Psalms 138:1

I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. Psalms 138:1 -David will praise God with his whole heart, for the Lord's wonderful promise exceeding all His earlier deeds, and such as the pagan gods had never fulfilled to their rotaries; this was in answer to prayer (Psalms 138:1). All kings shall praise Yahweh, because, though high, He respects the lowly (Psalms 138:4); therefore David is assured that Yahweh will revive in trouble, save, and perfect him (Psalms 138:7). A PSALM OF DAVID. This is one of the many psalms of David called forth...

1._I will praise thee with my whole heart _As David had been honored to receive distinguishing marks of the divine favor, he declares his resolution to show more than ordinary gratitude. This is exercise which degenerates and is degraded in the case of hypocrites to a mere sound of empty words, but he states that he would return thanks to God not with the lips only, but with sincerity of heart, for by the _whole heart, _as we have elsewhere seen, is meant a heart which is sincere and not double. The noun אלהים, _Elohim, _sometimes means _angels, _and sometimes _kings, _and either meaning will suit with the passage before us. The praise David speaks of is that which is of a public kind. The solemn assembly is, so to speak, a heavenly theater, graced by the presence of attending angels; and one reason why the cherubim overshadowed the Ark of the Covenant was to let God’s people know that t...

1-5 When we can praise God with our whole heart, we need not be unwilling for the whole world to witness our gratitude and joy in him. Those who rely on his loving-kindness and truth through Jesus Christ, will ever find him faithful to his word. If he spared not his own Son, how shall he not with him freely give us all things? If God gives us strength in our souls, to bear the burdens, resist the temptations, and to do the duties of an afflicted state, if he strengthens us to keep hold of himself by faith, and to wait with patience for the event, we are bound to be thankful....

PSALM CXXXVIII _The psalmist praises the Lord for his mercies to himself_, 1-3. _He foretells that the kings of the earth shall worship him_, 4, 5. _God's condescension to the humble_, 6. _The psalmist's confidence_, 7, 8. NOTES ON PSALM CXXXVIII The _Hebrew_ and all the _Versions_ attribute this Psalm to _David_, and it is supposed to have been made by him when, delivered from all his enemies, he was firmly seated on the throne of Israel. As the _Septuagint_ and _Arabic_ prefix also the names of _Haggai_ and _Zechariah_, it is probable that it was used by the Jews as a _form_ of thanksg

I WILL PRAISE THEE WITH MY WHOLE HEART - Reserving nothing m my heart to give to idols or to other gods. All that constitutes praise to God as God, he would address to him alone. He would use no language, and cherish no feeling, which implied a belief that there was any other God; he would indulge in no attachment which would be inconsistent with supreme attachment to God, or which would tend to draw away his affections from him. See the notes at Psalms 9:1. BEFORE THE GODS WILL I SING PRAISE UNTO THEE - The idols; all idols; in preference to them all. This does not mean that he would do this in the presence of other gods; but that Yahweh should be acknowledged to be God in preference to any or all of them....

EXPOSITION A CLUSTER of Davidical psalms here follows. It is not easy to trace any single line of thought connecting them all, or to explain how they come to be so entirely separated from the great bulk of the Davidical psalms. The first two are, in the main, psalms of praise; the next four, psalms of supplication; in Psalms 146:1, praise and supplication are blended; while in Psalms 145:1. praise again forms the main, if not the sole, topic of the composition. It is a fanciful exegesis, which sees in all the eight psalms reflections upon the promise made to David in 2 Samuel 7:1. Psalms

I WILL PRAISE THEE WITH MY WHOLE HEART,.... Cordially and sincerely, in the uprightness and integrity of his heart; which denotes not the perfection of his service, but the sincerity of it; his heart was in it, and his whole heart; all the powers and faculties of his soul were engaged in it, being deeply sensible of the great favours and high honours bestowed upon him; and though the object of praise, to whom he was obliged for them, is not so fully expressed; yet is easily understood to be Jehovah, the Being of beings, the Father of mercies, even Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit, and especially the Messiah; see Psalms 111:1; BEFORE THE GODS WILL I SING PRAISE UNTO THEE; before the princes, as Jarchi; before the kings, as the Syriac version; with which agrees Psa

A Psalm of David. Psalms 138:1. _I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee._ Before the heathen gods, however highly exalted I will sing thy praises so in their very teeth; and the magistrates and princes and kings who think themselves gods on earth I will not fear them or be silenced by them. Psalms 138:2. _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._ For thou wert far more glorious in revelation than in creation thy promise did greatly transcend every other display of thyself above all we have ever known or conceived of thee. Thou hast magnified thyself by thy covenant of grace, and thy works of grace

Psalms 138 A Psalm of Deliverance This is a Psalm of David giving praise to the Lord for deliverance. The harp is now no more hanging idle on the willows, but is tuned afresh to praise His Name. It is not alone David's praise who cried and the Lord answered him, it is the praise of Israel for accomplished deliverance from the exile and therefore the kings of the earth are also mentioned. “All the kings of the earth shall praise Thee O LORD, when they hear the words of Thy mouth.”...

CXXXVIII. PSALMS 138:1. The Psalmist praises Yahweh, in spite of the false gods and their worshippers, for His grace and fidelity to himself in trouble. PSALMS 138:2_ c._ Omit thy word (so LXX), and read simply, Thou hast magnified thy name above all. Psalms 138:3_ b._ The text is very doubtful. Read perhaps (_cf._ LXX), Thou makest thy strength great in my soul. PSALMS 138:4. Even the kings of the earth shall sing Yahweh's ways, those ways by which He withdraws from the proud and reserves His intimacy for the lowly....