‘Truth for Truckers’*February 18, 2014* Psalm 18 “Three
Pledges of a Warrior”
This
Psalm is regulated by three positive pledges David made in response to the
great deliverance the LORD gave Him from ‘All
his enemies, and from the hand of Saul’: ‘I will love Thee O LORD my
strength (v.1)...I will call upon the LORD (v.6)...Therefore will I give thanks
unto Thee, O LORD’ (v.49). The first pledge he makes is the only time this
statement is found in the Word of God: ‘I
will love Thee O LORD’, but it is not surprising for David to be the one to
utter this pure outpouring of his great devotion to the LORD for he, above all
others in the Scripture, received the most recorded personal revivals,
compassionate forgiveness, manifold blessings and powerful deliverances through
the never-ending mercy of the LORD.
And here, this promise of love for his
LORD demonstrates his unwavering affection and devotion for the LORD Who alone
could provide him with these supernatural rescues from impending danger and
death. Saul was his chief enemy and made multiple attempts on his life when
David was just a young man. It was not for his insurrection against this first
king of Israel, but instead it was because of his loyalty to king Saul that he
was wrongly pursued and hunted as prey by this insanely jealous man. But,
through it all, David received these miraculous deliverances and this Psalm is
his love song to his LORD for all that He had done for him as it thoroughly
describes his deep distress and the LORD’s working in the warfare and the
vicious assaults of the enemy. His initial pledge in (v.1) is followed by an
eight-fold description of David’s LORD: ‘The
LORD is my Rock, and my Fortress, and my Deliverer; my God, my Strength, in
Whom I will trust; my Buckler, and the Horn of my salvation, and my High
Tower.’
This is the most extensive list of titles
recorded in the Word of God and underlines the depth of David’s understanding
of the person of God. He sees God as The Unchanging Rock, The Place of Refuge,
The One Who is able to rescue him from danger, the One he worships, his Source
of Strength, the Object of his faith, his Protecting Shield, and the All
Powerful One Who is able to provide deliverance, and the God Who is able to
keep lift him up out of reach of the enemy. This full and complete declaration
of David provides us with a real good perspective of how we should view the
LORD in order to receive the blessing of His person in our own everyday
circumstances. This is one of the basic reasons David is said to be ‘A man after God’s own heart’ for He
understood His person and utilized this knowledge in his own daily experience. Then
in (v.3) he makes his second promise: ‘I
will call upon the LORD, Who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from
my enemies.’
This familiar action of David’s
demonstrates his dependence on the LORD and his recognition of the LORD’s value
in giving him the necessary deliverance from his foes. His immediate illustration of the LORD’s
working is seen in (v.4-6) ‘The sorrows
of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The
sorrows of hell compassed =me about: the snares of death prevented me. In my
distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: He heard my voice out
of His temple, and my cry came before Him, even into His ears.’ The
multitude and magnitude of David’s troubles are unfolded here including death,
ungodly men, and hell itself. But, he persisted in making his plea to God
knowing that He would hear and respond, and respond He did as described in the
next lengthy section of this Psalm (v.7-19).
God’s immediate and thorough actions are
mighty and miraculous in nature including shaking the earth, emitting smoke,
fire and coals, coming down with ‘darkness under His feet’, riding upon a
cherub, flying upon the wings of the wind, making the darkness and thick clouds
His secret place, with His illuminating Shekinah glory going before Him, hail
stones, thunder and coals of fire accompanying ‘His voice’, sending out arrows
and lightning scattering and shattering the enemies of David, the mysterious
‘channels of water’ and the ‘foundations of the world’ were uncovered by His
‘rebuke O LORD, at the blast of the breath of Thy nostrils’. All this awesome
demonstration ushers the God of heaven into the scene of David’s dramatic
rescue.
Then, ‘He
sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me
from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong
for me. They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.
He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me, because He
delighted in me.’The actual deliverance of David is described in detail
here, delineating God’s intervening presence, He personally sent, took, drew
out and delivered him from this multitude of enemies that he described as
strong, hateful and too strong for David to deal with on his own. They went
before him in the ‘day of my calamity’ and then he gives a personal description
of his God describing Him as his ‘stay’, the steady and strong anchoring place
of David!
He also gives a beautiful description of
the actions of the LORD telling us of the nature of the place God put him as
large, broad, a place of prosperity and protection, with plenty of room for him
to realize the full blessings of his God. The bottom line here is the found in
the word ‘deliver’ which means to rescue or save from destruction or distress.
