Psalm 138:8 NKJV
The Lord will perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.
No Halfway Grace
MY NOTES
“The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.” — Psalm 138:8 (NKJV)
Have you ever started a project with massive enthusiasm, only to have it sit half-finished in a closet six months later? We’ve all been there—the half-knitted sweater, the “started” fitness plan, or that DIY shelf that’s still just a pile of wood.
The good news? God isn’t like us. He doesn’t have a “half-finished projects” closet. If He started a work in your life, He has every intention of seeing it through to the grand finale.
The Divine Finisher
The verse kicks off with a bold promise: The Lord will perfect that which concerns me. In the original language, “perfect” doesn’t just mean making something flawless; it means completing it. It’s the idea of bringing a task to its intended end.
As the commentators point out, God is concerned with everything that concerns you. Your strength, your mental health, your family, your career path—if it’s on your mind, it’s on His “to-do” list. He didn’t convert your soul to leave it to fend for itself in the wilderness. As Spurgeon famously put it: “Grace will complete what grace begins.”
The Foundation of Mercy
Why can David be so sure? Is it because he’s a great king? No. It’s because: Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever. David builds his confidence on God’s character, not his own performance. This is a game-changer for those of us who feel like we’ve messed up the “project” of our lives. If our hope was based on our own strength, we’d be in trouble. But since it’s based on His mercy (that steadfast, covenant-keeping hesed love), it is unshakable. If we give God the glory for His mercy, we get to keep the comfort of it.
The Work of His Hands
The final plea is beautiful: Do not forsake the works of Your hands. It might seem strange to ask God not to leave us right after saying He will perfect us. But as David shows us, confidence doesn’t make prayer unnecessary; it makes prayer urgent. We are the work of His hands in three ways:
- Creation: His hands formed our souls at the start.
- Redemption: His nail-pierced hands bought us back on the cross.
- Providence: His glorified hands hold us fast right now.
Think about the “sunk cost” principle. God has already invested so much in you—He’s not about to throw away a vessel He’s spent so much labor and skill on. He is the ultimate Craftsman, and He loves the work of His hands too much to let it go.
Key Takeaways
- He is Committed: God is personally invested in every detail of your life. Nothing is too small for Him to “perfect.”
- Safety in Mercy: Your security isn’t based on your grip on God, but on His eternal mercy toward you.
- A Solid Investment: God has already put too much “work” into you to walk away now. You are His handiwork.
- Prayer and Confidence: Knowing God will finish the job should make us pray more boldly, not less.
Cross References (NKJV)
Philippians 1:6
“being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”
Isaiah 64:8
“But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.”
2 Thessalonians 1:11
“Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power,”
Prayer
Abba, I thank You that You aren’t finished with me yet. When I feel like a mess or a half-completed project, remind me that You are the Divine Finisher. I hand over the things that “concern me” today—my worries, my lack, and my growth. I trust in Your mercy that never runs out. Thank You for holding me in Your hands and promised to never let me go. Perfect Your work in me for Your glory. I thank You for this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Things to Think About:
- What is one area of your life right now that feels “unfinished” or messy? How does knowing God is “perfecting” it change your perspective?
- If God’s mercy is the foundation of your hope, what “performance-based” fears can you let go of today?
- Look at your “scars” or past trials. How can you see God’s hands at work in those moments, even when it felt like He might have forsaken the project?
Proverb for Today
By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom. Proverbs 13:10 NKJV
Daily Scripture
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. Galatians 6:7-10 NKJV
Bill
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Summary of Commentaries:
God guarantees the completion of His work, a promise mirrored in Philippians 1:6. Commentators emphasize that because His mercy is eternal, He will never abandon His handiwork—whether in providence or grace. Our security rests in the “nail-pierced hands” of the Redeemer, not our own fleeting strength. This confidence doesn’t replace prayer; it fuels it, turning our expectation into a humble plea for the Divine Craftsman to perfect every detail concerning us.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me.” All my interests are safe in Jehovah’s hands.
The work which his goodness began,
The arm of his strength will complete;
His promise is yea and Amen,
And never was forfeited yet.
God is concerned in all that concerns his servants. He will see to it that none of their precious things shall fail of completion; their life, their strength, their hopes, their graces, their pilgrimage, shall each and all be perfected. Jehovah himself will see to this, and therefore it is most sure.
“Thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever.” The refrain of the former Psalm is in his ears, and he repeats it as his own personal conviction and consolation. The first clause of the verse is the assurance of faith, and this second one reaches to the full assurance of understanding. God’s work in us will abide unto perfection because God’s mercy towards us thus abideth.
“Forsake not the works of thine own hands.” Our confidence does not cause us to live without prayer, but encourages us to pray all the more. Since we have it written upon our hearts that God will perfect his work in us, and we see it also written in Scripture that his mercy changeth not, with holy earnestness entreat that we may not be forsaken. If there be anything good in us, it is the work of God’s own hands: will he leave it? Why has he wrought so much in us if he means to give us up?—It will be a sheer effort. He who has gone so far will surely persevere with us to the end. Our hope for the final perseverance of the believer lies in the final perseverance of the believer’s God. If the Lord begins to build and does not finish, it will not be his honor. He will have a desire to the work of his hands, for he knows it has cost him already, and he will not throw away a vessel upon which he has expended so much of labor and skill. Therefore, do we praise him with our whole heart, even in the presence of those who depart from his Holy Word, and set up another God and another gospel, which are not another, but there be some that trouble us.
