Psalm 18

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Introduction

This week we turn to Psalm 18, a psalm of thanksgiving. In our last time, I pointed out that there are all kinds of psalms recorded for us. There are psalms of thanksgiving, psalms of lament, psalms of praise, psalms of confidence, wisdom psalms, and kingship psalms. And previously, we looked at psalm 17, which is a psalm of lament, where David expresses great fear that his enemies have surrounded him, that they’re eager to tear him to pieces like a young lion, and so he calls upon the Lord to deliver him. Psalm 17 is an expression of David’s fears amidst immediate circumstances. The psalm continues with David asking God to confront his enemies, and that ends with David entrusting himself to God.
Whereas, psalm 18 is a psalm of thanksgiving, and a psalm that looks back at circumstances like those described in psalm 17, and here David rejoices in how God has, time and again, delivered him from his enemies. In fact, we see this plainly spelled out at the beginning of the psalm, when we read,

TO THE CHOIRMASTER. A PSALM OF DAVID, THE SERVANT OF THE LORD, WHO ADDRESSED THE WORDS OF THIS SONG TO THE LORD ON THE DAY WHEN THE LORD DELIVERED HIM FROM THE HAND OF ALL HIS ENEMIES, AND FROM THE HAND OF SAUL.

This is a psalm that David wrote at the end of his life, and only one of fourteen psalms that has a clear historical background. So clear, in fact, that it’s also included in 2 Samuel 22 with only minor differences. This psalm was written decades after Saul’s attempts to kill him, and near the end of his reign, even after his son Absalom had been killed after conspiring against him. This psalm was intended to reflect upon all of David’s life, as it related to God’s intention to make him king over Israel. Psalm 18 reflects upon God’s faithfulness to David as God’s anointed king. That despite all of the enemies David faced to that end, whether it was Goliath, Saul, Abner, the Philistines, the Syrians, or even his own son Absalom that God had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies. In one sense, this psalm is and answer to David’s earlier laments, like psalm 17. And so David spends some 50 verses giving thanks for that God had done.
It’s also important, that as we walk through this psalm, that we always keep in mind that David was a type, that he was a type of the Messiah that was still to come in his day. Most of the famous OT figures were intended to foreshadow God’s future Messiah, and with each step in redemptive history, from Adam to Noah, from Noah to Abraham, to Issac, and Jacob, to Moses, and eventually to David the intention was always to paint a portrait of God’s Messiah that would become increasingly clear throughout the ages. That each of these men and their lives would portray, in part, the life and ministry of the coming Christ.
David being anointed as king was not without a purpose, David being given a kingdom was not without a purpose, and God’s preserving that kingdom and David’s royal line was not without a purpose. David, despite his own personal sin, was intended to prefigure Christ. In fact, at the end of Psalm 18, in verse 50, we read,

50  Great salvation he brings to his king,

and shows steadfast love to his anointed,

to David and his offspring forever.

We’re intended to see David’s own kingship and deliverance in Psalm 18 as emblematic of what would be fulfilled in Christ. That, in the same way, when Jesus came he was born a king, was given a kingdom, and was delivered from his enemies and vindicated at his resurrection, that God would show him and his offspring steadfast love forever.
So, as we walk through this psalm keep that bigger picture in mind. In fact, we should always read the psalms with our antennas up, so as to see Christ in them.

Psalm 18

However, at ground level, Psalm 18 has a lot to offer us in terms of practical doctrine and example. As I mentioned before, throughout the Book of Psalms we see displayed the full range of human emotion. John Calvin described the Book of Psalms as “an anatomy of all the parts of the soul.” The psalms should increasingly become the vocabulary of our own prayers. They should help us put words to our emotions, and by example and instruction show us how to submit our thoughts and emotions to God in prayer. One commentator pointed out, that the psalms ought to be “a guide to piety for the believer.”
And the first lesson we should learn from Psalm 18 is that we should never forget to recount God’s mercies and activity in our lives, that we should be careful never to forget. It’s easy to find ourselves caught up in current circumstances all the while forgetting all that God has brought us through. Psalm 18 is David looking back and remembering all that God has done for him, it’s David looking back and seeing God’s hand at work throughout his life.
And this discipline of remembering is essential to the Christian life, it’s why church history is important for us to study, it’s why we don’t dispense of the OT just because we have the NT. One of the chief concerns Moses had for the Israelites as they prepared to enter the land of Canaan was that they would forget all that God had done for them. This was the purpose of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, traditions that would help the Israelites not forget, to remember their deliverance out of Egypt. This is also one of the reasons why we regularly celebrate the Lord’s Supper together, proclaiming the Lord’s death until he returns, that we might not forget what Christ did on our behalf, to deliver us from the domain of darkness and into his marvelous light. Psalm 18 teaches us that we should never forget to recount God’s mercies.

