Telling the World – Psalm 138

A text – Psalm 138

¹ I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;
² I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
    for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.
³ On the day I called, you answered me; you increased my strength of soul.

⁴ All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth.
⁵ They shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.
⁶ For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he perceives from far away.

⁷ Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.
⁸ The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

A reflection:

This week’s texts are all about confessing that Jesus is Lord, making this witness public and aloud, giving our very bodies as a living sacrifice so that our deeds can be seen publicly to be done to praise God. Similarly our psalm today picks up that theme of witness. “All the kings of the earth shall praise you,” says verse 4. Why? Because the psalmist reveals in public before many persons what God has done and it is compelling! Praising God quietly in our hearts is good, but thanking God openly so others know about it is better.  Here is what my former colleague, Old Testament scholar Dr. Rolf Jacobson says, in a paragraph:

“I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart.” The Hebrew word…that is translated “give you thanks” does not properly equate to our English word thanks…the verb means “to cause someone else to know.” In other words, the verb should probably be translated as “teach” or “make known.” In other words, “giving thanks” Old Testament-style, has less to do with some internal feeling of gratitude and more about sending God a thank you note. And the thank you note that God desires is to tell others what God has done. To proclaim the good news of God’s gracious actions to the assembly of believers, to the surrounding neighborhood, and to the world. The scope that the Lord has in mind for our confessing of the good news, for our making the Lord known, is the entire world, even the entire universe.

How would we accomplish this sort of out-loud gratitude to God for doing a great thing for us, for getting us out of a scrape or delivering us from an evil or danger? By telling the story in a way that includes God as our rescuer. This would be a way of speaking that might feel strange to us. We might not want to sound like one of those Evangelical Christians, right? So might we start small in this practice of giving credit to God. We practice it among our Christian friends first. Then we branch out to family members whom we trust. And remember, each person who hears our story will know us as believers in the goodness and trustworthiness of God. As they face challenges in their lives, they will know who to come to for encouragement and solace and confidence and peace. And the peace of the Lord will remain always with us for our trust in and witness to the Lord.

A prayer:

Lord God, thank you for loving us. Thank your for so often rescuing us from evil and danger. Help us to thank you by telling our stories in a way that includes your protection and saving grace. Help us to become persons our neighbors and friends know to be in relationship with you. Amen.