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All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O Lord, When they hear the words of Your mouth.
Psalms 138:4 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB All the kings of the earth will give you thanks, Yahweh, for they have heard the words of your mouth.
  • KJV All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth.
  • BSB All the kings of the earth will give You thanks, O LORD, when they hear the words of Your mouth.
  • NASB ¶All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, Lord, When they have heard the words of Your mouth.
  • NLT Every king in all the earth will thank you, Lord, for all of them will hear your words.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

David foresees all earthly kings giving thanks to Yahweh when they hear His words.

Overview

Looking beyond Israel, David envisions even the kings of the earth praising God once they hear His word. This expresses the hope that God's truth will draw the nations to worship Him. That hope is being fulfilled through the gospel of Christ, which calls people from every nation to bow before the King of kings.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 13

  • Ps 102:15So the nations will fear Yahweh’s name; all the kings of the earth your glory.
  • Ps 72:11Yes, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him.
  • Ps 22:27All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.
  • Ps 22:22I will declare your name to my brothers. Among the assembly, I will praise you.
  • Rev 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 reign forever and ever!”
  • Isa 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 feet; Then you will know that I am Yahweh; and those who wait for me shall not be disappointed.”
  • Isa 60:16You will also drink the milk of the nations, and will nurse from royal breasts. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
  • Rev 21:24The nations will walk in its light. The kings of the earth bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.
  • Ps 102:22when the peoples are gathered together, the kingdoms, to serve Yahweh.
  • Isa 60:3–5Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.
  • Ps 51:13Then I will teach transgressors your ways. Sinners shall be converted to you.
  • Ps 69:30–32I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
  • Ps 71:18Yes, even when I am old and gray-haired, God, don’t forsake me, until I have declared your strength to the next generation, your might to everyone who is to come.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 138:4YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 138:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.