Psalm 108 is titled a psalm of David, being a combination, with slight modifications, of parts of two other psalms of David, Psalms 57 and 60 (compare Psalm 57:7-11 with Psalm 108:1-5 and Psalm 60:5-12 with Psalm 108:6-13). As their superscriptions attest, Psalm 57 was written when David and his men hid from Saul in the cave near the desert oasis of En Gedi, and Psalm 60 was written when David fought against the forces of Mesopotamia and Syria. We earlier read Psalm 108 in the Beyond Today Bible Commentary in conjunction with the account of the latter episode (see the Beyond Today Bible Commentary on 2 Samuel 10; 1 Chronicles 19; Psalm 60; Psalm 108; Psalm 83). It would be helpful here to review the Beyond Today Bible Commentary on Psalm 57 and Psalm 60.

The first part of Psalm 108 (verses 1-5), the part also found in Psalm 57:7-11, praises the extensiveness of God's hesed--His steadfast covenant love and mercy. In fact, where Psalm 57:10 said it reaches to the heavens, Psalm 108:4 is slightly reworded, saying it is great above the heavens. Based on this pervasiveness of God's covenant faithfulness, the latter part of Psalm 108 (verses 6-13), the part taken from Psalm 60:5-12, is a prayer for deliverance from and help against Israel's national enemies. While the later song could have been composed shortly after the former, so that the circumstances described still existed, it may be that the later composition was much later--so that circumstances were completely different yet the same general need for Go's intervention was present (evidently after a period of things not going so well). As in Psalm 60, the song is adamant in proclaiming that only through God can we attain ultimate victory.