Psalms 138 - Praise / Psalm 138
Introduction: On the Run
Well, good evening, everybody. My name is Josh Hawley, and I have the privilege of serving as campus pastor at the Fig Garden Campus. I’ve been on staff for just over four months now, and I have the privilege of opening God’s Word to you tonight as we continue our series in the Book of Psalms. We are going to be in Psalm 138 tonight. If you have your Bibles, please turn there, or open up your tablets and phones as we continue in this series, He Is With Me.
As you are turning there, let’s look at a little bit of the context behind this psalm. Most Bible scholars believe it is a Psalm of David. King David wrote about half of the Psalms, and as we read through these eight verses, you will see that he is in the midst of serious trouble. In a sense, he is on the run for his life, speaking about the wrath of his enemies coming after him. We don’t know the exact situation, but from the text, there are two primary possibilities.
The first possibility is that he was a young man on the run from King Saul. Samuel the prophet had anointed David as king while Saul was still on the throne. Later on, Saul wasn’t too happy about that and flew into a jealous rage. Even though David had fought faithfully by his side in battle, killed Goliath, and married Saul’s daughter, Saul tried to kill him. David lived on the run, hiding in caves while Saul hunted him down.
The second possibility is that David was an older man who had already reigned as king, and his own son, Absalom, through trickery and treachery, stole the throne from him. David and those faithful to him literally had to flee for their lives out of Jerusalem as Absalom took the kingdom for a short time.
So it is one of those two situations. David is either running for his life because his father-in-law wants to kill him, or because his own son wants to kill him. It was not what you would call the best Father’s Day for King David. Most of us are just wondering where we are going to have our barbecue, while he has his father-in-law or his son trying to take his life. He was in a terrible situation.
Praise with All Your Heart
Yet, look at what David says first in the middle of this crisis.
Psalms 138:1-2 (NASB)
[A Psalm] of David. I will give You thanks with all my heart; I will sing praises to You before the gods. I will bow down 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.
Notice what David does first, and notice what we can learn from his life. If there is just one thought you take away from our time together tonight, let it be this: I can praise God with all that is happening in my life because He is with me as I go through it. David knew that God was with him in every circumstance—the good, the bad, and the ugly. His response was to praise God.
This is not a flippant attitude where we say, “Oh, as Christians, no matter what you’re going through, just put on a happy face and say God is good.” David knew his circumstances might not change right away, or maybe even at all. When we walk through dark valleys and seasons of despair, we experience real emotions. David had those very same feelings—depression, anxiety, fear, frustration, and deep sadness. We see those struggles throughout the Psalms. Yet, in the midst of all of it, David still found a way to lift his voice and praise God.
Look at how he praises God: “I will give you thanks with all my heart.” We might think of the “heart” as merely emotion, meaning he was really feeling it when he praised God. But in the Hebrew understanding, emotion is only a small part of the heart. The heart encompasses all of who we are on the inside. It includes our intellect, our will, the seat of our decision-making, our conscience, and our deepest desires. David is saying, “With all of who I am, I am thanking God. Even though I don’t necessarily understand what is happening, I will thank Him with everything in me.”
Sometimes our emotions simply do not line up with praise. We just don’t feel like praising God. David may have felt that exact same way, and that is where praise becomes a deliberate choice. Dallas Willard once said that feelings make excellent servants, but terrible masters. David allowed his feelings to be servants rather than masters.
You see a progression here: he gives thanks with all his heart, he sings praises, and he bows down. There is an internal attitude in his heart, expressed with his words as he sings praises, and demonstrated with his body as he bows down. He gives God all of who he is.
David mentions singing praises “before the gods.” This suggests an international context where people around him were worshiping idols and false gods. David resolves that he will still sing praises to the one true God, right in front of those false gods. He lived in a culture that said there were other solutions to turn to besides the Lord—that God was irrelevant, or even met with hostility.
