Today’s Passage: Psalm 138
David opens this psalm giving thanks with his whole heart, remembering the day he called and God answered him. He praises God for exalting His own imrah, pronounced im-RAH. Strong's H565, a spoken word, utterance, saying. David says that God has exalted both His name and His word above all else, and some older English heard the line even sharper, as His word magnified above His very name. Either way the claim is a bold one. What God has said is given the same weight as who God is. , and he closes it sure of one thing: that the LORD will finish what He has begun and will fulfill His purpose for him.
As you read, hold this: On the day I called, You answered me. The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me.
Psalm 138:1-3 (BSB)
Of David. ¹ I give You thanks with all my heart; before the gods I sing Your praises. ² I bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your loving devotion and Your faithfulness; You have exalted Your name and Your word above all else. ³ On the day I called, You answered me; You emboldened me and strengthened my soul.
So he gives his thanks openly, right there before the gods, bowing toward the holy temple and blessing God’s name for His loving devotion and His faithfulness. And he remembers the reason he can praise like this: on the day he called, God answered him, and strengthened his soul from the inside.
Context Before the gods
This phrase has been read in more than one way, as the idols of the nations, as the kings who appear in verse 4, or as the heavenly beings, and the Hebrew can carry any of them. The text itself does not settle the question. What is clear is where the thanks is given: in their very presence, and without a moment of hesitation.
Psalm 138:4-6 (BSB)
⁴ All the kings of the earth will give You thanks, O LORD, when they hear the words of Your mouth. ⁵ They will sing of the ways of the LORD, for the glory of the LORD is great. ⁶ Though the LORD is on high, He attends to the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar.
Now the praise widens out. Even the kings of the earth will give thanks when they hear the words of God’s mouth, and they will sing of His ways. And here is the wonder of it: though the LORD is high above all of them, He turns His attention to the lowly, while the proud He knows only from a distance.
Psalm 138:7-8 (BSB)
⁷ If I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve me from the anger of my foes; You extend Your hand, and Your right hand saves me. ⁸ The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me. O LORD, Your loving devotion endures forever—do not abandon the works of Your hands.
Study notes He will finish it
David speaks of walking into trouble and of foes closing in, and of God reaching out His hand to save him. Then comes a sentence that asks for nothing new at all: the LORD will fulfill His purpose for me. Right beside that quiet confidence he lays a plea, that God’s loving devotion would endure forever and that He would not abandon the works of His own hands. The confidence and the plea live together in the same breath.
"being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6 (BSB)
The One who began the good work will carry it through to the end. It is the same gospel David was already leaning on: on the day I called, You answered me, and the LORD will fulfill His purpose for me.
On the day I called, You answered me. The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me.