Psalm 18 is a slight reworking of the song David sang in 2Samuel 22.
The songs are almost identical and express David’s delight in the
LORD for delivering him from the hand of Saul and from all his
enemies.
We don’t know
exactly when David composed this song but it was most likely after he
had become the king of a united Israel. The pagan kings, such as the
Assyrian or Babylonian kings, liked to leave behind inscriptions
praising themselves and all they accomplished. David did not do that.
He left behind writings that praised the LORD for the LORD’s
accomplishments. Even the description in the title of David as “the
servant of the LORD” is not his own, but was given him by the
LORD Himself. In 2Sam.3:18 it is recorded: “For
the LORD has spoken of David, saying, ‘By the hand of My servant
David I will save My people Israel from the hand of the Philistines
and from the hand of all their enemies.'”
While, in 2Samuel
22, David began the song with “The LORD is
my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,” in Psalm 18
begins with a much more personal declaration.
I
love You, O LORD, my strength.
David had a lot to
say about the LORD in this Psalm, but he began with this beautiful
declaration of love. There is an intimacy in this declaration. As we
read through the Psalm, we can see that David has walked through some
difficult and dangerous times. And in every one of those
circumstances, the LORD had been right there with him. It is the
intimacy of a faithful companion. It is the intimacy of one who has
shared the sound of battle. It is the intimacy of one who has been
there even when everyone else has fled. It is an intimacy brought
about by the LORD’s proven faithfulness in protecting David through
David’s life. When David was in battle, the LORD was there. When
David wandered the wilderness to escape danger, the LORD was there.
So it was natural
for David to begin his praise of God’s faithfulness and power with
this very intimate and revealing statement: “I
love you, O LORD, my strength.”
This is the type of
intimacy we enjoy with our Lord. He walks through the dangers with
us, the perilous times. He is there with us in grief, in sorrow, in
pain, in joy, in celebrations, in any and all circumstances. And,
because He is always there and always ready to help, we can say, with
David, “my strength.” If we
have learned, by experience, how faithful our Lord is to walk with us
through life, giving us of His strength when we are weak and frail,
we will understand exactly David’s opening statement: “I
love you, O LORD, my strength.”
David then began to
list eight ways the LORD had been his strength. They reflect two
themes: battle, and the wilderness. We will also be looking at as two
parallel sets of four. The first four are Rock, Fortress, Deliverer,
and God. The second set are Rock, Shield, Horn of my salvation, and
Stronghold.
The
LORD is my rock
My
rock, in whom I take refuge
The first word
translated rock carries the idea of a cleft in the rock, a place to
slide into to be surrounded by the strength of the rock, a place of
safety. The second word translated rock often carried the idea of a
mountain, stressing the massive size of the rock. Which is why David
added the phrase, “in whom I take refuge.”
In both, David is stressing the ability of the LORD to protect and
provide refuge. The LORD was a safe place in which to hide and be
protected.
We also experience
the safety of trusting in the Lord. When we find ourselves in
difficulties, He is always a safe place to turn to for His
protection.
My
fortress
My
shield
The word “fortress”
has the idea of a ‘watchtower.’ This sits to watch for the enemy and
warn of approaching danger. The shield has a parallel idea in
protecting one from the strike of attack. In both the warning and the
blocking of an attack, the LORD protected David in times of danger.
Our Lord also does
this for us. He warns us of the dangers of this world. He tells us of
the danger of ignoring God’s righteous demands upon our lives. He is
also our shield, taking upon Himself the stroke of God’s just wrath
at our sin there on the cross, protecting us from the greatest danger
there is: the wrath of God at sin. Isaiah 53:4 stated that our Lord
was “smitten of God.” He took
our place, allowing God His Father to strike Him with the stroke that
was due us. Jesus truly is also our shield.
My
Deliverer
The
horn of my salvation
The LORD was
David’s deliverer. He rescued him from the tight, difficult
circumstances of life. He saved him from death and destruction many
times. the LORD was David’s Deliverer. The term “horn” has
the idea of something that streams forth as a horn pushes forth from
the head. The LORD streamed forth continuously David’s deliverance.
The LORD continually save David out of many perilous circumstances.
Our Lord is our
Deliverer and His salvation continuously pours forth onto us. We are
saved by His life and by His death. He is our Deliverer and
continuously delivers us from the hand of the enemy.
