Psalm 138 - The Everlasting Work of God

Introduction: The God Who Finishes What He Begins

There’s something deeply satisfying about finishing a task. We take joy in completion, the sense that something begun in intention now stands whole. Yet every one of us knows the ache of unfinished things, abandoned plans, broken resolutions, unfulfilled hopes. Humanity begins much and completes little.

Psalm 138, however, introduces us to a God who never leaves His work half-done. David lifts a song of thanksgiving to the LORD who perfects all that He purposes.

“The LORD will accomplish what concerns me;Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting;Do not forsake the works of Your hands.” (v. 8)

This psalm is both personal and prophetic. It celebrates God’s steadfast love (hesed) and His unfailing truth (’emet), qualities that secure not only David’s life but the destiny of every covenant believer.

Let us walk through the psalm together and behold the Everlasting Work of God, seen in His enduring promises, His enduring presence, and His enduring purpose.

1. Enduring Promises — God’s Faithfulness Grounded in His Word (vv. 1–2)

“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.”

Verse 1 — Wholehearted, Public Praise

David begins not with complaint but with thanksgiving. “I will give You thanks with all my heart.” True worship demands the whole heart, no divided affections, no partial devotion. He sings “before the gods”, a courageous statement. Whether he means angelic beings, foreign rulers, or false idols, David refuses to hide his allegiance. His praise is public witness: The LORD alone is God.

Beloved, genuine faith always manifests in public confession. Jesus said, “Whoever confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father” (Matt 10:32). David’s open praise prefigures the believer’s witness in a skeptical world.

Verse 2a — Worship Directed toward God’s Dwelling

“I will bow down toward Your holy temple.” At this point in redemptive history the temple proper was not yet built, only the tabernacle stood. Yet David looks toward the symbolic dwelling of God’s presence. Worship is God-centered and God-ward; it bows the heart toward the place where His glory dwells.

For us, the direction of worship is not toward a building but toward a Person. Jesus declared, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). He is now the true Temple, the meeting place of God and man.

Verse 2b — The Reason for Thanksgiving

David names two attributes: “Your lovingkindness and Your truth. ”God’s hesed, steadfast covenant love, and His ’emet, absolute reliability, form the twin pillars of His faithfulness. Every promise God makes is rooted in His character. He cannot lie, and He will not cease to love His own.

Verse 2c — The Heart of the Verse: God’s Word Magnified

“For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.”

What does this mean? God has exalted His Word to the same height as His Name. His reputation is tied to His revelation. If His Word were to fail, His Name would be dishonored.

This statement reaches its fullest meaning in the incarnation. John writes, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). In Jesus Christ, the Name and the Word are one. The faithfulness of God is no longer merely spoken; it is embodied. In Him, “all the promises of God… are Yes and Amen” (2 Cor 1:20).

Application:

• When Scripture seems hard to believe, remember that God’s character stands behind every syllable.

• When your faith wavers, fix your gaze on Christ, the living Word magnified.

• And when the world tempts you to silence, sing before its idols: “Your lovingkindness and Your truth endure forever.”

2. Enduring Presence — God’s Nearness Amid Our Troubles (vv. 3–7)

Having praised God’s revealed faithfulness, David now recounts how that faithfulness met him personally. Verses 3–7 unfold a testimony of divine presence and sustaining grace.

Verse 3 — The Answered Cry

“On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul.”

David recalls a moment of prayer heard and answered. The result was not first external deliverance but internal courage. God “made me bold with strength in my soul.” This is how God often works, before changing our circumstances, He changes our hearts. Paul experienced the same in 2 Cor 12:9 when the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”

Beloved, every time you pray and rise with renewed peace, you have tasted this same miracle. The unseen hand of God strengthens the inner man (Eph 3:16).

Verses 4–5 — The Global Reach of God’s Glory

“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.”

David’s vision expands from personal experience to universal worship. He foresees a day when the rulers of nations will hear God’s Word and join the song of praise. This anticipates the Great Commission. When Christ rose from the dead, He sent His disciples to proclaim the gospel “to all the nations” (Matt 28:19). Through that message, the words of God’s mouth now reach kings and commoners alike.

Here the psalmist glimpses the missionary heartbeat of God, a promise ultimately fulfilled when every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord (Phil 2:10–11).

Application:

• When you share the gospel, you participate in this prophetic vision.

• Every act of witness is a small echo of verse 4 — spreading the knowledge of His glory among the nations.

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Verse 6 — The Transcendent and Immanent Lord

“For though the LORD is exalted, Yet He regards the lowly, But the haughty He knows from afar.”

Here lies one of Scripture’s most breathtaking truths: the high God stoops low. The Lord who reigns above the heavens bends to behold the humble.

Isaiah 57:15 echoes it:

“For thus says the high and exalted One… ‘I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit.’”

