Click here to read PSALM 108 in poetic form.
Background
Psalm 108 is in the Deuteronomy Book of the Psalms (Psalms 107-150). These 44 Psalms, like the Book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament, show God’s Word as the source of salvation, deliverance, and healing. This would be fully carried out in the life of the coming Messiah, the living Word, Jesus Christ. Psalm 108 declares the Messiah as God’s promised lawgiver from David’s line in Judah.
Structure
(Verses 1-6) Prayer: O God, save us with Your right hand (through the Messiah)
(Verses 7,8) God’s goodness to Israel (including the Messiah as lawgiver)
(Verses 9,10) Messiah’s victory over his enemies
(Verse 11) Prayer: O God, go forth with our armies
(Verse 12) God’s goodness to help Israel in their trouble
(Verses 13) Messiah’s valiant victory over his enemies
Key Scriptures
Verse 4—”For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.” This shows the vastness of God’s grace and the wide extent of His truth. Both are fulfilled in Christ.
Verse 8—“Judah is my lawgiver.” This is the same as Psalm 60:7. One of the Messiah’s great titles is lawgiver. This refers back to another blessing that Jacob gave, shortly after meeting with Joseph to bless Ephraim and Manasseh. Genesis 49:10 records Jacob’s blessing to Judah: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh [tranquility] come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”
This promise of a ruler from Judah was fulfilled in David and in David’s “son,” Jesus Christ. The Messiah was also a prophet like unto Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15; Acts 3:22; 7:37). Moses is called the “lawgiver” in Numbers 21:18. The Hebrew word for “lawgiver” means to engrave or inscribe.
God is the originator of His law, and it was fulfilled by His Son, Jesus Christ. Isaiah 33:22: “For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us.” Matthew 5:17: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”
FOR FURTHER STUDY
All 150 of The Psalms in Poetic Form are available from Amazon in a book, either Large Print or a smaller Bedside Reader. Also available for free with a Kindle Unlimited membership. Enjoy!
The entire blog series is now available in the publication The Psalms: Background & Structure with Key Scriptures Explained.
