Commentary - Psalm 108:1-6

Bird's-eye view

Psalm 108 is a composite psalm, borrowing its first five verses from Psalm 57 and its latter portion from Psalm 60. But this is no cut and paste job from a lazy editor. This is the Holy Spirit refashioning and reapplying His own words for a new occasion. The first section (vv. 1-6), which we are considering here, is a glorious summons to fixed-hearted, missional worship. It begins with the individual worshiper’s settled resolution to praise God (vv. 1-2), explodes outward into a public declaration among the nations (v. 3), grounds this praise in the transcendent character of God (v. 4), and climaxes with a prayer for God’s universal glory, which is tied directly to the salvation of His people (vv. 5-6). This is the engine of Christian worship: a heart fixed on God’s glory results in a public witness that is fueled by God’s character and aimed at the salvation of God’s beloved.

This psalm teaches us that true worship is not a spontaneous overflow of ephemeral feelings. It is a resolute, determined act. It is not a private, quiet affair. It is a public, loud, evangelistic declaration. And it is not ultimately about us or our needs. It is about the exaltation of God above the heavens and His glory over all the earth. But the glorious paradox is that when God’s glory is our central pursuit, the rescue of His beloved is the necessary result.

Outline

Context In Psalms

As mentioned, this psalm is a combination of two others. Psalm 108:1-5 is virtually identical to Psalm 57:7-11, and Psalm 108:6-13 is very similar to Psalm 60:5-12. Psalm 57 was a psalm of David when he fled from Saul in the cave, a context of personal danger and reliance on God. Psalm 60 was a psalm reflecting a military defeat and a plea for God to fight for Israel. By combining these two, the Holy Spirit creates a new anthem. It takes the personal, steadfast worship from a place of vulnerability (Ps 57) and makes it the foundation for a corporate, national plea for victory in battle (Ps 60). The lesson is potent: national deliverance and cultural victory begin with individuals whose hearts are first fixed on the worship of God, regardless of their circumstances. The personal doxology of the cave becomes the public war cry of the nation.

Commentary

Psalm 108:1

My heart is set, O God; I will sing, I will sing praises, even with my glory.

The psalmist begins not with a feeling, but with a declaration of intent. "My heart is set," or fixed, established, prepared. This is the opposite of a flighty, emotional, "I'll worship if I feel like it" approach that characterizes so much of modern evangelicalism. This is covenantal worship. The heart is nailed down. This is a cognitive decision, a settled resolution. And it is a gift of grace; God is the one who establishes the heart (Ps. 57:7). Out of this fixed heart comes the determination to praise: "I will sing, I will sing praises." The repetition shows his eagerness. And he will do it with his "glory." This is likely his soul, or his tongue, the best and highest part of him. He is bringing his A-game to worship. He is not offering God the dregs of his attention after a long week. He is offering the very best of what he is, his glory, to the one whose glory is ultimate.

Psalm 108:2

Awake, harp and lyre; I will awaken the dawn!

This is not sleepy, passive worship. The worshiper commands his instruments to wake up. He is the one initiating the action. Then he makes a startling claim: "I will awaken the dawn!" We tend to think of the sunrise as something that happens to us, something we wait for. But the psalmist, in his zeal, sees his praise as the very thing that summons the morning. This is sanctified audacity. He is not waiting for the worship leader to create an atmosphere. He is the atmosphere. He is not waiting for the day to begin so that he can worship; his worship begins the day. This is a picture of aggressive, forward-leaning, culture-shaping Christianity. We are not to be thermometers, merely reflecting the temperature of the culture around us. We are to be thermostats, setting the temperature. We awaken the dawn.

Psalm 108:3

I will give thanks to You, O Yahweh, among the peoples, And I will sing praises to You among the nations.

Here the worship explodes beyond the personal and private. This is not praise offered in a quiet closet, but rather a public spectacle. The audience is "the peoples" and "the nations", that is, the Gentiles, the unbelieving world. This is missional worship. Our worship services are meant to be overheard. The psalms we sing are spiritual warfare, declarations of the crown rights of King Jesus over every tribe and tongue. When we gather to praise God, we are putting the nations on notice. We are declaring that Yahweh, the God of Israel, is the one true God, and that all other gods are worthless idols. This is evangelism set to music. The praise of God is a public testimony, intended either for the conversion of the nations or for a witness against them.

Psalm 108:4

For Your lovingkindness is great above the heavens, And Your truth reaches to the skies.

Why this resolute, aggressive, public praise? Because it is grounded in something objective, massive, and unshakable. It is grounded in the very character of God. The psalmist points to two attributes in particular. First, God's "lovingkindness," His hesed. This is not a sentimental, squishy affection. This is His covenant loyalty, His steadfast, unrelenting, never-giving-up love for His people. This love is "great above the heavens." It is transcendent. You cannot get above it or outside of it. Second, His "truth," His faithfulness and reliability, "reaches to the skies." God's promises are as vast and certain as the heavens themselves. Our worship is not based on our fickle emotions or our fluctuating circumstances. It is based on the bedrock of who God is. His love is higher than the heavens, and His truth is as wide as the sky. That is a sufficient reason to sing, no matter what else is happening.

Psalm 108:5

Be exalted above the heavens, O God, And Your glory above all the earth.

This is the climax of the worshiper's desire. It is the central petition of the Lord's Prayer: "Hallowed be Thy name." The ultimate goal of our singing, our witness, and our lives is not our own happiness, our own comfort, or even our own salvation, considered in isolation. The ultimate goal is the exaltation of God. We want His name and reputation to be magnified above the highest heavens, and we want His glory, the visible manifestation of His supreme worth, to cover the entire planet. This is a thoroughly postmillennial prayer. We are asking God to do something in history, on this earth, and we expect Him to answer it. We are praying for the knowledge of the glory of the Lord to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14).

Psalm 108:6

That Your beloved may be rescued, Save with Your right hand, and answer me!

And here we see the glorious connection. Why should God be exalted? What is the immediate purpose tied to His glorification? "That Your beloved may be rescued." God's glory and the salvation of His people are not two competing interests. They are one and the same reality. God is most glorified when He saves His people. He gets the maximum glory when He stoops to rescue the helpless. The psalmist identifies himself with this group, "Your beloved", and then makes the prayer intensely personal: "answer me!" He asks God to save with His "right hand," the hand of power and authority. The prayer for God's universal glory in verse 5 is not an abstract theological wish. It is a desperate, practical plea for deliverance, because the psalmist knows that his personal rescue is bound up in the public vindication of God's holy name.

Application

First, true worship begins with a decision. Your heart must be fixed. Do not wait for a feeling to descend upon you. Decide to worship God because of who He is, not because of how you feel. Nail your heart to the mast of God’s unchanging character.

Second, our worship should be aggressive and initiatory. We are not consumers of a worship experience; we are producers of praise. We are the ones who awaken the dawn. This means we come to church prepared to give, not just to receive. We bring the sacrifice of praise with us.

Third, our worship must be missional. We should want our pagan neighbors to hear us singing. We should conduct our corporate worship with a joyful reverence and robust confidence that is compelling to the outsider. Our praise is a public proclamation of the lordship of Christ over our city, our nation, and the world.

Finally, we must learn to connect God's grand, cosmic purposes with our small, personal needs. The prayer "be exalted over all the earth" is not disconnected from the prayer "save me." God is glorified in saving you from your particular sins and your particular troubles. So, when you pray for your own deliverance, frame it as a prayer for God's glory. When you pray for God to be glorified, remember that this includes Him showing up with His right hand to rescue you.