Praying Psalm 18

Great Deliverer!          

What is the title of Psalm 18?

For the choir director, a servant of YHWH, David who spoke to YHWH these words of a song. In the day YHWH delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

The background is Deliverance – See2 Samuel 22 – David is looking back on his life. Sons were sung to remember!

Read Psalm 18:1-6

1 I love you, O Lord, my strength.
² The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
³ I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised and I am saved from my enemies.

⁴ The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me;
⁵ the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.

 ⁶ In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

Who is this God that David addresses?

This is descriptive!! He is the One who saves - & hears. This is the God we know and love!

Read Psalm 18:7-19

⁷ Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.
⁸ Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.
⁹ He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.
¹⁰ He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
¹¹ He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water.
¹² Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

¹³ The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire.
¹⁴ And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
¹⁵ Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

¹⁶ He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters.
¹⁷ He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
¹⁸ They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support.
¹⁹ He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

Describe this picture of God.

Crazy "hidden God" scary picture. God is angry, judging with hailstones.
He is UNDOING creation (v.15) He is sending arrows - death??
BUT HE SENT for me (v. 16)– He saved & rescued David from the impossible enemies.

Read 18:20-29

²⁰ The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
²¹ For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
²² For all his rules were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me.
²³ I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt.
²⁴ So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

²⁵ With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
²⁶ with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
²⁷ For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.
²⁸ For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness.
²⁹ For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.

What is the relationship between YHWH and David?

According to the purity of my hands… David calls himself blameless. Really, David was righteous enough?? This is a section to struggle with…(20-24). If you know you are a sinner (which David certainly knew about himself) HOW can you say you are blameless?

THE ANSWER is v. 28-29. Where does this impossible strength come from? It is God who makes one victorious - merciful, blameless, and pure for that matter. The OT people had sacrifices to continually remind them what it took to "keep the ways of the Lord". It took death and blood to have a right relationship with God.

Read 18:30-42

³⁰ This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

³¹ For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?—
³² the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless.
³³ He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights.
³⁴ He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
³⁵ You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great.
³⁶ You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.
³⁷ I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back till they were consumed.
³⁸ I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet.
³⁹ For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me.
⁴⁰ You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed.
⁴¹ They cried for help, but there was none to save; they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
⁴² I beat them fine as dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets.

What did God do in David’s life?

God made David great. Taught him, guided him, equipped him. Beginning to end, God gets all the glory. In the end -  David won the victory

Read 18:43-48

⁴³ You delivered me from strife with the people; you made me the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me.
⁴⁴ As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; foreigners came cringing to me.
⁴⁵ Foreigners lost heart and came trembling out of their fortresses.

⁴⁶ The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation—
⁴⁷ the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me,
⁴⁸ who delivered me from my enemies; yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me; you rescued me from the man of violence.

What was the result of this victory?

Kingship - David was given a position of leadership among the nations, foreigners.
God delivered & rescued David from enemies.

Read 18:49-50

⁴⁹ For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing to your name.
⁵⁰ Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.

What are the final words of this psalm?

Praise – for THIS salvation,

FAVOR to a king,

 OFFSPRING mentioned

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ME?

What is the purpose of this Psalm/prayer?

Description - God of comfort & salvation / ALSO God of judgment
Description - Relationship between "blameless" David and God.
Description - God's working in David's life

Praise - for Salvation and work in David's personal life as king!

How does Christ fulfill this psalm?

This psalm describes God in our lives too - Our God of comforts and saves us  AND there will be a day that God will come to judge. BUT, He sent for us - He sent Christ.

So we can claim blamelessness, like David. NOT because we are sinless people, Rather we have been MADE blameless by Christ's death and blood. His was the sacrifice made once and for all so our realtionship would be right with God.

AND SO, our lives are saturated with God - protecting us, blessing us, giving us victory. This is not to say our lives will be peachy-keen. Christ told us otherwise:

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. ²¹ But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin,^[c] but now they have no excuse for their sin. John 15:18-22

BUT we can look forward to the final victory won by Christ; the resurrection of the dead, new heaven & new earth, and life everlasting!!

Cross references:

How can we pray this?

We love our salvation!!. Praise God for the great deliverance in David's life.

We know Christ (our great deliverance) shapes our lives and deserves our praise as well!

WE PRAY:

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

What does this mean? The good and gracious will of God is done indeed without our prayer; but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also.

How is this done? When God breaks and hinders every evil counsel and will which would not let us hallow the name of God nor let His kingdom come, such as the will of the devil, the world, and our flesh; but strengthens and keeps us steadfast in His Word and in faith unto our end. This is His gracious and good will.