Psalm 108

The Book of Psalms is divided into five sections, with each section ending with a doxology or benediction. There are five books, so I am told, to reflect the five books of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy).

• Book 1 (Psalms 1-41) emphasizes that God is beside the believer, watching us all the way. “The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish” (Psalm 1:6). The doxology is, “ thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.” (Psalm 41:12-13).

• Book 2 (Psalms 42-72) emphasizes that God goes before the believer. The Book starts with the Christian being compared to the deer that seeks water when it is thirsty. “As the {deer} panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:1-2). The doxology is “Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.” (Psalm 72:18-19)

• Book 3 (Psalms 73-89) emphasizes that God is all around the believer. When we are weakest is when God is strongest in us. “I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.” (Psalm 73:23-26). The doxology is “Blessed be the Lord for evermore. Amen, and Amen.” (Psalm 89:52).

• Book 4 (Psalms 90-106) focuses on how God is above the believer. Psalm 90 is the one psalm written by Moses. “Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations” (Psalm 90:1). The doxology in Psalm 106:48 says “ Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the Lord.”

• Book 5 (Psalms 107-150) emphasizes how God is among His believers. The doxology for Book 5 is the entirety of Psalm 150: “Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.”

God placed the 5 Books of the Psalms in the center of our Bible to remind us who are Christians the importance of praising God. What your focus is on will effect your spirit. Jesus said:

Matthew 6:22-23 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be SINGLE {ἁπλοῦς haploûs, pronounced hap-looce’ meaning WHOLE or HEALTHY}, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be EVIL {πονηρός ponērós, pronounced pon-ay-ros’ meaning WICKED or DISEASED}, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

Many of us today have our eyes focused on WICKED things rather than HEALTHY things. We watch bodies autopsied, plague statistics, rioting on the news, horrible, horrible things. Our focus is on darkness, and thus our focus stays dark. The Psalms reminds us

God is beside me
God is before me
God is all around me
God is above me
God is among us, when we gather in His name

Let’s look at Psalm 108. This Psalm is actually taken from two other michtams of David. No one really knows what the word michtam means, though some commentaries suggest it is a psalm as precious as stamped gold.

Psalm 108:1-5 is taken from michtam Psalm 57:7-11

There is a reason God repeated these words.
In Psalm 57 David fled from Saul in the cave:

1 Samuel 22:1-2 David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him. 2 And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.

God provided David and others in need a way of escape. Later on King Saul and three thousand chosen men out of Israel would come into the mountains looking for David and his men. Saul entered the cave, and went to sleep – a cave that David and his men hid in. His men encouraged David to kill Saul, for they said:

1 Samuel 24:4-7 … Behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily. 5 And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt. 6 And he said unto his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord. 7 So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.

The Christian is to fix his or heart on God, to live for His smile, not the smile of the world. Following the death of George Floyd – a horrible tragedy – I have seen people do foolish things in the name of Christ. Let me ask, Did Jesus ever do this?

Did Jesus ever treat others shabbily?
Did Jesus bow the knee to anyone but God?
Did He? No, not one bit.

Word Study Our hearts are to be fixed on God. That word “fixed” is the Hebrew כּוּן kûwn, (pronounced koon), which means “to be on the solid foundation of a thing, firmly established”. It is a Niphal participle, which denotes a life of faithfulness to God’s path, not man’s path. We who are the saved of God are to always put God’s pleasure and God’s desire first. There are but two forces in the world:

The forces of God, and
The forces of Satan

The Church and the Christian is in a daily battle for the souls of mankind. The Apostle saw this as an ever constant war. At no point are God’s people to compromise on fixing our hearts on our Savior. Take heed of the words of Scripture:

Ephesians 6:10-14 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

David’s heart was fixed – steadfast on pleasing God. We as God’s children are to be fixed on pleasing our God, on imitating the Lord Jesus Christ.

“The Psaltery [lute] was a stringed instrument, usually with twelve strings, and played with the fingers. The harp or lyre was a stringed instrument, usually consisting of ten strings. Josephus says that it was struck or played with a key. It appears, however, that it was sometimes played with the fingers.” (Barnes, cited in Spurgeon).

If God has given you talents, then as faithful children you are to devote those talents to the Lord. We are to start our day praising God, then live throughout the day so that others can see our love for God.

Man’s truth is subject to change, but God’s truth is limitless. As God is infinite, His mercy is infinite. The Scripture says:

1 Chronicles 16:34 O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

Psalm 100:5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Jeremiah 33:11 The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the Lord of hosts: for the Lord is good; for his mercy endureth for ever

Psalm 108:6-13 is taken from michtam Psalm 60:5-12

God protects His Covenant people, God’s Beloved. There are numerous times in the New Testament where God refers to His people as “Beloved”:

Romans 1:7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

1 Corinthians 10:14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Philippians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

God’s covenant people – saved by faith in Jesus Christ our Lord – are the beloved of God. We are not to be

“.. menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart” (Ephesians 6:6)

We are to remember the admonition and example of Paul, who said:

Galatians 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

It is God Who gives the land to Israel, and God Who gives us the victory. We are not to live to please man, but to please God. He is in control. Trust Him, and cling to His Word. As the Soniclight Commentary states, “victory was possible if God would grant it, but impossible if He would not. David was relying on Israel’s Warrior, not his army, to defeat the enemy. He realized and confessed that if victory depended on the sinful people, they would fall in defeat”

C.H. Spurgeon said, “We ought to pray with all the more confidence in God when our confidence in man is altogether gone. When the help of man is vain, we shall not find it vain to seek the help of God.” We dare not, Church, make alliances with the lost. This is the way to disaster. God calls us to stand firm in Him. Our eyes on Jesus. Our ears attuned to His Word. Our trust in Him Who saved us. Not in a fickle and fallen world, but in the Lord alone.

May God touch your hearts with His Word! Amen and Amen.