Psalms 138:1

The Bible says in Psalm 138:1-2, “I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.[2] I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” People do not always know what you are doing for the Lord. They especially do not know what is going on in your heart. Even praise is from the heart, and not necessarily what comes out of your mouth. Maybe some of the things that the Lord gives you to do is not for people to see, but for spiritual beings: for angels, and for witnesses in heaven. If the false gods had eyes, at least they would see that there is one who serves the true God. The Psalmist says that he is praising God “for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth.” God is love. God is merciful. Jesus came and died for us so that we could be forgiven. We should always praise Him for His lovingkindness. We would be lost forever without it. The reason that we know about His lovingkindness through Christ is because He has also given us His “truth.” His Word is truth. The Bible is the most important book in the world because the Bible comes from God and because the Bible is God’s truth to the world. We know how important God’s name is. God’s name tells us all about who God is. Jehovah means the ever-living One. Life comes from God. All that believe in Jesus are given eternal life. Jesus means “Savior.” Everyone needs a Savior because everyone is a sinner. Only Jesus can save your soul. God’s name is so important that God put into the Ten Commandments, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” And so it is important to notice that the last phrase of verse two above says, “for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” Make sure that you value the Bible highly. It is extremely valuable.

The Bible says in Psalm 138:3, “In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.” The Lord answers prayer always. Jesus said in John 15:16, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” There was something wrong with the Psalmist’s soul. He was not as spiritual as he should have been. Perhaps doubt or self-will or lack of confidence had entered into him. He was spiritually weak and he knew it. What do you do when you are like that: pray. Cry out to the Lord. Your soul is in trouble. You need help that only the Lord Jesus can give. Put your eyes on Jesus and He will give you confidence and boldness once again in your faith. If you call out to Him, He will strengthen you once again.

The Bible says in Psalm 138:4-5, “ All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth.
[5] Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD.” These are verses of prophecy. This has not happened yet: not by any means. It should happen now, but unfortunately it appears that most of the kings of the earth do not praise the Lord in age in which we live. Jesus will change that. He is the King of kings. When Jesus returns and destroys the armies of the antichrist, Jesus will rule from the throne of David in Israel, and every knee shall bow to Him and every tongue shall confess, including the kings of the earth. It says at the end of verse five, “great is the glory of the LORD.” His glory will be revealed to all.

The Bible says in Psalm 138:6, “Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.” It is amazing how proud some humans can be. It seems that people easily forget that they are mortal and almost nothing compared to God. Also, people create systems, and titles, and positions, and honors for each other where they think they are high, and their accomplishments make them proud. God is all-powerful. We have little or no power at all. God is wise. He is the Ancient of Days. We are foolish, and we know almost nothing about all that is. God is holy, and we are sinful. Jesus is eternal. He is the First and the Last, and yet our days on this earth span but a few years at best. It is an understatement to say that God is “high” above each of us. And yet many mere mortals are proud and high-minded. Some of them we call the “elites” because they live in a world of their own and look down on the rest of us. Even in Christian circles instead of being brothers and sisters in Christ, they create titles and positions where just a few are high above everyone else, or so they think. God is afar off from the proud ones because they do not see their true need of Him. God has “respect unto the lowly” because the lowly are honest about themselves, and the lowly are the ones who are more likely to see their need of the Savior each day.

The Bible says in Psalm 138:7, “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.” If you believe in the Lord Jesus and follow Him, you will have enemies no matter where you are on this earth. Jesus said to the church at Smyrna in Revelation chapter two that they might very have to die for Christ. That is the kind of enemies that some Christians will have: the kind who will kill you because they hate you. Hatred leads to murder. In thinking of such a possibility, the Psalmist turned to God. God is the author of life. God will keep you alive as long as He wants you to be alive. If Jesus wants you to die for Him, then so be it. Everyone is going to die anyway. It is better to die for Christ than for any other reason, and He will reward you with the crown of life. Make sure you die praying for your enemies and trusting in the Lord. Jesus said in Revelation 2:10, “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”

The Bible says in Psalm 138:8, “The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.” The Lord has a plan for every Christian. His plan is to make you perfect. Once you accept Jesus as your Savior, God starts working on His plan for you. Some people think that God’s plan for you has to do with what you do and where you go. That is a part of it, but the more important part has to do with who you are as a believer and as a follower of Jesus. The Lord wants you to grow in Christ. That is one reason that even failures lead to success spiritually speaking by the hand of God. He is changing us into the image of Christ “from glory to glory.” Once we leave this world and go to be with Jesus, God’s plan will be completed. We will be perfect. We will be like Christ. We will see Him. It will happen for one great reason: His mercy “endureth for ever.” He will not forsake the work of His own hands. We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.

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