent months looking for a general to lead his army. When he finally settled on Ulysses S. Grant, he responded to any criticisms of Grant by replying, “I cannot spare this man. He fights.”

We have a God who fights for us. Psalm 108 finds the church going into battle. It is a needed reminder of what Scripture teaches us: that as long as there is sin in us and Satan in the world, there is warfare.

This song is a hybrid of two earlier ones. It is composed of portions of Psalms 57 and 60—two old songs brought together for a new set of circumstances. As you and I prepare for daily battle, let’s learn from David’s approach, and hear the voice of our great High Priest interceding with us and for us.

Praise for our leader (vv. 1-6). The believer has a proven Commander. Before he asks anything, his heart is set on praising Him. David’s praise is focused: a “steadfast heart,” his whole soul, is taken up with adoring this mighty, merciful God. His praise is eager: the morning can’t come early enough; he’s going to awaken it! The believer’s praise is confident: Speaking of the Lord before the nations isn’t daunting when one has a Deliverer who never lets him down. His praise is informed: David knows God’s character and His works, and that mercy and truth mark them both. And he is God-centered: “Be exalted in all of this” is his deepest desire.

This is praise that flows from a living faith. The question I’m led to ask is, “How often do I praise God for deliverance while I wait for deliverance?”

Proclamation from our leader (vv. 7-9). In the middle of this song, the Lord speaks directly. In so doing, His presence fills the horizon. First He reminds His people of their special relationship to them. “I will rejoice,” He says, reminding us that He joys in giving His people joy, in sending His light when darkness seems to hold sway in our lives and in our world. When He speaks of His people, the key word is “Mine”—we are His, and He is our inheritance. What better to put our fears in perspective!

But then God reminds us of His lordship over the nations. Each country has its boundaries and its time, but its every square mile and every hour are gifts from God. He will fulfill His purposes in His good way and good time: “Moab is my washpot. Over Edom I will cast my shoe. Over Philistia I will triumph.” In this way He comforts our hearts and says, “Peace, be still; your enemies are under my control, and their time is short.”

Do you see how this heavenly point of view, this proclamation from our Father’s lips, informs the praise that goes before it, and the prayer that follows it?

Prayer to our leader (vv. 10-13). Only now do we get to the reason for the psalm. “Who will lead me?” is David’s question. Was this “strong city” of Edom the famous city of Petra, with its narrow passes and seemingly impregnable defenses? Are we meant to see that our enemy’s position, too, seems impossibly strong?

On top of this strongly placed enemy is the knowledge that, at some point in the past, God had disciplined them with defeat. But the true people of God say with Peter, “Where else shall we go?” The Christian’s prayer is one of utter dependence: less “God is my co-pilot,” and more, “If You are not with us, let us not go up from here,” in Moses’ words. “Give us help from trouble, for the help of man is useless” (v. 12).

Haven’t we found this to be the plain truth? In our battles with entrenched sin, with the cunning devil, with a seductive and vicious world, man’s help is no help at all. It’s easy to see why this song has often been sung in troubled times. When Cuthbert, early preacher in the British Isles, died, his anxious disciples turned to these words; and when the Erskines and their friends were ejected from the Church of Scotland, they sang it with their congregation. The psalm ends in confidence. Where does this assurance come from? As those who stand on this side of Christ’s first coming, it’s all about the Man behind this prayer. David interceded for his people with these words, and His Son Jesus does the same for us in a fashion both higher and deeper. How awesome to have the Son of God singing with us, “Through God we will do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our foes” (v. 13). Because of the Lord Jesus, we never have to ask, Who will lead us? We cannot do without this Savior. He fights for us!