the earth (at large · noun, common feminine singular absolute
praise
יוֹד֣וּךָyo.Du.kha
H3034
physically · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
LORD
יְ֭הוָהYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
hear
שָׁ֝מְע֗וּSham.'U
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
words
אִמְרֵי'im.rei-
H561
something said · noun, common masculine plural construct
mouth
פִֽיךָFi.kha
H6310
the mouth (as the means of blowing) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 102:15 So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.
Psalms 72:11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.
Psalms 22:22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
Psalms 22:27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
Psalms 102:22 When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
Isaiah 49:23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth,…
Isaiah 60:3-5 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Isaiah 60:16 Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and th…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 138:1-5
I. How he would praise God, compare Psa 111:1. 1. He will praise him with sincerity and zeal - "With my heart, with my whole heart, with that which is within me and with all that is within me, with uprightness of intention and fervency of affection, inward impressions agreeing with outward expressions." 2. With freedom and boldness: Before the gods will I sing praise unto thee, before the princes, and judges, and great men, either those of other nations that visited him or those of his own nation that attended on him, even in their presence. He will not only praise God with his heart, which we may do by pious ejaculations in any company, but will sing praise if there be occasion. Note, Prais…
All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord,.... Or "let them confess", or "praise thee" (s); a wish or prayer. Not only the kings known to David, as Kimchi limits it; or that lived in his days, as Hiram and others; but in the latter day, when they shall come to Zion, the church, and be nursing fathers to it, and shall serve and worship the King Messiah, Isaiah 49:23;
when they hear the words of thy mouth; either the promises of it fulfilled not only with respect to David; but the Messiah, and his church and people, in the latter day, even the glorious things spoken thereof: or the doctrines of the Gospel, which are the words of his mouth, and more desirable than thousands of gold…
Psalm 138:1-5
1. I will praise thee [189] with my whole heart, before the gods [190] will I sing psalms to thee. 2. I will worship thee towards the temple of thy holiness, and sing unto thy name for thy mercy and for thy truth; for thou hast magnified thy name above all things by thy word. 3. In the day when I cried to thee then thou answeredst me, and hast abundantly ministered strength to me in my soul. 4. Let all kings of the earth praise thee, O Jehovah! because they have heard the words of thy mouth. 5. And let theta sing in [191] the walls of Jehovah, for great is the glory of Jehovah.
1. I will praise thee with my whole heart As David had been honored to receive distinguishing marks…
The Church Fathers
Let all the kings of the earth confess to you, O Lord. The kings of the earth are those who reign in sin. Therefore let those very ones confess, who reign in sin. For he is not speaking of the kings of this world. For it is written: "The heart of the king is in the hand of God." Do you suppose that the heart of the most impious Julian was in the hand of God? God forbid. Or of Nero, or of the persecutors Maximian and Decius? God forbid. But he is speaking of those who reign in sin, because those who conquer the vices and passions of the soul and reign over sin, their heart is in the hand of God. Because they have heard all the words of your mouth: because they have kept your commandments.
"Let all the kings of the earth confess to Thee, O Lord" (ver. 4). So shall it be, and so it is, and that daily; and it is shown that it was not said in vain, save that it was future. But neither let them, when they confess to Thee, when they praise Thee, desire earthly things of Thee. For what shall the kings of the earth desire? Have they not already sovereignty? Whatever more a man desire on earth, sovereignty is the highest point of his desire. What more can he desire? It must needs be some loftier eminence. But perhaps the loftier it is, the more dangerous. And therefore the more exalted kings are in earthly eminence, the more ought they to humble themselves before God. What do they do? "Because they have heard all the words of Thy mouth." In a certain nation were hidden the Law and the Prophets, "all the words of Thy mouth:" in the Jewish nation alone were "all the words of Thy mouth," the nation which the Apostle praiseth, saying, "What advantage hath the Jew? Much every way; chiefly because that unto them were committed the oracles of God." These were the words of God. ...What meant Gideon's fleece? It is like the nation of the Jews in the midst of the world, which had the grace of sacraments, not indeed openly manifested, but hidden in a cloud, or in a veil, like the dew in the fleece. The time came when the dew was to be manifested in the floor; it was manifested, no longer hidden. Christ alone is the sweetness of dew: Him alone thou recognisest not in Scripture, for whom Scripture was written. But yet, "they have heard all the words of thy mouth."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
There are two things for which the poet gives thanks to God: He has answered him in the days of trouble connected with his persecution by Saul and in all distresses; and by raising him to the throne, and granting him victory upon victory, and promising him the everlasting possession of the throne, He has filled him with a proud courage, so that lofty feeling has taken up its abode in his soul, which was formerly fearful about help. Just as רהב signifies impetuosity, vehemence, and then also a monster, so הרהיב signifies both to break in upon one violently and overpowerlingly (Sol 6:5; cf. Syriac arheb, Arabic arhaba, to terrify), and to make any one courageous, bold, and confident of victory…
As the Lord’s glory fills the earth, the world’s population must willingly submit to him. Every king (cp. Ps 2) will join the community of praise as they hear the Lord’s ways of truth and love.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 138:4
All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord, when they hear the words of thy mouth.
All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord, when they hear the words of thy mouth. Kings have usually small care to hear the word of the Lord; but King David feels assured that if they do hear it they will feel its power. A little piety goes a long way in courts; but brighter days are coming, in which rulers will become hearers and worshippers: may the advent of such happy times be hastened. What an assembly!—"all the kings of the earth!" What a purpose! Gathered to hear the words of Jehovah's mouth. What a preacher! David himself rehearses the words of Jehovah. What praise! when they all…
