What Makes a Worshipper – Psalm 138

(I preached this morning from these notes at our church. I will insert the link here once the video is uploaded).

Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 293–373 AD) was a 4th-century Christian bishop, theologian, and is deemed a major Church Father because he famously defended the full divinity of Jesus Christ, when it was very dangerous to do so. He was banished from Rome five times from four different emperors. He faced numerous physical threats and endless persecution. For a while he had to hide in his father’s tomb……              He said of the Psalms: “Under all the circumstances of life, we shall find that these divine songs suit ourselves and meet our own souls’ need at every turn.”

Are you aware this morning of your soul’s great need? have you discovered for yourself what a gift the Psalms are to help meet your soul’s great need?

When I moved on my own from East TN to San Jose, CA a few months shy of my 20^thBirthday - after wasting much of my life in fleshly and carnal pursuits, my soul’s need was more desperate than I could have imagined. The practice of meditating in and memorizing the Psalms played a huge role in beginning to meet my soul’s great need in that first year. Every year since then I’ve read through the Psalms from beginning to end. In more recent years I read through the Psalms twice a year. Not because I’m so devout. More because I’m so desperate and needy. Many times over these last 50 years, God has mercifully chosen to use the Psalms to help restore my battered soul.

You are probably aware that King David wrote most of the Psalms. What you might not be aware of is that he grew up as the youngest of at least six brothers and two sisters. Unlike Joseph the favored son of Jacob, David was not the favorite of his father. He appeared to be somewhat taken for granted and neglected. His father certainly was older by the time David was born and very likely his energy level was lower and his patience thinned;  and by then he was more focused on his older sons who were serving in King Saul’s army. We know  that his older brothers scorned David and questioned his motives when he dared take on the giant Goliath. Then out of nowhere the prophet Samuel anointed David to be the future king of Israel; and David probably thought that would happen fairly soon and would hopefully be a pretty seamless transition with King Saul, whom he had served so effectively and selflessly for a time. But instead David was mercilessly hunted as a criminal for two years by King Saul and his army; and many times was within hours of being caught and killed. Because of King Saul’s rabid passion to kill David, and because he was the father of David’s dearest friend Jonathan, David rarely got to see Jonathan and enjoy his fellowship. And then years later when David seemed to be secure in his reign as the King of Israel, his own son Absalom rebelled against him, inspired an insurrection, and tried to kill him and those associated with him – chasing them with an unholy vengeance.

I don’t know when King David wrote Psalm 138, but I can tell you this – he did not write it from some isolated monastery – hoping to make some money or attain to some level of fame for his poetry. Rather he wrote it out of his experience of - for much of his life - having no where safe to run but into the presence of God.

As you turn to Psalm 138 in your Bibles, I want you to begin with me to ponder this question, What makes a worshipper like David?  What causes a man or a woman to develop a lifestyle of giving thanks to and praising God – both in prayer and in song – both in private and in public? Most of us don’t grow up naturally doing that. A lot of us did not have parents who did that.  So what led David, who easily could have been filled with bitterness and resentment, to instead be filled with a passion to give God thanks and to praise Him in word and in song, both in private and in public?

Well allow me to suggest four things. And the first one is this - David was increasingly overtaken by the lovingkindness of God toward him. Let’s read vs. 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….”

Few things in life are more precious to God’s children than an ever growing experience of the steadfast, unfailing, never ending, covenant love of God - - especially for those who have been jilted by family, and turned on by authority figures, and who have lost precious friends to premature deaths like David did with Jonathan, etc. Our souls are desperate for this kind of love, and no human however well meaning will ever be able to give it and deliver it like God does. God’s wonderful lovingkindness is referenced over and over again by David in the Psalms. It meant everything to David, who at times didn’t know if there was anyone he could truly trust other than God.

The second thing that leads to a lifestyle of thanksgiving and praise is a growing revelation and experience of God’s truth and faithfulness. Let’s read vs. 2 again, “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….”  The little numeral one before this word truth in my bible points to a note in the margin that informs us that this word could also be translated “faithfulness”.  It is that wonderful characteristic or attribute of God that so unlike man has not a shred of flakiness or shiftiness or wavering or unreliability or unpredictability. David’s testimony throughout his life was that time after time in every circumstance and in every situation God was found to be true to His word. He flat cannot lie the Scriptures tell us, and experience verifies.

