Psalms 138:1 - Meaning and Application

David says how he will praise God, and then gives his reasons. He will do it with sincerity and zeal, with his whole heart, with all that is within him. His inward feelings and outward words will match. He will also praise God with freedom and boldness, even before kings, princes, and judges, or before any great men who are present. Praising God is nothing to be ashamed of, since it is the work of angels and the work of heaven.

He says, “I will worship toward your holy temple.” In David’s day, only the priests entered the temple, while the people worshiped by facing it from a distance. Christ is now our temple, and by faith we look to him as the Mediator, the one who brings us to God. Heaven is also God’s holy temple, and we should lift our hearts there whenever we pray. Our Father is in heaven.

David next tells why he will praise God. He praises God for the source of all his comfort, God’s lovingkindness and truth, his goodness and his promise. God is gracious in himself, and he has promised to be gracious to those who trust him. “You have magnified your word above all your name” means that God has made himself known in many ways, but most clearly through his word. His spoken judgments are shown to be greater than his works alone, because the wonders of grace are greater than the wonders of nature.

Some interpreters think this points to Christ, the eternal Word, and to his gospel. In that sense, God has made the gospel greater than the earlier ways he had shown himself to the fathers. He who honored the law has honored the gospel even more.

David also praises God for the help he received in trouble. He had been afflicted, and he remembers with gratitude the sweet fellowship he had with God then. He cried out in prayer, and God answered him by showing that his prayer was accepted and would be answered in due time. God’s promises and our prayers are how fellowship with him continues.

He also remembers the help God gave him inwardly. “You strengthened me with strength in my soul” means God gave him courage, patience, and faith. The answer came quickly, “in the day when I cried.” Those who deal with heaven by prayer are richly rewarded with quick returns. God often hears while we are still speaking. And the answer was spiritual, not merely outward. If God strengthens our souls to bear hardship, resist temptation, do our duties, hold fast to faith, keep peace in our minds, and wait patiently, then he has truly answered us.

David also hopes that his praise will influence others, especially kings. Since he was a king himself, he hoped that other rulers would be moved by his example and by what God had done for him. If kings become religious, their kingdoms will be better in every way. This may point to neighboring kings like Hiram, who came near David and later sought Solomon’s presence. It may also reach farther, to the calling of the Gentiles through Christ’s gospel.

The verse says that kings of the earth will hear God’s words, and then praise him. That is fitting, since all who hear his word and receive it in faith have reason to do so. It also says they will sing in the ways of the Lord, meaning they will rejoice in God’s providence and grace, even while walking in obedience. Those who walk in the Lord’s ways have reason to go on with cheerfulness, because those ways are pleasant. It brings great honor to God when kings walk in his ways and when all his people sing in them, showing the world that he is a good Master and that his service is its own reward.