Chapter 138
2025 - Psalms 138-145 are all Psalms of David, right here toward the end. MSB says these are the last ones that David wrote that are included in the Psalms. We do not know exactly when they were written and so we have no idea what might have prompted each one.
David.
1st stanza, David gives thanks, bows toward the temple, and exalts the name of God. He says God answered on the day he called.
2021 - The first verse: 1 Of David. I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; [Psa 138:1 ESV]
This bothered me a little so I went and checked the interlinear Hebrew. David gives the Lord, except that Lord, which is usually the translation of Yehova, is not there. All it really says is "I will praise thee with my whole heart". Lord is implied. Then the two words transliterated "elohim zamar", translated "before the gods will I sing praise". Elohim is translated lower case and plural as gods. Who is David talking about? I looked up Elohim, and it can be either plural, which is apparently what it is in this usage, or "plural intensive-singular meaning". Now there is an interesting phrase. Intensely plural means singular. It is this plural intensive that is translated "God". As in Genesis 1:1. In the beginning God, is this form of the word. This word, in some form, is used 2606 times in the KJV and 2346 of those times it is translated "God". It is translated "god" 246 times. I don't know Hebrew, but I do note that in Genesis 1:1, and indeed 32 times in Genesis 1, God is from Strong's 430. The word used here in Psalm 138 is Strong's 433. So there is something different. This interlinear says the word in Psa 138:1 is exactly the same Strong's word as in Genesis, yet here, it is translated lower case "gods". All I can figure out is that there is a modifier word in 138 that they know means gods. 430 is the plural of 433, and 433 is transliterated eloha. It could also be that when the word means God, it has a definite article, making it "The God", and if that article is missing, then it just means "a god". Buried in the definitions is an explanation that says "god" was sometimes used deferentially even of magistrates. So the word is very broad, and is NOT reserved exclusively for God. I wonder if it is Yehova that is exclusively used for "Lord"? There has to be something in the language that I don't understand. There is certainly no definite article before "elohim" in 138. Maybe that is why it is translated "before the gods"... well holy cow! In ESV, they insert a definite article that is not in the text and add an s to show it's plural. They do this instead of translating it "before God". I mean that's the choice here really. "Before God I sing praise" or "before the gods I sing your praise". And the strict translation of zamar is "will I sing praise", NOT "I will sing your praise". The definition of zamar implies these praises included stringed instruments accompanied by singing. It might well have been translated "accompanied singing", but they left that out, maybe because it is only implied, and adding it would make it an interpretation, not a translation. There are so many forms of zamar in the interlinear it makes one dizzy.
Here is a translation that seems to be trying to describe who "the gods" are: 1 I will give you thanks with all my heart; before the heavenly assembly I will sing praises to you. [Psa 138:1 NET] That's the New English Translation, which does not claim to be word for word, but includes much interpretation, as this verse clearly demonstrates.
After all this, I will have to punt because I just don't know Hebrew and this word elohim is apparently a very profound and complex word that requires specific expertise to translate. To finish up, here is the word at Psalm 139: אֱלֹהִים
Here is the word in Genesis 1:1: אֱלֹהִים
Not one bit of difference in the word itself.
I looked some more, trying to take apart Gen 1:1 to find the difference. There is no Hebrew word in Gen 1:1 that is called a definite article. It isn't there. It's exactly the same word. How do they know where it is supposed to read God and where it should read god??? Very unsettling, given that the word is used 2606 times!!! That's a lot of possible misses!!! I just hate to give up without understanding this. Maybe I need to write to a professor of Hebrew out at OBU? Hmm...I might actually do that. It looks like Dr. Heath Thomas would be my best bet, but he has moved up to President of OBU. He used to be over languages. The Asst Professor of Old Testament is Dr. Mario Melendez. He has a PhD in Biblical Interpretation from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Rummage went there, and so did Mom's preacher in Laneville. Jury is still out on that place as far as I'm concerned. But Melendez is probably the better place to start. Nice to see that Dr. Kelly is now the Chair, School of Theology and Ministry.
Ok. Moving on.
2024 - Still bugs me a lot that I don't know how this translation comes about. BUT, there is this idea...it does say I will praise YOU. Would you ever read it as "I give thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart. Before God I praise you." This way, it looks like two are being addressed. "Lord" is being thanked, and Lord is being praised before God. That's where the difficulty is. That last sentence is the problem. Read this way, two gods are implied. That's not right...so it must be that God is praised before gods - lesser gods, probably Kings, great leaders...but not a second God. This seems to me to be a HIGHLY interpreted verse, in all versions including the King James. They all do it the same way. There is a footnote in MSB that says "gods" can refer either to pagan royalty and/or to the idols they worship. It refers us to this verse: 1 A Psalm of Asaph. God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: [Psa 82:1 ESV]. It implies that this is the same kind of usage. I am not satisfied...but I'm moving on.
2nd, The kings of the earth will also give thanks. God regards the lowly, but is far from the haughty.
2021 - Here is the last verse of this stanza:
6 For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar. [Psa 138:6 ESV]
Does God seem distant? Does He not seem to be hearing your prayers. Look to yourself, and your attitude and the way you're running your business. Are you depending on yourself to keep things on the right track, because after all, you're pretty capable? (haughtiness)
Possible short FB post.
3rd, David knows it is God that protects him from his enemies, and he prays that God's work will continue.