#DailyDevotion We Humbly Praise The Name Of The LORD For He Hears Us
Psalm 138 I thank You with all my heart. Before the false gods I sing to praise You 2and bow toward Your holy temple. I thank Your name because You are kind and faithful, and have made Your name and Your promise greater than everything. 3When I called, You answered me and made me bold and strong. 4All the kings on earth will thank You, O LORD, when they hear the words of Your mouth. 5They will sing of the LORD’s ways, that the LORD’s glory is great. 6The LORD is high above but He regards the lowly and knows a proud man from a distance, 7Even though I live in the middle of trouble, You keep me alive. You stretch out Your hand against my angry enemies, and Your right hand saves me. 8The LORD accomplishes His purpose for me. O LORD, You are merciful forever – don’t drop the work You started.
David gives thanks to the LORD with all his heart, i.e. everything that is in him, from the very center of his being. What a great call to praise the LORD. Do we praise our LORD Jesus Christ? Do we give Him thanks with all that is within us? If we understand all that He has done for us, we should and be thankful that we can.
Our translation has “false gods” and that is certainly an interpretation. The Hebrew just has gods. So we may have to wonder what gods these are. If David is referring to the gods of the nations then false gods would be a good translation. The other possibility is that elohim (God in the plural) is referring to the kings referred to later in the psalm. Elohim is sometimes used in the Hebrew to refer to those who stand in God’s place, kings, princes, judges, elders etc. cf. Rom. 13. I’m leaning towards kings, etc.. Before is another clue. Often “peni”–my face is used for before, particularly when talking about the divine. Here the word is “neged.”
So David praises the LORD before these fellows and bows towards the Temple where the LORD has placed His name. David gives thanks and praise to His name because He is kind and faithful. His name and promise is greater than anything. Promise is “imrah” which is an utterance of the LORD. God’s name and His promise give us access to the LORD which is why it is so great. We have been given the name of the LORD Jesus Christ, so we may have access to the Father as Jesus has promised in John 14 and 16. David had called upon the name of the LORD and He answered him. We are therefore encouraged to do the same. We also have the promise from Jesus that the Father hears us and answers us and we come to Him in Jesus’ name.
As David sings of the LORD before the kings that visit him, they too will join in singing the LORD’s praise. As the name of Jesus went forth, conquering hearts by His promise, the rulers of the world who heard and believed it became the children of Abraham and Sarah as the LORD promised them. They give thanks they have been given the word of God.
There is the praise of humility. Kings who have faith in the LORD are humble. Me who have faith in the LORD are humble and the LORD on high has regards for both. Those who are proud, the LORD only knows from a distance. They do not call upon Him.
David though is humble. He kept David alive in the midst of troubles. The LORD’s right hand saved him at the proper time. He raised the LORD Jesus Christ from the dead at the right time. The Father accomplished His purposes in David and our LORD Jesus Christ, His only-begotten Son. David prays the LORD continue His work on David, through David. Our LORD Jesus Christ committed Himself into the Father’s hand. How much more should we then place ourselves humbly in our Father’s hand, trusting Him to accomplish in and through us all that He has planned to do, even if it doesn’t look glorious to the world?
Heavenly Father, we praise Your name and the name of Your Son Jesus Christ for keeping Your Word and saving us. Give us lips that sing Your praise so others may hear it and join our chorus of humble thanksgiving. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.