In Christ, this paradox becomes flesh. The eternal Son humbled Himself, taking the form of a servant (Phil 2:6-8). The infinitely exalted One became near to the lowly. Pride keeps us distant; humility draws us close. The proud are “known from afar”, God is aware of them but not intimate with them. The humble, however, enjoy His fellowship.

Application:

• Do you wish to sense God’s presence? Humble yourself before Him.

• When you feel small and unseen, remember — the high Lord sees you most clearly when you are bowed most low.

Verse 7 — Sustaining Grace in the Midst of Trouble

“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.”

Notice how personal and confident this is. Trouble surrounds him, yet God’s hand surrounds his trouble. The verbs move from revive (renew inwardly) to stretch forth (act outwardly) to save (deliver finally).

Throughout Scripture the “right hand” represents divine power (Exod 15:6; Ps 20:6). In the New Testament that right hand is revealed in the risen Christ, exalted to the Father’s throne (Acts 2:33).

The same hands that healed the blind and washed the disciples’ feet were pierced for our transgressions. Those hands now hold the believer eternally:

“No one will snatch them out of My hand.” (John 10:28)

Application:

• When life closes in, remember whose hand upholds you.

• When enemies oppose you, take refuge in the One who already conquered every foe.

• And when your strength fails, pray verse 7, “You will revive me.” He will.

3. Enduring Purpose — God’s Completion of His Redemptive Plan (v. 8)

“The LORD will accomplish what concerns me; Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.”

This final verse gathers the psalm into a single confession of confidence. The verb gamar (“accomplish”) means to bring to completion, to perfect, to finish. David rests in the assurance that the God who began His work will finish it.

“The LORD will accomplish what concerns me.”

This is covenantal confidence, not personal arrogance. The psalmist’s hope rests in the faithfulness of God, not the faithfulness of David.

Paul takes up this very language in Philippians 1:6:

“He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

The God of Psalm 138 is the God of Philippians 1. The work is His; the completion is certain.

“Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting.”

The ground of assurance is not human merit but divine mercy. God’s hesed, steadfast love, endures beyond time. It began in eternity past and stretches into eternity future.

Every believer is held within that unbreakable covenant love. Romans 8:39 declares that nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

“Do not forsake the works of Your hands.”

This final plea is not doubt but dependence. David knows that the same hands that formed him (Ps 139:13) and delivered him (Ps 18:35) must now preserve him.

In redemptive fulfillment, those hands belong to Christ. On the cross He cried, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt 27:46). He was forsaken so that this prayer could be answered for us forever.

Because He bore our God's wrath, we will never be abandoned.

Thus, the everlasting work of God culminates in the finished work of Christ. “It is finished” (John 19:30) is heaven’s guarantee that Psalm 138:8 is eternally true.

Application:

• In sanctification: Your progress may seem slow, but God’s purpose is sure. He is shaping Christ’s image in you (Rom 8:29).

• In suffering: Every trial is a tool in the Master’s hand — polishing His workmanship (Eph 2:10).

• In perseverance: Rest not in your resolve, but in His promise. The Lord will accomplish what concerns you.

Christ in Every Verse

Psalm 138 is more than David’s song; it is Christ’s song.

• He gave thanks with all His heart (v. 1).

• He magnified the Word and revealed the Father’s Name (v. 2).

• He called upon the Father and was strengthened (v. 3).

• Through His resurrection the nations now give thanks (vv. 4–5).

• The exalted Lord stooped to regard the lowly (v. 6).

• He walked in the midst of trouble, stretched out His hands, and saved His people (v. 7).

• And having finished the work, He guarantees that the Father will perfect all who are His (v. 8).

The psalm’s melody resolves in the Gospel: the everlasting work of God is the saving work of Christ.

Pastoral Reflections

1. For the Weary: God’s unfinished saints are still His masterpieces. Every stroke of providence is a brush in the Artist’s hand.

2. For the Doubting: When your grip loosens, His does not. The pierced hands that redeemed you will never release you.

3. For the Faithful Servant: Labor on, the Lord will accomplish what concerns His Church. Your work in Him is never in vain (1 Cor 15:58).

4. For the Unbeliever: The God who completes His work calls you to begin with Him today. Repent and believe the Gospel. Lay your unfinished, broken life in His hands, and He will make you new.

Conclusion: The Symphony God Will Finish

History is God’s symphony. Every discordant note of suffering will one day resolve into perfect harmony.

David ends,

“The LORD will accomplish what concerns me.”

That is not wishful thinking, it is covenantal certainty grounded in Christ’s cross and guaranteed by His resurrection.

One day, creation itself will echo this psalm as the redeemed stand complete in glory. The everlasting God will have finished His everlasting work.

Then we will look upon those nail-scarred hands and sing together,

“Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting; You have not forsaken the works of Your hands.”

And in that eternal moment, we will know, He never did.