Sunday, January 18, 2015

Being Thankful With our "Whole Heart" (Psalm 138)

I was flipping through my Bible in search of a passage the other night and stumbled upon notes on a passage I don't remember making. Upon investigating closely, I had written notes all over Psalm 138. What follows are notes and reflections put together to share.  I feel God brought me back to this passage for reasons only He knows. Hope it encourages you.

David introduces Psalm 138 this way- "I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;" He was giving thanks to the Lord!  Notice with his "whole heart."  David said he would even do it before the "gods." This is simply a phrase referring to rulers who are in a sense little gods. Psalm 95:3 and 96:5 are perfect examples of the use of the term "god" in the Psalms to refer to rulers. Before all kings God is worthy of praise for He is greater than any king! This brings us into the first thing David gives thanks for.

He was thankful for God's name.

I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness - Psalm 138:2

He gives thanks to God's name (who He is at His core) because of His steadfast love and faithfulness.  This would draw us back to the words of God to those in Exodus. God's faithfulness is not something He gives, but it something He is. He is thanking God for being who He is. He also thanks God for what He has done.  He is thanking God for His character, which means he must have had something to inform this understanding.  God's word was what informed it.

He was thankful for God's word.

for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.
On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.
- Psalm 138:2-3

God has exalted above all things His name and His word. This means that the only thing as important as God's glory is His word. So David gives thanks for God's word. God's "answer" which "strengthened his soul."  The word of God is central for His people only because His glory is central. They are central because God Himself has exalted them to that position. David brings this more to the forefront for us as He goes on in verse 4 "All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth" What the kings saw in the Word lead them to worship God with thanks. What did they see? This is what David gave thanks for next:

He was thankful for God's ways.

and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar. - Psalm 138:5-6

The word of God led them to sing of the ways of the Lord! Notice also that the word of God was paramount for seeing the glory of God. The sunsets declare His glories, so how much louder does His word? David gives thanks in verse 6 for what God has done, regarded the lowly but not the proud (haughty). This gives us yet another insight into  David's core, his humility. The kings (including himself) are lowly in comparison to the King of kings! The Word, and the thanksgiving it brought in the soul of David, also brought humility and perspective which are the foundation for our worship.

This brought David to his last two reasons to thank the Lord with his "whole heart."

He was thankful for God's salvation.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. - Psalm 138:7

Notice, this thanksgiving didn't come when everything was peachy in the life of David, but as he walked through trouble. What sustained him though it? Thankfulness for God's salvation from enemies. While David was celebrating a literal delivery from his enemies, we celebrate our deliver from our ultimate enemy- sin and death. Christ conquered our enemies on the cross and has a gathered a humbled, thankful people to worship Him for it! We have ultimate grounds for thanksgiving regardless of what our current circumstance is because our final enemy- sin and death- sits today on death row awaiting execution! (1 Cor. 15:55) We gather to corporately worship in light of this glorious reality, which is the sharp end of the fork of God's Word which buds flowers of thanksgiving on humble soul (Matthew 13:23). David brings this thanksgiving to its climax and shows us that God's salvation is too the uttermost!

He was thankful for God's faithfulness.

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. - Psalm 138:8

Notice his confidence! God will fulfill His purpose. Not might. Will. God keeps His people for His glory and does not and will not forsake "the work of His hand." We are His workmanship twice over. First in creation, then in gospel recreation (Ephesians 2:10). How faithful He is to us! We remind ourselves of His faithfulness in our gathering around His word- to sing it, hear it, preach it.  We are reminded of it's pinnacle in baptism and the Lord's supper. Sunday morning is a reminder that God's name is supreme, God's promise is true, God's ways are glorious God's salvation has come, God's faithfulness will keep us -church- we have much to be thankful for as gather. Let us be so with our "whole heart."

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