서론
無標題
英文原文
It does not appear, nor is it material to enquire, upon what occasion David penned this psalm; but in it, I. He looks back with thankfulness upon the experiences he had had of God's goodness to him, Ps 138:1-3. II. He looks forward with comfort, in hopes, 1. That others would go on to praise God like him, Ps 138:4,5. 2. That God would go on to do good to him, Ps 138:6-8. In singing this psalm we must in like manner devote ourselves to God's praise and glory and repose ourselves in his power and goodness.
1-5
Grateful Praise
感恩的讚美
大衛的詩。
¹ 耶和華啊，我要一心稱謝你；在諸神面前歌頌你。 ² 我要向你的聖殿下拜；為你的慈愛和誠實稱讚你的名；因你使你的話顯為大，過於你一切所宣稱的。 ³ 我呼求的日子，你就應允我，並用靈魂裏的力量鼓勵我。 ⁴ 耶和華啊，地上的君王都要稱謝你，因他們聽見了你口中的言語。 ⁵ 他們要歌頌耶和華的作為；因耶和華大有榮耀。
一、他當如何讚美神（參詩一一一1）。1. 他要存真誠與熱忱讚美他——「一心，我用全 心」——用我裏面的，也用我裏面一切的；用正直的存心與火熱的情感，使裏面的印象與外面的表明相符。2. 他要坦然無懼地讚美他：「在諸神面前歌頌你」——在君王、審判官、並大人物面前；無論是來訪問他的別國君王，還是本國侍候在他左右的臣宰，甚至在他們面前，他也要如此行。他不僅在心中讚美神——這是我們在任何人群中都可藉著敬虔的心願來作的——而且若有機會，便要開口歌頌。當留意：讚美神是最大的偉人也不必引以為恥的事工；這是天使的事工，是天上事工。「在天使面前」（有人如此領會）——就是在宗教的聚會之中，那裏有天使特別的同在（林前十一10）。3. 他要照神所設立的方式讚美他：「我要向你的聖殿下拜。」惟獨祭司可進入聖殿；百姓至近之處，也不過是向著聖殿下拜，而這在遠處也可行。基督是我們的聖殿，我們必須以信心的眼目向著他仰望，看他為我們與神之間的中保——在我們對神的一切讚美之中都當如此。天堂是神的聖殿，我們在一切向神所發的祈求中，都當舉目向那裏仰望：「我們在天上的父。」
二、他要為甚麼讚美神。1. 為他諸般安慰的泉源——「為你的慈愛和誠實」——為你的恩慈與應許；為隱藏在你裏面的憐憫，並你所啟示出來的憐憫；因為神在自己裏面就是一位恩典的神，並已立約要向一切信靠他的人如此行。「因你使你的話顯為大」（你的應許，就是真理）「過於你一切所宣稱的。」神在創造與護理中以許多方式向我們啟示了自己，但最清楚的乃是藉著他的話語。他口中所出的判斷，比他手所行的更被尊為大，並藉著前者成就了更大的事。恩典的奇蹟勝過自然的奇蹟；藉啟示所顯明關乎神的事，遠超過藉理性所發現的。在神為大衛所行的事上，他對自己話語的信實比他任何其他屬性都顯得更為光輝，並更歸榮耀給他。有些優良的解經家將此理解為論到基督——就是那道（本體的道），並論到他的福音；這二者比神從前向列祖所啟示關乎自己的任何事都被尊為更大。那位使律法為大、使之得尊榮的，更使福音為大。2. 為那從這泉源流出的溪流——他自己已經在其中品嚐過主是恩慈的（詩一百三十八3）。他曾在患難之中，便以感恩的心記念：（1）他那時與神所享的甜蜜相交。他呼求，他禱告，並懇切地禱告，神就應允他——使他明白他的禱告已蒙悅納，並在時候滿足之時必蒙恩典的回報。神與他聖徒之間的交往，是藉著他的應許與他們的禱告來維繫的。（2）他那時從神所得的甜蜜交通：「你用靈魂裏的力量鼓勵我。」這便是他禱告的應允——因為神所賜的超過善言（詩二十6）。當留意：〔一〕那是迅速的應允：「我呼求的日子。」藉禱告與天上交易的人，因迅速的回報而致富。「我們還未說完，神就聽見了」（賽六十五24）。〔二〕那是屬靈的應允。神賜他靈魂裏的力量——這在患難之日便是對信心的禱告真實而寶貴的應允。倘若神在我們靈魂裏賜我們力量，使我們能擔當重擔、抵擋試探、並盡患難之境的本分；倘若他賜我們力量，使我們能憑信心緊緊抓住他，能維持心中的平安，並能忍耐等候結局——那我們就當承認他已經應允了我們，我們便有責任獻上感恩。
三、他盼望自己對神的讚美能對別人有甚麼影響（詩一百三十八4、5）。大衛自己既是君王，便盼望君王們也因他的經歷和他的榜樣受感動而歸向宗教；君王若成為敬虔之人，他們的國家便在各方面都更為美好。如今：1. 這可能是指與大衛鄰近的君王，如希蘭等人。「他們都要稱謝你。」當他們來訪大衛之時，並在他死後當他們來尋求所羅門的面之時（正如「地上的君王」明確記載都如此行了——代下九23），他們都樂意加入敬拜以色列神的行列。2. 這也可能看得更遠——論到外邦人的蒙召，並藉著基督的福音使萬民作門徒；論到他曾說：「諸王都要叩拜他」（詩七十二11）。此處預言：（1）「地上的君王要聽見神的話語。」凡靠近大衛的人都必從他聽見（詩一一九46）。在末後的日子，傳福音的人要被差遣到普天之下。（2）那時他們要稱謝神——一切聽見他的話、又在話語的光與愛中領受的人，都理當如此行（徒十三48）。（3）他們要「歌頌耶和華的作為」——在他們所經歷之護理與恩典的作為中歌頌；他們要因神喜樂，並將榮耀歸給他，無論他喜歡在哪些方面對待他們——就是在他們的本分與順服的道路上。當留意：那些行在耶和華道路中的人，理當在這些道路中歌頌——以極大的喜樂在其中前行，因為它們是「喜悅之路」；我們在其中也當喜樂；我們若如此行，*「耶和華的榮耀便為大。」*君王行在他的道路中，並一切行在其中的人在其中歌頌——這便向全世界宣告他是一位美好的主，他的事工本身就是工價——這實在大大榮耀神。
英文原文
Grateful Praise
A psalm of David.
¹ I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.
² I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
³ In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.
⁴ All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth.
⁵ Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD.
