To the choir master, a psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
He said, I love you, O Lord, my strength.
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.
I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised and I am saved from my enemies.
The cords of death encompassed me.
The torrents of destruction assailed me.
The cords of Sheol entangled me.
The snares of death confronted me.
And 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.
Then the earth reeled and rocked.
The foundations also of the mountains trembled, quaked because he was angry.
Smoke went up from his nostrils, devouring fire from his mouth.
Glowing coals flamed forth from him.
He bowed the heavens and came down.
Thick darkness was under his feet.
He rode on a cherub and flew.
He came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him.
Thick clouds dark with water.
Out of the brightness before him, hellstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.
The Lord also thundered in the heavens.
The Most High uttered his voice, hellstones and coals of fire.
And he sent out his arrows and scattered them.
He flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
Then the channels of the sea were seen.
The foundations of the world were laid bare.
At your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
He sent from on high.
He took me.
He drew me out of many waters.
He rescued me from my strong enemy.
And from those who hated me.
For they were too mighty for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity.
But the Lord was my support.
He brought me out into a broad place.
He rescued me because he delighted in me.
The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness.
According to the cleanness of my hands, he rewarded me.
For I have kept the ways of the Lord.
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
For all his rules were before me.
His statutes I did not put away from me.
I was blameless before him.
And I kept myself from guilt.
So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness.
According to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
The merciful, you show yourself merciful.
With the blameless man, you show yourself blameless.
With the purified, you show yourself pure.
And with the crooked, you make yourself seem torturous.
For you save a humble people.
But the haughty eyes you bring down.
For it is you who light my lamp.
The Lord my God lightens my darkness.
For by you I can run against a troop.
And by my God I can leap over a wall.
This God, his way is perfect.
The word of the Lord proves true.
He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
For who is God but the Lord?
And who is a rock except our God?
The God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless.
He made my feet like the feet of a deer.
And he set me secure on the heights.
He trains my hands for war so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You have given me the shield of your salvation.
And your right hand supported me.
And your gentleness made me great.
You gave a wide place for my steps under me.
And my feet did not slip.
I pursued my enemies and overtook them.
And did not turn back till they were consumed.
I thrust them through so that they were not able to rise.
They fell under my feet.
For you equipped me with strength for the battle.
You made those who rise against me seek under me.
You made my enemies turn their backs to me.
And those who hated me I destroyed.
They cried for help.
But there was none to save.
They cried to the Lord.
But he did not answer them.
I beat them fine as dust before the wind.
I cast them out like the mire of the streets.
You delivered me from strife with the people.
You made me the head of the nations.
People whom I had not known served me.
As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me.
Foreigners came cringing to me.
Foreigners lost heart and came trembling out of their fortresses.
The Lord lives and blessed be my rock.
And exalted be the God of my salvation.
The God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me.
Who rescued me from my enemies.
Yes you exalted me above those who rose against me.
You delivered me from the man of violence.
And for this I praise you.
Oh Lord among the nations.
And sing to your name.
Great salvation.
He brings to his king.
And shows steadfast love to his anointed.
To David and his offspring forever.
Amen.
There's an old proverb I remember hearing so often when I was growing up.
I'm sure you're familiar with it.
It goes like this.
It's a simple one.
Beauty is only skin deep.
Right?
Beauty is only skin deep.
And what's that all about?
Young ones.
It basically just means there's more to a person than his or her outward appearance.
There's more to a person than the way that they look.
Great care should go into developing and discerning character.
Rather than fixating on physical attractiveness.
And of course most of us want to have the best of both worlds.
Don't we?
We want beauty on the outside.
And we want depth of character on the inside.
Well if we were to apply that thought to the Psalms.
When we get to Psalm 18.
We might say that this one is the whole package.
It's got it all.
As a literary piece.
It's one of the most beautiful text in all the scriptures.
But it's depth of meaning is actually far richer than we could possibly ascertain.
In a single setting.
It's beauty is glorious.
It's meaning even more glorious.
As we dig in.
Salvation is its theme.
And in just 50 verses it beautifully illustrates God's plan of redemption that spans the entire Bible.
It's amazing in that way.
It takes the picture of salvation that all of the scriptures teach.
And it gives it to us in just this relatively short section of text.
And does so in an amazingly imaginative and illustrative way.
