Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Psalms 138:1 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 1. 1I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Psalm 138:1: The speaker's “I will praise thee with my whole heart” contributes testimony, resolve, or self-address to “Wholehearted thanks before rulers.”
Wholehearted thanks is sung in front of the gods, then the LORD stoops
This verse is one part of that explanation in Psalms 138:1–8. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Psalms 138:1–8
Read Psalms 138:1 with 138:1–8. Read alone, “I will praise thee with my whole heart” could lose the individual voice, the parallel line or movement it develops, and the psalm's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Within Psalms 138:1–8, the individual voice carries the movement “Wholehearted thanks before rulers” as part of “Wholehearted thanks before rulers.” Its thanksgiving form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Psalms 138:1–8 opens Psalm 138 with “I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee” and establishes the individual voice and “Wholehearted thanks before rulers” movement before later lines develop or answer it. Within that relationship, Psalm 138:1 voices testimony, resolve, or self-address in “I will praise thee with my whole heart,” preserving the poem's individual or communal speaker.
Follow the Context
- Identify the individual voice, address, and parallel lines in Psalms 138:1–8; do not make every “I”, “we,” king, enemy, or worshiper interchangeable.
- Within Psalms 138:1–8, the individual voice carries the movement “Wholehearted thanks before rulers” as part of “Wholehearted thanks before rulers.” Its thanksgiving form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
- Confidence before kings does not sacralize rulers; the Davidic heading and universal audience remain literary framing rather than a modern political program.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
Psalms 138:1 does not allow “I will praise thee with my whole heart” to become an independent promise, command, accusation, doctrine, or authorization. This verse voices testimony, resolve, or self-address in “I will praise thee with my whole heart,” preserving the poem's individual or communal speaker. The complete movement is “Wholehearted thanks before rulers.” Confidence before kings does not sacralize rulers; the Davidic heading and universal audience remain literary framing rather than a modern political program.
What Remains True
Psalm 138:1 carries “I will praise thee with my whole heart” inside the thanksgiving movement “Wholehearted thanks before rulers.” Its durable contribution is this: Praise remembers concrete divine character and action, gathers many voices, and remains honest about grief rather than demanding one emotional performance. The local movement is “Wholehearted thanks before rulers.” The unit's reviewed limit is: Confidence before kings does not sacralize rulers; the Davidic heading and universal audience remain literary framing rather than a modern political program.
Teach It Back
In your own words, place “I will praise thee with my whole heart” inside “Wholehearted thanks before rulers.” Identify its thanksgiving role, the neighboring poetic movement, one uncertainty, one enduring truth, one proportionate action, and this boundary: Confidence before kings does not sacralize rulers; the Davidic heading and universal audience remain literary framing rather than a modern political program.
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Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Psalms 138:1–8 — Wholehearted thanks before rulersSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Confidence before kings does not sacralize rulers; the Davidic heading and universal audience remain literary framing rather than a modern political program.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 138:1–8, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 138:1–8
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 138:1–8.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 138 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 138:1–8
Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗modern scholarly book course
Psalms course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Fred Gaiser; revised by Nicholas Schaser
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised May 2024
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Psalms course, Summary, Outline, Introductory Issues, and Theological Themes; applied to Psalms 138:1–8
Open the Enter the Bible Psalms course ↗ancient greek text translation and introduction
A New English Translation of the Septuagint: Psalms
Albert Pietersma
International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies; Oxford University Press, 2009
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
Exact location: NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 138 for Psalms 138:1–8
Open NETS Psalms ↗