I. How he would praise God, compare Ps 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, Praising God is work which the greatest of men need not be ashamed of; it is the work of angels, the work of heaven. Before the angels (so some understand it), that is, in religious assemblies, where there is a special presence of angels, 1Co 11:10. 3. In the way that God had appointed: I will worship towards thy holy temple. The priests alone went into the temple; the people, at the nearest, did but worship towards it, and that they might do at a distance. Christ is our temple, and towards him we must look with an eye of faith, as Mediator between us and God, in all our praises of him. Heaven is God's holy temple, and thitherward we must lift up our eyes in all our addresses to God. Our Father in heaven.
II. What he would praise God for. 1. For the fountain of his comforts—for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth, for thy goodness and for thy promise, mercy hidden in thee and mercy revealed by thee, that God is a gracious God in himself and has engaged to be so to all those that trust in him. For thou hast magnified thy word (thy promise, which is truth) above all thy name. God has made himself known to us in many ways in creation and providence, but most clearly by his word. The judgments of his mouth are magnified even above those of his hand, and greater things are done by them. The wonders of grace exceed the wonders of nature; and what is discovered of God by revelation is much greater than what is discovered by reason. In what God had done for David his faithfulness to his work appeared more illustriously, and redounded more to his glory, than any other of his attributes. Some good interpreters understand it of Christ, the essential Word, and of his gospel, which are magnified above all the discoveries God had before made of himself to the fathers. He that magnified the law, and made that honourable, magnifies the gospel much more. 2. For the streams flowing from that fountain, in which he himself had tasted that the Lord is gracious, Ps 138:3. He had been in affliction, and he remembers, with thankfulness, (1.) The sweet communion he then had with God. He cried, he prayed, and prayed earnestly, and God answered him, gave him to understand that his prayer was accepted and should have a gracious return in due time. The intercourse between God and his saints is carried on by his promises and their prayers. (2.) The sweet communications he then had from God: Thou strengthenedst me with strength in my soul. This was the answer to his prayer, for God gives more than good words, Ps 20:6. Observe, [1.] It was a speedy answer: In the day when I cried. Note, Those that trade with heaven by prayer grow rich by quick returns. While we are yet speaking God hears, Isa 65:24. [2.] It was a spiritual answer. God gave him strength in his soul, and that is a real and valuable answer to the prayer of faith in the day of affliction. If God give us strength in our souls to bear the burdens, resist the temptations, and do the duties of an afflicted state, if he strengthen us to keep hold of himself by faith, to maintain the peace of our own minds and to wait with patience for the issue, we must own that he has answered us, and we are bound to be thankful.
