Are you looking for a powerful prayer of praise to the Lord? Psalm 138 is one of the best examples you can find in the Bible and today, in Your Online Bible, we are going to discover its full meaning. Are you going to miss it?
Psalm 138 kjv
On many occasions, we Christians have a deep need to openly show our love to God, although we do not always find the right words to do so.
Our Lord has given us life and a beacon to follow, and we should be eternally grateful for that. Psalm 138 of the Bible brings out all these feelings with amazing strength, so if you are looking for inspiration to thank God for all the love, here is a very valuable source.
In this article you will find a biblical commentary on Psalm 138, analyzing the meaning of all its verses, as well as all the facts that surround this beautiful text and that will help you understand it much better. Use this article if you like as a reading for prayer and reflection, thus escaping from your day-to-day worries for a moment.
Here we will not make an exception, and we suggest you first listen to Psalm 138 in the video below. Enjoy listening to God’s Word with an open heart and get ready to study Psalm 138.
Psalm 138 complete in English and large print
To serve as a guide during the audition, or to simply review and reread what you have heard, you can now find Psalm 138 in English and large print.
We have chosen to use the Psalm 138 King James version, since these are the most faithful translations of the Bible in our language.
Thanksgiving for Jehovah’s favor
Psalm of David.
1 I will praise you with all my heart;
Before the gods I will sing psalms to you.
2 I will prostrate myself toward your holy temple,
And I will praise your name for your mercy and your faithfulness;
For thou hast magnified thy name, and thy word above all things.
3 On the day I cried, you answered me;
You strengthened me with vigor in my soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD,
For they have heard the sayings of your mouth.
5 And they shall sing of the ways of Jehovah,
For the glory of the LORD is great.
6 For the LORD is exalted, and attends to the humble,
But to the haughty he looks from afar.
7 If I walk in the midst of trouble, you will revive me;
Against the wrath of my enemies you will stretch out your hand,
And your right hand will save me.
8 Jehovah will fulfill his purpose in me;
Your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever;
Do not forsake the work of your hands.
Meaning of Psalm 138 message
How are you finding Psalm 138 so far? It has made us deeply proud of being Christians and of the wonders of our religion. In particular, this psalm helps us to reaffirm our faith and remember why we love God and our brothers and sisters.
Now we will analyze each one of the verses of this psalm, so that your knowledge about it is complete, and you can share these teachings with all your loved ones. Here we go!
- Psalm 138:1
“I will praise you with all my heart;
Before the gods I will sing psalms to you.“
This first verse of the psalm already marks the beginning of what will be the theme of the psalm with great force. The praises to the Lord must be sincere and with the necessary desire to project our love to heaven; as it says: “with all my heart”.
The second part of the verse should not be taken literally, since like all of us, David firmly believed in the existence of one God. In this case, it is a metaphorical way of saying that David will preach the Lord’s message in front of pagan people who worship false gods, or even people who set themselves up as gods on earth because of their economic and political power.
This we must also do, since everyone must know the Word of God, even if they then freely decide not to follow its message. We are fortunate to have discovered the Lord and we must share his love with the rest of the world.
- Psalm 138:2
“I will prostrate myself toward your holy temple,
And I will praise your name for your mercy and your faithfulness;
For thou hast magnified thy name, and thy word above all things.”
In the second verse of Psalm 138, we find the first reasons why we should praise the Lord in the way we have been told in the previous verse.
Our Lord is merciful and faithful, and will never let us fall so low that we cannot get up. He is our guardian and we must have full confidence that he will never abandon us.
An example of this is the last phrase of this verse: the Lord is faithful to us through his word, which acquires a transcendental value. The Word of God is one of the greatest gifts that He gives us and that we should not waste.
- Psalm 138:3
“The day I cried out, you answered me;
You strengthened me with vigor in my soul.”
How many times have we sought refuge in prayer and there we have found the necessary push to move forward, the solution to our problems or an attentive listener who lets us open up without fear?