The third thing or reality that as we experience it more and more leads to a lifestyle of thanksgiving and praise is seeing God fulfill His promises. Look at the end of vs. 2, “…For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.”  In my Bible there is a little numeral 2 before the word “word”, which informs us it could also be translated “promise”. The idea here is that God delights in lavishing promises on His children and then in time displaying His power, goodness, faithfulness and His wisdom by fulfilling them one after another. God’s name refers to every one of His attributes or characteristics. And one of the ways we truly come to know Him in an experiential way is by standing on and clinging to His promises and seeing Him bring them to life – especially when the odds are stacked against us.     God’s will for every one of you is to know Him intimately and to experience Him in your daily life mightily, and one of the major means He uses to bring that about is by teaching you and I to stand on His promises, clinging to them in the face of overwhelming odds.

The fourth reality or experience that leads to a lifestyle of thanksgiving and praise is seeing God answer our prayers. Look at vs. 3, “On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul.” When you read the story of David killing Goliath you might mistakenly think that he was an innately courageous guy. The reality is he often feared for his life and sometimes was close to despair for how his enemies were relentlessly pursuing him and bearing down on him. But time after time, he called out to God in prayer and God came through and not only protected him and delivered him from the snares of the enemy but also gave him the courage and strength to lead his men forward in the face of great adversity and danger.

Well that’s a quick glance at what leads to a son or a daughter of the King gladly giving Him thanks, and singing praises to Him as a way of life. But what would it take to cause an earthly king or a leader of a nation to give thanks to God much less sing to Him? Is that even possible? Well yes it is and again there are four things listed in this psalm that would cause even a powerful earthly king to give thanks to God and to sing His praises. Here’s the first one: Hearing the voice of God. Look at vs. 4 with me, “All the kings of the earth will give thanks to you, O Lord, When they have heard the words of Your mouth.” Earthly kings and presidents are used to the idols that they and their ancestors have bowed down to for many generations. They of course cannot speak. No one expects them to speak. These leaders of nations may even reign over a nation that gives lip service to the God of the Bible. But again this God to most earthly kings or leaders is a distant, vague, unknowable, uninvolved, non communicative God. So when they hear for themselves the words of the living God – and that word is specific and relevant and personal – probably not audible, though some kings have heard the audible voice of God - - when they hear the living word of the living God however it comes to them – it elicits thanksgiving.        Oh I know what you are thinking. This surely is speaking of the end of time when Jesus returns and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Isn’t it?

Well let’s sit on that for a moment and look at the second thing that King David says will cause an earthly king to sing to or about God - and that is one’s coming to see the greatness of God’s ways. Look at the beginning of vs. 5, “And they will sing of the ways of the Lord,..”  The prophet Isaiah says the ways of God are higher than the heavens are above the earth than our ways (Isa. 55:9). Earthly kings have special and unusual access to brilliant and extremely talented men and women. Often they will meet with other leaders of nations and hear them wax eloquent about their plans and pursuits. But when a king is enabled to see the glorious ways of God, he can’t help but break into song. In fact it is the ways of God that help us see His glory that is unlike any other; look at the rest of vs. 5, “For great is the glory of the Lord.”  Earthly kings have a degree of loaned authority or earthly glory, but even the greatest of earthly kings can only stand in jaw dropped awe at the glory of the living God when their eyes are finally opened to how He performs His purposes on the earth regardless of what man says or does.

And you know what one of the greatest aspects of God’s glory is that sets Him apart from all other beings and all earthly kings and presidents?  It is His holy condescension. Even though the living triune God of the Universe is the creator of all, and everything is held together in Him, and He brought all of that creation into being with a word, and even though He is morally perfect in every way, and even though He hates wickedness, He regularly gets involved in the lives and affairs of lowly or broken men and women. Look at vs. 6 with me, “For though the Lord is exalted, Yet He regards the lowly, But the haughty He knows from afar.”  The haughty make God walk away with ears closed, but the humble cause God to get hands on – compassionately involved – responding to our cries for mercy and help.

