Have you ever wondered what it means to praise the Lord? To praise someone means to give them the attention they are due, or to show them admiration.
So, when we praise the Lord, we are giving Him the attention and the admiration that He is due. We are recognizing and telling Him how great He is.
We can praise the Lord through singing, through praying, through writing about Him, and many different ways.
Psalm 105:1–3 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; proclaim his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell about all his wondrous works! Boast in his holy name.”
When we praise the Lord, we call on His name, we proclaim His deeds, we sing to Him, we tell of His wondrous works, we boast (or brag) about Him, and more.
Today’s sermon comes from Psalm 138, and it offers several ways that we can praise God for His faithful love. Today’s message is entitled “The Faithful Love of God.”
Well, let’s learn about the faithful love of God. Before we do, let’s go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to speak to us.
(prayer)
Well, this psalm was written by David and it’s full of praise for God.
Let’s learn about three ways that we see praise for the faithful love of God in this psalm.
First, . . .
I. A praise of thanksgiving.
Now, we’re not talking about Thanksgiving the holiday here, although I love that holiday. Rather, we’re talking about the act of expressing thanks.
When we tell God that for which we are thankful, then we are showing thanksgiving.
Listen to the words of David in Psalm 138, starting in verses 1-3:
1 I will give you thanks with all my heart;
I will sing your praise before the heavenly beings.
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name
for your constant love and truth.
You have exalted your name
and your promise above everything else.
3 On the day I called, you answered me;
you increased strength within me.
David says, “I will give you thanks will all heart.” He says also that he will bow down and “give thanks” to the name of God.
Brothers and sisters, it is good, proper, and necessary for us to give thanks to the Lord. We should pray with thanksgiving, we should sing with thanksgiving, we should speak with thanksgiving, we should write with thanksgiving and more.
We should thank God for food and nourishment. We should thank God for shelter and clothing. We should thank God for our families. We should thank God for our church. We should thank God for the sunshine and the rain. We should thank God for rest. We should thank God for health and life. We should thank God for our jobs and our retirement. We should thank God for our country, state, county, and city. We should thank God for recreation and enjoyment. We should thank God for air conditioning and luxuries. We should thank God for peace and love. We should thank God for our very breath. Most of all, we should thank God for saving us from ours sins, rescuing us from death, and seating us in His heavenly kingdom.
In this passage, David is thanking God for His constant love and truth (verse 2), he is thanking God for answering His call (verse 3), and he is thanking God for increasing strength within him (also verse 3).
Notice two other characteristics of David’s praise.
First, notice at the end of verse 1, David says that he will praise God before the heavenly beings.
Some of your translations say “gods” rather than heavenly beings.
There’s discussion about whether the Hebrew language here is referring to angels, or the false gods worshiped by other nations, or even to highly powerful rulers on the earth.
However, the point here is that David is saying that God is more powerful, and he will praise God in the presence of all the other so-called powerful beings. God is the one worthy of praise! God is the one worthy of thanks! David is giving God the praise and thanksgiving that He is due. No other heavenly beings are due praise. No other kings or rulers are due praise. False gods are certainly not due praise. Only the Lord God is due praise!
Second, notice that David says in verse 2, “You have exalted your name and your promise above everything else.”
As David is thanking and praising God, part of what he is praising Him for is the reality that God exalts Himself and His ways above everything else.
You see, no one is more worthy of praise than God. No one is more worthy of exaltation than God.
God is so worthy of exaltation that He even exalts Himself.
What’s strange and wonderful all at the same time is that it’s not arrogant for God to exalt Himself because God is actually the only one who is fully worthy of being praised.
There is no one better for God to praise than Himself.
So, David recognizes the greatness of God and recognizes that God is worthy to be praised with a praise of thanksgiving for who He is and what He has done.
Second, we see . . .
II. A praise of truth.
One of the ways that we can praise God is by declaring the truth of who He is, declaring the truth of His ways, and declaring the truth of His Word.
So, you might say, “God, I praise you for sending your only Son, Jesus, and whoever believes in Him will have everlasting life.”
Or, “Lord, I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made in your image.”
Or, “God, I praise you because when I trust in you with all my heart, you will direct my paths.”
Listen to what David says in verses 4-6:
4 All the kings on earth will give you thanks, Lord,
when they hear what you have promised.
5 They will sing of the Lord’s ways,
for the Lord’s glory is great.
6 Though the Lord is exalted,
he takes note of the humble;
but he knows the haughty from a distance.
David says that all the kings of the earth will give thanks to the Lord.
Well, obviously, this is not the case one hundred percent of the time, right? There are a lot of bad kings, presidents, and rulers who do not praise God. So, what does this mean?