He also says, “I will bow down toward Your holy temple.” The temple represents Jerusalem, the place of worship. David was physically distant from Jerusalem, separated from God’s people and the corporate place of worship. Geographically, he was far away, and perhaps in his heart, he even felt like God was distant. Yet, in the middle of a culture that claimed God was irrelevant, and in the middle of feeling distant, David still chose to bow down and lift his voice.
Some of you might be facing similar situations. You might feel severe opposition to what God wants to do in and through you. Maybe you feel like God is distant, or you are surrounded by people who are hostile or completely apathetic toward your faith. In those moments, when you face external opposition and internal turmoil, choosing to praise God is difficult. But David shows us that even when you are on the run from people you love, you can still choose to worship.
Why was David able to do this? He tells us in the second half of verse two: “For your lovingkindness and your truth, for you have magnified your word according to all your name.” David praises God for all of who God is. He doesn’t just pick and choose the attributes of God that he prefers. He praises God for His lovingkindness—His unconditional, covenant love—which we all love to celebrate. But he also praises God for His truth. God knows what is best for us. If God declares certain things to be right and wrong, we accept it because He is a God of love who knows what is best. If we only embrace the parts of God that suit our personal preferences, we will never be able to praise Him consistently when life gets hard.
David adds that God has magnified His Word according to His name. God is utterly faithful to His Word because He backs it up with His very character. We can trust His promises. Human beings might make promises with the best intentions and fail to keep them, but God always keeps His Word. David anchored his heart in the promises God made to Israel.
As New Testament followers of Jesus, we can stand firmly on the promises given to us in Christ. We know that to all who received Him, He gave the right to become children of God. We are adopted into His family and we belong.
Romans 8:1 (NASB)
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
We are not condemned, because Christ took our condemnation upon Himself on the cross. And as we step out to be His witnesses, we know the Holy Spirit empowers us and that God is with us wherever we go.
God Answers and Strengthens the Soul
David gives us another reason to praise God in verse three.
Psalms 138:3 (NASB)
On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul.
Think about that statement. The second half of the verse clarifies the first. When David called, God answered immediately. God hears us the moment we cry out. But notice what David did not say. He didn’t say, “You answered me and gave me everything on my prayer checklist, changing all my circumstances instantly.” Instead, he said, “You made me bold with strength in my soul.”
God does not always change our circumstances on our timetable, but He gives us what we need in the moment. He provides the strength, patience, and power to persevere. One of the primary ways we participate in this supernatural, inside-out transformation is simply by praising God. When we choose gratitude and lift up the name of Jesus, God strengthens our inner being as He answers our prayers.
Worthy of Universal Worship
In verses four and five, David points out that God alone is worthy of worship.
Psalms 138:4-5 (NASB)
All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, O LORD, When they have heard the words of Your mouth. And they will sing of the ways of the LORD, For great is the glory of the LORD.
David foresees a day when all the kings of the earth will bow down and worship the Lord. Whether David saw this through the lens of God delivering Israel and causing surrounding nations like Moab and Edom to take notice, or whether God gave him a prophetic glimpse into the end of the age, we know the ultimate fulfillment of this truth.
Philippians 2:10-11 (NASB)
so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
One day, every single person—every celebrity, every athlete in the NBA finals, every political leader, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, and even Donald Trump’s hair—will bow down before the name of Jesus. Everyone will give Him glory and praise. Knowing that one day every knee will bow, we have the privilege of choosing to praise the only One who can satisfy our souls right now.
God Cares for the Humble
In verse six, David highlights God’s posture toward the humble.
Psalms 138:6 (NASB)
For though the LORD is exalted, Yet He regards the lowly, But the haughty He knows from afar.
“Haughty” is an older word that simply means prideful or arrogant. It describes people who live as though they do not need God. You don’t have to wear arrogance on your sleeve to be haughty; it is simply living with the attitude that you can manage life on your own.
Human wisdom assumes that if God were to pay attention to anyone, He would favor the powerful, important, and self-sufficient. But scripture tells us the opposite. God keeps His distance from the proud, but He regards the lowly. As we learned in 1 Peter, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
This reminds me of something that happened in my dad’s life years ago. My dad is from Akron, Ohio, right near Cleveland. He has been a Cleveland sports fan his whole life, which is an entire sermon on suffering in itself. I picked up rooting for Cleveland teams too, so I’ve shared in that misery of watching franchise teams come so close and fall short.
