Psalms 108:1

The Bible says in Psalm 108:1-2, “O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.[2] Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.” When the Psalmist wrote, “my heart is fixed,” he was saying that he was resolved. He made a decision. He was determined to do something: he was determined to “sing and give praise.” Praising God and being thankful to God consistently is the result of being determined to praise God consistently. You will praise God is you are determined to do so. Singing is a part of praising God. Even the New Testament tells Christians in Ephesians 5:19, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord.” One of the important activities that take place when Christians gather together in church services is the singing of good gospel songs. The three other important activities of a good Bible church are preaching/teaching of the Word of God, prayer, and Christian fellowship. But concerning the singing, of course, that involves music. Verse two mentions the “psaltery and harp.” Today we have other instruments that are important in church services such as the piano and organ. Thankfully, there are people who get trained in these instruments and then dedicate their skill to helping to spread the gospel of Christ with music. People can be touched by music. The Spirit uses the right kind of music. Singing and music and praising God in song are a very important part of serving the Lord.

The Bible says in Psalm 108:3, “I will praise thee, O LORD, among the people: and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.” This verse tells us where we should praise the Lord. First, we should praise the name of Jesus “among the people.” The people are the people of God, the believers. As we already said, this singing and praising is done in church services: the gatherings of believers together as Jesus taught us to do. There is another place where singing and praising of the Lord Jesus is to be done: “among the nations.” The nations represent the unbelievers. Wherever people are located, that is where singing and praising the name of Christ should be done. Singing and music are an important part of serving God, singing and music are an important part of ministering to Christians and teaching them through the words of the songs so they will be stronger Christians with more faith, and singing and music are an important part of spreading the gospel to unbelievers.

The following verse tells us two reasons to praise God. The Bible says in Psalm 108:4, “For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.” Mercy and truth: is there anything greater than the mercy and truth that comes from Christ alone? God’s mercy is “great above the heavens.” This means that His mercy is high above the earth, and it means that there is no mercy on the earth that can compare to God’s mercy. Human beings are all about vengeance instead of mercy. The legal system is not set up on the principle of mercy. It is set up on the principle of law and judgment, and so it should be because that is the way of man and the way of the earth. It c an be no other way on the earth. One important way that God is much different than man on earth is the greatness of God’s mercy. God has so much mercy that He can forgive every sin, every fault, and every failure of every person in the entire history of the human race. That also shows how great is the death of Christ on the cross. That death paid the price for all sin, and the great mercy is only possible because of the self-sacrifice of Christ.

The Bible says in Psalm 108:5-6, “Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth;[6] That thy beloved may be delivered: save with thy right hand, and answer me.”

God’s truth “reacheth unto the clouds.” Just like mercy, God’s truth is far above the earth. In other words, you are not going to find truth on the earth. Truth only comes from heaven. Truth only comes from Jesus. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.” The devil is a liar. Human beings are liars. Many of the things that most people accept by default are based upon lies such as, the theory of evolution, the removal of prayer and the Bible from schools, the promotion of alcohol and drugs by Hollywood as if such substances are fun, the promotion and acceptance of false religions, and the personal lies that people tell themselves that what they are doing is really not so bad and they do not need to repent, and many other things are all based upon lies that have been told by a large number of people. Some people repeat the lies without knowing they are lies because the ideas have been passed so long from generation to generation. How can anyone be set free from all the lies: by coming the know the truth that is in Christ Jesus. Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” The truth of God is so powerful that it can set anyone free from any lie no matter how firmly or how long they have been captured by the lie.

Praise God for His mercy and for His truth. How precious they are.

The Bible says in Psalm 108:5-6, “Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth;[6] That thy beloved may be delivered: save with thy right hand, and answer me.” In these verses the Psalmist expresses two desires. His first desire is that God would be praised and would get the glory on the earth that God deserves. Everyone who is a true believer hopes and prays for this very thing. That is one reason that we do not like the secular, atheist, or communist influence in any country. Such influences deny God and thus resist the goal of giving God the glory. But the believers have one bright future in this regard: it will happen. It says about Jesus in Romans 14:10-11, quoting from Isaiah 45:23, “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.[11] For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”

In Psalm 108:6 the Psalmist expresses the fact that believers need a lot of help from the Lord. Even after we are saved from our sins through faith in Christ, we still need the Lord to deliver us from the problems, and enemies, and challenges of life daily. We even need the Lord to deliver us from the consequences of our own mistakes. Thankfully, we know that He will do just that. He always answers this prayer: “Help.”

In the rest of Psalm 108 we are instructed about the subject of God helping us. The Bible says in Psalm 108:7-13, “God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.[8] Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver;[9] Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; over Philistia will I triumph.[10] Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?[11] Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts?[12] Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.[13] Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.” The first phrase of verse seven is interesting: “God hath spoken in his holiness.” Everything that God says and does is connected to His holiness. How unlike mankind. Often when people speak, they speak in connection with their sinfulness: selfish words, or angry words, or lying words, or gossiping words. No wonder that the New Testament tells Christians to be “slow to speak.” God spoke in His holiness and He said, “I will rejoice.” God is happy. Happiness is a good thing, and therefore God is the happiest of all beings. What makes God happy? One of the things that make God happy is the fact that He is in control of all nations. In verses seven, eight, and nine God mentions several of the places in the Middle East around Israel and in Israel. We can add all the other countries of the world. God is in charge. He decides what happens to the nations. Jesus is the King of kings. He has all power.

In verses ten and eleven the Psalmist asks several questions. The questions are basically the same: who is going to help us in our land. The world is a dangerous place and some nations are our enemies. Who will help us? Where we can we turn for help? How about turning to the One who has all power and who controls all countries? In verse eleven the Psalmist asks the question, “Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts?” You might think that God has cast us off, but He never will. Even though He chastised the nation of Israel, He did not cast them off forever. That is why it says in Romans 11:1-2, “I say then, Hath God cast away His people? God forbid. For I am also an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.[2] God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.”

Where do people turn when they need help? Most people turn to one or more other human beings. But human beings are always limited in their knowledge and they cannot see the future, and they cannot see into everyone’s heart. It is much better to go to God when you need help. It says in verse twelve, “Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.” Once we turn to the Lord and trust in Him, we know what the outcome will be: just as it says in verse thirteen. “Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.”

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