Bible Commentaries
Psalms 108

Verses 1-13

Psalms 108:0

A Song or Psalm of David

2          O God my heart is fixed;

I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.

3     Awake, psaltery and harp:

I myself will awake early.

4     I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people:

And I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.

5     For thy mercy is great above the heavens:

And thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.

6     Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens:

And thy glory above all the earth!

7     That thy beloved may be delivered:

Save with thy right hand, and answer me.

8     God hath spoken in his holiness;

I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem,
And mete out the valley of Succoth.

9     Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;

Ephraim also is the strength of mine head;
Judah is my lawgiver;

10     Moab is my washpot;

Over Edom will I cast out my shoe;
Over Philistia will I triumph.

11     Who will bring me into the strong city?

Who will lead me into Edom?

12     Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off?

And wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts?

13     Give us help from trouble:

For vain is the help of man.

14     Through God we shall do valiantly:

For he it is that shall tread down our enemies.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Contents and Composition.—Two fragments of Davidic Psalms, namely, Psalms 57:8-11, and Psalms 60:7-12, are here brought together without any connection whatever; and the changes occurring in only a few words, are so unimportant, that neither occasion nor purpose can be discovered in this combination and conformation. Least of all is a poet like David to be held guilty of combining in such a manner (Hengstenberg) two pieces taken out of their connection. For the two most important changes are these:—The two parts are taken from Elohim Psalms, but here, Psalms 108:4, Jehovah is substituted for Adonai. Again, the original lamentation of conquered Philistia is here in Psalms 108:10 changed into the form of an exulting cry of victory. It is not however to be inferred from this, with any degree of certainty, that the occasion lay in the later (Clauss), perhaps Maccabæan victories (Rudinger, Rosenm., Hitzig); for the complaint and entreaty of the conclusion is entirely unsuitable to these occasions. Still less, assuredly, do the remaining, merely formal, alterations of the Text favor such a conjecture.

The following variations are also observable, but they do not affect the sense. The repeated words at the beginning of Psalms 108:2 are omitted. Instead of the exclamation: wake my honor! that is, my soul! the words appear as defining more closely the subject, singing and playing. In Psalms 108:4 b and 6b a vav copulative is inserted, while in Psalms 108:9 a it is omitted. In Psalms 108:7 b the plural: us is Changed into the singular: me. In Psalms 108:12 a, the emphatic: thou is wanting; and in Psalms 108:11 the idea of the strong city is conveyed by a more common word instead of a rare expression. These variations are throughout only proofs of a deterioration in style.

[The renderings of Psalms 60:12 (10) and 108:12 should be identical. There is no ground for the variation of E. V. The true translation is: Hast Thou not, O God, cast us off? and Thou dost not go forth in our armies.—The view of Delitzsch as to the origin of the Psalm agrees with that of Dr. Moll. He says in addition: “The אוֹדְךָ of Psalms 108:4 and the whole tenor of the Psalm are like an echo to the הוֹדוּ of the preceding. It is entitled a Psalm-song of David, but only because composed of portions of the old Davidic Psalms. The absence of the למנצח shows already a later origin.” So also Perowne. Alexander concludes with Hengstenberg that, the best solution is, that David himself combined these passages so as to form the basis of a trilogy (Psalms 108-110) adapted to the use of the Church at a period posterior to the date of Psalms 57, 60 The former view seems to be that most favored at present. For the exposition see that of the original passages.—J. F. M.]