Psalm 138
The sweet Psalmist of Israel was a ‘man after God’s own heart’. As for David’s heart, in verse 1 we read of his desire to praise the Lord with his ‘whole heart’. He lived in a hostile world, surrounded by enemy nations following strange gods. David was steadfast and faithful to the Lord and offered worship and praise unashamedly ‘before the gods’. This is an earthly scene. William McDonald suggests that in the context this means the earthly rulers; in a sense these earthly rulers are not distinguishable from the gods they followed. In verse 2, David knows the Lord. He praises the Divine attributes of lovingkindness and truth. God keeps His word and has surpassed all previous revelations of Himself in His promises to David. He had experienced a responsive, prayer – answering God, who strengthens in times of adversity (verse 3).
In verses 4-5 he looks forward in faith to a time of universal acknowledgement of the Lord. This must be a millennial scene as it states that the kings will ‘hear the words of thy mouth’ and ‘sing in the ways of the Lord’. We should not be surprised at how many references to the millennium we find in David’s songs. This is a crucial part of the fulfilment of the promises to David, that his kingdom shall be forever established through David’s greater Son, even our Lord Jesus Christ.
We learn more of the Divine character. In verse 5 David mentions His great glory; in verse 6 we understand His justice as He looks out for ‘the lowly’ and keeps an eye on their enemies (‘the proud’). He gives sustenance to His people when they are in difficulty He protects them from physical danger (verse 7). David knew that protection on so many occasions, the mighty saving hand of God, as and do we.
In verse 8 we find that David has confidence in the Lord. The Divine purposes are being worked out by One whose mercy ‘endureth forever’, One who will not leave him or forsake him. Let’s not misunderstand David’s prayer at the end of verse 8. It is not a plea of ‘forsake not’ as if that is a possibility. It is a prayer understanding the will of God that He will never forsake His people, as He promised to Joshua (Josh 1: 5), to his people by Moses (Deut 31:6) and to David. However, in our weakness there are times when our faith wavers and we do pray for things that we already possess. But the Lord is merciful to us and kind and reminds us of His promises and brings us comfort.
So we can apply this Psalm to our current scene, and link it with the exhortations in Heb 13:5 that we should be content with what we have because we have the Divine presence. And this gives us confidence ‘So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me’ (Heb 13:6).
Paul