Psa 138:1-8 “For we are His Workmanship, Created in Christ Jesus unto Good Works”

[Study Aired November 21, 2019]

Psa 138:1  A Psalm of David. I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. 
Psa 138:2  I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. 
Psa 138:3  In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul. 
Psa 138:4  All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth. 
Psa 138:5  Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD. 
Psa 138:6  Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off. 
Psa 138:7  Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. 
Psa 138:8  The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands. 

This section of scripture, a letter written to the Philippians from Paul (Php 1:1-30), helps bring to life the words of this particular Psalm, as it reminds us how blessed we are to “let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ” spoken of in Phillipians 1:17.

God is preparing the bride of Christ at the end of this age (Rev 19:7) as He did in the days of “Paul and Timotheus” who were servants of Jesus Christ who had come to Philippi to acknowledge “all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons”. In like manner, David was rejoicing in the strength God was providing for him and prophesied what would happen inwardly to the elect of God who are blessed today to hear the voice of the true Shepherd stated this way in this Psalm: “All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth” (Mat 13:16, 1Jn 4:6).

Php 1:1  Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:

Php 1:27  Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

We see the array of help God provided for the body of Christ in those opening words just read in Philippians 1:1 and how it would be by favor shown to the church, along with the peace and every good and perfect gift that comes from above from our Father of lights (Jas 1:17), that the ‘many members’ of Christ’s body are used to minister to each other. God will continue to bring us into remembrance of each other for the sake of Christ, making prayers and requests for one other with joy as He moves the circumstances of our lives with that “one spirit” and one mind which is “striving together for the faith of the gospel”. That is what God is doing with His workmanship which is being created in Christ Jesus unto good works (Eph 2:10, Eph 1:4).

Our fellowship is “in the gospel from the first day until now”, and we are called to be “confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Php 1:6). That in itself is reason enough to “praise thee with my whole heart” as we learn how He makes His strength perfect in weakness (2Co 12:9).

This psalm begins with high praise and worship toward God “for thy loving kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name” and the correlation of His strength being made perfect through our weakness is immediately made at the beginning of the Psalm where these words are uttered: “In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.” It is that strength God gives us which makes it possible for His word to be magnified within us, above all our earthly concerns, giving us peace that passes all understanding (Php 4:7).

God’s workmanship, His children, are called to have a conscience that is not condemned in itself:  “in nothing terrified by your adversaries” (Php 1:28), within or without (1Jn 2:1, 1Jn 4:4, 1Jn 4:18), but rather we are given the mind of Christ which is a mind of power, love and soundness (2Ti 1:7) that causes us to “stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel” as we “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Php 3:14). These verses speak about the workmanship or circumstances God is in the process of building through Christ (Php 1:7-19), and the fruit of that workmanship is described in Philippians 2:1-7.

Php 1:7  Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart [Mat 6:21]; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.
Php 1:8  For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. [more in regard to what God’s workmanship looks like (Php 2:1-7)]
Php 1:9  And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; [growing beyond just partaking of herbs or just being nourished on the milk of the word receiving strong meat in time being able to rightly divide and judge a matter (Heb 6:1, Mat 23:23, Heb 5:14)]
Php 1:10  That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; [Rev 20:6]
Php 1:11  Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. [1Pe 2:9, Jas 1:18]
Php 1:12  But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;
Php 1:13  So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;
Php 1:14  And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
Php 1:15  Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:
Php 1:16  The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:
Php 1:17  But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.
Php 1:18  What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
Php 1:19  For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

Php 2:1  If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
Php 2:2  Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
Php 2:3  Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Php 2:4  Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
Php 2:5  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Php 2:6  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

The workmanship of God is accomplished by our giving an accounting of our sins, acknowledging as first fruits that “he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world”. God’s love is perfected by keeping His word and abiding in it through this life, and we are being sanctified in this age “for his name’s sake” (Joh 17:17, 1Jn 2:3-12). John concludes in 1 John 2:12 as he started in that same chapter: “And he is the propitiation for our sins” which is “for his name’s sake“.

Joh 17:17  Sanctify them [those who first hear the word of God and give an accounting] through thy truth: thy word is truth.

1Jn 2:12  I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.

1Jn 2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Psa 138:1  A Psalm of David. I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. 
Psa 138:2  I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. 

A good example of these verses being fulfilled in the new covenant is with Paul on Mars Hill where he met the Athenians who had itching ears and needed to hear some new thing all the time (2Ti 3:7, 2Ti 4:3, Act 17:21-27).

