Psalms 138:1-8: a reflection

1I will give you thanks with my whole heart. Before the gods, I will sing praises to you. 2I will bow down toward your holy temple, and give thanks to your Name for your loving kindness and for your truth; for you have exalted your Name and your Word above all. 3In the day that I called, you answered me. You encouraged me with strength in my soul. 4All the kings of the earth will give you thanks, LORD, for they have heard the words of your mouth. 5Yes, they will sing of the ways of the LORD, for the LORD’s glory is great! 6For though the LORD is high, yet he looks after the lowly; but he knows the proud from afar. 7Though I walk in the middle of trouble, you will revive me. You will stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies. Your right hand will save me. 8The LORD will fulfill that which concerns me. Your loving kindness, LORD, endures forever. Don’t forsake the works of your own hands.

This psalm of thanksgiving ends on a note of quiet confidence that is worth holding onto: the LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. The psalmist is sure that God has a purpose for his life and that God will bring it to completion, and he asks God not to abandon what he has begun.

Notice the confidence and the humility together. On one hand, a settled assurance: the LORD will fulfill his purpose for me. Not I will fulfill my purpose, but the LORD will; the completing of it is God's work, not the psalmist's achievement. And on the other hand, a humble plea: do not forsake the work of your hands, an acknowledgment that he depends entirely on God to finish what God has started. He is God's handiwork, and he asks the Maker not to leave the work unfinished.

That is a good place to rest when you feel unfinished, uncertain whether your life is going anywhere. You are the work of God's hands, and he does not abandon what he begins. The LORD will fulfill his purpose for you, not by your striving, but by his faithful love that endures forever. And notice the psalm's other assurance: though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly. When you feel small and your life unresolved, pray this psalm: you are his handiwork, and he will complete his purpose for you.

Lord, you will fulfill your purpose for me, for I am the work of your hands, and your steadfast love endures forever. When I feel unfinished and uncertain where my life is going, remind me that the completing is your work, not mine. Do not forsake the work of your hands; finish in me what you have begun.