Psalms 108King James Version
O God, my heart is fixed. I will sing and give praise. Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.
A composite psalm combining Psalm 57:7-11 with Psalm 60:5-12. David's heart is fixed; he will sing among the nations. God hath spoken in his holiness: Shechem, Gilead, Ephraim, Judah, Moab, Edom, Philistia are all claimed. Who will bring him into the strong city? Vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly. The recycling of two earlier psalms into one creates a complete confidence hymn: interior fixedness plus divine territorial claim.
The fixed heart and the divine territorial word together constitute the basis for courageous action in the face of overwhelming opposition.
verse: "Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies." Identical to the close of Psalm 60, here receiving its full context from the fixed heart of 57.
Superscription: 'A Song or Psalm of David.' The combination of Ps 57:7-11 and Ps 60:5-12 is visible in the parallel passages. Book 5 opens with this recycled confidence psalm, immediately following the thanksgiving of Psalm 107. The editorial pairing suggests deliberate liturgical composition.
David as the speaker of fixed praise; God whose oracle claims all the territories; Moab, Edom, Philistia as the opponents; the peoples and nations addressed in praise.
Psalm 108 demonstrates the compositional process of the Psalter: two earlier psalms are joined editorially to create a new literary and theological statement. The combination of personal trust (from Psalm 57) with national claim (from Psalm 60) models the connection between interior spirituality and outward mission.
For when you need both inner stability and outward courage at the same time. The psalm provides both in sequence: first the fixed heart, then the valient action.
1[A Song or Psalm of David.] O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.
2Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.
3I will praise thee, O LORD, among the people: and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.
4For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.
5Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth;
6That thy beloved may be delivered: save with thy right hand, and answer me.
7God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
8Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver;
9Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; over Philistia will I triumph.
10Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?
11Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts?
12Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
13Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.