But is a king or president ever lowly to where God truly gets acquainted with them?  They usually aren’t known for that.  The answer is yes – more than you know.

For time’s sake I’m going to share one example from Scripture and two from more recent times. Most of you are familiar with the prophet Daniel. He served under four Kings as a Hebrew exile. God was deeply pleased with Daniel for his pure and undistracted devotion to God. Daniel had significant favor with all these kings. But one of them – Darius - was especially God fearing, though he was a Mede and not from a God fearing culture or society. Well Daniel being a principled man practiced a number of spiritual disciplines – one being – he knelt in his bedroom and prayed three times a day facing towards Jerusalem. Well over time Daniel’s fellow government leaders grew jealous of his favor with King Darius due to his work ethic so they set a trap for him to get him in trouble with the King. Darius unwittingly signed a law into being at their insistence that led to him having to have Daniel thrown into the lions den, which normally would be instant death. Because God enjoys giving His servants special delights especially when they endure suffering , persecution or injustice for His name’s sake, God gave Daniel the privilege and delight of spending an entire night petting and playing with man eating lions as if they were kittens. King Dairus – knowing what normally happens to people who drop in on these lions – spent the whole night fasting according to Daniel 6:18. As soon as the light of day allowed - King Darius “went in haste to the lion’s den” vs. 19 tells us. When he learned Daniel had been protected by the living God, Dairus “…wrote to all the peoples, nations and men of every language who were living in all the land (these words), “I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel; For He is the living God and enduring forever And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, And His dominion will be forever…..” (vs. 25, 26)   Wow!

So has a king in more recent times given thanks and praise to the one true living God? I want to tell you a story that my wife alerted me to earlier this week. It is found towards the back of the 2026 Personal Prayer Diary/Daily Planner that YWAM  produces each year and that my wife uses each year. Each month has a story of how God is working among the nations. This one reads, “From his home in Nagaland, India, missionary Rhakho embarked on a long and grueling journey. His mission: to share the gospel with a remote tribal village of the Konyak people, related to his own ethnic group, deep in the jungle – just across the Indian border in the neighboring country of Myanmar. The journey was anything but easy. After traveling by train for two full days, Rhakho trekked for three more days on foot, at time cutting his way through dense, mountainous terrain with a machete. The tribe he sought to reach were deeply suspicious of outsiders, had no known believers, and were the last headhunters in the region. Their king would grant Rhakho entry – or not.

Upon his arrival, Rhakho followed tribal customs and sought an audience with the village chieftain, who was also regarded as the king of the entire people group of several villages on both sides of the border. The king, reputed as a healer, had 11 wives, though two had already passed. In their tribal tradition, the king serves as both a political and spiritual leader, mediating between the people and the spirit world. His role is vital in maintaining balance within the community. Now, his first and most beloved wife lay on her deathbed, beyond the reach of his abilities. When Rhakho requested permission to share the gospel with the entire village, the king issued a chilling ultimatum: “if you can heal my wife, I will welcome you. If not, I will kill you, for your message will only bring division to my people”.

The king left Rhakho alone to pray for his wife. Inside the huge thatched dwelling, the atmosphere was somber and tense. The king’s teenage and adult children lay in a circle around their dying mother. Exhausted from his journey, Rhakho received neither food or water. Yet, undeterred, he knelt and began to pray, pouring out his heart to God through the day and into the night.

By 3 a.m., there was still no change. But Rakho’s faith did not waver. He continued praying. Finally, at 5 a.m., God broke through: the woman suddenly rose from her bed, completely healed. She went to the firepit, lit it, and began boiling water to prepare breakfast for her family and the mysterious guest God had sent.

The king, amazed by his wife’s miraculous recovery, promptly instructed his son to slaughter a chicken and prepare a meal for Rhakho, who had fasted and prayed tirelessly throughout the ordeal. Extremely grateful and impressed, the king told Rhakho he could ask for anything he wished. Recognizing the opportunity, Rhakho once again requested permission to share the gospel with the entire village. Later that day, the king gathered his family and the village leaders and made a proclamation: “Come hear the words of this man who healed my favorite wife when I could not.”