III. What influence he hoped that his praising God would have upon others, Ps 138:4,5. David was himself a king, and therefore he hoped that kings would be wrought upon by his experiences, and his example, to embrace religion; and, if kings became religious, their kingdoms would be every way better. Now, 1. This may have reference to the kings that were neighbours to David, as Hiram and others. "They shall all praise thee." When they visited David, and, after his death, when they sought the presence of Solomon (as all the kings of the earth are expressly said to have done, 2Ch 9:23), they readily joined in the worship of the God of Israel. 2. It may look further, to the calling of the Gentiles and the discipling of all nations by the gospel of Christ, of whom it is said that all kings shall fall down before him, Ps 72:11. Now it is here foretold, (1.) That the kings of the earth shall hear the words of God. All that came near David should hear them from him, Ps 119:46. In the latter days the preachers of the gospel should be sent into all the world. (2.) That then they shall praise God, as all those have reason to do that hear his word, and receive it in the light and love of it, Ac 13:48. (3.) That they shall sing in the ways of the Lord, in the ways of his providence and grace towards them; they shall rejoice in God, and give glory to him, however he is pleased to deal with them in the ways of their duty and obedience to him. Note, Those that walk in the ways of the Lord have reason to sing in those ways, to go on in them with a great deal of cheerfulness, for they are ways of pleasantness, and it becomes us to be pleasant in them; and, if we are so, great is the glory of the Lord. It is very much for the honour of God that kings should walk in his ways, and that all those who walk in them should sing in them, and so proclaim to all the world that he is a good Master and his work its own wages.
6-8
God's Care of His People
神對祂百姓的眷顧
⁶ 耶和華雖然崇高，仍顧念低微的人；卻從遠處認識驕傲的人。 ⁷ 我雖行在患難之中，你必使我存活；你必向我的仇敵伸手發怒，你的右手也必拯救我。 ⁸ 耶和華必成全關乎我的事。耶和華啊，你的慈愛永遠長存；求你不要離棄你手所造的。
大衛在此以三件事自慰：
一、神對祂謙卑百姓的恩寵（詩 138:6）：「耶和華雖然崇高」，既不需要祂任何受造之物，也不能從他們得益，「仍顧念低微的人」，向他們微笑，因他們喜悅；祂越過天地，向他們投以恩慈的一瞥（賽 57:15，66:1-2），並遲早要使他們得尊榮；而祂卻從遠處認識驕傲的人——認識他們卻不認領他們，並棄絕他們，無論他們如何驕傲地假裝得祂的恩寵。哈蒙德博士（Dr. Hammond）認為，這就是地上君王所要聽見並歡迎的那福音的總綱——悔改的罪人必蒙神悅納，而不悔改的必被驅逐；法利賽人和稅吏的例證即為明證（路 18:9-14）。
二、神對祂受苦受壓之百姓的眷顧（詩 138:7）。大衛雖然是偉大而善良的人，卻預料要*「行在患難之中」，但他以盼望自勉：1. 神必安慰他：「當我的靈魂快要下沉、快要灰心的時候，你必使我存活，使我在患難之下仍安逸喜樂。」神的安慰充滿能力，足使我們甦醒，即使我們行在患難之中、因懼怕幾乎要死去的時候也是如此。2. 神必保護他，並為他申明：「你必……伸手」，雖然不是伸手攻擊我的仇敵以毀滅他們，卻「向我的仇敵〔的〕怒氣」伸手，以約束那怒氣並給它定界限。3. 神必到了時候為他成就拯救：「你的右手也必拯救我。」*祂既有一手伸出抵擋仇敵，也就有另一手拯救自己的百姓。基督就是那要拯救一切事奉祂之人的耶和華右手（詩 110:1；林前 15:25）。
三、我們確信，神在祂百姓身上、並為祂百姓所動的善工，祂必成全（詩 138:8）：「耶和華必成全關乎我的事。」1. 對我最為必要的事；而甚麼是這樣的事，祂最清楚。我們為許多事思慮煩擾，其中許多其實並不關乎我們；但祂知道甚麼事對我們實在緊要（太 6:32），祂必為最好的安排。2. 我們最為關切的事。每一個善人所最關切的，莫過於對神當盡的本分和在神裏面的福樂——前者能忠心地履行，後者能有效地確保；如果我們心中所最注重的、所最掛慮的，實在就是這些事，那麼我們裏面就有了善工的起頭，而那動了這工的必成全這工，我們可以深信祂必如此行（腓 1:6）。請觀察，（1）詩人建立這確信的根據：「耶和華啊，你的慈愛永遠長存。」他既曾多多以此作為他讚美的內容（詩 13:6），所以如今就能更有把握地以此作為他盼望的內容。因為我們若將神慈愛的榮耀歸給祂，我們自己就可從中得著安慰。我們對自己能堅忍到底的盼望，必須建立在神的慈愛上，而不是建立在我們自己的力量上——因為我們的力量會失效，但祂的慈愛不失效。這懇求是合宜的：「主啊，你的慈愛永遠長存；願我永遠作它的一個記念碑。」（2）他對這確信的運用；這並非要取代禱告，而是要激發禱告；他把他的期望轉為一個祈求：「求你不要離棄」——不要放手——「你手所造的。」「主啊，我是你手所造的，我的靈魂也是；求你不要離棄我；我的事也是如此；求你不要放下對它們的看顧。」我們裏面所有的善，都是神親手的工作；祂在我們裏面運行，使我們立志並行事（腓 2:13）；祂若離棄它，它就必失敗；但祂的榮耀——作為耶和華、作為成全之神——如此深地關乎這工的進展直到末了，以致我們可以憑信禱告說：「主啊，求你不要離棄它。」祂所愛的，就愛到底（約 13:1）；至於神，祂的作為是完全的（申 32:4）。
英文原文
God's Care of His People
⁶ Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.