The particular focus is on how God saved his anointed king.
And thereby saved his people.
David is the author.
And he writes not only as an individual who has experienced God's kindness in salvation.
But he writes as a king.
Through whom the Lord rescues all of his people.
Israel in particular for David.
And throughout the song what we find he's doing is he's pointing the worshiper to Jesus.
A greater king.
Who wins a greater salvation.
And establishes and reigns over a greater kingdom.
For all who will trust in him.
It's nearly verbatim to 2 Samuel 22.
And in 2 Samuel 22 is where we can really begin to grasp the immediate context that is alluded to in the superscription of the psalm.
In 2 Samuel the narrator of the book he positions it strategically after decades of war with Saul and Absalom.
And many many wars with the Philistines.
After all of that has come to an end for David.
That's when the author puts in David's words.
It was his personal song of salvation.
Expressed in praise to God toward the end of his life.
And eventually it was adapted for corporate worship.
And included here in the book of Psalms as Psalm 18.
Which means that David's personal experience of salvation in 2 Samuel 22.
And all the things that he rehearses in his own life.
In the context of his own life.
Is not meant to be merely about him.
It's about something bigger than him.
And something greater than him.
It's something we can sing.
It's a prayer we can pray.
It's a praise we can give.
Just as all Israel did.
When Israel sang the hymn they praised God for saving his king.
Knowing that their salvation came through David's salvation.
Do you see that?
If the king is destroyed.
The nation is destroyed.
But if God raises up the king.
If God strengthens the king.
If God saves the king.
The people are saved along with him.
So Israel comes to Psalm 18.
They sing the hymn to the Lord as a hymn of praise to God.
Because they see God has saved his king.
Which means he has saved them as well.
And that's how we need to understand the psalm.
It's a song of worship and thanksgiving to God.
For what he has done for us.
In Jesus.
In Jesus the greater David.
We can also claim.
This song is a song of salvation for ourselves.
Now I want you to have an idea of the structure here.
Because it's a long one isn't it?
It's 50 verses.
It's not quite easy to keep all the structure together.
So I want to help you with that as we think about it.
We talked about chiasms before.
And this psalm has a chiastic structure.
I don't want to explain what all that is.
I want you to think about the psalm as if we're going to climb a mountain together.
We're at the base of the mountain right now.
We're going to start our climb.
And we're going to start with David's love.
And as we start this climb up the mountain.
We're going to get to David's rescue.
And then we're going to summit the mountain at the top.
And we're going to find that righteousness is at the heart of this salvation.
David's righteousness.
Along with God's righteousness.
And then we're going to start making our way back down the mountain.
It's going to mirror the first thing.
As we go up we're going to find that mirrored on the other side.
We're going to see David's conquest on the back end of the mountain.
And then we're going to settle in God's love.
Right?
So that's how I want you to think about it.
We're going to climb.
We're going to have to do some work to get there.
And we're going to rest for a little while on the summit.
Thinking about righteousness.
And righteousness for salvation.
The righteousness of God and salvation.
And then we're going to start to make our way back down.
In thinking about the kingdom.
The first thing I want you to see here.
Is the king's love for his God.
The king's love for his God.
This is verses 1 to 3.
I love you O Lord my strength.
The Lord's my rock.
He's my fortress.
My deliverer.
My God.
My rock in whom I take refuge.
My shield and the horn of my salvation.
My stronghold.
I call upon the Lord.
For he is worthy to be praised.
And I am saved from my enemies.
The king's love for his God.
David's opening declaration of love for the Lord.
What it does is it sets the tone for the whole song.
We find immediately what this song is about.
This is not a song of lament.
This is not a dirge that we might put sad music with.
Right?
No.
This is a song of praise.
It's a song of excitement.
It's an expression of love.
It sets the tone for the whole thing.
At the core of the psalm is pure affection.
David loves his God.
And he wants the world to know why.
As he looks back on his life.
After the wars have come to an end.
This is what he says.
This is how he recalls his life and God's work in it.
And the first thing he leads off with is his affection for God.
I love the Lord.
I love him.
And everything that follows in this opening line is an explanation of David's love.
He loves God because he has come to know God's love for him.
And so it is with all who truly love the Lord.
John helps us with in 1 John 4.
We love because he first loved us.
