592_The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me (Psalm 138) Psalm 138 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; 2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. 3 On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased. 4 All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth, 5 and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. 6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar. 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. 8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. There is a story often told about a master craftsman who was asked how he could remain so calm while working on an intricate piece of art that would take years to complete. He smiled and said, “I am never anxious about the end, because I trust the design. Every day I simply stay faithful to the pattern I have been given.” Those words echo a deep biblical truth: peace does not come from knowing every detail of the future, but from trusting the One who holds the design. Psalm 138 captures that confidence beautifully, especially in its closing declaration: “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me.” It is not the voice of a man who has lived an easy life, but of David, a man well acquainted with uncertainty, opposition, and suffering, yet deeply convinced that God’s purposes cannot fail. This psalm stands in contrast to the lament of the previous psalm. Here, David lifts his eyes above his immediate circumstances and makes a bold declaration of God’s greatness in the midst of all. From the very beginning, he gives reasons for praise, not rooted in vague optimism, but grounded in who God is and how God has revealed himself. David bows toward God’s holy temple and gives thanks to God’s name for his steadfast love and faithfulness, declaring that God has exalted above all things his name and his word. In a world filled with competing claims to power and authority, David affirms that the Lord stands alone, unmatched and unrivaled. The steadfast love and faithfulness of the Lord form the bedrock of David’s worship. Unlike the fickle loyalties of human rulers or the empty promises of false gods, the Lord’s covenant love never wavers. His faithfulness does not depend on circumstances or human merit. God’s name and God’s word are unique in all the earth. His promises do not expire, weaken, or change with time. Scripture repeatedly affirms this truth: all the promises of God find
