Psalms / Chapter 138

Psalms 138

8 verses • Westminster Leningrad Codex

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

A psalm of David. The psalmist gives wholehearted thanks before the divine assembly, bowing toward God's temple and praising His name for faithful love and truth. God answered when he called and strengthened his soul. The psalm envisions all the kings of the earth praising the LORD when they hear His words, for though the LORD is exalted, He sees the lowly. The psalm closes with a confession of trust: the LORD will complete what He has begun, for His faithful love endures forever.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

This psalm bridges the personal and the cosmic. It begins with an individual giving thanks ('I give you thanks with all my heart') and ends with a universal vision of kings singing the LORD's praises. The key theological claim is in verse 6: the LORD is ram ('exalted, high') yet He sees the shafal ('lowly, humble') and knows the gavah ('proud, haughty') from a distance. Height in God's case produces not distance but attention to those below. The final verse contains one of the most theologically loaded statements in the Psalter: YHWH yigmor ba'adi ('the LORD will complete what concerns me') — God finishes what He starts.

Translation Friction

The phrase neged elohim in verse 1 ('before the gods' or 'before the divine beings') is ambiguous. It could mean 'before the heavenly court' (divine beings who witness human worship), 'before the judges' (human authorities), or 'before the idols' (in defiant contrast to false gods). The LXX translates it as 'before the angels.' The ambiguity is likely intentional — the psalmist's worship takes place in a cosmic arena, witnessed by whatever powers exist.

Connections

The statement 'You have exalted your word above all your name' (v. 2) is one of the most debated lines in the Psalms — it may mean that God's faithfulness to His promises exceeds even His reputation. The closing affirmation that God will not abandon the work of His hands (v. 8) echoes Philippians 1:6. The phrase chesed le-olam ('faithful love forever') connects this psalm to the Great Hallel of Psalm 136. The vision of kings praising God anticipates Psalm 148 and the universal worship themes of Isaiah 2:2-4.

Psalms 138:1

לְדָוִ֗ד אוֹדְךָ֥ בְכׇל־לִבִּ֑י נֶ֖גֶד אֱלֹהִ֣ים אֲזַמְּרֶֽךָּ׃

Of David. I give You thanks with all my heart; before the divine assembly I sing Your praise.

KJV I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The phrase neged elohim is one of the more contested expressions in the Psalms. We render it 'before the divine assembly' because the context of cosmic worship best fits the psalm's movement from individual thanks to universal recognition by kings. The psalmist's worship is not a private act but a declaration made before witnesses, both heavenly and earthly.
Psalms 138:2

אֶשְׁתַּחֲוֶ֨ה אֶל־הֵיכַ֪ל קׇדְשְׁךָ֡ וְאוֹדֶ֤ה אֶת־שְׁמֶ֗ךָ עַל־חַסְדְּךָ֥ וְעַל־אֲמִתֶּ֑ךָ כִּֽי־הִגְדַּ֥לְתָּ עַל־כׇּל־שִׁ֝מְךָ֗ אִמְרָתֶֽךָ׃

I bow toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your faithful love and Your truth, for You have exalted Your word above all Your name.

KJV I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

חַסְדְּךָ וְאֲמִתֶּךָ chasdekha ve-amittekha
"Your faithful love and Your truth" — loyal love + firmness, reliability, truth; covenant faithfulness + covenant stability

This pair — chesed ve-emet — is the classic biblical description of God's covenant character, first revealed in Exodus 34:6. Chesed is the active expression of love through loyalty; emet is the stability and reliability that makes that love trustworthy. Together they form the bedrock of Israel's confidence in God.

Translator Notes

  1. The clause ki higdalta al kol shimkha imratekha is one of the most debated lines in the Psalter. Some emend the text; the LXX reads differently. Taken as it stands in the MT, it says God has magnified His word (imrah, 'saying, promise') above His name (shem, 'name, reputation'). This may mean: God's specific covenant promises are the greatest thing about Him — greater even than His cosmic reputation. His reliability outshines His majesty.
Psalms 138:3

בְּי֣וֹם קָ֭רָאתִי וַֽתַּעֲנֵ֑נִי תַּרְהִבֵ֖נִי בְנַפְשִׁ֣י עֹֽז׃

On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul.

