The King's Testimony
The King's Testimony
Psalm 18
1 I love you, O Lord, my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; 5 the cords of Sheol entangled me, the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord, to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
7 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.
8 Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him. 9 He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. 10 He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water. 12 Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.
13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. 14 And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
16 He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters.
17 He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me,
for they were too mighty for me. 18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. 19 He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.
20 The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me. 21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. 22 For all his rules were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me.
23 I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt. 24 So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
25 With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; 26 with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
27 For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.
28 For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness. 29 For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. 30 This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
31 For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?
32 the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. 33 He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. 34 He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 35 You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me,
and your gentleness made me great. 36 You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip. 37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back till they were consumed. 38 I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet. 39 For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me. 40 You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed. 41 They cried for help, but there was none to save; they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them. 42 I beat them fine as dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets.
43 You delivered me from strife with the people; you made me the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me. 44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; foreigners came cringing to me. 45 Foreigners lost heart and came trembling
out of their fortresses.
46 The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation—47 the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me, 48 who rescued me from my enemies; yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me; you delivered me from the man of violence.
49 For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing to your name. 50 Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.
1 I love you, O Lord, my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; 5 the cords of Sheol entangled me, the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord, to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
7 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.
8 Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him. 9 He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. 10 He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water. 12 Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.
13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. 14 And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
16 He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters.
17 He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me,
for they were too mighty for me. 18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. 19 He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.
20 The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me. 21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. 22 For all his rules were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me.
23 I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt. 24 So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
25 With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; 26 with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
27 For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.
28 For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness. 29 For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. 30 This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
31 For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?
32 the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. 33 He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. 34 He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 35 You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me,
and your gentleness made me great. 36 You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip. 37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back till they were consumed. 38 I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet. 39 For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me. 40 You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed. 41 They cried for help, but there was none to save; they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them. 42 I beat them fine as dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets.
43 You delivered me from strife with the people; you made me the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me. 44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; foreigners came cringing to me. 45 Foreigners lost heart and came trembling
out of their fortresses.
46 The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation—47 the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me, 48 who rescued me from my enemies; yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me; you delivered me from the man of violence.
49 For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing to your name. 50 Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.
Christmas Memories
Reviewing Christmas memories the other day, I was struck by how many involved some kind of challenge or difficulty that had to be overcome. There was the time my mom woke up with the stomach virus, and dad had to cook Christmas lunch. Or the rainy Christmas Eve when Candace and I hydroplaned on I-40 to avoid an out-of-control vehicle, and ended up in the median. Or the 5 AM call on Christmas Eve 2022 that our church was flooded. Or when I caught my son’s hair on fire at our candlelight service. I could go on. Of course, the other common thread of these memories was how the Lord brought us through every one of them, showing us his steadfast love and goodness in the process! That’s Psalm 18: King David’s personal testimony of how God has never stopped saving him from trouble, all the days of his life.
"Yahweh, My Strength"
“I love you, oh Yahweh, my strength!” His praise is so personal and so passionate as to make some of us stoic-types uncomfortable. But David can’t help it. Life has taught him how small, fragile and weak he is, and how strong, stable, and sufficient Yahweh is: “my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my rock in who I take refuge, my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold (2).” That’s how it is when God’s people look back on our lives: we find Yahweh has always been the Shelter we have crawled to in our worst, lowest, most terrified moments. Is it not as true for you as for David? Should this not nudge us past our religious formality to our own personal declaration of love?
Learning to Trust Him
As David looks back, here’s how he summarizes his life-story: I got myself into one scary scrape after another, but every single time I cried for help, Yahweh saved me. He offers one especially dramatic episode of being rescued, in v4–19. There he was, up to his neck in trouble again—only this time he could feel death’s cords wrapping around him! Just as the lights started to go out, he squeaked out a desperate prayer…and suddenly Yahweh was riding to his rescue! It sounds like Saul had David pinned in a gorge, when God sent a storm and a flash flood that ended with David safe on high ground. Whatever the details, don’t you have specific stories of God extracting you from a tight spot (sometimes of your making) and bringing you into a wide place?
This specific memory leads David to some general observations about his life: the Lord was always doing this kind of thing for me! Over and over, I brought the desperation, and he brought the deliverance. David’s experiences have taught him that if he trusted and obeyed, Yahweh never let him fall (20–24). Walking with God through life’s twists and turns has developed a deep confidence in Yahweh’s character and commitment (25–30). These truths can’t be learned in a book: they must be lived. Like the old praise chorus put it, “Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God; through it all, through it all; I’ve learned to depend upon his love.”
This specific memory leads David to some general observations about his life: the Lord was always doing this kind of thing for me! Over and over, I brought the desperation, and he brought the deliverance. David’s experiences have taught him that if he trusted and obeyed, Yahweh never let him fall (20–24). Walking with God through life’s twists and turns has developed a deep confidence in Yahweh’s character and commitment (25–30). These truths can’t be learned in a book: they must be lived. Like the old praise chorus put it, “Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God; through it all, through it all; I’ve learned to depend upon his love.”
A Humbling Discovery
And so life has worked a deep humility in David. As Israel’s King, he has piled up an impressive list of victories and achievements. But David knows that Yahweh was behind every bit of it: “Lord, you were responsible for every good thing I did or became. You kept me on the path! You put me in the right positions! You gave me the strength to do what I could never do on my own (31–42).” You might say David realizes his life hasn’t been about him at all. It’s been about a gracious God who chose to glorify himself through David’s life. Have you made this discovery? As you tell your story, do you see that the Lord is the hero at every turn, and not you? Let’s give him all the glory.
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Article by Eric Smith
Senior Pastor, Sharon Baptist Church
Senior Pastor, Sharon Baptist Church
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