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Psalm 138:4

All the kings of the earth will give you thanks, LORD, for they have heard the words of your mouth.

2I will bow down toward your holy temple, and give thanks to your Name for your loving kindness and for your truth; for you have exalted your Name and your Word above all.
3In the day that I called, you answered me. You encouraged me with strength in my soul.
4All the kings of the earth will give you thanks, LORD, for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5Yes, they will sing of the ways of the LORD, for the LORD’s glory is great!
6For though the LORD is high, yet he looks after the lowly; but he knows the proud from afar.
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Notice

Kings become hearers in this verse, and their thanks turn attention from the words rulers speak to the words they receive from YHWH.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What changes in your view of earthly power when you picture every king thanking YHWH?

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Which words in the surrounding verses help you understand why hearing God would lead to thanks?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

10 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Isaiah 49:23Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of your …Both passages picture kings taking a humble posture: giving thanks to the LORD in the psalm and bowing before those Isaiah addresses.
Isaiah 60:3Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.Both look ahead to kings responding to something beyond their own power: the LORD's words or the brightness Isaiah describes.
Psalm 102:15So the nations will fear the LORD’s name, all the kings of the earth your glory.Both name all the kings of the earth as those who will respond to the LORD with thanks or reverence.
Psalm 72:11Yes, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him.Both envision all kings offering honor, through thanksgiving to the LORD here and through bowing before the ruler in Psalm 72.
Psalm 45:17I will make your name to be remembered in all generations. Therefore the peoples shall give you thanks forever and ever.Both look ahead to thanksgiving spreading among peoples or rulers, with hearing and remembrance preceding that thanks.
Psalm 22:27All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.Both describe a worldwide response to the LORD, extending thanksgiving or worship beyond a single people.
Isaiah 60:16You will also drink the milk of the nations, and will nurse from royal breasts. Then you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty …The shared thread is royalty within a declaration about the LORD; Isaiah describes royal provision, while the psalm describes royal thanks.
Revelation 21:24The nations will walk in its light. The kings of the earth bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.Both include the kings of the earth in a future scene of honor, though Revelation describes their gifts rather than their thanks.
Revelation 11:15The seventh angel sounded, and great voices in heaven followed, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. He will …Both give a worldwide horizon to the Lord's supremacy: kings thank him in the psalm, and the world's kingdom becomes his in Revelation.
Zephaniah 2:11The LORD will be awesome to them, for he will famish all the gods of the land. Men will worship him, everyone from his place, even all the shores of the …Both anticipate honor reaching the LORD across the earth, through the thanks of kings or worship from the nations.
Where this verse fits

Praise and worship. gratitude. fear for the future.

What the Bible says about worship →What the Bible says about gratitude →What the Bible says about fear →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read verses two through six and write one thanks

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Encouragement

The world's rulers can command much attention. Yet this psalm looks ahead to all of them hearing God's words and giving him thanks. YHWH speaks even to kings.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 138:4. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 138 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).