Psalm 138 and The Psalmist's Confidence in God

"Of David.
1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down towards your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;
for you have exalted your name and your word
above everything.
3 On the day I called, you answered me,
you increased my strength of soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord,
for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5 They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
for great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly;
but the haughty he perceives from far away.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures for ever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands."

Introduction

This simple and straightforward Psalm bubbles with confidence and optimism regarding God and the future. It isn't weighed down with all-consuming worries about enemies or with longings for return from exile. With the exception of a few translation difficulties in the Psalm, its meaning is transparent. This essay will outline the Psalm and focus on a few of the rich phrases in it. It can be broken down into three parts: (1) The Psalmist's Praise of God (1-3); (2) The Kings Praise God (4-6); (3) God's Protection of the Psalmist (7-8). At times it is nice just to have a Psalm which reads with the clarity and power of a bell pealing in the valley. We are almost seduced by its "ap-peal," and hope that life would be so straightforward. Of course, this clarity only lasts for a little while but we still are justified in luxuriating in it.

I. The Psalmist's Praise of God (1-3)

Let's only mention three things here. First, the Psalmist thanks God with his whole heart. That phrase has such powerful biblical resonance, esp. in Deuteronomy. "From there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and soul," (Deut. 4:29). "You shall love the Lord your Go with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might..." (Deut. 6:5). How do we tune the whole heart to sing God's praise? The Psalmist gives us some hints in these very verses. We attend God's "temple;" we give thanks with our lips; we call to God for help. The Psalmist is praising God for precisely the right things, i.e., God's steadfast love and faithfulness. These "mega" words are also celebrated throughout Scripture; they anchor the faith of Israel. For example, we have: "The Lord passed before him (Moses), and proclaimed, 'The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast loved and faithfulness" (Ex. 34:6). Thus, the Psalmist digs deeply into the soil of faith to locate his confidence and his life. Sometimes I think we would be well-served just to repeat the covenantal language of Scipture and ask our people what this language means to them. That, indeed, would inspire us to serve God with our whole heart.

Second, and more briefly, the Psalmist sings God's praise "before the gods" (v. 1). This is an unusual phrase, but is consistent with other Psalmic language (29:1) that recognizes a sort of heavenly "host" before the divine throne. Third, the translation of v. 2 is difficult. The Masoretic text literally reads, "because you have made great above all your name your word." That is, the MT emphasizes that the report (word) of God's deeds even exceeds the reach of the name of Yahweh. It is an interesting thought, though other versions of this passage tend to "make equal" the name and the word by putting an "and" between them. But if, as Handel has us sing, "Their sound has gone out unto all lands, and their words unto the ends of the world..," perhaps it is true that God's word stretches further than the divine name.

II. The Kings Praise God (4-6)

The Psalmist is not the only one praising God. So confident is he of God's word and name that he expects the kings of the earth to join in the chorus of praise to God. The Psalms are replete with references to the kings of the earth joining in praise to God. "Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth; sing praises to the Lord" (68:32). I love the "90s," as I call them, the collection of Psalms which urge the entire creation to praise God. Two will suffice. "O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth...Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples" (96:1,3). Or, a Psalm I learned as a boy, "Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with glandness; come into his presence with singing" (100:1-2). The Psalmist sees the day of ever-growing circles of praise directed to God.

The theme that the Psalmist picks up on, however, is not simply the divine praise in the abstract. God is to be praised because of the divine regard for the lowly (138:6). That is a theme that is appropriate for any age. A much more detailed reflection on the theme of God's care for the humble is in Ps. 113:5-9.

"Who is like the Lord our God,
who is seated on high,
who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?
He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes
with the princes of his people.
He gives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children..."

That theme is worth more than a mention.

III. God's Protection of the Psalmist (7-8)

The two ideas coming out of these last verses are the preservation of the Psalmist and the fulfilment of God's purpose in the Psalmist's life. Each phrase of these last two verses has Psalmist parallels. For example, we hear Ps. 23 in "Though I walk in the midst of trouble," or Ps. 136 in "your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever." Here the tradition buoys the Psalmist as he continues to ask for God's protection in his life. We can do no better at times than to repeat the well-crafted and confident phrases of the Psalms in our moments of distress. So many things get us "off course." We need the stability of predictable phrases and rhythms to bring us back to our center in God.

We need Psalm 138 in our lives. Especially just after we have heard the passage from Isaiah about divine judgment. Sometimes we need the confident and predictable nuances of biblical language to wash over us and bring us to health.

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