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Enduring Word
The LORD will perfect that which concerns me. This was David’s confident declaration. He knew that God had a plan concerning him, and this God of greatness and goodness would absolutely perfect that plan. (Guzik)
i. “This is the language of utmost confidence…. The hope is based, not upon the determination of the singer, but upon Jehovah.” (Morgan)
ii. This is another way of stating the great promise of Philippians 1:6: being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. (Guzik)
iii. David could think of the particular promise (2 Samuel 7) that God had made concerning him – that his descendants would rule forever, especially fulfilled in the Messiah. The principle is true for every believer regarding the promise and course of life God has appointed for him. (Guzik)
iv. Maclaren noted the connection between the phrases the LORD will perfect and Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever: “Because Jehovah’s lovingkindness endures forever, every man on whom His shaping Spirit has begun to work, or His grace in any form to bestow its gifts, may be sure that no exhaustion or change of these is possible.”
Do not forsake the works of Your hands: With confidence in the never-ending mercy (hesed) of Yahweh, David knew that God would never forsake him, who belonged to God by creation and redemption. (Guzik)
i. “Look upon the wounds of thy hands, and forsake not the works of thy hands, prayed Queen Elizabeth 1. And Luther’s usual prayer was, Confirm, O God, in us that thou hast wrought, and perfect the work that thou hast begun in us, to thy glory; so be it.” (Trapp)
ii. “His creating hands formed our souls at the beginning; his nail-pierced hands redeemed them on Calvary; his glorified hands will hold our souls fast and not let them go forever.” (Burgon, cited in Spurgeon)
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Albert Barnes
The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me – He will complete what he has begun. He will not begin to interpose on my behalf and then abandon me. He will not promise to save me and then fail to fulfill his promise. He will not encourage me and then cast me off. He will complete what he begins. He will not convert a soul and then leave it to perish. “Grace will complete what grace begins.” See Philippians 1:6.
Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever – See Psalms 136:1.
Forsake not the works of thine own hands – What thou hast made; what thou hast begun to do. Do not leave me to perish. Prayer is one of the means – and an essential means – by which the saints are to be kept unto salvation. The doctrine of the “perseverance of the saints” is not inconsistent with prayer, but rather prompts to it; and he who professes to rely on that doctrine, and feels so safe that he does not need to pray, and does not pray, gives certain evidence that he has never been converted, and has no true religion.
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John Gill
The Lord will perfect [that which] concerneth me,…. Or “will,” or “may the Lord perform for me”: all things in providence; all that he had appointed for him, that would be for his good and his own glory, Psalm 57:2; and particularly what concerned him as a king. He had made him king over the house of Judah; he had begun to fulfill his promise concerning the kingdom, and he would perfect it by setting him over all the tribes of Israel. Also he believed he would perfect what concerned him as a saint, even the good work of grace upon his heart; which is but a begun work, is imperfect, is gradually carried on, and will be completed; God is able to do it, and none can hinder him; he has promised to do it, and he is faithful who will do it; and his glory is concerned in it; and it may be depended on it will be finished; he is a rock, and his work is perfect; see Philippians 1:6;
thy mercy, O Lord, [endureth] for ever; a phrase often used by the psalmist, with which his heart was affected; and here used, both as an argument by which he concluded God would perfect his begun work, and as an encouragement to make the following request:
forsake not the works of thine own hands; as are all the works of providence and grace: the work of grace upon the heart may be expressed in the plural number, because of the several branches of it; which are all so many works, as the work of faith, labour, of love, &c. 1 Thessalonians 1:3; and which is the Lord’s handiwork; and a curious work it is, a new creation work, a work of almighty power; and which he will never cease from, or be remiss in, as the word signifies, until he has accomplished it, 2 Thessalonians 1:11. It is a prayer of faith, and may be most confidently believed: and some indeed render it as an expression of faith, “thou wilt not forsake the works of thine hands”; David himself was the work of God’s hands, as Kimchi observes, as a creature, as a king, and as a saint; and so are all the people of God, Isaiah 45:11; and whom he will never leave nor forsake; for they are his church, his chosen, his children, his portion and inheritance, Psalm 94:14.
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Matthew Henry
The assurance we have that whatever good work God has begun in and for his people, he will perform it (v. 8): The Lord will perfect that which concerns me,
1. That which is most needful for me, and he knows best what is so. We are careful and cumbered about many things that do not concern us, but he knows what are the things that really are of consequence to us (Mt. 6:32) and he will order them for the best.
2. That which we are most concerned about. Every good man is most concerned about his duty to God and his happiness in God, that the former may be faithfully done and the latter effectually secured; and if indeed these are the things that our hearts are most upon, and concerning which we are most solicitous, there is a good work begun in us, and he that has begun it will perfect it, we may be confident he will, Phil. 1:6. Observe,
(1.) What ground the psalmist builds this confidence upon: Thy mercy, O Lord! endures for ever. This he had made very much the matter of his praise (Ps. 13:6), and therefore he could here with the more assurance make it the matter of his hope. For if we give God the glory of his mercy, we may take to ourselves the comfort of it. Our hopes that we shall persevere must be founded, not upon our own strength, for that will fail us, but upon the mercy of God, for that will not fail. It is well pleaded, “Lord, thy mercy endures for ever; let me be for ever a monument of it.”
(2.) What use he makes of this confidence; it does not supersede, but quicken prayer; he turns his expectation into a petition: “Forsake not, do not let go, the work of thy own hands. Lord, I am the work of thy own hands, my soul is so, do not forsake me; my concerns are so, do not lay by thy care of them.” Whatever good there is in us it is the work of God’s own hands; he works in us both to will and to do; it will fail if he forsake it; but his glory, as Jehovah, a perfecting God, is so much concerned in the progress of it to the end that we may in faith pray, “Lord, do not forsake it.” Whom he loves, he loves to the end; and, as for God, his work is perfect.
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