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Psalm 138 Bible study: With my whole heart
Psalm 138 has one Hebrew verb for thanks three times: twice the psalmist's, then all the kings of the earth's (138:1-4). In 138:6 the LORD is high, and the WEB's the proud is a Hebrew word for high too: the lowly he sees, the proud he knows from afar. It ends on a prayer: "Don’t forsake the works of your own hands" (138:8).
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“The LORD will fulfill that which concerns me. Your loving kindness, LORD, endures forever. Don’t forsake the works of your own hands.”
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“Psalm 138 says all the kings of the earth will give the LORD thanks.”
Is that in Psalm 138, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
With my whole heart, before the gods
The title is "By David" (138:1), and it says no more than that about who speaks. Then the psalmist speaks to the LORD: "I will give you thanks with my whole heart. Before the gods, I will sing praises to you" (138:1) (tap thanks, gods, sing praises). "I will bow down toward your holy temple, and give thanks to your Name for your loving kindness and for your truth" (138:2) (tap bow down). Psalm 9 opens with the same Hebrew verb for give thanks and the same words for with my whole heart: "I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart" (Psalm 9:1). And Psalm 5 has the four Hebrew words of I will bow down toward your holy temple, where the WEB has "I will bow toward your holy temple" (Psalm 5:7).
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Psalm 138
That was a taste
The rest of Psalm 138 is waiting in Favor
- Thanks, three times, and the kings
- The LORD is high, and so are the proud
- Your hand, and the works of your own hands
- High, lowly and revive, in one verse of Isaiah
- The kings of the earth, in other psalms
- In the day that I called
- 6 questions as you read
- 13 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it
שָׁפָלshafalsay sha-FAL
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "low", and among its senses "humiliated" and "lowly". Strong's: "from 8213; depressed, literally or figuratively". 8213 is shafel, the verb of Psalm 113:6's stoops down, which Psalm 113's study sets out. "For though the LORD is high, yet he looks after the lowly" (138:6). The Hebrew Bible has shafal 19 times, and this is its only use in the Psalms. Isaiah has it twice in one verse, beside high and revive: "with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble" (Isaiah 57:15). Proverbs has it as "one of lowly spirit gains honor" (Proverbs 29:23).
For your group
Psalm 138 Bible study questions
- 1"I will give you thanks with my whole heart" (138:1). What would you thank God for with your whole heart this week?
- 2"In the day that I called, you answered me. You encouraged me with strength in my soul" (138:3). When have you called on God and found strength?
- 3"Though I walk in the middle of trouble, you will revive me" (138:7). Where are you walking in the middle of trouble right now, and what would it look like to be revived?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Psalm 138 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
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Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home