THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Psalms: God's Nurture Of The Inner Man In The Life Of Faith

XVIII. David's Testimony Of God's Deliverance From All His Enemies, Psalm 18:1-50

B. The Reasons For God's Delivering David From All Of His Enemies

(Psalm 18:19b-32)

I. Introduction

A. The testimonies of God's help to great believers of past generations are always beneficial to review, and we have David's testimony in Psalm 18 where he recounted God's deliverance of him from all of his enemies.

B. We study Psalm 18:19b-32 of that work to see the reasons why God delivered David for our application:

II. The Reasons For God's Delivering David From All Of His Enemies, Psalm 18:19b-32.

A. Since the introductory notes in the English Bible comprise verse one of the Hebrew text (Kittel, Biblia Hebraica, p. 987), we stay with the verse numbering system of the English Bible for this lesson.

B. We thus translate Psalm 18:19b-32 as follows:

1. " . . . He rescued (halas, B. D. B., A Heb.-Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 322) me because (ki, Ibid., Kittel, p. 988; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 471-474) He delighted in (hapes, Ibid., p. 342-343) me," Psalm 18:19b.

2. "Jahweh (Covenant-keeping God) has dealt fully (gamal, Ibid., p. 168) with me, according to (ki again, different meaning, cf. v. 19b) my righteousness; according to (ki again) the cleanness, pureness (bor, Ibid., p. 141) of my hands has He recompensed (shub, Ibid., p. 996-1000) me," Psalm 18:20.

3. "Because (ki again, meaning of "because," cf. v. 19b) I have kept (shamar, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 1036-1037) the ways of Jahweh and I have not wickedly turned from my Elohim (Creator)," Psalm 18:21.

4. "Because (ki, cf. v. 19b) all His verdicts (mishppat, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 1048-1049) are conspicuously in front of (neged, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 617) me [cf. Deut. 17:18-20] and I have not turned aside (sur, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 693-694) from His decrees," Psalm 18:22.

5. "And I existed (hayah, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 224-228) [with] integrity (tamim, Ibid., p. 1071) with Him and kept myself (shamar, cf. v. 21, here in the intensive reflexive Hithpael stem) from my iniquity, perversion ('avon, Ibid., p. 730-731; H. A. W., T. W. O. T., 1980, v. II, p. 650-651)," Psa. 18:23.

6. "And Jahweh has recompensed (shub again, cf. v. 20) me according to my righteousness, according to the purity (bor, cf. v. 20) of my hands conspicuously in front of (neged again, cf. v. 22) His eyes," Psa. 18:24.

7. "If one is lovingly loyal (hesed, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., H. A. W., v. I, p. 305-307), You show Yourself to be lovingly loyal (hased, Ibid., B. D. B., p. 338; Hithpael = intens, reflex.); if a mighty man (geber, Ibid., p. 149-150) shows himself to have integrity (tamim, cf. v. 23), You deal in integrity with him (tamam, Ibid., p. 1070; Hithpael stem = intens. reflex.)," Psalm 18:25.

8. "If one purifies himself (barar, Ibid., 140-141; Niphal = reflexive) You show Yourself just (barar again, but in the Hithpael = intens. reflex.; Ibid.), but if one is twisted ('eqqish, Ibid., p. 786), You show Yourself to be tortuously twisting [in judgment] (patal, Ibid., p. 836; Hithpael = intens. reflex.)," Psalm 18:26.

9. "Because (ki, cf. v. 19b) You (emphatic pronoun) save the oppressed, but those whose eyes are haughty You abase," Psalm 18:27.

10. "Because (ki, cf. v. 19b) You (emphatic pronoun), O Jahweh, keep my lamp burning [preserve me alive, Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 807]; my Elohim illumines my darkness," Psalm 18:28.

11. "Because (ki, cf. v. 19b) with You I can advance against a troop, and with my Elohim I can scale a wall [in military combat]," Psalm 18:29.

12. "As for Elohim, His way is [has] integrity (tamim again, cf. v. 23), the Word of Jahweh is smelted (sarap, Ibid., p. 864), He (emph. pron.) is a Hand-held Shield (magen, Ibid., Kittel; R. DeVaux, Anc. Isr.: V. I - Soc. Insts., 1965, p. 244f) for all who seek refuge (hasah, Ibid., B. D. B., p. 340) in Him," Psalm 18:30.

13. "Because (ki again, cf. v. 19b) Who is Elohim apart from Jahweh, and Who is the [militarily protective high] Rock Wall (sur, Ibid., p. 849) except our Elohim?" Psalm 18:31.

14. "The Elohim Who girds me with strength and makes my way blameless (tamim, cf. v. 23)?" Psalm 18:32.

Lesson: David testified that God had delivered him from all of his enemies because David was completely upright in heart, the very reason God had David anointed to be Israel's king in 1 Samuel 16:7, 12-13.

Application: To enjoy God's practical deliverance from our enemies, may we live uprightly in heart before Him, not with an outward, artificial spirituality, but heeding God in the inner man, in spirit and in truth, John 4:24.