Psalm 18: Our Rock, Our Fortress, Our Deliverer

Introduction

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Welcome back to our journey through the Psalms, where we enter into the story of Israel and experience the eternal faithfulness of God, both in their times and ours.

If you are watching this, chances are that you know and you’ve experienced the faithfulness of God in your life. And in that case, then our mission is to proclaim the faithfulness of God to the world through our lives.

Let’s begin by offering this time to God:

Living God and Rock of our Salvation, Jesus our Mighty Deliverer and Savior of the World, Spirit of Truth and Power, we give you praise. What else or who else in all creation is equal to you? For you spoke, and all things were created; at your word, the heavens and the earth were set in place.

Before we jump into our discussion, I have a couple of questions that I hope you take some time to think about.

What are you thankful to God for right now? Think about a time in your life that you felt extremely grateful to God.

Slide: Psalm

This is the longest Psalm we have encountered thus far in our series. We also find a very similar version of this Psalm in 2 Samuel 22 - most of it is verbally identical. And even though it appears towards the end of David’s story in 2 Samuel, the psalm itself was written very early in David’s reign.

Slide: David

One commentator says that David wrote this at the peak of his royal power before he committed the sins that would stain his track record. You know, his adultery with Bathsheba, the census of Israel, the incident with Absalom, and so forth. This is before all that happened, so David is really at his peak.

Let’s imagine ourselves in David’s shoes. Here he is, the shepherd boy from the middle of nowhere, the youngest son who always gets left out, who has been chased for years by a mad king who wants to kill him even though he did nothing wrong. This same young man who held fast to his faith, who obeyed God and trusted him to protect him no matter what - he finally sits on the throne of Israel with the unanimous support of the entire nation. Even the other nations tremble at his name! David is rich, powerful, famous, free of trouble, ruling over God’s chosen people, and most of all, enjoying a beautiful relationship with the God he loves. For at least a season of his life, David is literally living the dream.

Slide: Song of praise

Psalm 18 is a song of praise, a response that flows out of David’s thankfulness to God for everything that he has done.

Slide: Faithful God

If we can boil down this Psalm to one theme or idea, it’s that David praises God for his faithfulness. And wrapped up in that idea of faithfulness we also see David praise God for his steadfast love, his powerful protection, and a few other ideas that we will get to in our discussion today.

Question

And so I pause to turn the question at each of us: how often do we spend time praising God for everything that he has done in our lives? I don’t mean a quick thank-you prayer. I mean, how often do we just sit, free from our phones and the news and our entertainment, and just be thankful? How often do we journal or write poetry or create music or share a gift with someone else because we are so thankful to God for what he has done? My guess is that we don’t do that often enough. Part of it is because just don’t experience the level of thankfulness that David experienced. You know his story - a lot of things happened to him, so of course he has a lot to thank God for!

Looks more like this

My life? It’s so boring - all I do is wake up, go to work, eat, work some more, come home, be with my family, go to sleep and the cycle starts all over again. What do I have to be thankful about?

Covid

If you’re watching this video at the time it’s released, it may seem that there’s even less to be thankful about. Just outside my window, the world is still suffering from a pandemic that has literally shut down the world for the last 9 months. So many people are sick and dying, many more struggle from economic hardship - what is there to be thankful for? Maybe Psalm 18 just sounds very naive and irrelevant for a world that is still broken and suffering.

Super Christians

Maybe Psalm 18 is meant for those religious fanatics or those “super Christians” who get to that level with God. But not boring and ordinary me.

List of ordinary people

May I remind you that the Bible is one grand story that is written for and written by ordinary people like you and me. Okay sure, David was a king, but he started out as a shepherd boy. Queen Esther started out as Jewish refugee. Or the writers of the gospels - Matthew was basically an accountant, Mark was a scared young man who was running away from everything, Luke was a medical doctor, and John was a fisherman.

Extraordinary

And God chose each of them so that he could work in their ordinary lives and make something extraordinary out of it.

So as we journey through Psalm 18, think about how this could be your own prayer. The rich language, the vibrant expressions of love, the awesome power of God - all this from a shepherd boy who loved and trusted the Lord with his life.

Slide: Overview

So Psalm 18 consists of three big movements, surrounded by an introduction and conclusion. My intention is not to go into micro detail for every verse, but to sketch out the big story that’s happening so that we can have a model for our own prayers. And I’ll make a few comments on specific themes or ideas as they arise in the text.

Prelude/Preface/Intro (vv. 1-3)

English Standard Version 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.