I affectionately love you, O LORD

And it’s David’s remembering that causes him to delight himself in the Lord, and to overflow with confidence in him, there in verses 1-3,

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.

Some commentators translate verse 1 to say, “I affectionately love you, O LORD, my strength.” And they do so because the Hebrew word translated as love in English carries with it the idea of strong affection and loyalty. This is not an emotionless expression, this is a tangible affectionate love toward God. In other words, David is bursting at the seams to talk about him.

My strength

And so David says that Yahweh (that is, God’s personal, covenant name) is his rock and his fortress and his deliverer; that in him David takes refuge, that he is his shield and horn of salvation, his stronghold. All of these descriptors are intended to build upon one another creating a fuller picture of how God is his strength. That God is like a rock, representing strength and stability, think of Jesus’ words when he tells us to build our house upon the rock that it might not be moved, that when the rain falls, and the floods come, and the winds blow and beat against that house, that it will not fall, because it’s been built upon the rock.
David describes Yahweh as his fortress, like a fortified and walled structure meant to defend against an army, an impregnable hiding place. That Yahweh is his deliverer, like one who brings another to safety or carries him to escape. That God is his refuge where he finds safety, rest and comfort; that Yahweh is his shield, like a defensive weapon that protects him from attack; that he is the horn of his salvation, a horn representing strength, like that of ram’s horn, used for protection; that God is strong like a ram’s horn to save him. Therefore, when David calls upon the LORD he says, “I am saved from my enemies.” He is knows that God is able.

God’s cosmic omnipotence

Then David goes on to describe how God does this in apocalyptic language. He uses vivid cosmic imagery to portray the indomitable nature of God’s deliverance, that God’s coming against his enemies is utterly futile. That because of God’s cosmic omnipotence David’s enemies don’t stand a chance. Read with me start there in verses 4,

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.

David sets the stage for us here in verses 4-5, the cords of death have surrounded him, the snares of death have confronted him, and David is in distress. And in his distress he calls upon the LORD, he cries for help, then what does he say? “From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.” I love that imagery, because it shows just how profound God’s love is for his children, that our cries reach his ears, that he doesn’t stand aloof in the heavens, but that he condescends to hear our prayers, that even from his heavenly temple he hears our voice. God delights to hear our cries, and he does not ignore us. When we approach God in faith, we do not do so in vain.
Then David goes on in verse 7,

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.

This apocalyptic language is meant to communicate the significance of God’s response to David’s cries. That Yahweh hears him from his temple and comes down, and that his coming is not insignificant, that it shakes the earth, the very foundations of the mountains, that out of God’s jealous love for his king that smoke goes up from his nostrils and devouring fire comes out from his mouth to smite David’s enemies, to come to his defense. That as he comes down he rides on a cherub, coming on the clouds as it were, to David’s rescue. That he comes covered in thick darkness signifying his intention to avenge his king.
Then David continues in verse 13,

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.

The apocalyptic language continues, and describes Yahweh as coming against David’s enemies; that he sent out his arrows and scattered them, and with flashes of lightning he routed them. Then David appears to describe how God protected the Israelites when they were chased by the Egyptians into the Red Sea, when “the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare” at the LORD’s rebuke, at “the blast of the breath of his nostrils.” When God rescued the Israelites by providing a dry path, and then drowning the Egyptian army behind them. David also describes his deliverance like being drawn out of many waters, probably like Moses, recalling how Moses, as an infant, was rescued in Egypt out of the Nile River by Pharaoh's daughter.

