Ps 138 2 "for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word".The question is if we have been saved and have been identified with Christ is God dealing with us according to our ongoing sin? The answer is that God does not repay us according to our sin. He has cast our sins away as far as the east is from the west. The reason that He does not deal with us according to our sins is because Christ not only paid for our sins but He also paid for our penalty of that sin.But why are we required to confess present sins? Does God withhold forgiveness until we confess our sin? No God has already forgiven us of all of our sins. We confess our sins because we are acknowledging that we still sin. Our christian repentance is secure because Christ took care of all of our sins. The truth is that God does not deal with us according to our sins.

There are a few Psalms of confession. Most of the Psalms deal with focusing on God rather than on ourselves. But some of us have a propensity to reverse this and start by focusing on ourselves.This is why we do not exercise our faith and enjoy God for what He has done. If we are over scrupulous towards our sin then we should memorize this Psalm so that we can understand what moves God to answer our prayers. When God convicts us its not to destroy our faith but to strengthen us to praise Him for His work.
  I will praise you, O LORD , with all my heart;
before the "gods" I will sing your praise.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
and will praise your name
for your love and your faithfulness,

The Psalmist always comes to God according to the law,covenants, curses, statutes, promises,decrees and blessing. These axioms are the foundation of our relationship with God. We must understand these axioms to understand Gods view of us. He is saying that the false gods always demand something from us in order to appease them. The Psalmist is separating the work of Jehovah teaching that God is exalted because He has done all the work. He has worked our salvation and is pleased with His work. Salvation is a work of God for Gods pleasure. He as it were is standing before the gods and praising God that salvation is all His work on our behalf.

Salvation is both a one time event and an ongoing work of delivering us. You see the Psalmist is praising God because our salvation is dependent upon His love and faithfulness. Any time the Psalmist petitions God , it is not because of the Psalmist obedience but is is based upon Gods unfailing love. If you study the Psalms when the Psalmist opens up by saying  that His heart has been enlarged, he has been moved by Gods work in the axioms. He is moved by the sovereign grace of God for us. He is saying that because God loves to be extolled His prayers have been answered.

It is important for us to know how to extol God. In order for us to have a mature understanding we must learn to seek God according to the saying or the axioms as the Psalmist teaches.for you have "exalted above all things your name and your word". The highest worship is worshiping God according to His name. God has put His approval upon His law, covenants, curses, statutes, promises, and decrees. When we approach God according to His work, we exalt His name. Its the in a lesser example that when we work our creation is stamped with our name. To a much greater extent God has created all things and works all things according to His axioms. He has put His name upon  that work. We must not approach Him in our own way. So the Psalmist has learned to speak  the axioms in pronouncements, petitions and strong cries in order to exalt God. God is moved by our showing how big He is. 

 When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted." The Psalmist is teaching that when he comes to God speaking the axioms , He is moved by the greatness of God and His works. He is not bold because he is confessing sin or had a good day of obeying God. He is bold because God has been exalted. You see when the Psalmist is moved by Gods greatness , his confidence in answered prayer makes him bold and stouthearted. He is so moved by the results of speaking the axioms in pronouncements and petitions that he calls upon all kings of the earth to exalt God. His small view of Gods control of the earth has been expanded and he is moved to ask God for big things. You see the axioms move us to long for  the whole earth to be united in understanding the works of God. This is not something we naturally long for. He is moved to pray for world unity. May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD , when they hear the words of your mouth.
May they sing of the ways of the LORD , for the glory of the LORD is great.Pronouncing the axioms move God to shine the light of His face upon us. This is the Psalmist way of saying that when God smiles on us we are infused with power. We begin to pray like we would if we were in the new heaven and earth. We pray like we are in the future judgement.

"Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly,
but the proud he knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes,
with your right hand you save me."
When we pray the axioms we begin to understand  there is no middle ground with God. He has planned all things according to the line of blessing and cursing. God has turned the world upside down so that He exalts the lowest and brings down the powerful.Instead of valuing the things the world values, God values His sayings. God speaks the axioms and the world is turned upside down. The Psalmist sees the value of Gods sayings and He is praying that all the world will speak the axioms to God.  " May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD ,
when they hear the words of your mouth".Let all the world leaders hear the axioms.

You see our problem with focusing on ourselves is that we have too high of a view of ourselves. We are always tempted  because we continue to sin. We are always depending upon our own goodness to please God. We must look away from ourselves and see how helpless we are by speaking Gods works in the axioms. We must learn that our sin is more than the deeds. It goes to the very core of our being. Without Gods axioms we would be hopeless.