My Heart Is Steadfast – Psalm 108

Hold your hand in front of your face and it is all you can see.  Hold it out from you and it takes on smaller perspective.  When we face problems it is easy to see them as if right in front of our face and they seem so big that nothing can overcome them.  But looked at from the perspective of our big God, we are able to see them in their proper size and see God as able to help us through them.

A Song. A Psalm of David.

My heart is steadfast, O God!  I will sing and make melody with all my being!  Awake, O harp and lyre!  I will awake the dawn!  I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.  For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!  Let your glory be over all the earth!  That your beloved ones may be delivered, give salvation by your right hand and answer me!

God has promised in his holiness:  “With exultation I will divide up Shechem and portion out the Valley of Succoth.  Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter.  Moab is my washbasin; upon Edom I cast my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

Who will bring me to the fortified city?  Who will lead me to Edom?  Have you not rejected us, O God?  You do not go out, O God, with our armies.  Oh grant us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man!  With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.  (Psalm 108 ESV)

When those around us are a threat, we nonetheless have steadfast hearts and can start the day with praise in the midst of our opponents.  We long for God’s name to be hallowed and exalted among all people and we long for His deliverance from our foes.  With a prophetic word God announces that He will subdue all people, and this causes us to wonder why He hasn’t yet subdued our immediate enemies, examining ourselves to see if we have sinned.  But we still look to Him to enable us to do valiantly.