BIBLE CHAPTER STUDY
Psalms 138 — Thanksgiving and the Lowly Lifted
David vows wholehearted thanks, recalls God's answered prayer, and proclaims that the high LORD regards the lowly and perfects what concerns his people.
Scripture
1A Psalm of David. I will give thee thanks with my whole heart: Before the gods will I sing praises unto thee.
2I will worship toward thy holy temple, And give thanks unto thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
3In the day that I called thou answeredst me, Thou didst encourage me with strength in my soul.
4All the kings of the earth shall give thee thanks, O Jehovah, For they have heard the words of thy mouth.
5Yea, they shall sing of the ways of Jehovah; For great is the glory of Jehovah.
6For though Jehovah is high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly; But the haughty he knoweth from afar.
7Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me; Thou wilt stretch forth thy hand against the wrath of mine enemies, And thy right hand will save me.
8Jehovah will perfect that which concerneth me: Thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah, endureth for ever; Forsake not the works of thine own hands.
What this passage means
The psalm opens with public, unqualified worship: David will thank God with his whole heart and sing praise before the gods (v. 1). The setting before other gods shows the thanksgiving is meant to be witnessed, not hidden, so that rival powers overhear the praise due to Israel's God alone.
The middle section grounds that praise in two reasons: God's word has been magnified above every other revelation of his name (v. 2), and the day David called, God answered and strengthened his inner being (v. 3). What is celebrated is therefore both God's revealed speech and his responsive action toward the suppliant.
The final movement widens the horizon: kings of the earth will join the thanks once they hear God's words (vv. 4–5), because the high God still stoops to the lowly while knowing the haughty from afar (v. 6). Walking through trouble, David expects revival, deliverance from enemies, and the completion of God's work in him (vv. 7–8).
Context
Psalms 138 is a short Davidic psalm of thanksgiving that opens with public praise and ends with a closing plea that God not abandon the works of his hands (v. 8). Its setting before the gods (v. 1) and its vision of the kings of the earth giving thanks (v. 4) link private experience to a universal stage. The chapter note supplied for Psalms 138 only indicates that it was backfilled among remaining Psalms chapters outside the P0/P1 group, and no further context is provided.
Among the cross references offered, Isaiah 57:15 (high and lofty One who dwells with the contrite) and 1 Samuel 2:7–8 (the LORD who raises the poor from the dust) echo verse 6's contrast between the lowly and the haughty, while Psalms 113:5–6 supplies the same pattern of a God enthroned on high who nevertheless condescends to behold. Philippians 1:6 and 1 Thessalonians 5:24 align with the psalm's closing confidence that the LORD will perfect what concerns his servant.
Key words in the original
- H3034 The verb יָדָה (yāḏāh), glossed 'give ~ thanks', underlies David's opening vow to thank God. The entry's definition links the act to extending hands, an idiom that fits the bodily posture of public praise sketched in verse 1.
- H2617 The noun חֶסֶד (ḥeśeḏ), 'steadfast love', appears in verse 2 as the reason for giving thanks to God's name. The provided gloss frames it as kindness oriented toward God, the covenanted loyalty that the psalm celebrates.
- H7812 The verb in H7812 (transliterated ʾeštaḥăweh) is glossed 'bow down' and appears in verse 2 as David vows to worship toward God's holy temple. The entry defines it as a reflexive prostration, the bodily act that matches the inward vow of verse 1.
Related verses
- Philippians 1:6 Pairs naturally with the psalm's closing line that the LORD will perfect what concerns his servant; both texts locate the believer's assurance in God's ongoing completion of his own work.
- Isaiah 57:15 Mirrors verse 6's portrait of the high God who nevertheless stoops to the humble; both texts place the lofty One and the contrite spirit within the same dwelling.
- Psalms 113:5 Shares the psalm's opening question of who is like the LORD seated on high; read together, the two psalms frame God's exaltation of his word and his regard for the lowly as one act.
Common questions
Why does David say he will sing 'before the gods'?
Verse 1 places the praise in a public arena where other divine beings or authorities are present, so that the thanks rendered to Israel's God is witnessed by them as well as offered for them to overhear.
What does it mean that God has magnified his word above all his name (v. 2)?
The verse singles out God's word, his spoken promise and revelation, as the supreme disclosure of who he is, ranking it above any other way his name is made known.
How does verse 6 connect God's height with his care for the lowly?
The verse holds the two together without resolving the tension: the LORD is exalted, yet he bends down to the lowly, while the proud he perceives only from a distance, so that his majesty is shown precisely in his downward attention.