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| << Psa 107 | |
For New King James text and comment, click here.
Psalms 108-110
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A familiar-looking Psalm (Psalm 108)
A Song or Psalm of David.
1 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.
3 I will praise thee, O LORD, among the people: and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.
4 For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.
5 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.
7 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.
Haven't we seen this Psalm by David somewhere before. Well, yeah, kind of. This whole Psalm is a compilation of parts of two other Psalms. Verses 1-5 are found in Psalm 57:7-11 (see notes) and verses 6-13 in Psalm 60:5-12 (see notes). David's looking for a little supernatural help against his enemies.
| Psalm 108:1 O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory. Psalm 108:2 Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. Psalm 108:3 I will praise thee, O LORD, among the people: and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations. Psalm 108:4 For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds. Psalm 108:5 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth; |
Psalm 57:7 My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Psalm 57:8 Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. Psalm 57:9 I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations. Psalm 57:10 For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Psalm 57:11 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth. |
| Psalm 108:6 That thy beloved may be delivered: save with thy right hand, and answer me. Psalm 108:7 God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth. Psalm 108:8 Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver; Psalm 108:9 Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; over Philistia will I triumph. Psalm 108:10 Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom? Psalm 108:11 Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts? Psalm 108:12 Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. Psalm 108:13 Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies. |
Psalm 60:5 That thy beloved may be delivered; save with thy right hand, and hear me. Psalm 60:6 God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth. Psalm 60:7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver; Psalm 60:8 Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph thou because of me. Psalm 60:9 Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom? Psalm 60:10 Wilt not thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? and thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies? Psalm 60:11 Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. Psalm 60:12 Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies. |
The names and places referenced in this psalm allude to David’s successful battles found in II Samuel 8:1-14 (see notes); II Samuel 10:16 (see notes) and I Chronicles 18:1-13 (see notes). David makes the point that God is sovereign...and as such controls the destinies of Shechem, Succoth, Gilead, Manasseh, Ephraim, and Judah - geographical references that are representative of all the regions that made up the Nation of Israel during that era. Likewise, God is also sovereign over the nations, specifically referencing Moab, Edom, and Philistia.
David gets hard on his enemies (Psalm 109)
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.
1 Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise;
2 For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
3 They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.
4 For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.
5 And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
6 Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.
7 When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.
8 Let his days be few; and let another take his office.
9 Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.
10 Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.
11 Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour.
12 Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.
13 Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.
14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15 Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.
16 Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.
17 As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.
18 As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.
19 Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.
20 Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul.
21 But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name’s sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me.
22 For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.
23 I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust.
24 My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.
25 I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shaked their heads.
26 Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy:
27 That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it.
28 Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice.
29 Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.
30 I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude.
31 For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.
Did you ever look for a chapter you could read when your enemies were hard on your heels? David describes his enemies' pursuit against him in verses 1-5, and then he asks God for deliverance from them. Actually, he asks for more than deliverance; he actually prays the wrath of God down upon them in verses 6-20. David then asks for help from the Lord for himself in verses 21-31. You will notice in this Psalm that David expresses the importance of his enemies seeing the power of God in his own deliverance, particularly in verses 26-27, "Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy: That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it."
Incidentally, you will notice the word "adversaries" in verses 4, 20 and 29. That's the plural form of the Hebrew word "satan." As a matter of fact, this Hebrew word's primary meaning is "adversary," but when preceded by a definite article in Hebrew, it is understood to be "the adversary" (aka Satan i.e. the devil himself). Therefore, the KJV translation of the singular form in verse 6 as "Satan" is really a reference to an unspecified adversary since the definite article is not present before the noun in that occurrence.
Here's the Psalm Peter quoted from in Acts 1:20 (see notes) regarding Judas. He quotes verse 8. Since this Psalm doesn't seem to have prophetic characteristics, Peter may have taken some liberty in its use in the upper room.
A fascinating Messianic Psalm (Psalm 110)
A Psalm of David.
1 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
2 The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
4 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
5 The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
6 He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.
7 He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.
This Psalm is a New Testament cornerstone regarding the supernatural identity of Jesus Christ. It all gets really interesting when Christ uses this Psalm in Matthew 22:41-46 (see notes):
While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.
Take special note of Psalm 110:4, "The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek." This priesthood dates back to Genesis 14 (see notes). See the article to the right of this screen regarding Melchizedek or click here to see the article full screen. Peter then makes reference to this same Psalm 110:1 when he preaches on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:34-35 (see notes) when he said, "For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool.." Since his listeners all regard Psalm 110 to be a Messianic prophecy, here Peter clearly identifies Christ as that Messiah.
Paul then uses this Psalm to validate the position of Christ at the right hand of God in the following passages:
Paul, in Hebrews, continues this as a fact validated by Psalm 110 in Hebrews 1:3, 13 (see notes). He then further adds the concept of the high priesthood of Christ in Hebrews 5:6 (see notes); Hebrews 7:17, 21 (see notes); Hebrews 8:1 (see notes); Hebrews 10:12-13 (see notes) and Hebrews 12:2 (see notes). All of these quotes were attributed to these verses in Psalm 110. To express it simply, Jesus Christ fulfills Psalm 110.
Copyright 2003-2011 by Wayne D. Turner