Psalm 108 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study

Psalm 108 Short Summary:

Psalm 108 is a psalm of David and a combination of his previous writings. It is a psalm of distress in which David calls out to the Lord for deliverance. David knew God was sovereign over all nations and would use to as He wished to accomplish His designs. He ends the psalm with an expression of confidence that with God’s help he would do valiantly.

Psalm 108 Summary

AUTHOR:

• David is the author of Psalm 108.

NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES:

• No Known New Testament References.

THEMES:

• A prayer for deliverance in a time of trouble.

• God controls the destiny of all the nations of the earth with His sovereign hand.

DEFINITIONS:

• Lyre (108:2) – A small hand-held stringed instrument with a U-shape. It is similar to the harp in that the musician plucks the strings to create the music.

OUTLINE:

• WITH GOD WE SHALL DO VALIANTLY (108:1-13):

  • David opens with praises to God.

  • David wasn’t ashamed of the Lord; he was ready to praise Him in front of all people and all nations.

  • God’s steadfast love and faithfulness were the stimulation for this praise.

  • David wanted God’s name to be exalted. He wanted God’s name to be exalted by his worship, but David also asked God to exalt His name by giving salvation to his people.

  • David’s countrymen were in some kind of trouble, and David asked God to help them.

  • He trusted in God’s promise (108:7), God’s promise that He was ruler of all nations, and David believed that the Lord would use the nations as He willed to accomplish His designs.

  • The Lord would exalt some nations, like Judah and Ephraim, and He would humble other nations, like Moab, Edom, and Philistia.

  • Israel and all their neighbors were subjects of God’s sovereign rule.

  • David felt the temptation to think this was not the case, he was tempted to think God wasn’t going to help him, but he dismissed that temptation and declared that with God’s help they would do “valiantly,” and with His power they would “tread down” their foes.

APPLICATION:

• Do we praise God and His providential power before or only after He has given us a victory.

• The psalms are full of men praising God for helping them before He actually helped them.

• They praised the Lord because they knew He was capable.

• They praised the Lord because they knew one-way-or-another He would come through.

• Are we full of worship only after we receive answers to our prayers?

• I find that worship often only stirs up in my heart after I receive my deliverance or the solution to the thing I’ve been praying about.

• That shouldn’t be the case! We have all these Old Testament stories of God coming through for His people, we of all people should know that God ought to be worshiped even before the prayer is answered.