I will sing praises to You before the gods.

Psalm 138 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Favor.   A Psalm of David.

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 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.   Today. We as believers, should make the same declaration of thanksgiving and praise. Our culture and society has made gods of many things. We should sing praises to the God of creation in the presence of the gods of the world. God’s word is being fulfilled in our time. We are seeing the things which were spoken of by Jesus and the prophets unfolding day by day. Rather than causing us to worry or be fearful, like the psalmist, we should be made bold with strength in our souls. His word, His will and His plan is being magnified according to His name. All of His promises, from Genesis to Revelation are available to this generation. All the chaos in the world will result in the prayer of Jesus being answered, that Your kingdom come and Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. If that will be our prayer; our call to Him in these times, we can be assured that He will answer us on the day we call.

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.  Rather than seeking the destruction of those who oppose us, we should seek that these words are fulfilled, that all the kings of the earth will give thanks to the Lord. Romans 12:21 says:  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.  When we battle against the evil of the world in our own strength and on the world’s terms, we empower the very things we oppose. Ephesians 6:10-17 says:   Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and havingput on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.   The first thing we need to fight the battles of our culture and society is truth. Truth is the very thing our culture has looked to do away with. Today they say each person has their own truth. They say that truth depends on the individual’s belief and perspective. For us to stand for truth, we need to know truth. We need to gird ourselves with the truth of God’s word every day. The second thing we are to put on in our battle is the breastplate of righteousness. Along with truth, our culture has done away with righteousness. It says there is no sin, that each person can do what is right to them. The next thing, is that we are to walk in peace, declaring the gospel of peace. Again, from Romans 12:14-21 it says:  Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.  The coals we heap on our enemies are not to harm them. They are coals of conviction and refining; that they may be overcome by good. The sword of the Spirit; the word of God is to be our only offensive weapon in the battle of our times. So, our battle plan begins and ends with truth.

The psalmist says:  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.  We need to have that same confidence, that the Lord will accomplish what concerns us. 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 Psalm 37, the psalmist says:  Do not fret because of evildoers, Be not envious toward wrongdoers. For they will wither quickly like the grass And fade like the green herb.  Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.  Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing. For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land. Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; And you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there. But the humble will inherit the land And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity. The wicked plots against the righteous And gnashes at him with his teeth.  The Lord laughs at him, For He sees his day is coming. The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow To cast down the afflicted and the needy, To slay those who are upright in conduct.  Their sword will enter their own heart, And their bows will be broken…  

Amen. 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… Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.  Amen.