Psalms 138:6 - Meaning and Application

David comforts himself with three things here.

First, he rests in God’s favor toward humble people (Psalm 138:6). The Lord is high, and he does not need anything from his creatures or gain anything from them. Yet he looks with favor on the lowly. He gives them his gracious attention, and in time he will honor them, while he keeps the proud at a distance. He knows the proud, but he does not approve of them or accept them, no matter how much they claim his favor. Dr. Hammond takes this as a summary of the gospel the kings of the earth will hear and welcome, that repentant sinners are accepted by God, but stubborn, unrepentant sinners are cast out, as seen in the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18).

Second, David trusts God to care for his afflicted and mistreated people (Psalm 138:7). David, though a great and godly man, expects to walk through trouble, yet he still has hope. When his spirit is close to failing, God will revive him and make him calm and cheerful in the middle of his troubles. God’s comfort is strong enough to lift us up even when fear seems to drain us. God will also protect him and plead his cause. He will stretch out his hand, not to destroy David’s enemies, but to hold back their anger and set limits on it. In due time, God’s right hand will save him. As God has one hand to restrain his enemies, so he has another to save his own people. Christ is the right hand of the Lord, the one who saves all who serve him.

Third, David is sure that whatever good work God has begun for his people, he will finish it (Psalm 138:8). The Lord will complete what concerns David, especially what is most needed for him. God knows better than we do what truly matters. We worry about many things that are not really our concern, but God knows what is truly important to us (Matthew 6:32), and he will arrange it for our good. David is also thinking of what he himself should care most about, his duty to God and his happiness in God. If those things are what we are most set on, then God has begun a good work in us, and he who began it will finish it, as Paul says (Philippians 1:6).

David builds this confidence on God’s mercy, which lasts forever. He had already praised that mercy before (Psalm 13:6), so he can now trust it with greater confidence. If we give God the glory for his mercy, we may also take comfort in it for ourselves. Our hope of lasting to the end must rest, not on our own strength, because that will fail, but on God’s mercy, because that will not fail. It is a good prayer to say, “Lord, your mercy lasts forever; let me be a lasting proof of it.”

He also turns this confidence into prayer. Trust in God does not make prayer unnecessary, it makes prayer stronger. So he asks, “Do not forsake the work of your own hands.” Lord, I am the work of your hands, so do not leave me. My concerns are also your work, so do not stop caring for them. Whatever good is in us is the work of God’s own hands. He works in us both to want and to do what pleases him. That work will fail if he leaves it alone. But because God’s glory as the Lord is tied to finishing what he begins, we may pray with faith, “Lord, do not forsake it.” He loves his own people to the end, and God’s work is perfect.