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

A. God's Character And Deliverance Of David From All Of His Enemies

(Psalm 18:1-19a)

I. Introduction

A. The testimonies of God's help to past great believers 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 view the first part of that work, Psalm 18:1-19a, to understand God's character and deliverance of David from all of his enemies, that we might be instructed and edified (as follows):

II. God's Character And Deliverance Of David From All Of His Enemies, Psalm 18:1-19a.

A. The introductory notes in the English Bible comprise verse one of the Hebrew text (Kittel, Biblia Hebraica, p. 986), so we will stay with the verse numbering of the English Bible for clarification in this lesson.

B. We thus translate Psalm 18:1-19a as follows:

1. "I deeply ['compassionately'] love (raham, B. D. B., A Heb.-Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 933) You, O Jahweh (Covenant-keeping God), my [Military] Force, Strength (hezeq, Ibid., p. 305)," Psalm 18:1.

2. "Jahweh is my Crag, Cliff (Ibid., Kittel; sela', Ibid., B. D. B., p. 700f), my Fortress (mesudah, Ibid., p. 845) and my Deliverer (palat, Ibid., p. 812); my Elohim (Creator) is my Rock Wall (sur, Ibid., p. 849 ); I seek refuge (hasah, Ibid., p. 340) in Him; He is my Hand-held Shield (magen, Ibid., p. 171; R. DeVaux, Ancient Israel: V. I - Soc. Ins., 1965, p. 244f) and Horn [Strength] (qeren, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 901-902) of my salvation; my [Inaccessibly] Secure Height (misgab, Ibid., p. 960)," Psalm 18:2.

3. "I call to Jahweh Who is praiseworthy, and from my enemies I am saved," Psalm 18:3.

4. "The cords of death entangled me, and the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me," Psalm 18:4.

5. "The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me," Psalm 18:5.

6. "In my distress I called to Jahweh, and I cried to my Elohim for help. From His temple He heard my voice; my cry came before Him, into His ears," Psalm 18:6.

7. "The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because He was angry," Psalm 18:7.

8. "Smoke rose from His nostrils; consuming fire came from His mouth, coals blazed out of it," Psalm 18:8.

9. "He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under His feet," Psalm 18:9.

10. "He mounted the cherubim and flew; He soared on the wings of the wind," Psalm 18:10.

11. "He made darkness His covering, His canopy around Him -- the dark rain clouds of the sky," Psalm 18:11.

12. "From the brightness of His presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and lightning bolts," Psalm 18:12.

13. "Jahweh thundered from the heavens; the voice of the Most High resounded," Psalm 18:13.

14. "He shot His arrows and scattered the enemies, great bolts of lightning and routed them," Psalm 18:14.

15. "The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at Your rebuke, O Jahweh, at the blast of breath from Your nostrils," Psalm 18:15.

16. "He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters," Psalm 18:16.

17. "He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me," Psalm 18:17.

18. "They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but Jahweh was my Support," Psalm 18:18.

19. "He brought me out into a broad place [fig. of relief from distress] (merhab, Ibid., p. 932) . . ." Ps. 18:19a.

Lesson: After God had rescued him from all of his enemies, David testified that (1) God had been fully trustworthy, able and committed to helping him handle his opponents, Psalm 18:1-3. (2) David also figuratively ascribed to God the characteristics that his pagan Canaanite foes ascribed to their false god Baal -- characteristics displayed in a thunderstorm (Psalm 18:4-15; Z. P. E. B., v. One, p. 431-433, s. v. "Baal"), so David had looked to the Lord alone as his God in obedience to Exodus 20:1-3. (3) David also described God's deliverances as being so great, He had not only helped David out of what would have otherwise humanly been his sure fall, but that God had also totally relieved him of all of his former distresses and anxieties regarding his enemies, Psalm 18:4-6, 16-18, 19a.

Application: (1) May we realize that God is trustworthy, able and committed fully to deliver us from all of our foes, and to give us full relief from anxiety regarding them, (2) may we abandon all false gods to handle our foes (1 Jn. 5:21) and (3) hope in God even if deliverance seems impossible, for God excels in achieving the "impossible."