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.
My Thoughts:
In the first 4 verses, David came to the Lord with praise and worship. He wanted the kind of praise for God that lifts you up until you can think or see nothing but the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. His wish was to see the entire world in praise and worship to God and even the angels joining in. Only after that kind of praise did he turn to God with his requests, and he didn’t only pray for himself but for the entire nation urgently for deliverance. David had the assurance of being in the beloved and he knew the power and hope that comes from praising Him…..Bill
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Charles Spurgeon
“Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth.” Let thy praise be according to the greatness of thy mercy. Ah, if we were to measure our devotion thus, with what ardor should we sing! The whole earth with its overhanging dome would seem too scant an orchestra, and all the faculties of all mankind too little for the hallelujah. Angels would be called in to aid us, and surely they would come. They will come in that day when the whole earth shall be filled with the praises of Jehovah. We long for the time when God shall be universally worshipped, and his glory in the gospel shall be everywhere made known. This is a truly missionary prayer. David had none of the exclusiveness of the modern Jew or the narrow-heartedness of some nominal Christians. For God’s sake, that his glory might be everywhere revealed, he longed to see heaven and earth full of the divine praise. Amen, so let it be.
“That thy beloved may be delivered: save with thy right hand, and answer me.” Let my prayer avail for all the beloved ones. Sometimes a nation seems to hang upon the petitions of one man. With what ardor should such an one pour out his soul! David does so here. It is easy praying for the Lord’s beloved, for we feel sure of a favorable answer since the Lord’s heart is already set upon doing them good: yet it is solemn work to plead when we feel that the condition of a whole beloved nation depends upon what the Lord means to do with us whom he has placed in a representative position. “Answer me, that thy many beloved ones may be delivered:” it is an urgent prayer. David felt that the case demanded the right hand of God,—his wisest, speediest, and most efficient interposition, and he feels sure of obtaining it for himself since his cause involved the safety of the chosen people. Will the Lord fail to use his right hand of power on behalf of those whom he has set at his right hand of favor? Shall not the beloved be delivered by him who loves them? When our suit is not a selfish one, but is bound up with the cause of God, we may be very bold about it.
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Enduring Word
Be exalted, O God: If the measure of God’s mercy and truth are high above the heavens and the clouds, then the honor and recognition to God should also be that great. A God of great mercy and truth is worthy of great praise and recognition of glory. (Guzik)
That Your beloved may be delivered: David’s praise transformed into a prayer, asking that he would be rescued from his present distress. The opening of Psalm 108 is so filled with praise that we didn’t even know David was in trouble. He only mentioned his distress after setting his heart and mind right with praise from his entire being. (Guzik)
Your beloved: David understood that God loved him, and he appealed to God on that basis. David’s mind understood that there were many others that God loved, but his heart came to God as if he were the only one, not one of many. Beloved (Hebrew, Yadid) was the meaning of David’s own name – Dawid, which means beloved. (Guzik)
i. Beloved: “The Hebrew word belongs to the language of love poetry; it appeals to the strongest of bonds, the most ardent of relationships.” (Kidner)
Save with Your right hand: The right hand is regarded as the hand of skill and strength. God’s rescue could not come through half-measures. David called upon God to bring all His skill and strength into his rescue.(Guzik)
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Barnes
That thy beloved may be delivered – The word rendered “beloved,” and the verb rendered “may be delivered,” are both in the plural number, showing that it is not an individual that is referred to, but that the people of God are intended. This is taken without any alteration from Psalms 60:5. In that psalm the prayer for deliverance is grounded on the afflictions of the people, and the fact that God had given them “a banner that it might be displayed because of the truth,” – or, in the cause of truth. See the notes at that psalm. In the psalm before us, while the prayer for deliverance is the same, the reason for that prayer is different. It is that God is exalted; that his mercy is above the heavens; that his glory is above all the earth, and that he is thus exalted that he may interpose and save his people.
Save with thy right hand, and answer me – The Hebrew here is the same as in Psalms 60:5, where it is rendered “and hear me.”
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Matthew Henry
Since we find ourselves so, defective in glorifying God, we must beg of him to glorify himself, to do all, to dispose all, to his own glory, to get himself honor and make himself a name (v. 5): Be thou exalted, O God! above the heavens, higher than the angels themselves can exalt thee with their praises, and let thy glory be spread over all the earth. Father, glorify thy own name. Thou hast glorified it; glorify it again. It is to be our first petition, Hallowed be thy name.
We must be public-spirited in prayer, and bear upon our hearts, at the throne of grace, the concerns of the church of God, v. 6. It is God’s beloved, and therefore must be ours; and therefore we must pray for its deliverance, and reckon that we are answered if God grant what we ask for his church, though he delay to give us what we ask for ourselves. “Save thy church, and thou answerest me; I have what I would have.” Let the earth be filled with God’s glory, and the prayers of David are ended (Ps. 72:19, 20); he desires no more.
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John D. Barry
above the heavens The psalmist notes that God is above the heavens; this shows that God is above everything in terms of fame and power.
Save by The verb yasha’ (“to deliver” or “to save”) generally refers to deliverance from real hazards and problems.
answer me The word anah (“to answer” or “to reply”) is a common request in the psalms. It implicitly contains a request for God to react positively and willingly to the psalmist’s plea.
John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Ps 108:5–6.
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James Stuart Bell
Augustine: [W]hen once they had become submissive after reflecting on that thought, they would find the church promised to all nations, not in slanders and in human fables but in the sacred Books, and they would see it set before their eyes. Then they would not doubt that Christ, as promised in those Books, though unseen, is now above the heavens. letter 93.
James Stuart Bell, ed., Ancient Faith Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bibles, 2019), 703.
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Cross References
And blessed be His glorious name forever; And let the whole earth be filled with His glory; Amen, and Amen. Psalm 72:19
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knows not. Jeremiah 33:3
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KJV W/ STRONGS BIBLE – PSALMS 108
108:5 Be thou exalted 7311 8798, O God 430, above the heavens 8064: and thy glory 3519 above all the earth 776;
108:6 That thy beloved 3039 may be delivered 2502 8735: save 3467 8685 [with] thy right hand 3225, and answer 6030 8798 me.
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Geneva Bible 1560
Psalm 108:5-6
5 (c) Exalt thy self, ô God, above the heavens, and let thy glorie be upon all the earth,
6 That thy beloved maie be delivered: (d) help with thy right hand and hear me.
(c) Let all the world see your judgements, in that that you are God over all, and so confess that you are glorious. (d) When God by his benefits makes us partakers of his mercies, he admonishes us to be earnest in prayer to desire him to continue and finish his graces.
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Psalm 55:
16 As for me, I will call upon GOD and the LORD shall save me.
17 Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice.
18 He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me,
22 Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.
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