My
God
My
stronghold
We know God. But do
we know Him as our stronghold? The word translated “stronghold”
carries the idea of height. God is high. He is lofty. The writer of
Proverbs put this idea this way, in Proverbs 18:10: “The
name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is
safe.” God is both high and lofty, He is also beyond the
reach of His enemies. Therefore we can run to Him for safety in times
of danger or distress. He is the One we should turn to. He can be
trusted and He is always a place of safety for our souls.
All of this brought
David to the confidence he wrote in Psalm 18:3.
I
call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from
my enemies.
Here, again, David
expressed the faithfulness of God in His relationship with David.
Because God is all of those things David described, David was
supremely confident in calling upon the LORD. The LORD is always
worthy of David’s praise. That means that the LORD never showed any
quality that could be criticized or condemned. Everything the LORD
did was praiseworthy. And David praised Him. David was saved from his
enemies because He called on the LORD.
This is the truth
we need to take to heart at this time of distress. All those things
the Lord was for David, He is also for us. As David could confidently
call upon the LORD, trusting in His response and deliverance, we can
as well. In this time of national and international testing, we need
to be calling upon the Lord. He will show His faithfulness and
deliver us from all evil.
This Psalm is usually regarded
as a Psalm of sickness and spiritual anguish. This is the first of
the Psalms called ‘Penitential Psalms.’ The others are Psalms 32,
38, 51, 102, 130 and 143. The title declares it to be a Psalm of
David.
“To the Chief Musician on
Neginoth upon Sheminith.” “Chief Musician” is the Choir
Director. “Neginoth” are stringed instruments. “Sheminith”
refers to the eighth octave or an eight-stringed lyre.
The title gives us no
indication of the circumstances that brought David to write this
Psalm.
I. DAVID’S PLEA FOR
COMPASSION 1-3
“O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger, Nor chasten me in Your wrath. Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am pining away; Heal me, O LORD, for my bones are dismayed. And my soul is greatly dismayed; But You, O LORD–how long?”
A plea for compassion from
God is not uncommon in the Scriptures. There is, of course, the plea
of the thief on the cross. There is the plea from Habakkuk in 3:2.
Moses pled for the children of Israel in Ex.32:10-12 and again in
Nu.14:13-20. David, here, pleads for compassion for himself. This
verse is identical to 38:1 with the exception of one word.
A. God’s Chastening 1
“O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger, Nor chasten me in Your wrath.”
David pleads with God not to rebuke David in His anger or chasten David in His wrath. David says the same thing in Psalm 38:1-4. We can see that David is and was very conscious of his own sin (Ps.32:3-4) but he does not tell us to what sin he is referring here in this Psalm. David obviously regards what he is going through as allowed by God because of sin.
We have no idea why God has allowed this pandemic to infect throughout the world, but He knows. We cannot assume personal sin is the cause of each infection. But, no matter what trials we go through, it is always good to start looking at it by first considering the condition of our own hearts before God.
B. God’s Compassion 2-3
“Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am pining away; Heal me, O LORD, for my bones are dismayed. And my soul is greatly dismayed; But You, O LORD–how long?”
The term gracious/mercy/merciful means ‘to be favorably inclined towards.’ Therefore, in this context it means compassion. The term pining away/weak/faint means ‘to hang down the head’ referring to a depressed state of mind. He will describe this further in verses 6-7. Dismayed/vexed/agony means ‘to tremble with fear or trepidation’ as in Ez.7:27.
“The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with horror, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. According to their conduct I will deal with them, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will know that I am the LORD.”
The first half of the above verse is an excellent description of the world right now in the grip of this pandemic.
David is pleading for God’s favor, His compassion, because David is depressed, pining away. His bones tremble and his soul is greatly dismayed. He pleads to the Lord, “How long?” ‘How long will you allow me to be like this? How long before you hear my prayer?’ And we might add, ‘How long before this virus is removed?’
II. DAVID’S PLEA FOR
DELIVERANCE 4-5
“Return, O LORD, rescue my soul; Save me because of Your lovingkindness. For there is no mention of You in death; In Sheol who will give You thanks?”
David’s question of v.3
leads to his outright plea of v.4.
A. David’s Plea for
Deliverance 4
“Return, O LORD, rescue my soul; Save me because of Your lovingkindness.”
David pleads for the Lord to return, as if the Lord had deserted him. We sometimes get into such anguish of soul that we feel the Lord has deserted us. The very fact that we can pray reminds us that God has not left us, no matter what it seems like. So David pleads to God to rescue him, preserve him. He pleads for this based on God’s mercy, His lovingkindness.
And we may look at our world, our nation, our state, our community, and ask for God’s preservation. We can ask because we know, firsthand, His lovingkindness.
