Steadfast Assurance of God's Victory

Psalms 108:1-13
(Ps. 57:7–11; 60:5–12)
A Song. A Psalm of David.

1 O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.
2 Awake, lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.

3 I will praise You, O LORD, among the peoples,
And I will sing praises to You among the nations.
4 For Your mercy is great above the heavens,
And Your truth reaches to the clouds.

5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
And Your glory above all the earth;
6 That Your beloved may be delivered,
Save with Your right hand, and hear me.

7 God has spoken in His holiness:
"I will rejoice;
I will divide Shechem
And measure out the Valley of Succoth.

8 Gilead is Mine; Manasseh is Mine;
Ephraim also is the helmet for My head;
Judah is My lawgiver.

9 Moab is My washpot;
Over Edom I will cast My shoe;
Over Philistia I will triumph."

10 Who will bring me into the strong city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
11 Is it not You, O God, who cast us off?
And You, O God, who did not go out with our armies?

12 Give us help from trouble,
For the help of man is useless.
13 Through God we will do valiantly,
For it is He who shall tread down our enemies.

David the psalmist had a steadfast (כּוּן kûn) heart, one standing up straight and tall, fixed in place, prepared, and founded in stability in the LORD God.  Because of this certain hope and trust, he could praise God in all circumstances with song and life.  His joy drove him to waken the day with songs of praise.  The psalmist praised God amidst others, not just alone in his closet; he sang praises in order to be heard by them that God would be glorified.  Remember that the songs he wrote were inspired by God as scripture (which our own now are not), and this is our example to sing scripturally accurate songs which magnify God and His work.  The pattern is to sing of God’s mercy higher than the heavens in forgiveness and love, and whose truth rises into the skies above, far above our own reasoning or philosophy.  We then cry out with this psalm that God will be exalted, magnifying Him and His workings, because His glory is to be told to others and as our own reminder.  The exaltation of such infinite glory above all creation which we think of as starting with the earth, this praise should rise ever higher now that we have the completed story of redemption, of saving deliverance by God’s own right hand, the Messiah we know as Jesus Christ His Son.  Because God has delivered us, He also hears us, just as He works providence in our calling in His holiness.  We rejoice in all these divine works through the history of His chosen people and defeats the enemy as verses 7-9 lay out here.  He calls as He wills for a purpose and brings down others for His glory (Romans 9:15-16, 18, 22-23), because we of the nations are now also included among His people in Christ (Romans 9:25-26).  God leads us in victory (1 Corinthians 15:57) and does not cast us off, having a more certain covenant in the atoning blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  He fights the battles which were withheld from rebellious Israel as verse 11 reminds us, and in the end claims the final battle as His own (Revelation 19:11, 14-15, 2 Thessalonians 2:8).  He gives us help in trouble (Hebrews 4:16) when we cry out after vainly seeking our own strength or help for others.  Only through God in Christ can we do valiantly for the truth in battles for the souls of others, for He alone treads the enemy down to set us free from sin’s dominion of bondage by His work of grace by His mighty hand.  We then can also have a steadfast heart, settled in eternity by the truth of God’s word which we sing in praise to Him for the victory, and to glorify the Lord before others.