David leads with his love.
But he only does it upon reflection of God's love for him.
But what does this love actually look like?
We get a hint of that in verse 3.
Love, though undeniably containing a vital emotional component,
is described here in terms of action.
He says,
I call upon the Lord.
Showing his ongoing trust and devotion to God and his ways.
What does that actually mean?
What does it mean to call on the Lord?
Well, he helps us.
He explains.
To call upon the Lord is first an act of worship.
For David says,
The Lord alone is worthy to be praised.
He calls upon him in worship and in praise, recognizing the exclusivity of God.
I call upon the Lord and him alone I call on.
I call on no one else.
No other God is before me.
Only him.
Only Yahweh I call to.
He will not worship God alongside other gods.
He will not worship God alongside lesser gods.
He will worship the Lord alone.
But to call upon the Lord here, it's not only an act of worship.
It's first an act of worship.
But then it's a cry of faith, isn't it?
Trusting in the Lord alone for salvation from the enemy.
Isn't that what he says in verse 3?
I call upon the Lord.
He's worthy to be praised.
And I am saved.
I'm saved from my enemies.
Which indicates that there's been many times in David's life
where he's had to call on the Lord for salvation.
Help me God.
Save me God.
And he says, the Lord has always heard my prayer.
It's no surprise then that later prophets and apostles would use this same exact phrase
to describe repentance and faith unto salvation.
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, we're told.
Romans 10.13.
What is that an expression of?
Faith and repentance demonstrating love for God.
So we see the king's love.
That's where we begin.
And now we have to start our climb, don't we?
And next we see the king's rescue.
The king's rescue.
And we find this in verses 4 to 19.
Now there's so many stories David could have told about God's deliverance.
But he doesn't do that here.
And there's a reason.
He speaks here in reflection on his life as a whole.
The rescue that he writes about, it's bigger than any one moment.
All of the ways that God saved him were signs of a greater concept of salvation for David.
God had set his covenant love on David.
That's what David has in mind at the end.
And he's only looking at all these other battles as evidences of that love.
He's speaking of something bigger here.
So rather than saying, God delivered me one day in the valley of Elah against a giant named Goliath.
He doesn't say that.
Instead, he writes in poetic, imaginative, illustrative language.
Showing that his understanding of God's deliverance was much bigger than one moment.
There's three movements to his rescue here.
I just want to march through them.
The first thing is deadly peril.
Deadly peril.
This is verses four and five.
The cords of death encompassed me.
The torrents of destruction assailed me.
The cords of Sheol entangled me.
The snares of death confronted me.
It's dramatic, isn't it?
Death here is personified as David's great enemy.
It's pictured as a hunter who has caught the king in his snare.
He's wrapped him in his cords.
He's pulling him under into the depths of Sheol, the realm of the dead, where there is no escape.
That's the picture.
Now what is this?
It's not merely David's experience in Elah.
It's not merely David's experience running from Saul.
It's not merely David's experience on the run from Absalom or any other battle.
This is the human condition he speaks of.
We're all caught in death's trap.
Powerless to free ourselves from its hold.
Needing someone who is greater than death to deliver us.
That's our only hope.
And in the midst of this, David cries out to his God.
He knows only God can deliver.
Of course, there's one notable exception to the human condition.
Jesus was not hopelessly bound by death in the way that David was, in the way that you and I are.
No, Jesus willingly subjects himself to death.
Why?
So that those of us who are bound by it might be freed.
For three days, it appears as if Jesus was no different than the rest of us.
Incapable of even saving himself, much less anyone else.
But on the third day, it all changes.
God raises him.
Showing that he is indeed greater than our enemy.
Peter says it this way in Acts 2.24.
God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death.
Pangs of death being David's reference here to the cords of death.
The entanglement of Sheol.
Peter says God raised Jesus up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be bound by it.
No, he subjects himself to it in order that he might free us from it.
Deadly peril.
Then we find as we continue up the mountain here, we see divine action.
Divine action.
This is 6 to 15.
Just look at verse 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.
Few words can bring the kind of hope and comfort that comes to us in this verse.
In my distress, I called upon the Lord, entangled in death.
And my cry reached his ears.
Do you remember the lady who had the issue of blood in the New Testament?
And Jesus comes by.
And there's a mob of people around him.
