“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.”
I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything. The bowing toward the holy temple orients the prayer toward Zion, the locus of God's presence. Thanksgiving is rendered for God's essential attributes (steadfast love and faithfulness) that constitute the ground of all covenant relationship. The exaltation of God's name above everything asserts that God's reputation and authority supersede all rival claims. The word (דבר) represents God's utterance and promise; that these endure forever guarantees Israel's hope. This verse demonstrates that thanksgiving rests on recognition of God's supremacy and faithfulness.
Church Fathers on Psalms 138:2
1. The title of this Psalm is brief and simple, and need not detain us; since we know whose resemblance David wore, and since in him we recognise ourselves also, for we too are members of that Body. The whole title is, “To David himself.” Let us see then, what is to David himself. The title of the Psalm is wont to tell us what is treated of within it: but in this, since the title informs us not of this, but tells us only to Whom it is chanted, the first verse tells us what is…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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