When I was a little kid living in Cleveland, my family decided to move back to Fresno. My dad came out ahead of my mom, my sister, and me to find a house. My mom was originally from Pinedale, so he was looking in that area. But he couldn’t find a job, and our savings account began to dwindle rapidly. Back in Ohio, he had enjoyed a good, secure job working at the coliseum where they held concerts and basketball games. He was comfortable. Although he had put his faith in Christ earlier in life, he had drifted into a place of self-reliance. He hadn’t outright rejected God; life was just going well, money was coming in, and God didn’t seem all that necessary. Without realizing it, he had become prideful, living as if he didn’t need the Lord.
Suddenly, he found himself with no job, no income, a dwindling bank account, and his family on their way. Panicking, he got into his car and started driving back toward Ohio, ready to call the whole thing off. He ended up getting lost in the mountains, somewhere near Yosemite or Kings Canyon. Sitting alone in his car, it hit him: “There is a God, and I need Him.” He remembered his faith in Christ, cried out to God, and prayed, “Lord, I can’t do this on my own. Please help me.”
In the quietness of that car, he switched on the radio dial. It landed on a station he had never listened to before, and the very first words that came through the speakers were from a country-gospel song: “The angels in heaven rejoice when one sinner comes to repentance.”
God regards the lowly. The lowly person is simply someone who recognizes their deep need for God and admits they cannot do life without Him. We can praise God because He cares for the humble.
God Will Fulfill His Purpose
Finally, in verses seven and eight, David reminds us that no matter what comes against us, God is with us.
Psalms 138:7-8 (NASB)
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me. The LORD will accomplish what concerns me; Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.
David says, “Though I walk in the midst of trouble.” Notice that he is not immediately delivered out of the trouble; he is walking through it. Yet he knows God will revive him. David entrusts his battles to God. He recognizes that it is not his job to avenge himself against his enemies or save himself—that is God’s work.
David relies entirely on God’s everlasting lovingkindness. Human love can be fragile and conditional, lasting only as long as someone treats us well. But God’s love is unconditional, inexhaustible, and everlasting. We are the work of His hands.
Because of that love, we can trust that the Lord will accomplish what concerns us. Other translations render this as, “The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me.” We may not understand why difficult things happen to us or to the people we love. But we can rest in the truth that no one desires God’s best for your life more than God Himself. He has begun a good work in you, and He will bring it to completion.
The Scars of His Presence
When we walk through deep trials, whether from external opposition or internal brokenness and heartache, praising God brings profound healing to our souls. We discover that we can endure difficult seasons because He is right there beside us.
Dr. Paul Brand, a renowned medical missionary in India, once shared a story about visiting a classroom of lepers. When he first entered the room, the patients hid their hands under their clothing. They felt deeply ashamed of their damaged, leprous skin and could barely look him in the eye.
Dr. Brand began to speak to them about Jesus Christ. He shared the message of God’s love, explaining how Jesus went to the cross to bear our sins, allowing nails to be driven through His hands and feet. He pointed out that even in His resurrected body, Jesus chose to keep the scars in His hands as an eternal testament to His love for us.
As Dr. Brand turned to write on the board, he heard movement behind him. When he turned back, every person in that room was standing. They had brought their hands out from hiding and placed them together in the traditional namaste posture of honor and worship. They were no longer ashamed to reveal their scarred, wounded hands because they realized their God loved them so much that He chose to identify with them in their brokenness.
That is the God who walks with us. In the midst of our pain and trouble, He has stepped into our reality. He bears the scars of the cross and the power of the resurrection so that He can meet us right where we are. We can praise Him in all things because He is with us.
Let’s pray together.
Father, thank You that no matter what we face, and no matter what is happening in our lives, we can praise You because You are with us. Help us to live in that truth and encourage one another with it this week. In Jesus’ name, Amen.