1 David sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
David’s song of deliverance is essentially Psalm 18. Psalm 18 is thought to have been written by David as a young man, but why is it here? David has battled and grown old. Perhaps David recited this prayer often during his life. It is a prayer (song) of deliverance and thanksgiving. The Christian theologian Charles Spurgeon seems to think so: “We have another form of this Psalm with significant variations... and this suggests the idea that it was sung by David at different times when he reviewed his own remarkable history, and observed the gracious hand of God in it all.”
2 He said: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
First, did God deliver David in any way? Of course! His first deliverance was from Goliath. It was only through trusting in God that David beat the giant. He was delivered from Saul, from a variety of enemies, even from his adulterous and murderous season with Bathsheba. God allowed the sin and when David paid the consequences, he was reinstated into a deeper relationship with God and others. David, as an older man, understands this. When we look back on our life, do we see the deliverance of God? Do we realize that all those times we got into a situation we didn’t think we could ever get out of, we did? It’s amazing how God delivers us through our many foibles, trials and circumstances.
3 my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior-- from violent people you save me.
David uses some militaristic language here to illustrate God as a protector. But the bigger point is this: God is where David sets his foundation. Because of his trust in God, and God as the foundation of his life, there is an understanding between them: God protects those who seek after him.
4 “I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and have been saved from my enemies. 5 The waves of death swirled about me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. 6 The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. 7 “In my distress I called to the Lord; I called out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears. 8 The earth trembled and quaked, the foundations of the heavens shook; they trembled because he was angry. 9 Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. 10 He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. 11 He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. 12 He made darkness his canopy around him-- the dark rain clouds of the sky. 13 Out of the brightness of his presence bolts of lightning blazed forth. 14 The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. 15 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them. 16 The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of breath from his nostrils. 17 “He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. 18 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. 19 They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. 20 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.
David’s account of the Lord saving him is cinematic. But let’s not lose the focus of what David is trying to convey. Because David trusts God, it doesn’t mean that God is going to keep him from experiencing hardship. In fact, David frames this in the many times he was in battle. Yet God, knowing that the one who yearned after him was in trouble, leaps into action not as a passive God but a vibrant and forceful one. Because of David’s trust and the relationship he has with God he sees God moving in his life like an unstoppable juggernaut. Nothing can stand in His way.
21 “The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. 22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I am not guilty of turning from my God. 23 All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees. 24 I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. 25 The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his sight.
Is David as pure as he claims? If this was written before his spiraling sin with Bathsheba it holds some water, but if it was written as an older man, perhaps it doesn’t work, David was a conflicted man. He wasn’t perfect. He stumbled many times. But what we can learn from David’s story is this: David returned to the Lord, time after time, with a renewed spirit and a desire to please God and the people left in his care.
In 2 Samuel 12:13-15, the prophet Nathan told David this: Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.” 15 After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill.
Because of David’s sin with Bathsheba that culminated in the murder of Uriah, David had a lot of sin poured onto him. Because God knew this sin, even though David tried to hide it, the offense was against both man and God. When David understood that his sin could not be covered up, he fell back to God in repentance. Repentance is the important part. Repentance isn’t just being sorry, but turning from the sin and orienting your life away from sin and back to God. Repentance is about acknowledging your sin and turning away from it.
This is what David did. He changed his mind and in turn changed his actions. He dealt with the consequences of his sin (his son with Bathsheba would die). In dealing with God and the consequences he was retired back to God. In that, he was cleaned of his sin.
26 “To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, 27 to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the devious you show yourself shrewd. 28 You save the humble, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low. 29 You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light. 30 With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.
This next part is about the faithfulness of God:
1.Faithfulness: This is the reciprocal relationship of God and us. It we don’t care about God, then the influence of God shrinks over time. 2.Pure: When you are connected to God, then you begin to understand what God finds important. It changes your outlook on life. But how does God show pureness to the wicked? The wicked cannot understand God’s purity. So God outwits them. 3.Humble: Humility is where all Christians need to be. It is built into the fabric of our faith. God desires humility in us so we can relate to people on the same sinful level we are on. But the haughty, or prideful, is another case. Those who rely on themselves and their achievements are people brought down by God. 4.Lamp: With God in one’s life, we can see in the dark. The world around us is a dark place, but if we set our foundation properly, there is a course we can take. 5.Advance against a troop: With God we can do the unbelievable. We can go up against overwhelming odds. We can fight for him in the unlikeliest of circumstances, knowing God is on our side.
31 “As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him. 32 For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? 33 It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. 34 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights. 35 He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 36 You make your saving help my shield; your help has made me great. 37 You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way. 38 “I pursued my enemies and crushed them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed. 39 I crushed them completely, and they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet. 40 You armed me with strength for battle; you humbled my adversaries before me. 41 You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes. 42 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them-- to the Lord, but he did not answer. 43 I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth; I pounded and trampled them like mud in the streets. 44 “You have delivered me from the attacks of the peoples; you have preserved me as the head of nations. People I did not know now serve me, 45 foreigners cower before me; as soon as they hear of me, they obey me. 46 They all lose heart; they come trembling from their strongholds. 47 “The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Savior! 48 He is the God who avenges me, who puts the nations under me, 49 who sets me free from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from a violent man you rescued me.
As David recounts the many battles when the Lord as present beside him, the best way we can sum this up is by visiting Philippians 4:13: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Paul and David are saying the same thing. Those horrors that happen in life can only be endured if we have set our foundation on Jesus Christ.
50 Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing the praises of your name. 51 “He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.”
Recalling God’s promise to David (2 Samuel 7), David knows where ihs praise must belong. He knows that God has saved him, primed him, anointed him, protected him and taught him about how to properly worship him. He is kind to him despite his struggles, mistakes and outright sin. And through the training and protection hat God has granted him, the blessing of relationship, David understands where to set his foundation.