Psalm 18
The Psalms
Psalm 18
God’s unfailing love
Psalm 18:46-50 – Selected Bible reading (NIV)
46 The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock. Exalted be God my Saviour! 47 He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me, 48 who saves me from my enemies, You exalted me above my foes; from violent men you rescued me. Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O LORD; I will sing praises to your name. He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.
Read the whole of Psalm 18 here
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Psalm 18 – God’s unfailing love
Psalm 18 has 50 verses. Space and time means it is looked at in outline only. We’ve just considered verses 46-50 as a selection, but please read all Psalm 18. It really is worth it!
(Verses 1-6) David gives his Music Director Psalm 18 to sing to mark God’s saving him from King Saul and all who seek his life. He praises God, his strength, rock, fortress, deliverer, refuge, shield, salvation, and stronghold. He recalls crying to God for help, God’s answer, and escaping death.
(Verses 7-15) David graphically compares God’s response to his prayer and fierce onslaught from would-be killers to a wild terrifying storm on land and sea. In poetic style he describes an earthquake, violent rainstorm, hail, thunder, lightning strikes, mountainous tempestuous waves, and gales. God’s same almighty power frightens and scatters his enemies. God is on his side.
(Verses 16-19) David tells of his rescue by God who reached down, took hold, and drew him out of the troubled waters of all-out enemy action against him. Too weak to save himself, God saved, supported, and put him in a safe and pleasant place. God rescued him and delighted in him.
(Verses 20-27) God saves David because he is His praying child, committed to God. What David now says is not to gain merit, but to show what each disciple of the Lord should be like. It describes his character. He should be righteous, clean, obedient, following, keeping God’s law, blameless, resisting sin, faithful, pure, and humble. None of us can achieve that by our own efforts. Only by putting our faith in Jesus, who bore our sins and its penalty on the cross, and by asking for His help, can we start to live like that, or even want to.
(Verses 28-36) David insists that God alone works in and for him, giving him light and courageous strength. His way is ‘perfect’, His word ‘flawless’ and He is his shield, refuge, and Rock. He provides David with strength, security, speed to escape, stability, uplifting, training for battle, and sustaining. ‘Your help has made me great’, says Israel’s most famous king. Even his path and walking on it, are God’s doing.
(Verses 37- 45) David explains how God has given him victories over his foes and defended him from attacks from some of his ‘people’. All this work by God makes King David now the ‘head of nations’, of whom foreigners hear, fear and tremble.
(Verses 46-50) David ends as he started—by praising God. He summarises his thanks for who God is and what He does for him—always a good thing to do. He closes with God’s ‘unfailing love’ to David and to his ‘descendants forever.’ We can know that love even more, if we trust in our crucified and risen Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.