The Lord is always by our side, and He is always unconditional, for nothing comparable in the fragile promises that we human beings can make.
When we seek Him, we will find Him. Prayer and Bible study are the main tools to find God and strengthen our soul, so it is something we should never forget.
- Psalm 138:4
“All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Jehovah,
For they have heard the sayings of your mouth.”
To better understand this verse, we must know that at that time not many knew the Word of God and were faithful believers. At that time, only a few prophets had revealed the Lord’s message and there were many who still believed in multiple pagan gods.
Thus David makes a clear statement: there will come a day when all the people of the world, including the rulers of the nations, will believe in the Lord and praise Him, submitting their reigns to His Word.
Centuries later, Christianity is one of the religions with the largest number of followers worldwide and is official in many states. Simply by the power of God’s Word, people have been converted to Christianity and have passed on its message to later generations to this day.
- Psalm 138:5
“And they shall sing of the ways of Jehovah,
For the glory of the LORD is great.”
This expansion of God’s Word throughout the world allows people from very different backgrounds to share God’s love and the same objective. This creates a powerful bond that transcends cultures and political ideas.
The Lord is above territorial divisions and national conflicts, representing a message of union and fraternity among peoples.
- Psalm 138:6
“For Jehovah is exalted, and attends to the humble,
But to the haughty he looks afar off.”
Another reason why we should praise the Lord is because although He is great, He cares for all people, even those who do not have social recognition in their community and who live humbly giving their lives to others.
The riches of this life are fleeting, so why don’t we love the Lord with open hands and recognize that only the happiness of the spirit is important? Those who fail to do this and live clinging to material things will never enjoy all the goodness of the Lord and will live in unhappiness.
- Psalm 138:7
“If I walk in the midst of trouble, you will revive me;
Against the wrath of my enemies you will stretch out your hand,
And thy right hand shall save me.”
Given the reasons why we should praise the Lord, now we can only trust in Him and live according to His Word.
Only in this way will we achieve a life full of happiness with our loved ones and under God’s protection. The Lord will support us when we fall and will give us the necessary energy at all times to move forward.
- Psalm 138:8
“Jehovah will accomplish his purpose in me;
Your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever;
Do not forsake the work of your hands.”
Psalm 138 ends with a verse in which David shows full confidence in the Lord, without doubting in any way. This confidence that David has, we should have at all times in our lives.
That is what faith is all about. When someone asks us if we believe in the Lord, we should never hesitate and say yes emphatically. When we wake up, we should entrust our lives to the Lord and thank Him for a new day.
This sincere love for God should try to resemble the love that God gives us, even if, just because we are human, we can never achieve it. Even so, this should be the goal of all our actions.
Who wrote Psalm 138
There is no doubt among experts that this psalm was written by King David, besides the fact that this is specified in the title of the psalm.
In case you didn’t know, David was one of the most important biblical characters of the Old Testament, since his contributions were fundamental to lay the foundations that later culminated with the arrival of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Among his work, the composition of numerous psalms intended to educate and encourage his followers in the most complicated moments stands out. You should know that David and his entourage were expelled from Israel and persecuted for many years, always in danger.
All these psalms are collected in the Old Testament book entitled Book of Psalms, and many of them are used in the celebration of the Eucharist and among other occasions. When possible, they are sung rather than recited, giving them a very powerful solemn air.
Psalm 138 Prayer
After this detailed analysis of the verses of Psalm 138, we propose you to pray a prayer that will complete your knowledge of the psalm and bring you closer to God.
This sentence is carried out by Jorge Rampogna, with a masterful story line that will undoubtedly capture your attention and make you feel much better. Go for it!
This is the end of this article on Psalm 138 of the Bible. We hope that all the power it transmitted to us when we first encountered it, has also reached you through the texts and reflections.
Now you have a new prayer to praise the Lord that hopefully you will use at your convenience and share with your friends and family so that everyone can enjoy this wonderful text.
For our part, this has been all, and we say goodbye until the next article, thanking the Lord and especially you for reading our texts.
See you soon!