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 toward thy people. For this worship and praise are for ever due!
Psalms 138:3. In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.
That is a thing to make a man King when in the day of trouble God comes to him, hears his prayer and works his deliverance, when none else can help. God's rescues demand our grateful songs: his deliverances our new anthems of exultant praise.
Psalms 138:4. All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth.
When thy gospel is preached, and they know it, they shall count it their honour to honour thee. It is ignorance of its glory and grace that makes silence possible: but to hear it as God's word of caring love is to be compelled to extol.
Psalms 138:5. Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord: for great is the glory of the LORD.
David was a king, and he danced before the ark, and he anticipated the time when other kings should not be ashamed of exuberant rejoicing in the King of kings. Oh, that it were come! May the Lord hasten it in his own time, and the choral hosts of heaven be swelled by the presence of the crowned monarchs of earth!
Psalms 138:6. Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly:
That is a sweet text. One who was a scoffer met a humble child of God one morning, and he said to him, «Tell me, is your God a great God or a little God,» and the poor man said, «Sir, he is both, for, though he is so great that the heaven of heavens cannot contain him, yet he makes himself so little that he condescends to dwell in my poor heart.» Ah, it was sweetly said. He who fills the heavens, nay all things, will be our abiding guest and friend if we will but welcome him.
Psalms 138:6. But the proud he knoweth afar off.
He has enough of them. He does not want them to come near to him. When they are miles away he knows all about them. They make a fair show, but he sees that it is all a fable and pretence. He knows them afar off!