Psalm 108

What’s Happening

Psalms 108, 109, and 110 form a trilogy that tells the story of how God will build his promised Kingdom on earth through Israel’s definitive king, David (2 Samuel 7:16). The trilogy begins with Psalm 108, which highlights David’s role as king. As king, David is to have dominion over evil empires and spread God’s kingdom of peace. Though Israel’s kingdom is currently surrounded by enemy nations, David knows God will partner with him to bring peace to the kingdom.

David’s confidence in his future victory is not grounded in his own strength, but in God’s own character (Psalm 108:4). David knows God endlessly loves him and his people. He knows God is boundlessly faithful to his word. He knows God has promised to build this Kingdom of peace through David’s own royal line (2 Samuel 7:12-13). Despite being surrounded by his enemies in battle, David praises God in front of his own troops and the encroaching armies (Psalm 108:1-3). God’s character of endless love and boundless faithfulness guarantees that he will rescue his people and build his kingdom of peace (Psalm 108:5-6). 

The guarantee of God’s promised king is not only rooted in his love and faithfulness, but in his power and holiness. God is powerfully holy—he is a king who rules like no other. He rules above all nations and powers from his holy sanctuary in the heavens (Psalm 108:7a). Starting with the first territory Israel occupied in the East and moving to the center of their capital in the West, David declares that God rules every part of Israel’s kingdom from Shechem to Judah (Psalm 108:7b-8). God also rules over Israel’s original and current enemies: Moab, Edom, and Philistia. David pictures God entering these nations like the owner of a house. He washes his hands in the sink of Moab, kicks off his shoes in the corner of Edom, and shouts, “It’s good to be home” over the living room of Philistia (Psalm 108:9). 

The faithfulness of God’s love and the holiness of God’s power lead David to confess that Israel will only succeed in partnership with such a God. No human force he could muster could conquer the fortified cities of chaotic Edom (Psalm 108:10). If God does not partner with David and his people, they will die under the power of enemy nations (Psalm 108:11-12). So David prays, because he knows that only with God will they succeed to rule over their enemies and bring God’s Kingdom of peace (Psalm 108:13). 

Where is the Gospel? 

No human force can subdue all of evil’s might and bring God’s kingdom of peace to our world.  Only in God’s promise to work through a king from David’s line will his dominion come from his holy sanctuary of heaven to our broken and needy earth, which is why the faithfulness, love, and holy power of God are such good news. No matter how many evil nations fill our world, God has never wavered in his commitment to keep his promise. In Jesus, we see how faithfully committed he is to lovingly using his holy power to bring his kingdom of peace to us.

Jesus is the faithful fulfillment of God’s promise to David. As the Son of God, Jesus is heaven’s King, and as the descendant of King David, he is earth’s King as well. In his life, Jesus ruled over the evil and might of humanity’s enemies by conquering sickness, spiritual powers, and corrupt religious rule (Luke 6:6-10). Jesus freed his beloved people from the reign of hostile forces and taught them how to partner with him to spread his kingdom of peace (Luke 8:26-39). 

Jesus then entered the situation King David found himself in when he wrote this Psalm. David faced defeat at the hands of enemy nations, though God had promised to partner with him in their defeat. Jesus faced the ultimate enemy of death at the hands of evil nations. But as David trusted God’s faithful love and holy rule in defeat, so did Jesus (John 14:30-31). And in his resurrection from the dead, Jesus proved that trust in God’s measureless love and boundless faithfulness is never unfounded. 

Jesus conquered our enemies. On the cross, he washed away sin in the basin of his cleansing blood (1 John 1:7). In his resurrection, he cast his shoe upon the head of death, crushing it in defeat (Acts 2:24). And in his ascension, he reclaimed the entire dominion of his enemies as though saying, “It’s good to be home.”  Now, as king on the highest throne, Jesus is partnering with his people through the Spirit to conquer the domain of the enemy and spread his Kingdom of peace (Acts 1:8). 

No human force or effort can push back evil and spread God’s peace. But when we trust in and partner with Jesus, we can sing like David that his kingdom will never fail. 

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit would open your eyes to see the God who is committed to building his kingdom of peace among his people. And may you see Jesus as the King who conquered the forces of evil and death and brought us peace.