Prepare
Opening Prayer
Thank God as our attentive Father and ask him to strengthen and embolden our souls with joy and confidence in Christ.
Read
Scripture Passage
Psalm 138
The Lord’s Goodness to the Faithful
A Psalm of David.
1 I will praise You with my whole heart;
Before the gods I will sing praises to You.
2 I will worship toward Your holy temple,
And praise Your name
For Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.
3 In the day when I cried out, You answered me,
And made me bold with strength in my soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O Lord,
When they hear the words of Your mouth.
5 Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
For great is the glory of the Lord.
6 Though the Lord is on high,
Yet He regards the lowly;
But the proud He knows from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
You will stretch out Your hand
Against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.
8 The Lord will perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ps 138.
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
Psalm 138 praises God's goodness and faithfulness: the exalted King hears the lowly, answers prayer, strengthens the soul, revives his people in trouble, and completes his merciful purpose for them.
B — Best Verse
A Verse That Summarizes the Passage
Psalm 138:7–8
Distilled from the devotional exposition; the speaker did not explicitly name a best verse.
though i walk in the midst of trouble you will revive me though you will stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies and your right hand will save me the lord will perfect that which concerns me your mercy o lord endures forever
No explicit Best Verse selection appears. These closing promises are distilled because Bryan centers his application on God's reviving care in trouble and enduring mercy toward his children.
C — Called or Christ
C — Called to Do
Praise God in hostile surroundings, cry to him, meditate on his goodness, lift your eyes to Jesus in every trial, and take confidence that the Father hears and cares for his children.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
and see if this will go live give me give me one minute here let me see if this is gonna work all right oh we are just about ready all right well good evening and welcome to coffee and devotions this is where every day we get together we get into god's word and we've grown our love for the lord together and this year 2021 we'll make it through all the wisdom literature well thanks so much for joining i'm sorry if you just watched the last video and things get a little bit messed up we're here at synod in indiana and so things are going to be a little bit erratic as i try to get people to join me for coffee and devotions in the middle of meetings so why don't we go ahead and pray and we'll read god's word father we thank you so much for this day and we thank you for your word we pray now that as we read your word that you would bless us and that you would care for us that your word would be a balm to our souls that we might know your love in jesus name amen all right why don't we go ahead and turn over to psalm 138 psalm 138 a psalm of david i will praise you with my whole heart before the gods i will sing praises to you i will worship toward your holy temple and praise your name for your loving kindness and your truth for you have magnified your word above all your name in the day when i cried out you answered me and made me bold with strength in my soul all the kings of the earth shall praise you o lord when they hear the words of your mouth yes they shall sing of the ways of the lord for great is the glory of the lord though the lord is on high yet he regards the lowly but he produced but the proud he knows from afar though i walk in the midst of trouble you will revive me though you will stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies and your right hand will save me the lord will perfect that which concerns me your mercy o lord endures forever do not forsake the work of your hands this is an amazing psalm one that comes right after psalm 137 where the psalmists were in babylon they hung up their harps on the trees they were despondent in their souls longing for their homeland and here they remind themselves that god remembers them what is this about this is a psalm about god's goodness and faithfulness to his people i will praise you with my whole fart before the gods i will sing praises to you right as they're in this pagan land as they're in this land full of idolatry even as david is surrounded by canaanite kings and people that would want to kill him i'll praise you i still praise you i'll praise your name for your for your loving kindness and your truth for you have magnified your word above all your name and the day when i cried out you answered me and you made me bold with strength in my soul see when we look to god and we praise him he gives us strength in our soul when we take our eyes off of the current present situation and remember that he regards us even though he created the universe he remembers me and he remembers you he cares for us that gives us strength notice what it says though i walk in the midst of trouble you revive me the lord is on high that he regards the lowly brings our mind back to another psalm doesn't it psalm 23 with the lord being our shepherd the lord loves his people the lord cares for his people the lord revives our soul the lord cares for us and we can find comfort in him and so i pray tonight as you go to bed and as you i pray that you would meditate on who god is and his goodness toward his people that whatever trials and tribulations struggles you're going through in your life that you might lift up your eyes fix your eyes upon jesus and that you might know that he has regarded the lord and he loves his children as a father loves his children let's go to him now father we thank you that you are our father willing and able to help us though you are the king of the nations you number the hairs on our heads though you sit upon your throne highly exalted you bend down your ear to hear us or we pray that you would embolden our souls give us strength lord we pray that we would have joy and confidence in him in jesus name amen i pray that the lord gives you a great night's sleep tonight as you rest in jesus christ and i'll see you tomorrow bye