2Ti 3:7  Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

2Ti 4:3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

Act 17:21  (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)
Act 17:22  Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
Act 17:23  For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. [“before the gods will I sing praise unto thee“]
Act 17:24  God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
Act 17:25  Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
Act 17:26  And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
Act 17:27  That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

To stop being an Athenian^{G117  G116} we must acknowledge all these devotions, or idols of our hearts, we set up from Babylon, who like Athena, the “Goddess of wisdom”, reflects our first position in the flesh of being ever searching and never coming to the knowledge of the truth.

G117
– – Definition: Athens = uncertainty

1. A famous city in Greece, the capital of Attica, and the chief seat of learning and civilisation during the golden period of the history of Greece

 

G116
– Origin: plural of Athene (the Goddess of wisdom, who was reputed to have founded the city)
– TDNT entry: None
– Part(s) of speech: Noun Location

When we do “praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee” and “worship toward thy holy temple [1Co 3:16], and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name“, it is only because God has been dragging us out of Babylon (2Co 6:17, Joh 6:44) to worship the one true God in spirit and truth (Joh 4:24), or “THE UNKNOWN GOD” whom we witness to a world that does not yet know Him and are hid in (Col 3:3, Col 1:27).

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

2Co 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18  And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Psa 138:3  In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul. 
Psa 138:4  All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth. 
Psa 138:5  Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD. 

The “day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul” is the day when God brings me to my wits’ end and I come to acknowledge my blindness and need for him to continually deliver me from myself  (Psa 107:2-8).

Psa 107:2  Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
Psa 107:3  And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.
Psa 107:4  They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. [no Athenian^{G117  G116} city founded on the wisdom of men]
Psa 107:5  Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
Psa 107:6  Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:7  And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
Psa 107:8  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! [Luk 15:17-23]

That is the time when “All the kings of the earth [within me] shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth” [1Jn 4:6, Mat 13:16].

It is because of those wonderful works unto the children of men that we “give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever” (Psa 107:1), expressed this way in verse five: “Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD“.

Psa 138:6  Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off. 
Psa 138:7  Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. 
Psa 138:8  The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands. 

These last three verses of Psalm 138 are filled with hope, describing the grandeur and power of our great Father in heaven with these words: “Though the LORD be high“, reassuring us that regardless of His mighty authority or sovereign hand over all aspects of His workmanship (Eph 1:11), yet “hath he respect unto the lowly” and being a just God “the proud he knoweth afar off” meaning He knows our sinful state and will deliver us from it (Luk 2:12, Zec 9:9, Php 2:6-10, Mat 23:12, 1Jn 4:17, Psa 51:1-3, Isa 1:18, Psa 103:12).

Luk 2:12  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. [As he is, so are we in that lowly state.]

Zec 9:9  Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

Php 2:6  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Php 2:9  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
Php 2:10  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

Mat 23:12  And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

We “walk in the midst of trouble” by virtue of the fact that we are in the flesh (Job 14:1), and yet our hope is that “thou wilt revive me [Joh 6:63, 1Co 15:31]: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies [within and without Mat 10:16, 2Co 13:5, Jas 1:23], and thy right hand shall save me [Eph 2:6, Mar 16:18-19, Col 1:27]”.

Job 14:1  Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Mat 10:16  Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

2Co 13:5  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Jas 1:23  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Mar 16:18  They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Mar 16:19  So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

The last verse of our study tonight (Psa 138:8) gives us the greatest reason to rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice (Php 4:4) because: “The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me” on the third day (Luk 13:32) and His mercy will prevail: “thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever” (Rom 11:11, Rom 11:16, Rom 11:18-20, Rom 11:30-31).

Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

Rom 11:11  I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Rom 11:16  For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

Rom 11:18  Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
Rom 11:19  Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Rom 11:20  Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear.

The workmanship of His hands which is now bound to the altar [Psa 118:27] will be accomplished, and he will “forsake not the works of thine own hands” [Mar 10:39, Isa 49:15, Php 1:6] , not for our sakes but for his name’s sake [1Jn 2:12].

Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. [Gen 22:9, Heb 13:3]

Gen 22:9  And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

Heb 13:3  Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them [Col 1:24]; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body [Rom 12:5].

Mar 10:39  And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:

Isa 49:15  Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

Php 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you [Eph 2:10] will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

1Jn 2:12  I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.