Commentary - Psalm 138:1-3

Bird's-eye view

Psalm 138 is a royal hymn of thanksgiving, a robust and public declaration of personal gratitude from King David to his covenant Lord, Yahweh. The psalm begins with a personal resolve to give thanks (vv. 1-3), expands to a prophetic call for all the kings of the earth to join in that praise (vv. 4-5), and concludes with a statement of serene confidence in God's care for the humble and His ultimate purposes (vv. 6-8). Our section, the first three verses, lays the foundation for everything that follows. It establishes the nature of true worship: it is wholehearted, public, and directed toward God's dwelling place. It identifies the reason for true worship: God's covenant faithfulness, His lovingkindness and truth, which are supremely demonstrated in the magnification of His Word. And it grounds all of this in personal experience: David called, and God answered, not just by changing his circumstances, but by strengthening his soul.

This is not quiet, internal, sentimental gratitude. This is a bold, defiant, and official proclamation. It is praise offered "before the gods," a direct challenge to all rival claimants to power and authority. David, the king, knows who the King of kings is, and he is not ashamed to declare it in the heavenly court. The psalm is a powerful testimony to the interplay between God's grand promises and His intimate, personal intervention in the life of His servant.

Outline

Context In The Psalter

As a psalm "Of David," this song is rooted in the historical experiences of Israel's great king. While we cannot pinpoint the exact event that prompted it, the tone of deliverance and confidence suggests it was written after a significant trial where God proved His faithfulness. It stands as a model for all God's people, and especially for leaders, showing how to respond to God's saving acts. In the broader sweep of the Psalter, it is a psalm of confident hope. It looks forward to the day when all kings will recognize Yahweh, a theme that finds its ultimate fulfillment in the reign of David's greater Son, Jesus Christ. This is a song Jesus Himself would have sung, and it is a song the church sings as we await the full consummation of His kingdom, when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord.

Key Issues

A King's Thanksgiving

The Christian life is a life of gratitude, but it is a particular kind of gratitude. It is not a vague, free-floating optimism. It is a tough-minded, doctrinally-grounded, battle-tested thanksgiving. It is the kind of thanksgiving that can stand up in a hostile courtroom and give a reason for the hope that is within. David is the king, and this psalm is his royal testimony. He has seen the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, and he is now making a formal, public record of it. This is not just a feeling; it is a resolved action. "I will give thanks." This is the foundational duty and delight of the creature before his Creator, and especially of the redeemed before their Redeemer.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 I will give You thanks with all my heart; I will sing praises to You before the gods.

David begins with a declaration of intent, and the first thing he specifies is the totality of his worship. He will give thanks with all his heart. This is the opposite of the divided heart, the double-minded man who is unstable in all his ways. Wholehearted worship is the only kind of worship God accepts, because it is the only kind that is honest. It engages the entire person, the center of his being, his intellect, will, and affections. This is the first and great commandment applied to praise. Then he specifies the audience. He will sing praises "before the gods." This is a bold, confrontational statement. Who are these "gods" (elohim)? They could be the idols of the pagan nations, powerless blocks of wood and stone. They could be the powerful human rulers and magistrates of the earth. They could be the angelic beings, the members of the divine council. In any of these cases, the meaning is the same. David is declaring that Yahweh, and Yahweh alone, is the supreme reality. His praise of the true God is a direct refutation of all false gods and all pretenders to the throne. This is worship as warfare.

2 I will worship toward Your holy temple And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.

Worship has a direction. David bows "toward Your holy temple." Whether this was the tabernacle at the time or a prophetic look toward the temple Solomon would build, the principle is that worship is oriented toward the place where God has chosen to place His name and manifest His presence. For the Christian, we worship toward the heavenly temple, where our great High Priest, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. The basis for this worship is twofold: God's lovingkindness (hesed) and His truth (emet). These are the two great pillars of God's covenant character. His hesed is His steadfast, loyal, never-quitting covenant love. His emet is His faithfulness, His reliability, His truthfulness. He keeps His promises. And this leads to the astounding climax of the verse: "For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name." Some translations render this "above all Your name," and the meaning is much the same. God has made His promise, His revealed Word, the ultimate expression of His character. He has so identified Himself with His promises that His reputation, His very name, rests on their fulfillment. And how has He done this? He did it supremely in the incarnation. The Word became flesh. In Jesus Christ, God fulfilled His promises so completely and wonderfully that He actually enhanced His own reputation. The glory of God's name is most clearly seen in the keeping of His Word.

3 On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul.

Here the psalm pivots from the high theology of God's character to the firm ground of personal experience. This is not abstract praise. David is remembering a specific moment of crisis. "On the day I called." Prayer is not a shot in the dark; it is a cry to a God who hears. And God's response was immediate and effective: "You answered me." But notice the nature of the answer. David does not say, "You removed my enemies" or "You solved my problem." He might have done that as well, but the first and most important thing God did was internal. "You made me bold with strength in my soul." God's answer to prayer is often not a change in our circumstances but a change in us. He infuses the inner man with spiritual strength, courage, and fortitude. The Hebrew verb here can mean to "rouse" or "embolden." God stirred up David's soul and filled it with His own strength, enabling him to face the trial with confidence. This is a profound truth. Often we pray for God to take the load off our backs, when His plan is to strengthen our backs to carry the load for His glory. True deliverance begins in the soul.

Application

This psalm instructs us in the grammar of true Christian worship. First, our worship must be total. We are called to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and this must be reflected in our praise. We cannot hold back a corner of our heart for some other idol. We must come to God with an undivided allegiance, offering Him everything we are.

Second, our worship must be courageous. We live "before the gods" of secularism, materialism, and a thousand other modern idolatries. Our joyful and public praise of Jesus Christ is a direct challenge to their authority. We should not be timid Christians. Our singing, our prayers, and our testimony are declarations of war against the spiritual darkness of our age.

Third, our worship must be grounded in the Word. We thank God for His hesed and emet, His love and His truth, which are most perfectly revealed in His Word, the Bible, and in the Word made flesh, Jesus. The more we know of God's promises, and the more we see them fulfilled in Christ, the more fuel we will have for the fire of our praise. God has magnified His Word, and so should we.

Finally, we must remember that God answers prayer by strengthening our souls. When you are in a trial and you cry out to God, do not be discouraged if the trial remains. Look for His hand at work within you. Is He giving you a strength you did not have before? Is He replacing your fear with a holy boldness? That is the answer of a loving Father who is more interested in forging your character than in guaranteeing your comfort. He strengthens us in our soul, so that we might stand and praise Him, even, and especially, before the gods.