to be high actively · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular + paragogic he
God
אֱלֹהִ֑ים'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
heavens
שָׁמַ֣יִםsha.Ma.yim
H8064
the sky (as aloft · noun, common masculine plural absolute
glory
כְּבוֹדֶֽךָke.vo.De.kha
H3519
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
earth
הָאָ֣רֶץha.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 57:5 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.
Psalms 148:13 Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.
Matthew 6:9-10 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
1 Chronicles 29:10-13 Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and e…
Psalms 8:1 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
Psalms 21:13 Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.
Psalms 57:11 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.
Psalms 72:19 And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 108:1-5
We may here learn how to praise God from the example of one who was master of the art. 1. We must praise God with fixedness of heart. Our heart must be employed in the duty (else we make nothing of it) and engaged to the duty (Psa 108:1): O God! my heart is fixed, and then I will sing and give praise. Wandering straggling thoughts must be gathered in, and kept close to the business; for they must be told that here is work enough for them all. 2. We must praise God with freeness of expression: I will praise him with my glory, that is, with my tongue. Our tongue is our glory, and never more so than when it is employed in praising God. When the heart is inditing this good matter our tongue must…
For thy mercy is great above the heavens,..... It is in Psalm 57:10, "thy mercy is great unto the heavens". See Gill on Psalm 57:10.
John Calvin on Psalms 108:1–end
Psalm 108:1-13
A Song or Psalm of David.
1. My heart is prepared, O God! my heart is prepared; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory. 2. Awake, psaltery and harp: I will arise at break of day. 3. I will praise thee, O Jehovah! among the people; and sing unto thee among the nations: 4. Because thy goodness is great above the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. 5. Be thou, O God! exalted above the heavens; and thy glory above all the earth: 6. That thy chosen may be set free, save me by thy right hand, and hear me. 7. God has spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and measure the valley of Succoth. 8. Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is the stre…
This first half is taken from Ps. 57:8-12. The repetition of confident is my heart in Psa 57:1-11 is here omitted; and in place of it the "my glory" of the exclamation, awake my glory, is taken up to "I will sing and will harp" as a more minute definition of the subject (vid., on Psa 3:5): He will do it, yea,his soul with all its godlike powers shall do it. Jahve in Psa 108:4 is transformed out of the Adonaj; and Waw copul. is inserted both before Psa 108:4 and Psa 108:6, contrary to Psa 57:1-11. מעל, Psa 108:5 (as in Est 3:1), would be a pleasing change for עד if Psa 108:5 followed Psa 108:5 and the definition of magnitude did not retrograde instead of heightening. Moreover Psa 36:6; Jer 51…
The Church Fathers
Therefore, nothing needs to be said in this place about those who censure and blaspheme Christ (since we are speaking about his glory, by which he was glorified in the world), since the Holy Spirit glorified him with true glory only in the holy catholic church. For elsewhere, that is, either among the heretics or among certain pagans, he cannot be truly glorified on earth, even when he seems to be repeatedly praised. His true glory, therefore, in the catholic church, is sung by the prophet in this way: "Be exalted above the heavens, O God, and above all the earth your glory." And so, because after his exaltation the Holy Spirit will come and will glorify him, this the sacred psalm, this the Only-Begotten himself promised would happen, which we see fulfilled.
But, when 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. Why in the world, then, should I begrudge them salvation, by recalling my colleagues from this sort of fatherly duty, when it is through this that we see many renouncing their former blindness? Yet some who believed, without seeing, that Christ is raised above the heavens, still denied his glory over all the earth, which they did see, although the prophet, with strong significance, included both in one sentence when he said, "Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and your glory over all the earth."
"Be exalted above the heavens, O God." God is not exalted except above the heavens, he is not exalted above the earth. When we are earthly, we do not exalt God; but if from earthly we have been made heavenly, then we exalt God. And our Lord, when he was on earth, did not exalt us. Someone may say: You speak rashly, since he himself says in the Gospel: "When I have been lifted up, I will draw all things to myself." See what he says: When I have been lifted up into the heavens, then I will draw all things to myself. This sense is indeed pious, but I understand something else. When I have been lifted up, when I have been crucified, then I will draw all to myself. "That your beloved may be delivered." O wondrous understanding! for this reason the Lord is crucified and lifted up, that his beloved may be delivered. "That your beloved may be delivered," he says, "be exalted above the heavens, O God." What we asked for has come to pass: he has been exalted, and we have been delivered.
Ps 108 This psalm combines two excerpts from David’s other psalms (cp. 57:5, 7-11; 60:5-12).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 108:5
Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth;
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 ardour 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 eve…