From the very start here, David is praising God like a machine gun in rapid-fire mode. It’s this rush of metaphors and vivid descriptions about God as though David can’t control his excitement. The word for love that David uses is “רָחַם (rā·ḥǎm)” which describes an intense and intimate kind of love.

In these metaphors, David also introduces the idea that will be the main theme of the rest of the Psalm: the idea of safety and security from danger. The words “refuge,” “shield,” and “stronghold” are quite familiar to us. These are places that we associate with places of safety or protection from harm. “Rock” and “horn of salvation” are slightly less common but they speak of the same concept. A rock isn’t just a pebble - it’s a giant boulder that is strong and immovable and unbreakable. The horn of salvation comes from the horn of a strong animal such as an ox that is used to plow the fields. And so the horn became a symbol of strength.

Anchor

I’d like to throw in one more metaphor, and you could probably think of your own. God as this safe refuge against all the troubles of the world, like an anchor in the middle of a raging sea. And he can say this in confidence because he has seen it with his own eyes. 1 Samuel 17 - a teenage David encounters Goliath the warrior champion and kills him with a single stone. 1 Samuel 18 - Saul sends David on a suicide mission and he comes back alive and more famous than ever. 1 Samuel 19 - Saul tries to kill David and makes David a national fugitive on the run for his life. And in the chapters that follow, time and time again, Saul does everything in his royal power to end David’s life, but God never fails to save David at just the right time.

Imagine if we could live out of this knowledge. No matter what circumstances God brings into our lives, he will always provide just what we need at just the right time. When we’re looking for a job during a time of economic uncertainty, God is our rock and our refuge. If your bank balance were to drop to $4.37 tomorrow, God will deliver you with a mighty hand. When your kids stop listening to you and start to become rebellious and independent, God is their rock and refuge and he will not abandon them.

Imagine the kind of peace that we would get to experience! We live in a world that keeps feeding us with a constant stream of bad news, and we start believing that we always need to be on the alert for danger because it could happen any minute. We become anxious all the time, and no matter how many contingencies and back-up plans we have, we will still wonder “What if?”

But David has his eyes on his Rock and Refuge and Deliverer, and so nothing can shake his inmost calm. Maybe we could do well to turn our eyes in that direction as well.

So now we’ve introduced the big idea of God as Rock, Refuge and Deliverer. Let’s see how David goes on to explore that idea.

Cosmic Rescue (vv. 4-19)

In this section, David is describing God’s awesome power using what we might call “cosmic imagery,” which means metaphors from nature and creation. I’m going to read just a few verses to give us a sense of what’s going on:

English Standard Version Psalm 18

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.

So there are all these descriptions about God’s power over creation. Even the heavens and the earth and the sea bend at his command to obey him.

Emphasis: channels of the sea

Have you ever seen an ocean move? I mean, we’ve seen waves on the beach that are mostly slow, smooth, and gentle. And if we splash about in the ocean, we can’t even make a ripple because the ocean just keeps moving. God can split that ocean in half, which ancient Israel got to experience when they left Egypt.

Question

Which raises an interesting question. Why does David specifically choose creational metaphors? Why does he use this grandiose cosmic imagery? For example, in verse 16, David says that God “drew him out of many waters.” But Scripture never tells us about David got into a boat or that David ever came close to drowning. And it seems unlikely that David ever saw God (v.9) bowing the heavens as he comes down to earth with darkness under his feet.

Creation

It seems that David is actually thinking about the story of creation. And when we read Genesis 1 and 2, we see God creating, well, all of creation! He just speaks, and the earth, heavens, land, sea, sky, plants, birds, fish, animals and humans all burst into existence, full of life and beauty and goodness. And if God could so easily create them, surely he is also a master at controlling them.

Chaos

To put this into context, the other nations besides Israel believed in quite a different creation story. In their stories, the universe was created out of conflict and wars between the gods. Only when the gods had exerted all their powers could they defeat chaos and bring the world into existence.

Creation

But that is not the story of the God of Israel. If you go back and read Genesis 1, God speaks and creation obeys. End of story. Nothing can resist or oppose the God of Israel because he is above all of them. The earth, sky, sea, and everything in them is totally under God’s command.

But the story isn’t over yet. Fast forward to the book of Exodus when the nation of Israel is leaving Egypt. At the Red Sea, when Israel is surrounded and hopeless, God rescues Israel by controlling the winds and the waves to make a way through the sea. Not even the Pharaoh and his mighty army can oppose God. I mean, they tried and ended up destroyed. The God of creation has supreme authority, and he will protect those whom he loves against their enemies.