With renewed boldness, Rhakho stood before them and shared the gospel. He spoke of the one true Supreme God who created the universe and of humanity’s rebellion against Him. He explained how God, in His great love, sent His Son Jesus Christ to rescue mankind. While the villagers listened intently, Rhakho wasn’t sure they fully grasped the message. The king invited him to stay for a few days, giving him more opportunities to teach from God’s word, answer questions, and build relationships with the villagers.

Slowly, as Rhakho made several more trips to the village, the Word of God began to take root in the people’s hearts. The first church in the village was born in a dry riverbed. The villagers sat on river rocks, eager to hear more about the God of the Universe. Today there are eleven churches in the area…Four of the king’s sons have become active church planters…And the king, once bound by his addiction to opium, has been powerfully transformed by the gospel of Christ.  Praise God!

Our first and in my opinion the greatest ever president of our nation - George Washington – in 1752 created a personal prayer book, consisting of 24 pages in his field notebook.  Here’s a portion of his prayer on a Sunday evening…”O most Glorious God, in Jesus Christ my merciful and loving Father, I acknowledge and confess my guilt in the weak and imperfect performance of the duties of this day. I have called on Thee for pardon and forgiveness of sins… make me to know what is acceptable in Thy sight, and therein to delight, open the eyes of my understanding, and help me thoroughly to examine myself concerning my knowledge, faith and repentance, increase my faith, and direct me to the true object, Jesus Christ the Way, the Truth, and the Life, bless, O Lord all the people of this land, from the highest to the lowest, particularly those whom Thou hast appointed to rule over us in church and state.   Continue Thy goodness to me this night. These weak petitions, I humbly implore Thee to hear, accept and answer for the sake of Thy Dear Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.”

Here’s my admonition folks: When you read the Psalms and you come across prophetic declarations like this one in vs. 4,5, please do not read it with the secular lens of unbelief that many of us acquired in our years of keeping God at arms length; and please do not read it with an airtight eschatology that causes us to relegate it to the end times. Listen - The Holy Spirit inspired David to insert these two verses about kings so the readers would get on their knees and pray it into being. God forgive us and cleanse us of our unbelief!

This whole Psalm has been one of our more favorite Psalms over the years – to the point where Anne some years ago even printed it out and laminated it and it sits behind the sink faucets under the mirror of our downstairs bathroom. But we especially have been ministered to by the last two verses where we see just how personally and hands on involved our great God wants to be with each one of His children. Let’s read vs. 7,8, “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.”  3 quick things from these two verses.

1. First, Every person who truly seeks to know and follow Jesus will have enemies. Sometimes they will even be in your own family or extended family. Jesus often forewarned of this reality. But God promises to walk with you through the thick of it; God promises to deal with our enemies directly; and God promises to save us or heal and sanctify and refine us through it all. It will be painful but not wasted, and ultimately if we abide in Him even fruit bearing. 

2. Our God is so great that He can be hands on involved in seeing a thriving church established among every tribe, tongue, people and nation; He can be hands on involved in seeing the poor ministered to throughout the planet; He can be hands on involved in seeing cities and nations awakened and His church revived; And He can at the same time be very hands on involved in helping you become ever more whole in mind, body, soul and spirit. He can and wants to be hands on involved in helping you with your career or job; He can and wants to be hands on involved in helping you steward your family, home, your cars, your investments; etc., etc. As you learn to abide in Him and trust Him He will accomplish every single thing that concerns you – regardless of the obstacles and difficulties therein.     3. There will be times where because of adverse or unexpected circumstances you will slide into anxiety and doubt and that is where the example of the Psalmist comes in. David after talking about all of these wonderful things about our God at the end cries out, “Do not forsake the works of Your hands.” God could just take care of all of the things that concern us automatically, but He has so designed things so that He mostly works in response to our prayers. If you are not seeing God accomplish what concerns you in every area of your life it is very likely because you have not yet learned to come to Him daily with those concerns.

You are the work of God’s hand dear friends. You were His idea. He likes to be reminded of that. He wants you to be confident of that.

Closing prayer and ministry time