John Calvin Commentary Psalms 138:1

"I will give thee thanks with my whole heart: Before the gods will I sing praises unto thee." — Psalms 138:1 (ASV)

I will praise thee with my whole heart. As David had been honored to receive distinguishing marks of divine favor, he declares his resolution to show more than ordinary gratitude. This is a practice that, in the case of hypocrites, degenerates and is degraded to a mere sound of empty words. However, he states that he would return thanks to God not with the lips only, but with sincerity of heart; for by the whole heart, as we have seen elsewhere, is meant a heart that is sincere and undivided.

The noun אלהים, Elohim, sometimes means angels, and sometimes kings, and either meaning is suitable for the passage before us. The praise David speaks of is of a public nature.

The solemn assembly is, so to speak, a heavenly theater, graced by the presence of attending angels. Indeed, one reason the cherubim overshadowed the Ark of the Covenant was to let God’s people know that angels are present when they come to worship in the sanctuary.

We might very properly apply what is said here to kings, on account of their eminence in rank, as in Psalm 107:32, Praise ye the Lord in the assembly of the elders—that is, as we would say, in an assembly of an honored and illustrious kind.

However, I prefer the former sense (interpreting Elohim as angels). This is because believers, in drawing near to God, are withdrawn from the world and rise to heaven, enjoying fellowship with angels. Thus, we find Paul urging the Corinthians on the necessity of decency and order by requiring them to show at least some respect to the angels in their public religious assemblies (1 Corinthians 11:10).

The same thing was represented by God long before, under the figure of the cherubim, thus giving his people a visible pledge of his presence.