Praise and Trust from the Past for Today
Book of Psalms 108
When we study the Book of Psalms, we will see that Psalm 108 combines Psalm 57 and Psalm 60 and David is credited for all three of them, even though he was not alive when Psalm 108 was composed.
David composed Psalm 57 while hiding in a cave from King Saul.
David composed Psalm 60 about his battle with the Edomites.
We may not know the purpose of this Psalmist in doing this, but we all know that we may remember and sing a song that brought us comfort in our past during our own stress.
The one thing we can understand is the fact that the Holy Spirit decided that this new psalm should be included in the Book we call the Bible.
1)We must completely understand that the Word of God is relevant in any age!
2)The lessons from the Bible are applicable in every situation we may come to in every generation.
3)The Word of God gives of the wisdom of God so we can make the right decisions.
4) The Word of God is always fresh and always gives us encouragement to move forward in life.
Even today the Psalms of David, in fact all the Psalms, bring us to the reality of this wicked and evil world we live in, and the knowledge that we need the Lord Jesus Christ to be in charge of our lives, every day!
We must ask for God's help in every situation we face if we expect to have triumph in our Christian life!
Every question we have of God should begin with praise.
*****Psa 108:1 A Song or Psalm of David. O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.
Notice that this praise comes from a confident heart.
God will not take the time to answer any of our requests if we do not have enough faith that He can.
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Our hearts must be fixed upon the reality of the existence of our Savior!
Our soul, the one that God has given to us, that is now saved by His power, is the most glorious thing that we have in our relationship with God.
We must make our flesh understand that it also belongs to God.
2Co_4:11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
We should also understand that the Psalms were intended for the worship service and our praise of the Lord Jesus is designed to be in a public manner.
Rom_10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
We should understand that before we offer up our praise, we should have already offered up our prayers.
When our hearts are affixed to praise the Lord, they will exalt Him to the highest degree.
*****Psa 108:2 Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.
It is usually the dawn that awakens us, but this psalmist says he will awaken all the instruments that had been silent, and he will awaken the dawn by his praises before daybreak.
The Lord never sleeps.
Even when the Lord Jesus was taken off that cross and laid in a borrowed tomb, He was very busy.
What did Paul say by the Holy Spirit?
Eph 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
Eph 4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
Eph 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
The Lord Jesus descended into Hell to get the keys that the devil once had.
Rev_1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Our Lord is always busy, so we are foolish to limit the Lord to our hours and days.
We must praise Him with all that we have, any time of the day or night.
We can always at any time turn to the Lord for help and most of the time He is as near as opening up our Bibles to see what He has already said because He never changes.
This is exactly what this psalmist did. He took part of two psalms of David, and he made a new psalm by listening to the Holy Spirit who wrote all the Books of the Bible.
The same God that led David to victory will lead us to victory!
*****Psa 108:3 I will praise thee, O LORD, among the people: and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.
If we study the Bible, we will realize that there is a new day coming if we trust the Lord and the words, He has given us.
We must praise the Lord when we are alone.
We must praise the Lord in our congregations.
We must praise the Lord in our cities.
We must praise the lord in our nations.
Mal 1:11 For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.
Instead of a great falling away, we need a regathering of the children of God!
It is not time to flee from the truth, but to gather together because we have the truth and are not ashamed to say so!
*****Psa 108:4 For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.
You can take the word "mercy" away and substitute "Jesus" to have a better understanding of what mercy truly means.
Why did the Lord first come to this place called Earth?
Luk 1:72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;
Luk 1:73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,
Psa 98:3 He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Psa 98:4 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.
Mercy is compassion for the miserable!
The object of this world and now the government of our nation, is for us all to live in misery.
I am not going to live in misery!
The atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ is the way to open up the exercise of "mercy" to all mankind.
It is wicked governments who are trying to stop what they cannot stop.
They only win when we forsake the Lord!
Psa 86:14 O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them.
Psa 86:15 But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
As Christians we can depend upon the "mercy" of God to bring us to victory.
*****Psa 108:5 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth;
Psa 108:6 That thy beloved may be delivered: save with thy right hand, and answer me.
Psa 21:13 Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.
The Christian life is a warfare!
We have to battle our flesh and our own evil tendencies daily.
We have to battle corrupt opinions of us and our practices in society, which is hard to say society today because societies have forsaken all godly principles to live by immorality and corruption and they seem to be proud of it.
We also have to deal with the temptations of the Devil.
We must be aware that every renewed child of God is assured of ultimate victory in all these conflicts.
The truth is, we have already won we just do not realize it, which shows a lack of faith on our part.
The strength of God cannot be overcome, and His plan continues to move according to the things He has directed.
Once we get to Heaven we may look back and see that all these things had taken place just as God has said they would.
The Word of God is the truth in this wicked world, and we can lean on this truth while we are praising the One God who has the complete truth.
We are a delivered people; we just have not arrived at our destination yet.
If we increase our faith, then there is no reason we cannot enjoy the trip instead of moping around like a bunch of losers.
My God is powerful, you should check to see if your god is as powerful as mine!
*****Psa 108:7 God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
It may be that right now God is dividing Shechem.
It is at Shechem where Jesus Christ had a conversation with a Samaritan woman who was saved and is now in Heaven, her past forgotten.
God always speaks in His holiness.
God is holy, entirely set apart from sin and sinners. This is the reason God's Spirit is the Holy Spirit and the third person of the Holy Trinity.
This also means that the Lord Jesus Christ is Holy because as the Son of God He is part of the Holy Trinity, and we are to defend His holiness.
We can only become holy when we are set apart from sin and sinners!
