I will give You thanks with all my heart; I will sing praises to You before the gods.

Psalm 138 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing praises to You before the gods.
² I will bow down toward Your holy temple
And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.
³ On the day I called, You answered me;
You made me bold with strength in my soul.

⁴ All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, O Lord,
When they have heard the words of Your mouth.
⁵ And they will sing of the ways of the Lord,
For great is the glory of the Lord.
⁶ For though the Lord is exalted,
Yet He regards the lowly,
But the haughty He knows from afar.

⁷ Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.
⁸ The Lord will accomplish what concerns me;
Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

The psalmist ends saying:  Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me. The Lord will accomplish what concerns me; Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.   In Deuteronomy 31:6 God says:  “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”  In John 16:33 Jesus says:  “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”   In Matthew 28:20, He says:  “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”   All that God promised, Jesus fulfilled for us. He is the one who saves us from our enemies, even from the enemy of our soul.

The psalmist says:  I will give You thanks with all my heart; I will sing praises to You before the gods.  I will bow down toward Your holy temple
And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name. On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul.  In Matthew 22:37-38 Jesus says:  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment.”   In Luke 9:26 He says:  “Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”  It is not good that we love God and that we are thankful and praise Him in the sight of people and the gods of this world. It is necessary. It is not only expected, it is commanded. In John 14:15;23-24 Jesus says:  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”  God’s unchanging word and commandments may be diminished by our culture and society, but they are fulfilled and magnified by the name of Jesus. If we love Him, we too then should magnify the name of Jesus and the word of God. In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus declares, calls and commands us saying:  “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  As the psalmist says, our soul is strengthened, but it is our spirit, filled with the Holy Spirit which guides us and leads us; which enables and empowers us to be His light. In John 16:13 Jesus says:  “When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”  Regardless of the situation or the circumstance we face, when we yield to the Holy Spirit, He will answer. In Luke 12:12 Jesus says:  “The Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

The psalmist says:  All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, O Lord,
When they have heard the words of Your mouth. And they will sing of the ways of the Lord, For great is the glory of the Lord. For though the Lord is exalted, Yet He regards the lowly, But the haughty He knows from afar.  Philippians 2:10-11 says:  At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,  and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Every one, both near and far; the lowly and the mighty, will bow to and confess that Jesus is Lord. Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 60:1-3, saying:  “Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the Lord will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you. Nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.”   Jesus says:  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15) “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” (Luke 14:23)  “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)  “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”(Acts 1:7-8)  We may not know the time of Jesus return, but throughout history He has spoken and His word is unchanging.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. I will give You thanks with all my heart; I will sing praises to You before the gods.  I will bow down toward Your holy temple And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name. On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul.  Amen.