She's just doing everything that she can to get to him.
If I can just get to him and just touch the hem of his garment, I'll be healed.
Or the blind men who cried out to Jesus in the midst of the crowds and said,
Son of David, help!
That's the picture David gives here.
He cries to the Lord.
And what was the experience of the woman with the issue of the blood?
What was the experience of the men who were blind?
Jesus heard them.
And he turns to them.
And he heals them.
And David gives us the same picture here.
He cries to the Lord.
And God hears him.
Wow.
All at once, we see the majesty of God on his heavenly throne,
so far above his creatures, so much higher, so much holier,
so much more wonderful than we are.
And then also we see his nearness in his loving care and concern for his people.
He hears their cry.
And he comes to their aid.
And what follows in verses 7 to 15
is the creator of the universe,
acting in the fullness of his earth-shaking power
to answer the cry of his king.
Pictured as God's cosmic power in action against the enemy that has provoked his divine wrath.
He should cause us to tremble.
Smoke pours out of his nostrils.
He's like a dragon.
He's surrounded by darkness.
There is fear associated with his power and with his glory.
He bends the heavens in order that he might come to where his king is to deliver him.
He rains forth hell stones and fire from his clouds.
He thunders with his voice.
It's terrifying.
He's saying, this is our God.
There is no God like this.
Verse 15 is of particular interest here.
Then the channels of the sea were seen.
The foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord,
at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
David here intends to turn our minds back to Exodus 14,
the parting of the Red Sea.
Another instance of the creator's cosmic power at work to save his people
and to display his glory.
And what is David doing?
He understands himself to occupy a unique space in God's plan of redemption.
He's essentially linking himself to Moses.
He's saying what God did for them through Moses,
he has done now for Israel through me.
And he won't be the last to make the connection.
The gospels speak of a greater, ultimate exodus through Jesus Christ.
All of it speaks of God's power at work to save his king
in order that through his king he might save his people.
Divine action.
We must take another step forward up the mountain.
And we find here in verses 16 to 19, divine deliverance.
There's deadly peril.
Now God comes in terrifying form.
And what does he do?
He delivers.
Verse 16.
He sent from on high.
He took me.
He drew me out of many waters.
He rescued me from my strong enemy,
from those who hated me,
for they were too mighty for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my support.
He brought me out into a broad place.
He rescued me
because he delighted in me.
Earlier, David describes his peril
as the, quote, torrents of destruction.
Here, he pictures his deliverance
as God plucking him out of those many waters.
Literally saved from death.
We might say a resurrection has taken place here.
David's weakness and inability to overcome the enemy
on his own is highlighted here in these verses.
Any salvation must be divinely supplied.
We're powerless on our own.
And divine deliverance is exactly what David receives.
For David, as it is for us in Christ,
this is pure grace.
God delivers him.
Why?
Because he delights in him.
He loves his king.
What did David do to deserve that?
Nothing.
God has set his love on his king.
And he redeems his king.
He saves his king out of his own love.
Just as he saves us.
Not because we're worthy of it.
Not because there's something in us
that is worthy of being loved,
but because simply,
he delights in us.
He loves his people.
Well, we're making our way to the summit here,
and we find that at the top of this mountain,
at the heart of the issue,
is the matter of righteousness.
And we see it in verses 20 to 30,
but there's two pieces of it here, isn't there?
There's, in verses 20 to 24,
we have first the righteousness of the king,
which we need to understand appropriately,
and we'll get to it in just a second.
But then there is the righteousness of God
that comes in verses 25 to 30.
Now, here's the thing I want you to understand up front.
Both are absolutely essential to salvation.
Both God's righteousness and the king's.
God, in his holiness,
must grant salvation righteously,
which means that the king
must be perfectly righteous
to receive that salvation.
If there's any unrighteousness in the king,
God's righteousness can only be revealed
in judgment.
He must judge sin.
And he's holy, he's the thrice holy God,
as we read at the beginning of the service.
Holy, holy, holy is he.
And he pours out his wrath against what?
Against sin.
Against those who are in rebellion against them.
If there's any rebellion in the king,
if there's any failure in the king,
if there's any unrighteousness at all in the king,
God must deal with him as he deals with all sinners.
He must judge him,
else God himself is not righteous.
