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

C. The Description Of God's Deliverance Of David From All His Enemies

(Psalm 18:33-50)

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 his enemies.

B. We study Psalm 18:33-50 of that psalm to see the description of God's deliverance of David for our insight:

II. The Description Of God's Deliverance Of David From All His Enemies, Psalm 18:33-50.

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 clarity in this lesson.

B. We thus translate Psalm 18:33-50 as follows:

1. "He has made my feet like that of the deer; and upon my heights He enables me to stand firm," Ps. 18:33.

2. "He trains my hands for battle; and my arms can bend [even] a bow of bronze," Psalm 18:34.

3. "You give me the hand-held shield (magen, Ibid., p. 989; R. DeVaux, Anc. Isr.: V. I - Soc. Ins., 1965, p. 244f) of Your victory, and Your right hand (yamin, Ibid., Kittel; B. D. B., A Heb.-Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 411-412) [of omnipotence, H. A. W., Th. Wrkbk. of the O. T., 1980, v. I, p. 382-383] supports, upholds (sa'ad, Ibid., B. D. B., p. 703 ) me; Your condescension [for me] has made me great," Psalm 18:35.

4. "You broaden the path beneath me so that my ankles do not turn," Psalm 18:36.

5. "I pursued my enemies and overtook them and I did not turn back until they were destroyed," Psa. 18:37.

6. "I crushed them so that they were not able to rise; they fell beneath my feet," Psalm 18:38.

7. "You armed me with strength for battle; You made my adversaries bow beneath me," Psalm 18:39.

8. "And You made my enemies to turn back in flight, and I destroyed my foes," Psalm 18:40.

9. "They cried for help, but there was no one to save them -- to Jahweh, but He did not answer," Psalm 18:41.

10. "I beat them as fine as the dust blown by the wind; I poured them out like mud in the streets," Psalm 18:42.

11. "You delivered me from the attacks of the people ('am, here, the people of Israel under Saul; Ibid., Kittel; Robert B. Girdlestone, Syns. of the O. T., 1973, p. 257); You have set me the head of nations (goi, Gentile nations; Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., Girdlestone); people I did not know are subject to me," Psalm 18:43.

12. "As soon as they hear me, they hearken unto me; foreigners cringe before me," Psalm 18:44.

13. "Sons of foreigners lose heart, and they come trembling from their strongholds," Psalm 18:45.

14. "Jahweh lives! and praise be to my [militarily defensive] Rock Wall (sur, Ibid., B. D. B., p. 849), and exalted be my Elohim, my Savior," Psalm 18:46.

15. "He is the Elohim Who avenges me, Who subdues peoples beneath me," Psalm 18:47.

16. "Who delivers me from my enemies. Over my enemies You exalted me; from men of bloodshed You snatched me away (nasal, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 664-665)," Psalm 18:48.

17. "Therefore ('al-ken, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 487), I will praise You among the nations, O Jahweh; and to Your Name I will sing praises," Psalm 18:49.

18. "[He gives] great deliverances, victories to His king, and He performs loyal love (hesed, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., H. A W., p. 305-307) to His anointed one, to David and to his descendants forever," Psalm 18:50.

Lesson: David described God's deliverance from all his enemies as involving God's thoroughly equipping him to defeat them (Psalm 18:33-36) so that David utterly defeated them (Psalm 18:37-43a) his enemy survivors being fully subject to and demoralized before David due to God's vengeance (Psalm 18:43b-48). David thus praisee the Lord for His great deliverances that had been performed in God's loyal love for David and to his descendants forever in keeping with the 2 Samuel 7:4-16 Davidic Covenant (Psalm 18:49-50).

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ to become a child of God and be placed into His care, John 3:16; Rom. 8:31-32. (2) If we face foes who oppose even God's will for us, may we like David live uprightly in heart before the Lord (Psalm 18:1-19a) that God might equip us to defeat all such foes in conflict with them to the fulfillment of God's plan for our lives and His vengeance, that we might praise the Lord in the end, Psalm 18:33-50. [In the Church era, this may NOT involve physical deliverance as it did in David's era under the Mosaic Covenant (Deut. 28:1-14), but it will certainly involve a deliverance that we might complete God's assigned calling for us.]