Yes, God delivered David from his enemies, but the reason for this mighty
display of God’s power is found in the end of (v.19) ‘because He delighted in me’. David was a man who caused the heart
of God to pulsate with joy. David was just like a favorite desert that is
relished, eliciting this awesome rescuing response from the God of heaven.
David then gives the reasons God delighted
in him: ‘The LORD rewarded me according
to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath He recompensed
me. For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from
my God. For all His judgments were before me, and I did not put away His
statutes from me. I was also upright before Him, and I kept myself from mine
iniquity. Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in His eyesight.’
David’s personal testimony concerning his
obedience to God’s commands are the reasons for this reward of deliverance from
heaven. It’s as simple as that. He, by his holy living, keeping God’s ways, and
his upright lifestyle which was regulated by the Word of God brought the reward
to him right then, in this life. But, not only in this life but also the
rewards are now bringing fruit to David in his eternal life in heaven. In
(v.25-29) David sets forth justification for God’s actions: ‘With the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful; with an upright
man Thou wilt show Thyself upright; With the pure Thou wilt show Thyself pure;
and with the froward Thou wilt show Thyself froward. For Thou wilt save the
afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks. For Thou wilt light my
candle: The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness. For by Thee I have run
through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.’
His explanation here demonstrates God’s
like response to the conduct and character of man ending with the LORD’s
ability to miraculously bring light to those in darkness and cause a mere human
being to have the ability to perform wondrous supernatural physical acts as the
LORD empowers him. Then in (v.30-36) He continues to magnify the LORD by giving
a grand assortment of praises and acclamations to his God: ‘As for God, His way is perfect: the Word of the LORD is tried: He is
a Buckler to all those that trust in Him. For who is God save the LORD? Or who
is a Rock save our God? It is God that girds me with strength, and makes my way
perfect. He makes my feet like hinds feet, and sets me upon my high places. He
teaches my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.’
These first four verses are addressed to
his audience of believers. In the last two verses he turns his heart to heaven
and speaks directly to the LORD ‘Thou
hast also given me the shield of Thy salvation: and Thy right hand hath held me
up, and Thy gentleness hath made me great. Thou hast enlarged my steps under
me, that my feet did not slip.’ (v.35, 36) All of the accomplishments of
David’s life are here ascribed to the wonderful working of the LORD showing
that his greatness is directly attributable to the LORD’s gentleness which is
the key statement of this group of acclamations.
He continues his address to the LORD in
(v.37-42) describing the actual conflict which he encounters with his enemies: ‘I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken
them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed. I have wounded them
that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet. For Thou hast
girded me with strength unto the battle: Thou hast subdued under me those that
rose up against me. Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I
might destroy them that hate me.’ His down to earth blow by blow
description uncovers the reality of the physical conflict he encountered day by
day paralleling the spiritual battle we as New Testament believers face in the
heavenly warfare with the devil’s army defined as ‘Principalities and powers the rulers of the darkness of this world
against spiritual wickedness in high places.’ (Ephesians 6:12)
This is the application for us today and
David’s tactics are as good today as they were then as he gives us three definite expectations of
victory from the LORD:
1.
God will provide us with the ‘Strength unto the battle’ through His
Spirit as we look to Him by faith when under the enemies assault.(Ephesians
6:10,11)
2.
We must expect Him to bring us the victory by faith (Hebrews 11:6)
3.
We must also expect Him to have the victory in hand ahead of time through the
actual destruction of the Devil’s ability to be effective in our lives ( Hebrew
2:14)
His statements in (v.43-45) are examples
of his exaltation of the LORD when he looked forward to becoming king ‘the
head of the heathen’ with ‘strangers’
submitting themselves unto him all along attributing this future action to the
LORD’s working. In conclusion to this great ‘love
song to his LORD’ he expresses a beautiful chorus of praise: ‘The LORD lives; and blessed by my Rock; and
let the God of my salvation be exalted. It is God that avenges me, and subdues
the people under me. He delivers me from mine enemies: yea, Thou lifts me up
above those that rise up against me: Thou hast delivered me from the violent
man. Therefore will I give thanks unto Thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and
sing praises unto Thy name. Great deliverance gives He to His king; and shows mercy to his anointed, to David, and to
his seed for evermore.’ (v.46-50).
The last of the ‘I will’ pledges from this lover of the
LORD is given: ‘I will give thanks...and
sing praises unto Thy name’ which typifies the whole tenor of this great
Psalm showing David’s full dependence
and marvelous praise of the God of Deliverance, Jehovah, His Rock and the God
of his salvation! So it should be with us Drivers, for we truly have a great
God!
.
Chaplain L.E.Wolfe www.btmi.org
I-85 Exit 35 SC McPilot Stop in, and please pray for our ministry!
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