But the LORD was my support

Then David wraps up by saying in verse 18 that his enemies confronted him in the day of his calamity, “but the LORD was my support.” And he says that God brought him into a broad place, in other words, David was brought to safety, that he was no longer cornered or pinned down with no place to go, possibly recalling to mind Israel’s escape from the Egyptians to the Promised Land as an analogy. And that God rescued him, because he delighted in him.

Deliverance & Vindication

Then we read in verses 20-24,

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.

It’s at this point, that it’s important to remember, again, that Psalm 18 reflects upon of David’s life, as it related to God’s intention to make him king over Israel. He is not asserting that his life has been entirely free of sin. There were many in Israel, even within his own family, who opposed God’s intention to make him king. The chief example, of course, was King Saul, who unjustly sought David’s life. And it’s this type of injustice that David refers to here in these verses. That David is blameless as it relates to the accusations he faced, whether it was Saul seeking to kill him, or his own son, Absalom, conspiring to take his throne, David was the rightful king of Israel. To be king was not something David had sought out of his own accord, nor had he ever attempted to seize the throne by his own might. David’s rule was directly commissioned and established by God himself. In fact, when he had the opportunity to kill Saul we’re told that he said to his men,

“The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD’s anointed.”

David did not take matters into his own hands, he did not repay evil for evil when he had the chance, instead in those moments he resisted the temptation to do so, and he trusted that if God intended to make him king that God would deliver him from his enemies, and that God would establish him on the throne of Israel.
So, when David says there in verse 20,

20  The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness;

according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.

David is rejoicing in his deliverance and vindication that has become manifestly obvious at the end of his life, he is rejoicing that God has avenged him, that God has carried out justice on his behalf, that God has rescued him from everyone who wrongly opposed him. We should not think that David is bragging about his own righteousness, rather he is rejoicing in his deliverance and vindication, that God carried out justice on his behalf.

Resists the proud, gives grace to the humble

And so he goes on in verse 25,

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.

Here David contrasts how God deals with those who are merciful, pure, and humble, with those who are crooked and haughty. He contrasts the faithful with the ungodly. To those who are merciful he also shows himself merciful, as he was to David, despite his egregious personal sins. To those who are pure he responds in kind, but to those who are crooked, God will seem tortuous. In other words, God’s merciful compassion will not mean the crooked will get away with their wickedness, for they will not go unpunished. For God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Who can stand against us?

David continues there in verses 28-30,

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.

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.

David points to the confidence we ought to have in the Lord, that, in light of what David has already said, then what can stand in our way? If God is for us, who can be against us? In fact, as the Apostle Paul points out in Romans 8:32, that,

32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

Boasting in the Lord

Then in verses 31-45 David boasts in the Lord, attributing all of his success to Yahweh, he says,

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.

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.

Notice how David attributes all of his success to the Lord, and not just his military success, but that it was God who made his ways blameless, that it was God who gave him a wide place for his steps to not slip, that it was God’s gentleness that made him great. In other words, it’s God who makes any man great, it’s his patience, his mercy, and his strength. It’s tempting to boast in our own strengths, in our own cleverness, our own will power, or gifts, but apart from God’s help we can do nothing, even our own natural strengths were given to us.

Conclusion

And finally, David concludes in verse 46-50,

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 rescued me from my enemies;

yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me;

you delivered me from the man of violence.

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.

David began with thanksgiving, and here he ends with thanksgiving. As he surveys his life he sees nothing but God’s providence and faithfulness, therefore thankfulness wells up in his heart. David looks back to see that no matter how long his conflicts lasted, God eventually delivered him from his enemies. That, no matter what, Yahweh was his rock and his fortress and his deliverer, of whom he could always take refuge, he was his shield, and horn of salvation, his stronghold. That when cords of death encompassed him and the cords of Sheol entangled him, that whenever he cried for help, Yahweh, from his holy temple, would hear his voice. That in his distress Yahweh would move heaven and earth to defend him. That God would show his steadfast love to him and his offspring forever.
And it’s at this point we see Christ and the church, the offspring of Abraham by faith. That not only does God’s steadfast love extend to David, but also to his offspring forever. This offspring, of course refers to Christ, and not only Christ but to those united to him by faith. David’s Lord is also our Lord, he is also our rock in whom we take refuge.

Prayer

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