Praising the Lord Before the 'lower case gods'

Scripture:
I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
before the “gods” I will sing your praise.
Psalm 138:1

Observation: The psalmist (David) opens this song with a declaration that he will praise the Lord publicly, even before the other "gods". This represents an interesting sentiment that is common throughout the Old Testament, but that for some reason many faithful believers today struggle to grasp, which is the existence of "lower case gods".

We know for certain there is only one God, the Lord, Yahweh, God of Abraham, the creator of heaven and earth.  However, throughout the Old Testament, the Lord himself addresses issues with other gods by name. He calls Abraham out of a life of creating idols. By the nature of the plagues, he directly attacks 10 Egyptian gods. The prophets declare how Israel, as they turn away from the Lord, turn to named deities. Throughout all this, the Lord declares that idols made by human hand are exactly that - wood and stone made by man - and thus they are not gods in any way. On the other hand, he seems to acknowledge that named gods are out there, and is willing to even take action to subvert their presumed powers.

The issue here is that "lower case gods" are earthly concepts. Those concepts might - might - take a form and have a name, and it is even possible that this name and form is inspired by a demon with the purpose of turning people against the truth of the Lord. The earthly concepts might also be just that ... concepts that humans have placed at the center of their lives and lifestyle, making that concept central in their daily behavior.

And according to this psalm, we are to sing and praise the Lord, right in the face of these "gods".

Application: This is important for all Christians to understand. One of the best things we can do when confronted with a world that makes concepts like ... pursuing success through money, seeking pleasure through sexuality, championing good-sounding causes, achieving virtue through political fights, winning at work ... central in the lives of many, is we can publicly praise and worship the Lord. We can do this in song, we can do this by exhibiting peace, we can do this by holding onto joy in all circumstances, and we can do it by naming the Lord as the source of our joy and comfort and peace and trust.

I know I would do well by spending less time thinking about worldly topics and partaking in social media, and instead spending more time in praise and worship and meditating on the Lord's word. I would like to sing praise more often right in the midst of the "lower case gods" of this world.

Prayer: Lord, I do desire to praise you more, and especially all the more in public. I also desire to spend more of my time in general simply keeping you central in my heart and mind. Again today I ask for your Holy Spirit to fill me, so I may have your peace within me, rejecting all the lower case gods of this world and holding fast to you. Amen.