Which confronts us with a serious problem
here in this text, doesn't it?
Because David claims blamelessness,
and we know he did not possess righteousness
in an absolute sense.
That is not who David was.
He wasn't a sinless person.
How are we to understand this?
How are we to think about salvation
as a reward for righteousness
in David's case?
There's a few things we have to get in order first.
First, David, for him,
righteousness, cleanness, blamelessness
did not equal sinlessness.
He's not intending to communicate that
on his own part here.
And we know that
because he was well aware of his own sin.
He would have never made that kind of claim.
What David means by righteousness
in his own sake,
what he means by righteousness
is his devotion to God.
That he is a righteous one
and that he belongs to God.
That is his standing
as God's king and God's son.
And verse 21 clarifies that for us.
He says,
I have not wickedly departed from my God.
Meaning that even in moments of failure,
I have been faithful to him.
To follow God's rules
and God's statutes
as is explained in verse 22,
includes following God's provisions
for forgiveness of sins.
David isn't saying here that he's sinless.
He's saying that even in his sin,
he has obeyed God.
He has offered the offerings
that he needed to offer.
He has not abandoned God
to follow some other God
or to follow himself.
No, he has come to the Lord
in contrition and humility
and in that way,
he has remained righteous.
He has remained faithful to God.
Now that's what David means
when he's thinking of himself here.
Like Abraham before him,
David was counted righteous
by faith.
He was righteous because he believed God
and was devoted to serving the Lord alone.
But is God righteous
to save someone who's truly guilty?
Yes, but only if one thing is true.
God can only be righteous to save David
and to count him as righteous
if someone who is truly innocent
makes an atonement on David's behalf.
Every time David followed the rules
and statutes of the Lord,
every time he took the one-year-old lamb
without blemish and without spot
to the tabernacle
in order that he might be sacrificed
as an atonement for David's own sin,
every time he did it,
it pointed to a greater atonement
that his future son,
the promised son
that God had given
in his covenant with David,
what he would do once and for all.
Jesus was the sinless one
who fulfilled all righteousness
in a way that David never could.
David is counted righteous
by faith in this psalm,
but the greater David
who this psalm pictures
is truly righteous.
He's perfectly righteous.
He's sinless.
He's blameless in every regard.
And that son of David,
Jesus Christ,
has laid down his life for us.
He himself is the Passover lamb.
And on the cross,
he gives himself for sinners
who will believe.
He demonstrated that faith,
David did,
by then obeying God's word
and trusting in God's promise.
He is righteous then by faith
and his righteousness by faith
is prefiguring a true righteousness,
an absolute righteousness
in the greater David,
Jesus.
Listen to how Paul writes about this
in Romans 3.
By the works of the law,
no human being will be justified
in God's sight.
For all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God.
That includes David.
And they're justified
not by their works of the law,
but they're justified by God's grace
as a gift.
How?
Paul says,
through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus,
whom God put forward
as a propitiation,
a satisfaction,
a payment
by his blood
to be received
by faith,
he says.
And this is what's interesting
is just after this,
he's explaining
this wonderful gospel truth
that we're all guilty,
including David,
except for Jesus.
Jesus is the sinless son of God.
And yet,
Jesus is put forward
as a payment
for our sin.
And then Paul concludes it this way.
It's amazing.
He says this,
this whole ordeal with Jesus,
this was to show God's righteousness
so that God might be just
in that he deals with sin,
100% of it.
No sin will go unpaid for.
He deals with sin.
And then Paul says,
but he's also the justifier
of the one who has faith in Jesus.
In other words,
all who come to him in faith,
who are counted righteous by faith,
their sin is credited
to the sinless son of God.
And in return,
the sinless son of God,
his righteousness
is then credited
to those who come to him
in faith.
That's why the king is righteous.
That's why David's righteous.
It's not because he never sinned.
His righteousness is anticipatory.
It's anticipating by faith
that God will fulfill his covenant,
that his son will come
and will deal with his sin
once and for all.
But then we see God's righteousness
in 25 to 30.
With the merciful,
you show yourself merciful.
With the blameless,
you show yourself blameless.
With the purified,
you show yourself pure.
With the crooked,
you make yourself seem tortuous.
For you save a humble people,
but the haughty eyes
you bring down.
For it is you
who light my lamp.
