Psalm 138
A psalm of David.
1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with all my heart;
I will sing your praises before the gods.
2 I bow before your holy Temple as I worship.
I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness;
for your promises are backed
by all the honor of your name.
3 As soon as I pray, you answer me;
you encourage me by giving me strength.
4 Every king in all the earth will thank you, Lord,
for all of them will hear your words.
5 Yes, they will sing about the Lord’s ways,
for the glory of the Lord is very great.
6 Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble,
but he keeps his distance from the proud.
7 Though I am surrounded by troubles,
you will protect me from the anger of my enemies.
You reach out your hand,
and the power of your right hand saves me.
8 The Lord will work out his plans for my life—
for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.
Don’t abandon me, for you made me.
So many truths spring out at me that remind me of Jesus, and I must confess that today I woke late and feel the pressure of time but I see Jesus all through the Psalm even if I fear my thoughts are less structured than usual. Bear with me please as I pull from the text where I see Jesus.
Although I could make a link with verse 1 it is verse 2 that says authority and kingship to me. I love that it is like a seal, or a treaty or a covenant, and we are given not only the promise but the surety of the promise in His name. Names mean something. Names are important, and Jesus revealed to us many things about His name. These were expanded upon and further explained to us by Paul and the other New Testament writers.
“There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.””
I”ll not paste here the entire passage but you would do well to read this passage in Hebrews to see more of what God says about the confident keeping of promises because of His name, which we learn is the name of King Jesus:
“For example, there was God's promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying:...”
And then the extraordinary verse 3 which has so much confidence and faith; I can’t imagine that David is using poetic hyperbole in this verse. It would serve no purpose to set such an expectation or to lie and brag about God’s reaction time to prayer if it were untrue. So any question on this has to be that we fail to understand the meaning or lack the faith to see that meaning. I am just going to take it at face value and believe that God can and does hear and answer prayer immediately. Now I need to accept that I may not know, like or see that answer, but God works and hears without fail and without delay.
I am reminded of Jesus' words about the activity of God the Father and of Jesus Himself.
“But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.””
If I can be confident that God is always working and that He hears my prayer and that He loves me, all of which Jesus has said in one way or another, then I can be confident that He answers immediately. I suppose that answer could be no, wait or yes and not as you imagined.
Verse 4 resonates with the affirmation given by the apostle Paul concerning Jesus in these two passages.
“For the Scriptures say, "'As surely as I live,' says the LORD, 'every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess and give praise to God.'"”
“10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Surely kings of the world are not excluded from these promises.
Verse 6 sounds like what Jesus' brother James wrote in chapter 4 of his letter and what Jesus' good friend Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:6.
And although I have shared various links, I am secondly very moved by Psalm 138:7 because it is so honest. And you might think that you will not have problems if God answers your prayer immediately and all the rulers of the world know His words but no, in this world you will have problems. And that’s exactly what Jesus said:
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.””
Listen friend, listen William’s heart, listen William’s family and friends, listen church, listen missionary, YOU WILL BE SURROUNDED BY TROUBLES.
“Though I am surrounded by troubles,” v.7
But Jesus doesn’t leave us in the midst of trouble without help. He comes to us in that place and helps us. Jesus the incarnate, the one sitting on the right hand of the Father is there for us interceding. He is taking action for us.
And then lastly for me today a phrase that I used to hear in my early Christian formation often:
“God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” Yes, I know that that isn’t exactly what verse 8 of Psalm 138 says, but that is what I hear. And I like it. I like the old phrase used often in evangelism, and I think for all the criticism that phrase has received through the years, it is true. David says essentially the same thing here.
“The LORD will work out his plans for my life— for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for you made me.”
Notice again that though David is confident, he still asks and adds the slight concern,
“don’t abandon me.”
William, brother or sister, the Lord WILL work out His plans for your life.
I find great comfort and honesty in this passage and I think it perfectly reflects the relationship Jesus offered to us through Himself as we read His words in the New Testament.
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| Handwritten Psalm 138 |
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