Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 138:2

"I will worship toward thy holy temple, And give thanks unto thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." — Psalms 138:2 (ASV)

I will worship — I will bow down and adore.

Toward your holy temple — See the notes at (Psalms 5:7). The word temple here undoubtedly refers to the tabernacle.

And praise your name for your loving-kindness — Praise you for your benignity; your mercy; your benevolence.

And for your truth — Your truthfulness; your faithfulness to your promises.

For you have magnified your word — You have made it great. . The reference here is to the promises of God, and especially to the promise which God had made to David that the Messiah would descend from him. (Compare to 2 Samuel 7).

Above all your name — Above all else that you have done; above all the other manifestations of yourself to me or to the world.

The word name here would refer properly to all that God had done to make himself known, since it is by the name that we designate or distinguish anyone.

Thus understood, the meaning would be that the word of God—the revelation which he has made of himself and of his gracious purposes to mankind—is superior in clearness and in importance to all the other manifestations which he has made of himself; all that can be known of him in his works.

Beyond all question, there are higher and clearer manifestations of himself—of his being, his perfection, his purposes—in the volume of revelation than any which his works have disclosed or can disclose.

. There are very many points in relation to God, of the highest interest to mankind, on which the disclosures of science shed no light.

There are many things which it is desirable for man to know, which cannot be learned in the schools of philosophy; there are consolations which man needs in a world of trouble which cannot be found in nature.

There is especially a knowledge of the method by which sin may be pardoned, and the soul saved, which can never be disclosed by the blow-pipe, the telescope, or the microscope.

These things, if learned at all, must be learned from revelation, and these are of more importance to man as a traveler to another world than all the learning which can be acquired in the schools of philosophy—valuable as that learning is.