Succoth is the name of the first encampment in the Exodus of God's people from Egypt.
Succoth is also the place where the brass foundries were located in the building of the first Temple in Jerusalem.
In fact, every time Succoth is mentioned in the Bible, it is a place where God's people come to victory.
Jacob had a victory there.
Gideon had a victory there.
Succoth represents the anticipation of victory, but Succoth also reminds us of worldly success when we might look down upon our enemies as the world does and this goes against the teachings of God.
Haughtiness is pride mingled with contempt or we could say arrogance.
We must be aware that we have victory when it comes by the Lord.
We do not necessarily have the same victory when it comes by our own hands.
Pro 16:17 The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.
Pro 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
Pro 16:19 Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.
Pro 16:20 He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he.
What is happening in America today?
A certain group looks down upon Christians and our cling to freedoms, with heartless contempt and we had better realize it.
Our vote in this next election is more important than it has ever been, but only if we vote for Christian principles!
*****Psa 108:8 Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver;
Psa 108:9 Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; over Philistia will I triumph.
Gilead is best known as the Hill of Testimony or the Mount of Testimony.
In reality, this verse and much of this psalm is a song in anticipation of victory.
Verse 7 says that "God has spoken", in fact, it said "God had spoken in His holiness".
It can also be read "God has spoken in His sanctuary".
What God says, is at the same time, what God does!
We should understand that our Lord had promised all this land to Abraham.
If the Lord does not fulfill His promise, His name will be profaned.
God would be a liar, and this is impossible.
Now we may never understand everything that God says, but we can certainly understand His promises.
Now to get this clear understanding of God's view of each situation, we must go to where God dwells and He dwells in the sanctuary of the true Church.
God is nowhere near a place where false teaching occurs, and we need to know this truth.
It is best to leave any place where the truth of the Gospel, the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ, is not preached.
There is victory in Jesus, but there is no victory in any false god.
When we know how God feels about a matter we can know real joy, because God does as He feels.
The Bible says that Ephraim is the "helmet" or better said "protection".
Ephraim was sitting on the largest part of the land that was given to Abraham, the Northern part.
Judah is the "scepter" and the "lawgiver".
It is from Judah that the law will be taught and enforced during the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ and all this land promised to Abraham will be fulfilled.
God then proclaims that He has ownership of all the territories outside of Israel.
Moab the washpot. A washpot is a place that serves to clean feet.
The place of Moses' death, Mount Nebo, at the top of Pisgah, is in the land of Moab.
Deu 34:5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
Deu 34:6 And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.
Deu 34:7 And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.
We can even see where Moses was a type of Christ Jesus.
The Holy Spirit also names Philistia by name.
Philistia was the land of the Philistines.
This was a very small country from 25 to 30 miles in length with an average width of of about 15 miles.
Just as Gaza is today there were more people than the land could bear that lived there.
Today we hear a lot about Palestine, but in truth this was the land of the Philistines.
There is no such people as Palestinians and never have been such a people!
These were nations that were hostile to Israel and the people in those locations are still the enemies of Israel.
At the victory over these enemies, the soldiers of God would take off their shoes, wash their feet in a washbowl, and then throw their shoes at the defeated enemies and proclaim this victory with great rejoicing.
When the Messiah reigns He will have victory over all God's enemies!
Isa 11:14 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.
Isa 11:15 And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.
Isa 11:16 And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.
Then God asks.
*****Psa 108:10 Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?
Psa 108:11 Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts?
When David first wrote this Psalm, he asked who would bring him to this strong city of Edom.
Petra was truly a fortress.
Because of its natural location, it was humanly impossible to conquer that city in those days of David.
David asked; is there anyone who could lead his army to Edom?
Then David answers his own question.
It can be none other than God Himself.
We must understand that God will reject Israel "prophetically" for the short time they under the rule of the Antichrist that is, until the Antichrist decides to sit on the throne of David then all Hell will break loose.
David could write this passage because of his faith in God.
It should be clear to all that to overcome the Antichrist, then God would have to stand with Israel once again, and He will!
All those in distress because of the Antichrist during those seven years of tribulation with the last three and a half years being the Great Tribulation when things will be terrible, there will be a remnant who will call out to God and acknowledge their sins of the past and they will be forgiven.
Isa 2:22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?
The Antichrist is but a mere man, "the man of sin" and he is no problem for the the Lord God our Creator.
Even in a time of peril for Israel, faith is still the key to their success.
In the Hebrew letter to the Jews, God makes this very clear, but there must be a show of faith!
Heb 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Heb 13:6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
Those who fear God can appeal to no one else in their distress but to God alone.
You see, if God brings you to it, then God will lead you through it!
God has led Israel to the distress that they face today, and God will lead them through their distress to the truth!
When we are in distress about our sin and where we will spend eternity, then there is only one place for us to go and it is to our Holy God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ!
Only God knows which way to go!
God has given His Word and God will never break His Word!
*****Psa 108:12 Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
Psa 108:13 Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.
God gave us the gift of His Son the Lord Jesus Christ as His promise of salvation!
Only with Him will God's people do valiantly!
It is only Jesus the Messiah who can give us the strength and the courage to fight our daily battles.
Some things we should have learned from this passage, this Psalm are:
1) The Bible is still effective in this world today though it was written ages ago.
2) This passage teaches us that we can always turn to Scripture for help.
3) We can see that God is unchanging, He is always the same.
4) That we can pray and use words that we have used before.
5) We can see that we need to be continuous in our Bible study going over the same passage over and over again to gain understanding.
6) We can look to the past for hope for today!
There is never a time that the Bible will not be relevant to this world!
Amen
