God Speaks
For the choir director: A psalm of David, the servant of the Lord. He sang this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul. He sang:
1 I love you, Lord;
you are my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me,
and my place of safety.
3 I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and he saved me from my enemies.
4 The ropes of death entangled me;
floods of destruction swept over me.
5 The grave wrapped its ropes around me;
death laid a trap in my path.
6 But in my distress I cried out to the Lord;
yes, I prayed to my God for help.
He heard me from his sanctuary;
my cry to him reached his ears.
7 Then the earth quaked and trembled.
The foundations of the mountains shook;
they quaked because of his anger.
8 Smoke poured from his nostrils;
fierce flames leaped from his mouth.
Glowing coals blazed forth from him.
9 He opened the heavens and came down;
dark storm clouds were beneath his feet.
10 Mounted on a mighty angelic being, he flew,
soaring on the wings of the wind.
11 He shrouded himself in darkness,
veiling his approach with dark rain clouds.
12 Thick clouds shielded the brightness around him
and rained down hail and burning coals.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded
amid the hail and burning coals.
14 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies;
great bolts of lightning flashed, and they were confused.
15 Then at your command, O Lord,
at the blast of your breath,
the bottom of the sea could be seen,
and the foundations of the earth were laid bare.
16 He reached down from heaven and rescued me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemies,
from those who hated me and were too strong for me.
18 They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress,
but the Lord supported me.
19 He led me to a place of safety;
he rescued me because he delights in me.
20 The Lord rewarded me for doing right;
he restored me because of my innocence.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord;
I have not turned from my God to follow evil.
22 I have followed all his regulations;
I have never abandoned his decrees.
23 I am blameless before God;
I have kept myself from sin.
24 The Lord rewarded me for doing right.
He has seen my innocence.
25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful;
to those with integrity you show integrity.
26 To the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.
27 You rescue the humble,
but you humiliate the proud.
28 You light a lamp for me.
The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.
29 In your strength I can crush an army;
with my God I can scale any wall.
30 God’s way is perfect.
All the Lord’s promises prove true.
He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.
31 For who is God except the Lord?
Who but our God is a solid rock?
32 God arms me with strength,
and he makes my way perfect.
33 He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
enabling me to stand on mountain heights.
34 He trains my hands for battle;
he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow.
35 You have given me your shield of victory.
Your right hand supports me;
your help has made me great.
36 You have made a wide path for my feet
to keep them from slipping.
37 I chased my enemies and caught them;
I did not stop until they were conquered.
38 I struck them down so they could not get up;
they fell beneath my feet.
39 You have armed me with strength for the battle;
you have subdued my enemies under my feet.
40 You placed my foot on their necks.
I have destroyed all who hated me.
41 They called for help, but no one came to their rescue.
They even cried to the Lord, but he refused to answer.
42 I ground them as fine as dust in the wind.
I swept them into the gutter like dirt.
43 You gave me victory over my accusers.
You appointed me ruler over nations;
people I don’t even know now serve me.
44 As soon as they hear of me, they submit;
foreign nations cringe before me.
45 They all lose their courage
and come trembling from their strongholds.
46 The Lord lives! Praise to my Rock!
May the God of my salvation be exalted!
47 He is the God who pays back those who harm me;
he subdues the nations under me
48 and rescues me from my enemies.
You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies;
you save me from violent opponents.
49 For this, O Lord, I will praise you among the nations;
I will sing praises to your name.
50 You give great victories to your king;
you show unfailing love to your anointed,
to David and all his descendants forever.
Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: This 50-verse psalm is a near duplicate of 2 Samuel 22. The reason for both is David speaking with God after God had rescued David from all his enemies including King Saul. It may be that 2 Samuel 22 was the original speech or poem while Psalm 18 was a copy added to a collection of psalms kept as a record of the events of David’s life and reign. No one who is merely human could claim the total purity and righteousness the psalmist claims, so it is often used to describe Jesus of Nazareth during his ministry years, especially during His last week. The readers of this blog should keep that fact in mind as they reread psalm 18.
Prayer: Dear loving Heavenly Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I love You, LORD, with all the strength that comes from You. You are all my security, stability, and safety. You are worthy of all my praise and thanksgiving because You have saved me from all my enemies. Even though death and the grave tried to trap me, You came and set me free by taking them on Yourself. When Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead, I believe He raised me, too. When I cried out to You, You heard me and rushed to my rescue. The earth shook; smoke came from Your nostrils; dark clouds formed around You; hail rained down with thunder and great bolts of lightning. All these expressed Your anger at Your enemies and mine. You reached down and drew me (and others You love) to safety, because our enemies were too strong for us to handle on our own. When Your people were under attack and in great distress, You rescued us, led us to safety, and restored us. LORD, You rewarded Jesus for doing right, for His innocence, for keeping Your ways, for not turning to evil, for obeying all Your regulations and decrees, for His faithfulness and integrity, and for His purity and humility. Because of the faith in Him that You have given me, I can crush my enemies, scale a wall, have skilled hands in battle, and draw a bronze bow. You have given me Your shield of victory. Jesus, You support me. Your help has made me great. You lead me on a stable path and keep my feet from slipping. You enabled me to chase my enemies without needing to stop. When I caught them, I conquered them by knocking them to the ground and trampling them so that they couldn’t get up. Because You gave me strength, O God, I have destroyed all who hated me. When they cried to You for help, You refused to answer. Because of Your help, I was able to grind them into fine dust and blow them away. You, O LORD, give the people who trustingly obey You victory over our accusers, appoint us as rulers over nations, and make people we don’t even know our servants. Foreign nations will cringe and lose their courage because of Your assistance to Your people. You, Lord Jesus, are alive! I praise You, my Rock! The God of my salvation will be exalted! I declare to You and to all who will listen, “The LORD God will avenge His people and assist them in subduing their enemies–visible and invisible. He will rescue them from the violent.” May those You, O LORD, have saved sing Your praises among the nations telling of Your great victory and demonstrating Your unfailing love forever and ever. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will speak the name and victory of Jesus over at least 10 people or situations today.
- I will draw on the strength that comes from God to love a person I have trouble loving.
- I will thank God for at least three victories He has given me today.
- I will discuss with someone (believer or unbeliever) how and why I love Jesus today.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.