“My
heart is steadfast, O God! I will sing and make melody with all my
being! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn! I will give
thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; For your steadfast love is
great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Be
exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the
earth! That your beloved ones may be delivered, give salvation by
your right hand and answer me!….Oh grant us help against the foe,
for vain is the salvation of man! With God we shall do valiantly; it
is he who will tread down our foes.” -Psalm 108:1-5; 12-13 (ESV)
[Read Psalm 108]
This
Psalm of David is a repetition of portions of earlier Psalms by the
great poet of Israel. Compare Psalm 108:1-5 with Psalm 57:7-11. In
his exuberance, and in praising God with harp and lyre, the psalmist
thinks he will “awake the dawn,” so happy is he with praising the
Lord God. He will sing the Lord’s praises among all the peoples,
for great is God’s faithfulness and steadfast love!
Verse
six is a prayer of deliverance and is inserted between the verses
which are like Psalm 57:7-11 and those that are like Psalm 60:5-12
(which are those in Psalm 108:7-13). In verses 7-13 God himself
speaks, assuring David that when he goes out to conquer Shechem, the
Valley of Succoth, Gilead, Manasseh, Ephraim and Judah, they are all
parts of the land that God promised to Israel. Moab, Edom and
Philistia are neighboring lands that also belong to the Lord. David
will be victorious, because these lands are already the Lord’s.
David prays for success in battle in verse 12: “O grant us help
against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man!” Man cannot
save himself, even in battle and with a strong army unless the Lord
is in the battle with the army. Knowing this truth about conquering
those nations God promised to Israel, David encouraged the people
with the victorious cry: “With God we shall do valiantly; it is he
who will tread down our foes” (v. 13). He promises to go with God
and to allow God to direct him as he conquers the strong nations then
occupying and fortifying the Promised Land.
In
Psalm 108 we see a stalwart king going forth into battle to conquer
because the Lord was directing him. During World War II our nation
seemed to have direction, to know that to stop oppression we had to
enter the war. Much prayer and supplication went up during that
period for wisdom for our leaders in battle and especially for our
commander-in-chief, the president of the United States, Franklin
Delano Roosevelt. Churches had “honor roll” reminders of the men
(and women) from their membership who were serving in the military,
many on the battlefields of the world. Prayer was made for them by
name, urgently, at each congregational gathering of the church.
Congregants were given lists of names and urged to pray consistently
and regularly for those persons in harm’s way, defending our
freedoms.
Now
our nation is far removed from the confidence we had then in the
causes we champion and the people we support with prayer. We need to
praise God who will fight our battles. We need to acknowledge Him as
Lord. We need prayer for unity of purpose, forgiveness for our sins,
personally and nationally, and promises from the people that we will
serve and honor God. A clarion call is going out: return to God.
Seek his face and turn from our wicked ways. Only then will God hear
from heaven, forgive our sin, and heal our land. These solemn
conditions and the promise is given to us in 2 Chronicles 7:14 and
reiterated in Psalm 108 with its strong message: “In God we shall
do valiantly.” May we heed and follow. -Ethelene Dyer Jones
04.17.2016.
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