Psalm 108:12, 13 God's Help

Psalm 108:12, 13 Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless. With God we shall gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.

Psalm 108 is something of a cannibalised psalm. It takes part of Psalm 57 and part of Psalm 60, joins them together, and makes a new one. By this means we are given an inspired example of how to adapt and apply what was given by God in the past to a new set of circumstances. The concluding prayer of the psalm, originally from Psalm 60, asks for God's aid against the enemy, the enemy at that time being Edom. For us who believe today, the enemy in general is the world, the flesh and the Devil and will at one time or another take this shape or that. The reason for the prayer is stated. It is that the help of man is worthless. That is to say, in and of itself man's help can do nothing. David recognises this. It is God's help that we need. It is with God that victories come. He is the one who makes Moab his washbasin, who tosses his sandal on Edom and who shouts in triumph over Philistia. It is by his strength that we win, for he is the one who can and will trample down our enemies. This is one reason why David is making this a matter of prayer and why we should constantly be in prayer too. Our instinct is too often to rely on ourselves or to rely on human help of one sort or another - an outstanding leader, a faithful stalwart. However, we must learn rather to look always and only to the Lord for victory over sin and Satan and death and hell. He alone can save us. He alone has the power. The victorious Christian life is attainable only through the Lord's grace.