B. David’s Praise 5
“For there is no mention of You in death; In Sheol who will give You thanks?”
Some groups like to use this verse as a proof text that at death there is annihilation. They use this verse to teach that a soul ceases to exist at death: ‘soulsleep.’ However, note the word translated mention /remembrance/remembers. This is a word that means ‘a public memorial or memory, a public remembrance’ (Ex.3:15; Ps.109:15). The second line in the verse shows what he means. In the grave, who will give a public memorial, a public giving of thanks before men? David declares that he should be rescued because he cannot publicly praise and thank God from the grave.
But if we hunker down in this crisis, making no attempt to reach out to minister to others, it will be difficult to make this argument for ourselves before the Lord.
III. DAVID’S DEPRESSION 6-7
“I am weary with my sighing; Every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears. My eye has wasted away with grief; It has become old because of all my adversaries.”
Each thought, in Verses 6-7, builds on the previous one. David begins with the general statement that he is weary with his sighing and ends with an eye that is aged. David’s anguish is affecting him physically. His weeping has caused him to look wasted and old.
David’s problem is his adversaries and he recognizes that this is the hand of the Lord (vss.1-3; Is.45:5-7). The quicker we recognize God’s omnipotence, God’s sovereignty, and our need to abide under His hand in faith, the easier our life will be. It is David’s recognition of God’s role in David’s calamity that brings David to plead with God. Thus is this Psalm produced.
As Believers in Christ, we know that God is actively involved in our lives. No matter the cause of our trials, He is with us through every one of them. He brings about the fulfillment of Romans 8:28 (“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose”).
IV. DAVID’S PROMISE OF
DELIVERANCE 8-10
“Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, For the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping. The LORD has heard my supplication, The LORD receives my prayer. All my enemies will be ashamed and greatly dismayed; They shall turn back, they will suddenly be ashamed.”
David, even though pleading
with God for deliverance, shows that he is trusting God by his
concluding statements. David declares that:
A. The Lord Hears 8
“Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, For the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.”
The second line of this verse
expresses an opposite thought to the first line. David’s enemies,
those who do iniquity, can depart from him because the Lord has heard
the voice of David’s weeping.
B. The Lord Receives 9
“The LORD has heard my supplication, The LORD receives my prayer.”
Both lines of this verse express the same thought. David declares that God has heard his prayer, his supplication. This carries forward the thought of the last line of verse 8. God has received David’s prayer. God has not rejected his prayer. For God to receive is for God to act. And God has not rejected our prayers because we are accepted in Christ. We are encouraged to “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). This brings us to v.10.
C. The Lord Will Act 10
“All my enemies will be ashamed and greatly dismayed; They shall turn back, they will suddenly be ashamed.”
Both lines express the same
idea. David’s enemies will be ashamed. They will be dismayed
greatly. This will be accomplished by their being turned
back, probably
because of being dismayed. Where David began with being
dismayed/vexed
in vss.2-3, now it is those who have attacked David who are to be
dismayed/vexed.
They will be the ones who are trembling with fear and trepidation.
God will act on behalf of David. In this Psalm it has not yet
happened. David is expressing his faith in God’s deliverance. Yet
he is confident in God’s future aid.
V. CONCLUSION
David was experiencing intense mental anguish. He had fear and trembling. It was affecting him physically. In spite of prayer and trust, David had great anguish. Yet, he still expressed faith in God’s deliverance.
It is possible to have great emotional anguish and still have faith. Crying before God, pleading with Him to act, does not show a lack of faith. While pleading David was trusting. While trusting David was pleading.
The reason David pled for God to rescue him was so that he could continue to praise God before others. Peter also wrote, in 1Peter 2:9, that this is our purpose before the world (“But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light”). We need to recognize our responsibility of proclaiming the Excellencies of our God to this world. We need to publicly praise and thank Him. That is our purpose for remaining on this earth. We praise Him both by word, and by deed, and by our very life and by our death.
Simply because we as
Believers are going through great mental anguish due to circumstances
of this life does not mean we
lack faith. The
truth is that we
may or may not. Often we increase a person’s anguish because of
false assumptions about them. That is what Job’s three friends did
to Job. Let’s not do that to each other or even to ourselves. If
you see a Brother in the Lord under a great burden, do what Paul
wrote in Galatians 6:2 and come along side and help them bear their
burden. If we find ourselves struggling with fear under these
difficult circumstances, go to the Lord and to His Word. Seek peace
in His presence through His Word. He is the God of all comfort and
peace. And, as Charles Spurgeon said, learn the peace of being thrown
upon the Rock of Ages.