⁷ Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.
⁸ The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.
David here comforts himself with three things:—
I. The favour God bears to his humble people (Ps 138:6): Though the Lord be high, and neither needs any of his creatures nor can be benefited by them, yet has he respect unto the lowly, smiles upon them as well pleased with them, overlooks heaven and earth to cast a gracious look upon them (Isa 57:15,66:1), and, sooner or later, he will put honour upon them, while he knows the proud afar off, knows them, but disowns them and rejects them, how proudly soever they pretend to his favour. Dr. Hammond makes this to be the sum of that gospel which the kings of the earth shall hear and welcome—that penitent sinners shall be accepted of God, but the impenitent cast out; witness the instance of the Pharisee and the publican, Lu 18:9-14
II. The care God takes of his afflicted oppressed people, Ps 138:7. David, though a great and good man, expects to walk in the midst of trouble, but encourages himself with hope, 1. That God would comfort him: "When my spirit is ready to sink and fail, thou shalt revive me, and make me easy and cheerful under my troubles." Divine consolations have enough in them to revive us even when we walk in the midst of troubles and are ready to die away for fear. 2. That he would protect him, and plead his cause: "Thou shalt stretch forth thy hand, though not against my enemies to destroy them, yet against the wrath of my enemies, to restrain that and set bounds to it." 3. That he would in due time work deliverance for him: Thy right hand shall save me. As he has one hand to stretch out against his enemies, so he has another to save his own people. Christ is the right hand of the Lord, that shall save all those who serve him.
III. The assurance we have that whatever good work God has begun in and for his people he will perform it (Ps 138:8): The Lord will perfect that which concerns me, 1. That which is most needful for me; and he knows best what is so. We are careful and cumbered about many things that do not concern us, but he knows what are the things that really are of consequence to us (Mt 6:32) and he will order them for the best. 2. That which we are most concerned about. Every good man is most concerned about his duty to God and his happiness in God, that the former may be faithfully done and the latter effectually secured; and if indeed these are the things that our hearts are most upon, and concerning which we are most solicitous, there is a good work begun in us, and he that has begun it will perfect it, we may be confident he will, Php 1:6. Observe, (1.) What ground the psalmist builds this confidence upon: Thy mercy, O Lord! endures for ever. This he had made very much the matter of his praise (Ps 13:6), and therefore he could here with the more assurance make it the matter of his hope. For, if we give God the glory of his mercy, we may take to ourselves the comfort of it. Our hopes that we shall persevere must be founded, not upon our own strength, for that will fail us, but upon the mercy of God, for that will not fail. It is well pleaded, "Lord, thy mercy endures for ever; let me be for ever a monument of it." (2.) What use he makes of this confidence; it does not supersede, but quicken prayer; he turns his expectation into a petition: "Forsake not, do not let go, the work of thy own hands. Lord, I am the work of thy own hands, my soul is so, do not forsake me; my concerns are so, do not lay by thy care of them." Whatever good there is in us it is the work of God's own hands; he works in us both to will and to do; it will fail if he forsake it; but his glory, as Jehovah, a perfecting God, is so much concerned in the progress of it to the end that we may in faith pray, "Lord, do not forsake it." Whom he loves he loves to the end; and, as for God, his work is perfect.
大衛於何種緣故寫了這詩，並未顯明，查考也無關緊要；但在本詩中：一、他以感恩回顧自己對神良善的經歷（詩一三八1-3）。二、他以安慰向前觀望，盼望：1. 別人也必像他一樣繼續讚美神（詩一三八4,5）。2. 神也必繼續向他行善（詩一三八6-8）。
唱這詩時，我們也當照樣將自己獻給神的讚美與榮耀，並安息於祂的大能與良善之中。