Psalms 138 (WEB)

Chapter Text

138:1 I will give you thanks with my whole heart. Before the gods, I will sing praises to you.

138:2 I will bow down toward your holy temple, and give thanks to your Name for your loving kindness and for your truth; for you have exalted your Name and your Word above all.

138:3 In the day that I called, you answered me. You encouraged me with strength in my soul.

138:4 All the kings of the earth will give you thanks, Yahweh, for they have heard the words of your mouth.

138:5 Yes, they will sing of the ways of Yahweh; for great is Yahweh’s glory.

138:6 For though Yahweh is high, yet he looks after the lowly; but the proud, he knows from afar.

138:7 Though I walk in the middle of trouble, you will revive me. You will stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies. Your right hand will save me.

138:8 Yahweh will fulfill that which concerns me; your loving kindness, Yahweh, endures forever. Don’t forsake the works of your own hands.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "called", "give", "thanks", "whole", "heart", "before", "gods", and "sing". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "called" and "give", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The local WEB text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "called" and "give" carries the first interpretive weight. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "called" and "give" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.