God’s Triumphant and Faithful King
Psalm 18
“Holding out for a hero” – This is a royal Psalm of King David, but on further, “to his descendants for ever.”
The king’s praises
I love you, Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.3 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
Psalm 18:1-3
and I have been saved from my enemies.
“I love you O Lord…” Intense feeling from all he had experienced from God. Rock, fortress, refuge, shield, horn, stronghold.
The triumphant King
In my distress I called to the Lord;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears……….…. He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
Psalm 18:4-19
he drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the Lord was my support.
19 He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.
Near death so often, he cries to the Lord, Who hears and acts for him. In poetry he remembers Israel’s deliverance by God’s mighty acts. “He brought me out into a spacious place.” This Jesus does and on a far more magnificent scale, for us.
The faithful King
The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
Psalm 18:20-24
according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord;
I am not guilty of turning from my God.
22 All his laws are before me;
I have not turned away from his decrees.
23 I have been blameless before him
and have kept myself from sin.
24 The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
He is not claiming perfection, but that he has followed after God. “You O Lord keep my lamp burning….etc.” “You have delivered me”. So too the actions of today’s believers are powered by Another. A perfectly faithful King, son of David and son of God.
The king’s expanded praises
The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!
Exalted be God my Saviour!
47 He is the God who avenges me,
who subdues nations under me,
48 who saves me from my enemies.
You exalted me above my foes;
from a violent man you rescued me.
49 Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing the praises of your name.50 He gives his king great victories;
Psalm 18:46-50
he shows unfailing love to his anointed,
to David and to his descendants for ever.
David ends the way he began. My Rock. Praise among the Nations, v49. And “to David and his descendants” In the New Testament this is applied to Jesus.
We all need a hero. Can you think of a better One?
New International Version – UK (NIVUK)
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.