How important to you is your name? No one wants to see their name fall into bad repute, to be tarnished, or dragged through the mud of some bad scandal. We tell our families to keep up the good reputation of the family name. No one wants their name said with scorn or a snicker. Instead, they want to be able to hold their head up with some degree of pride when their name is mentioned. The Lord God is particular in how His Name is used. One of the Ten Commandments is to not take the Lord’s Name in vain. We are not to misuse His Name in any way, as it is that important and sacred. With that in mind, would you think that He would put anything above His Name? Let’s see what our Psalm for today has to say.
Psalm 138, a short psalm by King David, is filled with praise and trust in the Lord God. He begins this hymn of praise by proclaiming that he will praise Him with his whole heart (vs 1). When it comes to God, David does not do anything half-heartedly. When it comes to praising Him, he gives it everything that he has. There is nothing casual about David’s worship of God. He has fully surrendered to Him. Neither does the king hold back in his praise of Yahweh for fear of offending anyone who worships another pagan deity. He knows those false gods are nothing, and he boldly sings before them praises to Yahweh, the one and only true God. Like David, we should not be ashamed to give wholehearted worship to the Lord, nor should we feel that we have to listen to the world when it tells us that we should keep quiet about the Lord Jesus because “there are other religions in this world”. David boldly proclaimed Yahweh before the pagans.
David continues by proclaiming he will worship the Lord towards His temple (vs. 2). The great Temple in Jerusalem had not yet been built in David’s day. His son and successor, King Solomon, would build the Temple. However, Yahweh was worshiped in the Tabernacle, and had been since the days of Moses. This was a temporary, transportable structure of curtains and poles, similar to a tent surrounded by a curtained courtyard. David would worship God in His earthly dwelling. He also praised God for His wonderful attributes, such as His loving kindness and His truth. God is truth (John 14:6), and there is nothing false about Him, so we can fully trust in Him. He also has loving mercy towards His children.
Next we read something that some might find surprising. That is that the Lord’s Word, the Bible, is magnified or exalted above even His Name (vs. 2). We know how much God honors His Name. As mentioned above, honoring His Name is one of the Ten Commandments. We pray to God in the Name of Jesus. Satan and the demons must obey the Name of Jesus (Luke 10:17). However, here we read that God exalts His Word, the Bible even above His Name, as revered as that is! God’s Word is exalted even above His reputation. This affirms the inspiration of the Scriptures. Every word of Scripture is God-breathed and authoritative (II Timothy 3:16).
David continues on to say that there will be universal praise given to Yahweh (vs. 4-6). All the kings of the earth will praise Him. We certainly don’t see that today! There are a number of rulers who violently oppose the worship of Jesus in their country. And most others, though they grant freedom of religion, have absolutely no regard for Him in their own life. However, there is coming a day when all rulers will acknowledge Jesus when He will reign over all, and all nations and rulers will bow before Him. Yet as we see, though God is exalted, He is willing to care for the humble (vs. 6).
David reminds us that there will be times when we go through trouble (vs. 7). He doesn’t say that there may be times we go through trouble, he states it as a matter of fact, we will face those times. But when we do, God will deliver us. No matter what our circumstances are, no matter how insurmountable the odds, God promises to save us in the very middle of our trouble.
As David comes to the end of his psalm, he states that God will perfect that which concerns him (vs. 8). God finishes what He starts. This echoes Philippians 1:6. He is faithful to complete His work in us. God has a purpose for our life, and He will fulfill that purpose. If we have entrusted our life to Him, we can rest in His promise to take care of us.
In closing, we see several important things that David has shared with us in his psalm. We learned that God’s Word is supreme. It is magnified even above His Name. David also shared how important it is to be bold in our public worship of Yahweh. Even in the presence of opposition, we need to stand firm. Then David reminds us that though He will be exalted by all rulers, God cares for the humble. Finally we can trust that God will fulfill His purpose in our lives.
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