“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.”
– Psalm 138:2
Did you hear that last phrase of Psalm 138:2? That’s a pretty astounding prayer statement that David just made in this psalm. “You have exalted, God, above all things, so above all things exalted, supreme, your name.” Okay, we get that. Yes, God’s name is supreme above all names, above all things. God’s name is Supreme. Okay, yes, that, but then he says, “Your name and your word.” So God equates here as exalted above all things both his name and his word. This has extremely significant ramifications for how we understand God’s word. Just think about the Bible, God’s revealed word. God has exalted above all things. We revere God’s word.
Do you revere God’s Word in a way that leads to worship and adoration of Him? May we live in a way that exalts His Word.
And this is so interesting because you look through Psalm 119 before this and you see all kinds of lifting up our hands to God’s commands, basically worshiping his word, because his word is the revelation of his name. It’s the revelation of who he is. So based on Psalm 138:2, I’m just compelled to ask in my own heart and to ask you, do you revere God’s word in such a way that just leads you to worship in awe and amazement?
Do you see the supremacy of God’s word and how is that playing out in your life today? Yes, I hope, I hope this podcast is helpful in you meditating on God’s word and praying God’s word, but surely these few short minutes are nowhere near the depth of intimacy that God has designed for you to experience with him through his word.
Oh, his word deserves the most prominent place in our lives and our schedules. When I wake up in the morning, there’s no way I need to go into the day apart from acknowledging the supremacy of God’s word and listening to his word and asking him to lead me by his word. It is supremely important. It’s exalted above all things. This is why Psalm 1 says, “Blessed is the one who meditates on God’s law, his word, day and night.” It’s got a supreme place in the one who is blessed and the one who experiences full, lasting happiness.
Psalm 138:2 Teaches of God’s exaltation above all things
So God, right now, we praise you for your word. We see your word exalted above all things. We exalt your word and your name and we pray that it would have the most prominent place in our lives, that you would form and transform our thoughts by your word, that you would conform our desires to your word, that you would lead our actions by your word, that we would obey your word, that we would speak your word. God, help us to speak your word today. Help us to share your word with others. It’s supremely important. It’s so much more important than what the weather is or what this or that sports team did or this or that in the news, to talk about. There’s nothing more important to talk about than your word.
Help us to talk about it all the time, just like Deuteronomy 4 and Deuteronomy 6 tell us to. When we’re walking along the way, when we sit down, when we rise, everything we do all throughout the day, may our lives be saturated by your word, our conversations saturated with your word. Please, oh God, may your word have the supreme place in our lives that you’ve designed it to have, and that is delightful for us, good for us, that leads to happiness in our lives. We exalt your word and we pray that you would help us to live in a way that exalts your word. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
