Psalm 108
Praise for the Pained
A number of years ago in a church, I heard the distinction the Pastor make a distinction between praise songs and worship songs. Praise songs were much more upbeat and joyful whereas worship songs were slower and dealt with more somber emotions.
As we have worked through the Psalms, we have seen that praise and pain are so often in the same place together. This week’s Psalm draws them together because it is only through bringing our pain to God that we will also see he is the one who is worthy of praise.
A Song. A Psalm of David.
1 My heart is steadfast, O God!
I will sing and make melody with all my being!
2 Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn!
3 I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
4 For your steadfast love is great above the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
6 That your beloved ones may be delivered,
give salvation by your right hand and answer me!
7 God has promised in his holiness:
“With exultation I will divide up Shechem
and portion out the Valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim is my helmet,
Judah my sceptre.
9 Moab is my washbasin;
upon Edom I cast my shoe;
over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
10 Who will bring me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
11 Have you not rejected us, O God?
You do not go out, O God, with our armies.
12 Oh grant us help against the foe,
for vain is the salvation of man!
13 With God we shall do valiantly;
it is he who will tread down our foes.
In this Psalm, the King leads his people toward a better way. Israel were frequently culpable of grumbling but here David shows us what it looks like to groan before the living God.
Verses 1-4 are almost word for word repeated from Psalm 57.7-11 (also v5 with Psalm 57.5). Psalm 57 was written by David when he has been pursued into a dark cave by King Saul. Those verses closed out the Psalm as David saw how God stepped up and stepped in front of David to rescue him from his foes. Therefore, in repeating these lines from Psalm 57, David here in Psalm 108 is remembering God’s salvation in his past to encourage him in the present.
Remembering God’s faithfulness, God’s King leads us as his people in worship (v3). We call on ourselves to wake up (v2). The light has pierced the darkness. The day is dawning. The shadows are retreating. The light of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness goes to and over the clouds (v4). The radiance of God’s glory will cover every square inch of the earth’s surface. We call on ourselves to awake to the new life we have with the resurrected King. And we awake to glorify God.
The second half of the Psalm is then a near complete repetition of Psalm 60.5-12. In this second half it is the problems of the present that press in on the King. Where in the first half the focus was on the faithfulness of God, here the King rests in the sovereign and holy power of God.
Various nations are listed and David outlines how God stands over them (vv7-9). Over all these peoples, and nations and lands, God rules with absolute authority. Whatever he decides for them, they will do. Who dwells in them is his decision. How he uses them, either as instruments in his purposes (v8) or for more degrading tasks, that is his prerogative alone. He, by himself, reigns with all power and dominion over the entire earth.
In verses 10-11, we finally hear the emotional turmoil that has given birth to these reflections on God’s faithfulness and sovereignty. The King is facing down his enemies and he questions where God is in it all. We hear here the groaning of the King. Groaning biblically is different from grumbling. Grumbling ultimately looks away from God, whereas groaning fixes the sight of the grieving heart on the promises of God.
For the King sees that the salvation of man is “vain” (v12). Even as he faced the ultimate foe of death, Jesus did not look to man but to God for his salvation. Peter promised much but his words were empty in the face of pressure. God raised up his son from the death, and so with Jesus, Satan will be crushed under our feet (Romans 16.20).
The groaning heart brings its pain before God, knowing he will hear.
And the groaning heart brings its praise before God, knowing he will save.
Glory be to God the Father, whose faithfulness reaches the clouds.
Glory be to God the Son, who will be exalted above the heavens.
Glory be to God the Spirit, with whom we shall do valiantly.
Ever three and ever One.
Home Group: John 11.17-27
How is death our greatest enemy? What happens if we try to ignore it?
How does resurrection being a gift change the way we approach it?
What is the greatest question that Jesus posed to Martha? How might our lives prove our answer?