The Lord, my God,
lightens my darkness.
For by you,
I can run against a troop.
And by my God,
I can leap over a wall.
This God,
his way,
it's perfect.
It's righteous.
The word of the Lord
always proves to be true.
It never fails.
He is a shield
for all
who do their best
and try their hardest.
No.
He is a shield
for all who
take refuge
in him.
Now that's what David's doing.
He's taking refuge in God.
And God is counting
that faith
as righteousness
in anticipation
of what Christ will do
on David's behalf.
This is God's
righteous response
toward those
who fit the category
of righteousness
in verses 20 to 24.
A righteousness
that is won
ultimately by Jesus,
but credited
to those who believe
and serve the Lord.
These statements,
they sound a lot like
the Beatitudes
in Jesus' sermon
on the mount,
don't they?
The righteous
are merciful
because they know
they need mercy.
They're blameless
because they love
God's law
and seek to live
faithfully to it.
They are purified
through God's
atoning provisions
in worship
and his standards
for worship.
They humble themselves
before God
in repentance
and faith.
And he responds
in perfect mercy.
But to the prideful
who set themselves
against God,
the Lord displays
his righteous anger
and his judgment.
To them,
they see God
to only be
torturous.
God's point
is that God
is perfectly
righteous
to save
the faithful
and judge
the wicked.
And his conclusion
after thinking
this through
is expressed
in the praise
of verse 30.
This God,
he's perfect.
Everything he does
is perfect.
It's right.
His word
is true
and he is
indeed a shield
for all who
take refuge
in him by faith.
All right,
we've spent
a lot of time
on the summit here.
We've got
this vast
view
of righteousness.
The righteousness
of the king,
not absolute
in David,
but prefiguring
the absolute
righteousness
in the greater
David,
in Jesus.
We have the
righteousness
of God
who because
Jesus has paid
for our sins
will not judge
us again
according to them.
Amazing, right?
We're going to start
making our way
down the mountain,
right?
We're going to be
here all day.
Next step,
as we make
our way down,
this is the king's
conquest.
It's the king's
conquest.
Now this mirrors
the king's rescue
earlier in the psalm
and I'll make mention
of that as we go.
We find this in
verses 31 to 38
altogether.
And just as there's
three movements
to his rescue,
we find that there's
three movements here
to the conquest.
The king,
after having been
delivered from
all his enemies,
is empowered by God
now to turn around
and conquer them.
God has saved
his king
and now he gives
him a kingdom.
Again,
prefiguring the work
of Jesus,
the true savior
and king.
Now here's the
three movements.
The first one is
this.
We see divine
strength or divine
strengthening or
divine empowerment.
31 to 36,
for who is God
but the Lord?
Who is a rock
except our God?
The God who
equipped me with
strength and made
my way blameless.
And he goes on
to describe all the
ways that God
has done that.
In verses 16 to 19,
which is the part
that mirrors this
section,
David is seen as
weak,
unable to stand
against the might
of the strong enemy
in need of divine
rescue.
Here,
he is seen
with strength
the strength of God.
God equips him
to go on the
offensive now
against those
enemies.
His way is secure.
His hands are strong.
His weapons effective.
And the salvation
of God
shields him.
The king cannot
be defeated now
because he possesses
the very power
of God.
Paul says it
this way
in reference
to Jesus
in Romans 6.
We know
that Christ
being raised
from the dead
rescued
from death,
being raised
from the dead
will never die
again.
Death no longer
has dominion
over him.
For the death
he died,
he died to sin
once and for all.
But the life
he lives,
he lives to God.
Divine strength.
Then we get
to the second movement.
Divine judgment
now.
Divine judgment.
Now it's not hard
to see how this
mirrors the earlier
section.
What is it
that we see
following David's
cry for help?
We see the holiness
of God,
the terror
of God
coming against
David's enemy
to rescue him,
don't we?
Now we see
the flip side
of that.
We see the judgment
of God,
that terror
being applied
through the king
to conquer
his enemies.
What is it
that God
strengthens
his king
to do?
Carry out
his divine
wrath
against the wicked
who forsake
his way.
Look at it,
verse 37.
I pursued
my enemies.
I overtook
them.
I did not
turn back
till they
were consumed.
Every
last
one
defeated.
And then
it gets graphic,
doesn't it?
