Psalms 108

My heart is steady and sure, God. I will sing and make music to you with everything I am.

1O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.

NoteThis psalm is almost entirely made up of lines that also appear in two earlier psalms: verses 1–5 repeat Psalm 57:7–11, and verses 6–13 repeat Psalm 60:5–12. Reusing and recombining older material this way was a normal practice in Hebrew poetry. Where the King James has "even with my glory," the Hebrew word usually means "honour" or "weight"; many readers take it here to mean the singer's own self or soul, the noblest part of a person, hence "with everything I am."

2Wake up, harp and lyre! I will wake up the dawn myself.

2Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.

NoteThe two instruments are the *nevel* and the *kinnor*, both stringed instruments played by plucking; the King James calls them "psaltery and harp." "I will wake up the dawn" means the singer will be up and playing before first light, so that his music rouses the morning rather than the morning rousing him. The King James "I myself will awake early" softens the image.

3I will thank you, LORD, in front of all kinds of people. I will sing your praises among the nations.

3I will praise thee, O LORD, among the people: and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.

4Your faithful love rises higher than the sky, and your truth reaches up to the clouds.

4For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.

Note"Faithful love" translates the Hebrew *hesed*, the loyal, committed kindness owed within a binding relationship, closer to steadfast loyalty than to affection. The King James renders it "mercy."

5God, show how high above the sky you are. Let your glory be seen over the whole earth.

5Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth;

6Do this so the people you love can be rescued. Save us with your strong right hand, and answer me.

6That thy beloved may be delivered: save with thy right hand, and answer me.

NoteThe right hand is the sword hand, and standard ancient shorthand for a person's power in action. "The people you love" is a single word in Hebrew meaning "your beloved ones", the nation as a whole, not one individual.

7God has spoken from his holy place: "I will be glad. I will divide up Shechem and measure out the Valley of Succoth as land I own.

7God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.

Note"His holy place" is God's sanctuary, the temple, where oracles were delivered. What follows in verses 7–9 is God speaking, not the psalmist. Shechem lay in the hill country west of the Jordan; the Valley of Succoth lay east of it. Naming one on each side is a way of claiming the whole land. "Measure out" refers to surveying territory with a measuring line, the action of a conqueror parcelling out land he now owns.

8Gilead belongs to me. Manasseh belongs to me. Ephraim is the helmet on my head. Judah is the staff I rule with.

8Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver;

NoteThese are territories of Israel's tribes: Gilead and Manasseh east of the Jordan, Ephraim and Judah west of it. Ephraim was militarily strong, hence "helmet", the King James "strength of mine head" translates the same idea. The King James "lawgiver" for Judah renders a Hebrew word meaning a ruler's staff or scepter, the badge of the tribe that held the kingship.

9Moab is my washbasin. I throw my sandal down on Edom to claim it. I shout in victory over Philistia."

9Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; over Philistia will I triumph.

NoteThree foreign nations, each named with a deliberately humiliating image. Moab, east of the Dead Sea, is reduced to the basin a man washes his feet in. Throwing a sandal onto a piece of ground was a legally recognized gesture of taking possession of it (compare Ruth 4:7), so Edom, south-east of the Dead Sea, becomes property. Philistia was the coastal territory of the Philistines, on the south-west, Israel's long-standing military rival. Together the three ring Israel on every side.

10Who will bring me into the city with strong walls? Who will lead me into Edom?

10Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?

NoteThe fortified city is an Edomite stronghold, probably Bozrah or Sela, built high in rock country and very hard to take. The question is not despairing but practical: who will get the army inside?

11God, have you not turned away from us? You do not march out with our armies.

11Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts?

NoteDefeat in battle was understood as a sign that God had withdrawn his backing. "Marching out with our armies" reflects the ancient expectation that a nation's God went to war alongside its troops; his absence, not the enemy's strength, is what the psalm treats as the problem.

12Help us against our enemy, because help from people is worth nothing.

12Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.

13With God we will fight bravely, and he is the one who will trample our enemies down.

13Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.