Devotional Short Note to Psalm 108:
David wrote this Psalm and the section section of the Psalm is his prayer as a
general of his army. He used the pronouns I, my, mine, me in 108:7-11 and
including his army in 108:12-14. In the first section where he indicates his
relationship with God, he also used I, my, mine, and me in 108:2-4. In 108:5-6
he made his confession about the character of God to be merciful (108:5a) and
truthful (108:5b). In a world of fake news and machinations of news data for
covert control purposes it is important to have a God of consistent Truth.
Gossip is not truth but speculation. If data can be interpreted ambigiously,
model A and model B, then it is not evidence beyond doubt. It is evidence
within doubt and thus gossip if one takes only one model as answer. If there
are two sides to a coin, truth will present two sides of a coin. Fake news
presents only one side. It is the same with the justice system in courts. The
Law of Evidence spell out the rules for these matters to judges. Also in 108:6
David express his feeling about the greatness of God. The psalm begins with David full of
emotion and he wants to sing (108:2). He wants to sing very early in the
morning before the sun comes up (108:3). “I will awake the dawn”. Generals of
the army are up before sunrise. At least for David. His singing will be to give thanks to
God and praises to Him to the peoples and “among” nations (108:4a-b).
Nationalistic-minded David? No. One who is conscious of his evangelism and
missionary responsibility to the God he serves. Serving God is like water
running. It always look for a space to flow and if the gutter provides the flow
is there. David knew that if nations are willing to listen, he is willing to
sing among the nations. It appears that he was pushing slightly more, even if
they do not want to listen, he is still going to sing among them. There is no
ethnic God here. Or a nationalistic God. Also not the concept that “God of the
Old Testament was for the Jews but the Jesus of the New Testament is for
Christians of all nations.” God belonged to all nations even in Old Testament
times and David knew it. He is not giving an opera performance here or a
popular secular ballad to many countries. “I will sing praises unto You”
(108:4b). David wants to use musical instruments
also so early in the morning. Most people are snoozing their best that time of
the latest part of “night”. Maybe David was an early sleeper to rise so early
in the morning. These days with LED lamps most of us are kept awake until
midnight so that early rising is not on the easy list. God has mercy and truth. Truth of God is
not relativistic. It is not statements that depends ….. Depends how the
situation is, using Fletcher’s situational ethics. It is normative. It is
absolute. Unchanging. A prerogative. God’s truth cannot be altered by the vote
of the majority in a Division or by the consensus of pastors. The Word of God
is the Word of God period. “However strong may be his [a member of the church]
convictions, however confident he may be that the minister knows what is truth,
this is not his foundation” (Ellen White Great Controversy 598). Talking about
truth dodgers by consensus vote, Ellen White says: “The opinions of learned
men, the deductions of science, the creeds or decisions of ecclesiastical
councils, as numerous and discordant as are the churches which they represent,
the voice of the majority – not one nor all of these should be regarded as
evidence for or against any point of religious faith” (Ellen White Great
Controversy 595). In his confession David says 108:6a that
God is exalted “above heavens”. There is no definite article here. He wishes
that God, Who is already exalted in the heavenly abode of God, should also be
exalted in the other heavens further away. Christ said that He has 99 sheep
that also belongs to His fold and He has to take care of them as well. There is
only one lost sheep of spiritual Israel and it is this heaven with its earth
(108:6a). He wishes that God’s glory will be above all the (definite article) earth
because it is only this earth that is sinful and needs rescue. In his military capacity David plead to
God that he is God’s beloved. He needs rescue and salvation from military threat
(108:7). God speaks in His Sanctuary and David
can be able to divide Shechem and mete out the valley of Succoth (108:8).
Succoth is Deir cAllah in eastern Jordan halfway between the sea of
Galilee and the Dead Sea. At this site they found a seventh century BCE
inscription talking about “Bileam the son of Beor who had visions in the night”
and then the information is very pluralistic and syncretistic with a council of
the gods that had a meeting and so forth. I spent weeks in the past to make my
own combination of the text, transliterated it and translated it. I gave it to
Emile Puech at the Ecole Biblique in 1989 and soon afterwards he published an article
on it. For me it is evidence of the corrupt religion that Israel endorsed and
spun out in those days and which the prophets like Micah and Amos, Ezechiel and
Jeremiah was complaining about. Gilead belongs to David, Manasseh is
already his, Ephraim is the defense of the head of his domain and Judah is his
scepter (108:9). Moab is his washpot, upon Edom he cast
his shoe [proclaiming his authority over him amid anger] and over Philistia he
cried aloud (108:10). Someone threw a shoe at president George Bush visiting
the Middle East one day out of anger. David is asking who will help him to go
to a fortified city and lead him to Edom? He speaks to his army (108:11). He is
not asking for brave men to step forward. He has already. He needs God to go
with him. His agony is that God is not yet willing
to go with them and with his army “hosts” (108:12). He pleads again for help against the
adversary because he does not trust in the help of a human (108:13b) “for vain
is the help of man” (108:13b). The God-principle in everything we do is a key
to success. Man cannot help and if they do it is always with side-motives. If God should accompany them then he can
have success (108:14).