My God for Life

Series on the Psalms

Text: Psalm 18

Title: My God for Life

Introduction

Psalm 18 is a long and wonderful rehearsal of God’s faithfulness to David and therefore to all his people. The Psalm also appears in II Samuel 22. There are a number of variations but overall the theme and development of the Psalms are the same and the differences are minor.. As the Psalm appears in II Samuel it is at the end of David’s life after all his enemies have been subdued. The variations may be supposed to be nothing more than a revision of the Psalm for use in worship prior to its being placed in Israel’s book of praise. This is the triumphant Psalm of a life lived for God and having experienced God’s deliverance over and over again. There are single verses in this Psalm that invite careful exposition but in our study we are trying to get an overview. The superscription and opening verses, 1-3, set the tone for the whole Psalm, For the director of music. Of David the servant of the LORD. He sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. David says these are the words which he spake unto Jehovah. The Psalm in I Samuel 22 begins with the words, “And David sang to the Lord the words of this song.” Moses song of deliverance in Exodus 15 begins with the same formula. Moses song in Deuteronomy 32 is introduced by the words Moses recited the words of this song in the hearing of the whole assembly. Either formula shows that the songs were intended and used for public worship to edify God’s people. They all bear a strong resemblance to one another. More particularly David says in verses 1-3 that he will love the Lord who is his strength. This is not a simple thank you for deliverance. It is a promise to be faithful always, and the word for love indicates the reciprocal affection of an inferior party. It is a word which properly describes the love of a child for his parents. David says God is the one to be praised, translated “worthy of praise” but literally “to be praised I will call Jahweh.” He says this because he discerns the favor of God in this life of deliverance. In other words he sees himself as a son of God and a part of the family of God. Consequently he is viewing the entirety of God’s faithfulness recorded in the Psalm as the product of God’s sovereign electing love. Therefore we see God’s loving purpose to his people revealed in the character of his people, the concern of his people and the calling of his people. and ultimately in Christ.

I. The Character of His People

This is not what David mentions first but looking at this first helps us to understand his perspective. In verse 19 David says God delivers because he delights in his people. He then goes on to explain more fully, in verses 20-24, The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I have not done evil by turning from my God. All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees. I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. We have come across this kind of affirmation before and to us it surely seems like an exaggerated and boastful claim. However when David says these things we need to keep two things in mind. First of all he is not claiming perfection. David’s experience with the Lord is filled with failure of the most devastating kind. David wrote Psalms 32 and 51 long before he wrote this Psalm. They are Psalms of deep and sorrowful repentance. David is basically distinguishing between two mind sets, two attitudes, two ways of life, two kinds of commitment. What is involved is a sincere following of the Lord over against unbelief. Verses 25-28 point this out, To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty. You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. David does not mean he is perfectly pure anymore than Jesus meant that the pure in heart who see God in the sermon on the mount must be perfect. But in the second place David clearly acknowledges that his goodness, his commitment, comes from God in verses 27 and 28. The point is that it is the people who truly believe whom God helps.

II. The Concern of His People

And He helps them because He is their Father and their concerns are His. Going back now to verses 4-6 we see David describing his oft repeated distress and the point is that God hears His people when they cry, The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. What is wonderful in this song is the description of how much God cares when he hears that cry. Verses 7-15, The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him-the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies, great bolts of lightning and routed them. The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of breath from your nostrils. The glorious poetry here is to reveal for us the depth of God’s concern for his children. Thus David concludes with the declaration of his deliverance in verses 16-19, He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.

III. The Calling of His People

In speaking of his deliverance in the earlier part of the Psalm David employs some military metaphors such as in v.14, but now beginning at verse 29 he is occupied almost exclusively with the metaphors of battle. This epitomizes for us God’s care for His people in their calling. David was a warrior King. His great task was to subdue the enemies of the Lord which surrounded Israel. Under David the bulk of this work was accomplished. Listen to what he says. Verses 29-42, With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great. You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn. I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed. I crushed them so that they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet. You armed me with strength for battle; you made my adversaries bow at my feet. You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes. They cried for help, but there was no one to save them-to the LORD, but he did not answer. I beat them as fine as dust borne on the wind; I poured them out like mud in the streets. This reminds us that God delivers us in our calling. In other words, whatever situation we are led into, God is there to deliver us. I remember reading recently an account of the children of Israel in the Exodus from Egypt. After they escaped and before they crossed the Red Sea, God led them in a strange and perplexing path. If you look at where they went, you will see that it was a kind of zig-zag path and they were led by the commandment of the Lord and by the pillar of fire and cloud. God’s purpose in this according to Exodus 13 and 14 was to keep the Israelites from turning back and to confuse Pharaoh. The ploy worked and Pharaoh pursued the helpless people. They were trapped exactly where God had told them to be. But then He opened the sea. Wherever they were God was putting them so that his deliverance would be seen. In our calling we are never outside his care.

IV. The Christ of His People

But you will notice that David ends this section with a reference to the fact that all the nations are subdued before him verses 43-50, You have delivered me from the attacks of the people; you have made me the head of nations; people I did not know are subject to me. As soon as they hear me, they obey me; foreigners cringe before me. They all lose heart; they come trembling from their strongholds. The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior! He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me, who saves me from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from violent men you rescued me. Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O LORD; I will sing praises to your name. He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever. Here in the concluding verses David celebrates the ultimate dominion. Verse 49, I will praise you among the nations, O LORD is quoted in the NT in Romans 15: 7-12 where Paul is talking about the conversion and salvation of the Gentiles. The reason David is delivered is the same reason we are delivered, ultimately because of God’s purpose in Christ. David’s dominion is symbolic of Christ’s dominion. Thus David refers us to God’s promise to his descendants. God has set his love upon David and his people because of Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Summary of Psalm 18

Psalm 18 is the summing up of a lifetime of God’s care. David will love God always because God loved him and chose him out of his mercy. As a son of God, David’s heart has been graciously changed so that he would follow the Lord faithfully. Therefore God hears his troubled cries and acts decisively and powerfully to deliver him from all his enemies. God has also been with him in fulfilling his calling as a warrior king who triumphs over God’s enemies. Ultimately, David sees this deliverance as pointing forward to the fulfillment of God’s promise concerning his house. A Future descendant will be a king who subdues all nations. This King is the greater son of David, Jesus Christ.