Psalm 138
v.1
I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing your praise.
v.2
I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.
v.3
When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted.
v.4
May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD, when they hear the words of your mouth.
v.5
May they sing of the ways of the LORD, for the glory of the LORD is great.
v.6
Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar.
v.7
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me.
v.8
The LORD will fulfill [his purpose] for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever— do not abandon the works of your hands.
He will complete what he has begun. He will not begin to interpose in my behalf, and then abandon me. He will not promise to save me, and then fail to fulfill his promise. He will not encourage me, and then cast me off. So of us. He will complete what he begins. He will not convert a soul, and then leave it to perish. “Grace will complete what grace begins.” #AlbertBarnes
To begin, let us read the first sentence—“The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me.” Now, have you a concern in and a concern about heavenly things? Have you ever felt that eternity concerns you more than time, that the mansions of heaven are more worthy your consideration than the dwelling places of earth? Have you felt that you ought to have a greater concern about your immortal soul than about your perishing body? Remember, if you are living the life of the butterfly, the life of the present, a sportive and flowery life, without making any preparation or taking any thought for a future world, this promise is not yours. If the things of God do not concern you, then God will not perfect them for you. You must have in your own soul a concern about these things, and afterwards you must have a belief in your heart that you have an interest in heavenly things or otherwise it would be a perversion of Holy Scripture for you to appropriate these things to yourselves.
Many persons have such shallow minds that they cannot perceive how God’s determination and our own free action can go together. I never find these people making the same mistake in common life they do on religious subjects. A man says to me, “Now, sir, if God intends to save me, I need do nothing.” He knows he is a fool when he says it, or if he does not know it, I will soon make him see it. Suppose he says again, “If the Lord intends to feed me, He will feed me, and I will go without my dinner. If the Lord intends to give me a harvest, He will give me a harvest, and I shall not sow any wheat, and I shall not plough”? Suppose another were to say, “If the Lord intends to keep me warm today, He will do it, so I will not put on my coat.” Suppose a man should say, again, “If the Lord intends me to go to bed tonight, I shall go to bed, and therefore, I shall not walk towards home, but sit here as long as I like.” You smile at once because the folly is self-convicting. But is it not just the same in religion? Because “the LORD will perfect that which concerneth me,” am I to say I shall not pray? =Why, no, my dear friends, the fact is that knowledge that a thing is certain prompts a wise man to action.=