David

That’s why David can say that he has experienced this same story. David is king over Israel and thus the representative of Israel, and he chooses to see his life experiences in the light of Israel’s story. What was true for Israel also applies to him. He will live through what they lived through, and if he remains faithful to God as Israel was supposed to, God promises that he will enjoy the same blessings.

Church

Today, the church is the new Israel. You and I are the children of the Almighty God of creation. If we love him and obey him with all our heart, mind and soul, what was true for Israel, what was true for David, will also be true for us.

Nature

So maybe we could do well to spend time in God’s creation. For us who live in cities like Singapore, usually the only thing that we see are buildings and skyscrapers and man-made things. Maybe it is good for us to go out and enjoy nature every now and then. Go to Gardens by the Bay or Botanic Gardens, or even the park downstairs. Maybe during a thunderstorm, before you rush to close your windows, pause for a moment and smell the scent of the rain. Feel the wind beating against your face, put your hand out and feel the power of the rain hitting your fingers. As we interact with creation, we remember that the God of creation is alive and well today, and he is still on our side.

Before we move on from this first movement, I want to touch on a couple of other details:

English Standard Version Psalm 18

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.

Wrath of God

We see here some imagery that is more violent and destructive. It even describes God as being angry. Last week, when we were talking about Psalm 17, we also explored this idea that in the Old Testament, God just seems more angry and violent and destructive, and he appears less ready to forgive and have mercy. And we talked about how that’s really a misunderstanding of how God's anger works. God is not happy when he has to punish human beings. He does not want to be angry. What he wants to do is to bless his creation, to help them thrive and become the best that they can be. God only punishes and destroys when he has no other choice. Only when his enemies rebel against him, when they refuse to submit to his authority even when he gives them the chance to repent. Only then does God unleash his righteous anger.

Text

Also, let’s keep in mind that when God punishes his enemies, he is protecting those that he loves. From David’s perspective, it is not destruction but deliverance. God is moving in a powerful way to rescue him from the enemy, and that is something worth celebrating. For a fuller discussion on this topic of God’s anger, I highly recommend the podcast by the Bible Project. They recently released a series of hour-long podcast episodes talking about the wrath of God and how it works and how we often misunderstand it. It is a complicated subject, so do go and look for it if you need more clarification.

[v.16-19] Notice the slight shift here. David goes from talking about God’s awesome power in creation, and then David himself steps into the picture. It’s almost embarrassing - a single, fragile human being in the presence of this indescribably powerful God. The contrast is extremely stark.

Question

Why should the all-powerful, infinite God of the universe stoop down to our level to take care of one human being?

Answer

But that’s exactly the point. The story of the entire Bible is about the miracle of God’s grace and love for an inferior creature. that God who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-seeing, God is supreme authority and needs nothing from humans - this God still chooses to love us and care for our well being. Just because God is powerful does not mean that he has forgotten about us human beings. Just because he is at work ruling over creation does not mean he doesn’t care about us. And he has not forgotten about you either.

God’s Righteous Character (vv. 20-30)

Now we come to the second movement from verses 20-30. David continues this shift from talking about God’s power in creation to God attending to his humanity. We’re going to read a little bit here:

English Standard Version Psalm 18

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.

In last week’s lesson in Psalm 17, we also saw David talking about his own righteousness, and we spent a long time trying to answer the question, “Why is David so confident about his own righteousness?” We are a bit uncomfortable talking about our human righteousness because we know that all humans sin, right? For the full explanation, I encourage you to go back to the lesson in Psalm 17. But for our purposes today, the short answer is that David is counted righteous before God because of his faith. David loves God and strives to obey him with his whole heart, so even when he stumbles and sins every now and then, he will turn back to God to confess those sins and repent. And that’s how God can still count him as righteous.

Not only rules

Now, this section is not so much a set of instructions about how to be righteous or how to behave so that we can receive God’s reward. Remember, this is a song of praise that God has been faithful to those who obey him. This is David’s way of saying “God, thank you for being faithful to your promises! I praise you because you did exactly what you said you would do!”

I recently got into fixing puzzles, which I think we have all done at some point in our lives. And there is this great sense of satisfaction when the pieces fit together in just the right way. The pieces all come together as they should. So when David is living in God’s world and things go according to what God promised, he experiences that same satisfaction, just at a much greater level.

So I wonder if we can learn to praise God when we see things going right in the world. We often bring our sorrows and our burdens to God when things go wrong, but I think we don’t praise him enough when things go right. You know, I woke up this morning and inhaled a breath of fresh air. Praise the Lord! When I took a shower, I turned the tap towards ‘hot’ and there was hot water. Praise the Lord! I picked up the phone and called a friend to chat, and we had got to see each other and laugh and strengthen our relationship. Praise the Lord! I lived through today in the light of the Lord and I know that if Jesus was going to come back this very moment, he would welcome me to my home in heaven with open arms because the blood of Jesus washes me of all my sin. Praise. The. Lord.