KJV In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The verb tarhiveni (from rahav, 'to be wide, spacious, bold') means God expanded or emboldened the psalmist's inner life. The image is spatial — a soul that was cramped by fear is made wide, spacious, bold. The word oz ('strength, power') specifies what fills the expanded space: not mere relief but actual strength.
Psalms 138:4

יוֹד֣וּךָ יְ֭הוָה כׇּל־מַלְכֵי־אָ֑רֶץ כִּ֥י שָׁ֝מְע֗וּ אִמְרֵי־פִֽיךָ׃

All the kings of the earth will give You thanks, LORD, for they have heard the words of Your mouth.

KJV All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The vision expands from one worshiper to all the kings of the earth — kol malkhei erets. The trigger for their worship is hearing: ki shamu imrei fikha ('for they have heard the words of Your mouth'). When God's words reach the nations, the nations respond with thanksgiving. This is a missionary vision — not of Israel going to the nations but of God's words reaching the nations' rulers.
Psalms 138:5

וְ֭יָשִׁירוּ בְּדַרְכֵ֣י יְהוָ֑ה כִּ֥י גָ֝ד֗וֹל כְּב֣וֹד יְהוָֽה׃

And they will sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD.

KJV Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The kings will not merely acknowledge God but will sing — ve-yashiru be-darkhei YHWH ('they will sing of/in the ways of the LORD'). The 'ways' (darkhei) are God's characteristic patterns of action — His justice, mercy, faithfulness. The reason is kavod YHWH ('the glory of the LORD'), which is great (gadol). When the nations see how God acts, they will sing about it.
Psalms 138:6

כִּי־רָ֣ם יְ֭הוָה וְשָׁפָ֣ל יִרְאֶ֑ה וְ֝גָבֹ֗הַּ מִמֶּרְחָ֥ק יְיֵדָֽע׃

Though the LORD is exalted, He sees the lowly, and the proud He knows from a distance.

KJV Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The verb yeyeda (from yada, 'to know') applied to the proud 'from a distance' is ambiguous: does God know about the proud from far away (omniscience) or does He keep them at a distance (relational remoteness)? The contrast with the lowly suggests the latter — God draws near to the humble and keeps the proud at a distance. The same theology appears in James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5.
Psalms 138:7

אִם־אֵלֵ֤ךְ ׀ בְּקֶ֥רֶב צָרָ֗ה תְּחַ֫יֵּ֥נִי עַ֤ל אַ֣ף אֹ֭יְבַי תִּשְׁלַ֣ח יָדֶ֑ךָ וְת֖וֹשִׁיעֵ֣נִי יְמִינֶֽךָ׃

Though I walk through the thick of trouble, You keep me alive. Against the rage of my enemies You stretch out Your hand, and Your right hand saves me.

KJV Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The phrase be-qerev tsarah ('in the midst of trouble') places the psalmist inside the trouble, not approaching it or remembering it but walking through it. The verb techayeni ('You keep me alive, You revive me') is from chayah ('to live') — in the thick of mortal danger, God sustains life. The right hand (yeminekha) is the hand of power and salvation throughout the Psalms.
Psalms 138:8

יְהוָ֤ה יִגְמֹ֬ר בַּעֲדִ֗י יְהוָ֣ה חַ֭סְדְּךָ לְעוֹלָ֑ם מַעֲשֵׂ֖י יָדֶ֣יךָ אַל־תֶּֽרֶף׃

The LORD will complete what concerns me. LORD, Your faithful love endures forever — do not let go of the works of Your hands.

KJV The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

יִגְמֹר yigmor
"will complete" — to complete, finish, accomplish, bring to an end, perfect

From gamar ('to complete'). Applied to God's work in a human life, it asserts that God is not a God of half-measures. What He begins, He finishes. This verb undergirds the entire psalm's confidence: the psalmist trusts not in his own ability to persevere but in God's commitment to finish what He started.

Translator Notes

  1. The verb teref (from raphah, 'to let go, to relax, to abandon') in the negative imperative al teref means 'do not release, do not let drop, do not abandon.' The image is of God holding something He has made and the psalmist asking Him not to open His hands. This is one of the most intimate images of divine care in the Psalter — God as the craftsman who will not discard His own work.
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