(Psalm 138) A Psalm of David
“A God Who Hears, Who Acts, Who Purposes”
(Psalm 138) 1. “I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing your praise. 2. I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. 3. When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stout-hearted. 4. May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD, when they hear the words of your mouth. 5. May they sing of the ways of the LORD, for the glory of the LORD is great. 6. Though the LORD is on high, He looks upon the lowly, but the proud He knows from afar. 7. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me. 8. The LORD will fulfil His purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever—do not abandon the works of your hands.”
If anyone had reasons to praise God it was David. Time and time again in the psalms he praises the LORD with a thankful heart for the great deliverances in the past when he was passing through the deep and dark valleys of dangerous and threatening situations, through times of depression, times of feeling alone, in times of destress when it seemed his enemies would triumph over him and when it seemed God was not listening and the answers to David’s prayers were delayed.
However, he clung to the LORD in times of great distress and drew his spiritual sustenance from Him alone and comforted himself in the LORD (1 Samuel 30:6). In the psalms David wrote he always said; “I will praise the LORD” and often in adverse situations which did not facilitate praise and thankfulness humanly speaking but evoked fear and anxiety in David. His will was involved even when feelings were absent and anxiety was present deep down on the inside of him.
Praising God is primarily an act of the will but when the will is exercised by faith, even though feelings and emotions are absent, it gets God’s ear and pleases Him (Hebrews 11:6). Our emotions are fickle at the best of times and transient yet the right kind of emotions will follow the action of our will as we develop the habit of praise with a thankful heart. Praise offered in faith accompanied by transparency with the LORD will always get a favourable response from Him because His ears are always open to the cries of His saints.
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