What David probably means is one of two truths, or perhaps both of these truths.
One, David probably means that many kings throughout the earth will witness the greatness of God through God’s people and will give Him thanks.
For example, we hear of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, saying in Daniel 4:37 “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and glorify the King of the heavens, because all his works are true and his ways are just. He is able to humble those who walk in pride.” This was a pagan, godless king, who was praising the one true living God because he witnessed God at work.
Second, David could also mean that one day eventually every king of the earth will be compelled to acknowledge and thank God for all that He deserves.
Indeed, we hear something very similar about not just kings but everyone, as we read the words of Paul in Philippians 2:10–11: “ . . . at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth— and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
So, David is praising God for the truth that God is worthy of glory and honor, and David says that one day others (indeed, kings) will recognize the greatness of God and they will thank Him for His work and sing of His ways, for His glory is great.
Then, as David lifts a praise concerning the truths of God, he gives us a sneak peek into the all-knowing and all-seeing greatness of God.
He says in verse 6 that even though God is highly exalted, He notices the humble.
So, even though the Lord is great, powerful, mighty, and majestic, He notices the humble, the lowly, the weak, and the needy.
Here’s the truth of who God is: not only does He notice the humble, He cares for them.
What’s more, David says in verse 6 that God knows the haughty from a distance.
Haughty means arrogant or proud; those who think a lot about themselves.
David said God notices these people from a distance. Indeed, a lot of people notice these people from a distance because they don’t stop bragging about themselves.
However, the truth about God is that He is the only one who is truly great. He is not impressed with the haughty, but He cares about the humble.
Indeed, James 4:6 says, “ . . . God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
God is against the arrogant, the haughty, and the proud; He resists them. However, He cares about the humble.
This is a praise of truth. God is great! God is worthy of the praise of the kings of the earth. God is exalted. And, even as God is great, He cares about the lowly people of the earth.
Here, we see a praise of truth.
Finally, we see . . .
III. A praise of trust.
Look at verses 7-8:
7 If I walk into the thick of danger,
you will preserve my life
from the anger of my enemies.
You will extend your hand;
your right hand will save me.
8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me.
Lord, your faithful love endures forever;
do not abandon the work of your hands.
One of the ways that David praises God, and one of the ways that we can praise God is when we express our trust in Him.
David says that when he is in the thick of danger, he can trust God to preserve his life.
David trusts God to extend His hand to save him.
David trusts that God will fulfill His purpose for him.
David trusts that God’s faithful love will endure forever.
Finally, David asks God not to abandon His work.
This last comment is sort of a rhetorical statement.
David doesn’t actually think that God is going to abandon His work. Rather, David is affirming what God is doing.
David is essentially saying, “Keep doing what you’re doing, God!”
You see, David has spent his life seeing that the Lord is good and faithful. God had proven Himself faithful and worthy of a praise of trust.
What about in your life? Has God proven Himself faithful to you? Is God worthy of your trust? If you agree with these statements, indicate by saying “Amen.”
Can you trust God with your job?
Can you trust God with your finances?
Can you trust God to direct your paths?
Can you trust God with your family?
Can you trust God to provide you joy?
Can you trust God with your heath and life? Can you trust God with your salvation? Can you trust God with your Christian walk? Can you trust God to prepare a home for you in heaven?
Can you trust God during the craziness of this world? Can you trust God to send His Son Jesus back to the earth to rescue us at the time He has appointed?
Can we trust God to take care of our church?
David trusted God, and so can you. David expressed a praise of trust, and so can you.
Let this bottom line summarize what we’re learning in Psalm 138.
Bottom Line: We should praise God for His faithful love.
God is worthy of our praise! We can praise Him with thanksgiving for all that He has done. We can praise Him in the truth of His greatness. We can praise Him with the trust that He is due.
God is great, He is exalted, and He is loving.
Verse 8 says, “Lord, your faithful love endures forever.”
Because He loves us, we can praise Him with thanksgiving. Because He loves us, we can praise His truth in the world. Because He loves us, we can praise Him with a praise of trust.
Let us commit to praise God for His enduring love!
Challenge yourself this week in the following ways:
Weekly Challenge #1 – Write a prayer of thanksgiving for God’s faithful love.
What would you like to say to God in a prayer of thanksgiving?
Perhaps take some time this week to write in a journal or in your phone how you would like to thank God for His faithful love.
Weekly Challenge #2 – Look for an opportunity to share God’s faithful love.
Are you grateful for God’s faithful love? Well, don’t keep it to yourself. Share it with someone else.
Look for an opportunity this week to share God’s faithful love with someone else. Show kindness. Tell someone how much God loves them. Share how Jesus can take away our sins.
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
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