You boys
will like this.
I thrust
them through
so that they
were not able
to rise.
They fell
under my feet.
There's no hope
for them.
For you
equipped me
with strength
for the battle.
You made
those who
rise against
me sink
under me.
You made
my enemies
turn their
backs to me
and those
who hated
me I
destroyed.
He says.
He is
God's instrument
of judgment.
The same
cosmic power
that delivered
the king
is now at
work against
the enemies
to destroy
them.
David's
earlier
allusion
to Moses
and the
parting
of the Red
Sea
is now
an allusion
to Joshua
and the
conquest
of Canaan.
All
pointing
forward
to a
final
judgment
when Jesus
the true
king
will conquer
and destroy
all
who remain
impenitent
and align
themselves
with the
wicked one
by continuing
in their
rebellion
against God.
God
but what
are we
to do
with
verses
41
and 42
they cried
for help
but there
was no
one to
save them
they cried
to the
Lord
he did
not answer
them
so I
beat them
fine as
dust
before the
wind
I cast
them out
like the
mire
of the
streets
what are
we to
do
with this
what are
we to
do
with the
fact
that
these
people
do
finally
cry
to God
for salvation
in the
end
but they
don't
receive
it
does
that
not
contradict
the
fundamental
premise
of these
Psalms
that God
is a
refuge
for all
who seek
him
for it
but is
that what
they're
doing
are they
turning
to God
Christopher
Ash
quoting
John
Calvin
said it
this way
these
are they
who want
God
to rescue
them
but are
not willing
to forsake
their
wickedness
this
verse
reminds us
that
whosoever
look for
release
out of
their
trouble
and that
not
through
Christ
shall
have no
release
at all
what is
this
is a
cry
for
rescue
from a
circumstance
without a
heart of
repentance
and faith
toward God
that's what
this is
it's a
sober
reminder
that now
is the
day of
salvation
it's God's
call
to seek
the Lord
while he
may be
found
because there
will come
a day
where you
will find
no refuge
in him
it's the
warning
that today
if you
hear his
voice
do not
harden
your
heart
in this
psalm
you can
either be
saved
by faith
in the
king
or you
can be
conquered
by the
judgment
of the
king
and if
you wait
until the
judgment
comes
it will
be too
late
but now
is the
time
now
is the
accepted
time
writes
Paul
to the
Corinthians
now
is the
day
of
salvation
and God
will save
all
who come
to him
in repentance
and faith
all
who call
on the
name of
the Lord
as David
did in
verse 3
all who
decide
exclusively
I will
worship
him alone
I will
follow
him
alone
all
that cry
out to
him
and trust
that his
king
Jesus
truly is
the savior
and the
king
I will
trust in
him
for
salvation
everybody
who
does
that
now
gets
saved
that's
the
wonderful
truth
of
the
word
but
everyone
who
waits
everyone
who
delays
till the
day
of
judgment
will
find
no
salvation
at
all
you
will
cry
to
him
and
he
will
not
answer
just
as
those
who
mocked
and
ridiculed
Noah
all
the
years
that
he
built
the
boat
and
then
clamor
to
get
in
for
safety
after
God
had
shut
the
door
so
will
it
be
in
the
judgment
all
who
mock
and
rebel
and
turn
from
him
now
on
that
day
they
will
cry
out
for
mercy
and
there
will
be
no
mercy
for
them
to
find
it
will
only
be
judgment
and
who
will
be
the
instrument
of
the
judgment
in
this
case
David
is
the
instrument
of
judgment
the
king
is
and
he
is
prefiguring
!
