Passage Research
Psalm 138 — Sermon Preparation
A David thanksgiving psalm in which the psalmist praises God wholeheartedly before all gods, celebrating divine faithfulness and the promise that kings will come to worship. Below is a research summary for Psalm 138, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.
- 8
- verses
- 76 / 58
- Hebrew words / lemmas
- 11
- classic sermon excerpts
- 5
- preachers & commentators
Psalm 138 in the Hebrew
Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Strong's | Count | Glosses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יָדָה | yâdâh | H3034 | 3 | throw, revere |
| חֶסֶד | cheçed | H2617 | 2 | kindness, piety |
| שֵׁם | shêm | H8034 | 2 | appellation, honor |
| יָד | yâd | H3027 | 2 | hand, open |
| רָהַב | râhab | H7292 | 1 | urge, importune |
| גָּמַר | gâmar | H1584 | 1 | end |
| מֶרְחָק | merchâq | H4801 | 1 | remoteness, distant |
How preachers through history handled this text
11 public-domain excerpts on Psalm 138, from the church fathers to the Puritans.
“It does not appear, nor is it material to enquire, upon what occasion David penned this psalm; but in it, I. He looks back with thankfulness upon the experiences he had had of God's goodness to him, ver. 1-3. II. He looks forward with comfort, in hopes, 1. That others would go on to praise God like him, ver. 4, 5. 2. That God would go on to do good to him, ver. 6-8. In singing this psalm we must in like manner devote ourselves to God's praise and glory and repose ourselves in his power and goodness. Grateful Praise. A psalm of David. …”
— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 3 (Job to Song of Solomon), on Psalm 138:1–30 (Public Domain)
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