Psalm 98
Psalm
98 is a Psalm of David and gives us a glimpse into the heart of a man who had
dedicated his life to living in continual praise and thanksgiving to God.
This is a Psalm of public praise to God for his faithfulness in making and
keeping His promises and also for answered prayer.
It is directed as a prayer of offering of thanks to God for his constant
care. It is also a Psalm of heartfelt
worship and humble gratitude towards a God who is everlasting, compassionate
and faithful to keep his promises. In this expression of his gratitude, he has left us
all a worthy example of how we should respond to God’s wonderful deliverance.[1]
Vs 1a: “I will give you thanks with my whole heart”
– David publicly and unreservedly proclaims that he gives God thanks with his
whole heart.
Whole
heart –
inner part, inner man, mind, will soul… his whole being. David is not only giving ordinary or mundane
gratitude; he is not just giving lip service (empty or vain words) to God. According to John Calvin David’s heart is,
“one that is sincere and not double.” It
is a genuine heartfelt thankfulness. It
is much more than just saying a heartless, “Thanks”. All his power is devoted to blessing God.
Vs 1b “before the gods I sing praise” – He unashamedly
sings before the gods praise. The word
gods can be translated as angels, kings or the gods of the kings. It seems the most probable translation would
be “before the rulers and kings I will sing praise” since the Israelites were
monotheistic in worship.
Vs. 2a: “Bow down
toward your holy temple” – David prostrates himself in reverence toward the
tabernacle which represents the presence or dwelling place of God. He knew his proper place before an Almighty
God. He was not proud instead he was
humbled at the presence of God. This was
not the actual temple since the Temple had not been built yet, so it was
probably the tent or tabernacle that David bowing towards. It wasn’t a sign of idol worship either since
his prostration was not in reverence of the tent but the presence of the One in
the tent.
Vs. 2b: “I give
thanks for…” – Three things David gives thanks to God...
1)
His name –
God’s reputation, fame, and glory. His
name is who He is; the eternal one, the One who was, is and always has been.
2)
His steadfast
love – God’s continual mercy He shows to His people. His loving kindness.
3)
His
faithfulness – God has made promises and He is trustworthy to keep these
promises.
Above all God “exalts” or lifts
up on high his name (who He is) and his word (promises). It is important to God that He puts above all
else His reputation and His promises since the two go together. The meaning seems to be that He has not only
done what He said He would, but has done much more in addition.[2]
Vs. 3: “On the day
I called you answered…” – David praises God for his answered prayer. As a result of the answered prayer his faith
and spirit was strengthened in God. We are all encouraged or strengthened in faith when we actually
witness an answer to prayer. Answered prayer certainly builds our faith and encourages
us.
Vs 4 - 5: “All the kings of the earth…” – This is either a
prayer request or a confident expectation.
Regardless in David’s soul strengthening answered prayer he is confident
that there will be a day when all rulers will acknowledge God as Supreme
ruler.
Vs 6: “For the Lord is high,
he regards the low…” These are words of
comfort and encouragement to David and should be for us as well. As great, magnificent, awesome, amazing and
awe inspiring God still cares for the common person. He is a God who is for the broken,
humiliated, lowly and repentant.
We saw in Psalm 51 where David writes, “A broken spirit and a contrite heart the Lord will not despise.” Those who are humble and know their place before the Almighty God; He will remain close to and give regard to.
However the proud, self dependent, unrepentant and haughty person God will stay far from. He will remain distant because proud individuals see no need for God other than for personal gain or benefit (note he does not abandon them he just cannot get close to them, and not because he can’t but because the proud won’t let him come close). The proud are to proud to admit their failures, short comings or even acknowledge their sins. They come to God when things get tough and they can’t get themselves out of the predicament they are in.
Vs 7 –
8: “Though I walk in the midst of
trouble…” David speaks of God’s
protective hand in preserving him in times of danger and trouble. Even though his life is endangered by his
enemies God has remained faithful in providing protection for him.
“right hand of power” – God’s almighty and divine power in physical and spiritual salvation. It is only God who saves.
Psalm 138
(For us today)
Upon reading this Psalm it is nearly impossible for me to not respond with the same amount of gratitude and praise towards God as David. When I think back to when the Holy Spirit called me from the self centered sin infested life I was living and invited to become an adopted son of the Almighty God how can I not thank God with my whole being. A casual “thanks” is not enough to express the heartfelt gratitude I have towards the God who reached down and called me to be his child. It is not enough for me to give him lip service. I respond to God by giving him my whole being; my everything; I devote my life to serving Him (not as a way of trying to pay back what I could never pay back) but as an act of thanksgiving and gratitude.
I give God thanks for his faithfulness, his long-suffering, forbearance and mercy and I praise my God for who He is and what He represents. I am thankful that he calls me to humility. He calls me to be dependent on Him for my every need. There is no room for pride or boasting because I am completely reliant upon Him. There is no room for pride in my life because pride causes a separation between God and me. God looks favorably and delights in our humility and dependence on him and does not desire us to be prideful.
- James 4:6 “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- Matthew 23:12 “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
- Proverbs 29:23 “One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.”
- Mark 7:20-22 “And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.”
The
words of David ring true about the prideful.
Pride separates you and God. Very
rarely do you see a prideful person able to express gratitude and thankfulness
to people or to God. However the heart
of the humble can express gratitude and praise almost as second nature.
God is faithful. I can’t tell you how thankful I am for that truth. He has not failed me in any way in my life. Sure there were times when things did not go the way I had planned or hoped; but He has been faithful in fulfilling His purpose in my life. As followers of Christ I believe we have the responsibility and pleasure of living lives of gratitude and humility. We can never say, “Thank you” to God enough and we can never be too dependent on God. The things God has done for us are amazing and the things He has in store for us are just as astonishing so give him thanks for what He has done for you. If you honestly can’t think of anything to be thankful for (I believe there is not a single person in this room who can’t) then think of the gift of eternal and abundant life God has made available to you through Jesus Christ. Think of the great sacrifice Jesus made for you and me so we might be right with God and hopefully your response to God’s loving kindness and favor will be a life filled with gratitude and praise.
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