God's
instrument
of
judgment
he
will
judge
the
world
but
then
we
have
the
third
movement
in
the
conquest
we
have
decisive
victory
decisive
victory
this
is
43
to
48
you
delivered
me
from
strife
with
the
people
in
other
words
he
means
you
gave
me
victory
you
made
me
the
head
of
the
nations
and
ruled
the
world
people
whom I
had not
known
served
me
his
kingdom
is
vast
as
soon
as they
heard
of me
they
obeyed
me
foreigners
came
cringing
to
me
foreigners
lost
heart
lost
heart
in
their
own
efforts
that is
in order
that they
might come
to the
king
for mercy
and they
came
trembling
out of
their
fortresses
their
fortresses
built
on
sand
and they
come
to the
rock
whom
David
praises
in
verse
46
again
the
Lord
lives
and
blessed
be
my
rock
exalted
be
the
God
of
my
salvation
the
God
who
gave
me
vengeance
and
subdued
peoples
under
me
who
rescued
me
from
my
enemies
yes
you
exalted
me
above
those
who
rose
against
me
you
delivered
me
from
the
man
of
violence
this is
the king
speaking
in contrast
to his
earlier
peril
this is
mirroring
verses
4 and
5
David
is given
a decisive
victory
and the
kingdom
language
here is
it's
unmistakably
messianic
David's
kingdom
did not
look
the way
that he's
describing
here
yeah
he was
a great
king
and there
were a lot
of people
in subjection
to him
he did
not rule
the world
in the way
that this
king rules
the world
and will
rule the world
people from
every nation
upon hearing
of the salvation
and might
of God's king
will come
to serve him
with joy
and exalt
his name
forever
for God
has given
him a name
that is above
every name
so that at the
name of Jesus
every knee
will bow
in heaven
and on earth
and under
the earth
and every tongue
confess that
Jesus Christ
is Lord
to the glory
of God
the Father
that's what
David
is pointing
us to
here
this gospel
of salvation
through God's
king
it spreads
through the
world
making a
spiritual
and eschatological
kingdom
that is
unrivaled
and will
last
for eternity
and he
does this
for his
king
because he
delights
in his
king
and that
gets us
to the
very last
part
we've made
our way
back down
the mountain
we're down
at the base
again
except it
changes
now it's
not a
description
of the
king's
love for
his God
now in
verses 49
and 50
it's a
description
of God's
love for
his king
for this
I will
praise you
oh lord
among the
nations
and sing
to your
name
great
salvation
he brings
to his
king
and show
steadfast
love
to his
anointed
to David
and to
his
offspring
forever
now that
language
is very
important
to this
text
David
is resting
on the
covenant
he's
trusting
in what
God
will
do
whereas
we look
back
and we
trust
in what
God
has
done
faith
is at
the heart
no matter
what
and it's
all motivated
and supplied
by God's
love
is what
bookends
the story
of salvation
for David
for Jesus
for you
and me
love
and David
views his
life story
as a
glorious
display
of God's
covenant
love
but for
David
this covenant
love will be
displayed
supremely
in his
offspring
the promised
son
Jesus
the anointed
Messiah
king
who fulfilled
the psalm
truly
and completely
and again
John the
apostle
helps us
here
1 John 4
9 and 10
in this
the love
of God
was made
manifest
among us
the love
of God
is displayed
to us
that God
sent his
only son
into the
world
so that
we might
live
through him
in this
is love
not that
we have
loved
God
but that
he loved
us
and showed
it
by sending
his son
to be the
propitiation
for our
sins
that's the
love
that David
sees
which takes
us back
to verse
1
so that we
might understand
the love
that David
expresses
why would
we gather
Sunday by
Sunday
in an
elementary
school
gym
and do
what we're
doing
right now
if your
answer to
that is
well
I'm trying
to live
here on
the summit
of righteousness
and I
know that
if I just
get it
right
if I get
it right
God will
reward me
you've missed
it
you'll never
get it
right enough
no why
do we
come
why do
we do
this
because like
David we've
seen the love
of God
in the
person of
Christ
and because
we've seen
the love
of God
in the
person of
Christ
what else
would we
do
except gather
with others
who have seen
his love
and say
I love the
Lord
my strength
I call upon
him
and I'm
saved from
my enemies
because he
has saved
the king
he has
saved me
what does
that mean
for us
what does
Psalm 18
mean for
us
that's it
isn't it
I told you
at the
beginning
Israel
seeing
Psalm
18
they're
not
putting
themselves
in the
place
of the
king
in the
psalm
we gotta
be careful
about that
here
you are
not
David
Jesus
is
David
Israel
sings
this
Psalm
about
David
knowing
that
because
God
has
done
this
work
through
David
they
received
the benefit
of salvation
we do
the same
thing
we don't
try to
put
ourselves
in
David's
place
no
we
step
back
and
we
see
what
God
has
done
through
Jesus
knowing
that
because
he's
done
it
we
are
saved
and
we
are
safe
and
praise
God