What Does Psalm 138:2 Mean?
I bow down toward your set-apart temple, and I extend my hands in thanks to your name for your faithful love and for your truth; for you make your word great above all your name.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
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.THE KEY
God’s spoken word is magnified above every name: the utterance stands higher than all the ways God’s nature is named.
THE MEANING
You bow toward the temple and praise God’s nature through faithful love and truth. Then the verse places God’s utterance above every name, giving what God says a place beyond any title or description. The name is known through love and truth, while the word is lifted above the whole name.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A name or title can contain the fullness of God’s nature; here, God’s utterance is magnified above every name.
THE ROOT
אִמְרָתֶךָ
imratekha
GROWS FROM
אמר
To say, speak, or utter.
The Hebrew word is imrah, an utterance from amar, to speak. The verse says God’s spoken word is made great above every name, so the utterance rises beyond any title that names God’s nature.
ALSO GROWS
omer: Utterance or speech.
אֹמֶר
It shows that this root names spoken expression, the kind of utterance this verse raises above every name.
ma’amar: A saying or decree.
מַאֲמָר
A saying can carry authority and force, adding weight to the verse’s exaltation of God’s utterance.
חַסְדְּךָ
chasdekha
GROWS FROM
חסד
Faithful kindness or loyal love.
“lovingkindness” in this verse is chasdekha. Chesed is loyal love enacted over time, not a passing feeling. Joined to emet, it shows that the nature praised here is both faithful and firm.
ALSO GROWS
chasid: A faithful or devoted person.
חָסִיד
The branch carries chesed into the character of a person whose life is marked by loyalty.
chasad: To act with kindness or loyalty.
חָסַד
This verb shows chesed as something enacted, illuminating the faithful love for which the name is praised.
אֲמִתֶּךָ
amittekha
GROWS FROM
אמן
To be firm, steady, or reliable.
The Hebrew word for truth comes from the seed of firmness: what holds steady and can be trusted. Paired with chesed, it shows the nature behind the name as faithful love joined to reliability.
ALSO GROWS
emunah: Steadiness, trust, or reliability.
אֱמוּנָה
This branch shows truth as something a person can lean their full weight on.
amen: Firmly; truly; let it stand.
אָמֵן
Amen carries the same sense of firmness, echoing the verse’s picture of truth as dependable.
THE PATTERN
God’s name is made known through faithful love and truth, while God’s spoken word carries that nature into action.
Faithful love and truth meet; alignment and wholeness kiss.So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but shall do what I delight in, and shall break through in the thing to which I sent it.Set them apart through your truth; your word is truth.THE THREAD
And the LORD passed by before his face, and called out, The LORD, The LORD God, compassionate and full of favor, slow to flare, abounding in faithful love and truth,The Hebrew words translated goodness and truth here are chesed and emet, the same pair praised in Psalm 138:2. Exodus names God through faithful love and truth; the psalm then says God’s utterance is magnified above every name.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us