Psalms
Chapter 108
Song or Victory
My heart is ready, O God! I will sing praise and make music. Awake my soul!
Awake, harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn.
I will thank you, O Lord, among the nations. I will sing praise to you among the peoples.
For great is your love above the heavens; your faithfulness, beyond the skies.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over the earth.
Give help; and save us by your right hand, and rescue those you love.
God has spoken in his Sanctuary: “In triumph, I will divide up Shechem and parcel out the Valley of Succoth.
Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter.
Moab is my washbasin; upon Edom, I cast my sandal; over Philistia, I shout in triumph.”
Who will take me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
O God! Have you really rejected us? You no longer go with our armies.
Give us aid against the foe, for the help of mortals is not worth a straw.
With God, we will gain victory; he will crush the enemy for us.
Commentaries
108
A mixed psalm of trust and community prayer, made up of two parts from other psalms: Psalms 57:8-12 and 60:7-14 (sections 2-6 and 7-14, respectively). Together, these sections take on a new significance. The poet finds himself among peoples and nations in the diaspora. Despite his circumstances, he finds the strength to sing to the Lord with his entire being (2). He and the community hold the hope of a new day filled with the glory of the Lord. In response to his morning song, the poet adds an old oracle (8-10). Ultimately, trust is strengthened (14). Our joy and confidence are not based on the Church’s wealth, wisdom, or prestige but simply on the fact that God is with us. We can also see this psalm as speaking for a people who pray amid conflict and oppression.