Is this not one of the most beautiful statements?

“The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me” (v. 8).

Can you imagine living your whole life only to have not fulfilled His purpose for you?  That’s a tough pill to swallow and one we wrestle with sometimes in the depths of our hearts.

Sometimes we think that other people or situations cause it so that our purposes are not fulfilled.  When we think that way, we can become bitter and angry.  But when we are faithful to Him, it is the LORD who helps fulfill our purpose, sometimes, maybe oftentimes, purposes we don’t even know about.

This is a psalm of David.  He begins with saying something that unnecessarily trips people up:

“I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing your praise” (v. 1).

It’s the word “gods.”  With this the LDS and animists  and others love to point out–see, gods!  Plural!  That means there are many gods.  But that’s not the case.

In Hebrew “gods” was used for two main entities–1) gods as in idols made of wood and stone, and 2) rulers and leaders of nations and empires that were referred to as “gods.”  Mainly because sometimes they wanted to be treated as such.

How we know the difference is the context.   Is the context referring to idols that people are worshiping?  Or are the “gods” referred to in the context of leaders?

Consider Psalm 82 where this is most often taken out of context.  The Scriptures say this:

⁶ “I said, ‘You are “gods”;
    you are all sons of the Most High.’

There it is.  The Bible says it!  Except you have to take it in context.  Look at the very next line:

⁷ But you will die like mere mortals;
    you will fall like every other ruler.”

This is talking about rulers and leaders who consider themselves gods of the Most High God, and the psalmist says they are rulers who will die like mere mortals.

Then in Psalm 138, we have this Davidic statement here again.

“I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing your praise” (Psalm 138:1).

What’s the context (v. 4-5)?

May all the kings of the earth praise you, Lord,
    when they hear what you have decreed.
May they sing of the ways of the Lord,
    for the glory of the Lord is great.

Once again, the context is talking about the “kings of the earth.”  The rulers.  The leaders.

But let’s move on.

What David is saying is that the kings and leaders of the world will one day acknowledge that Yawweh is God Most High, and they will bow and worship him.  This is very reminiscent of Philippians 2.  Every knee will bow and every tongue will eventually confess.

But for now David is praising the LORD that God has saved him from his enemies.  That the LORD will see to it that the purposes for David will be fulfilled.  I just love that statement.

“The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me.  LORD, your love is eternal” (Ps 138:8).