What if we could live every day like that? I wish I were better at being so thankful myself! But I think if we began to practice that kind of thankfulness, if we were to learn from David here in Psalm 18 and give thanks for God’s faithfulness, maybe life would seem brighter and more hopeful. Think about it.

Victory Assured (vv. 31-45)

And now for the third movement. David has reflected on God’s authority in creation, he has reflected on God’s faithfulness and goodness towards him, and now he reflects on how God has empowered him against his enemies. David is a soldier and a military man, so he will speak about God’s empowerment using military terms. Let’s just look at one section:

English Standard Version Psalm 18

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.

Defense to offence

In the introduction, we saw that God was David’s protector - his rock and refuge and deliverer. He defends David against harm. Now the tables have turned - David goes from defense to offense because he is empowered by God with strength and courage. Not only do his enemies stop attacking him, but now they run away from him in fear.

Most of us are probably not in the military, at least not as a lifelong career like David. We are students, engineers, lawyers, teachers, doctors, taxi drivers, HR, parents, sons, daughters - whatever the case, God has placed us in a special position in life so that we might serve him where we are with whatever talents he has given us. Let me say it another way: God has specially chosen you and uniquely gifted you so that you can thrive and succeed and honor him right where you are. You may not think that’s true, but there are countless people who have gone before us who can confirm that it is true. It may not be obvious to you right now, and I think that’s because in our fast-paced society, we don’t take enough to slow down and really reflect on where God has brought us in life.

So maybe it’s time to pause in your life and consider how God has equipped you. He may not have trained your hands for “war,” but what has he trained you to do that you are capable in? He may not have given you a metal shield, but how has God protected you in your greatest struggles? You may not be grabbing a sword and running after your enemies, but what victories have you won in your life?

Doxology (vv. 46-50)

Finally, we come to the conclusion. Just as David began praising God for his steadfast love and protection, he ends the Psalm by praising God once again as his rock and refuge and deliverer.

Circle of praise

It’s like a circle of praise that goes in one big loop and comes back to the beginning, and we are ready for another round of praise. It’s almost like David can’t get enough of praising God, and the more he celebrates and proclaims God’s goodness, the more he wants to do it. It’s like that special someone in your life that you want to spend all your time with. And the more you spend time with that person, the deeper and more intimate your relationship becomes.

Emphasis

There is one more thing I would like to point out before we end. In the New Testament, Paul picks up on verse 49 and applies it to Jesus. He says this in Romans 15:9 to show that Jesus fulfills this verse because through him, all the nations gain access to God. God is no longer restricted to the Jews. Now, it may seem that Paul is pulling this one verse out of context to justify his point, but remember that Paul was trained as a Pharisee, which meant he knew his Scriptures extremely well.

Found throughout

I think that he sees Jesus in this verse because he sees Jesus throughout the entire Psalm. While the whole Psalm is specifically written by David about his past circumstances, he is also looking forward to the future (see v.50).

When we looked at Psalm 16 a couple of weeks ago, I shared how the book of Psalms was Israel’s way of looking to the past to learn to hope for the future. Ancient Israel began to see in the Psalms of David prophecies about a future David who would reunite the twelve tribes of Israel and establish God’s kingdom here on earth. King David becomes the model or the "type” for the Messiah, or put another way, the Messiah’s life will follow the pattern of David’s life and experiences. So let’s just draw some quick comparisons between Psalm 18 and what we know about Jesus:

v. 1—> Jesus experiences perfect relationship with the Father and trusts him fully

vv.4-5 —> Jesus literally experienced death and the destruction of his body

v. 7-19 —> all of creation reacted to Jesus’ death - Matthew tells us that there was an earthquake and darkness covered the earth in the middle of the day.

vv. 20-30 —> Jesus was the only human being to live a truly perfect life

vv. 31-45 —> when Jesus rose from the grave, he defeated Death itself, man’s last and greatest enemy. There is no greater victory than the victory that Christ won over sin and death.

This is only a sampling of the comparisons that stood out to me, and the more you read and meditate on this Psalm, I’m sure that you can find more. This is also a meaningful exercise that you can apply to just about any part of Scripture, especially the Old Testament.

Question

Any passage that you read, ask, “How does this text point towards Jesus?”

Conclusion

And with that, we come to the end of our conversation in Psalm 18. I hope that more than studying the text in a logical, intellectual way, this time has given you some practical tools to engage with your daily faith and Bible reading.