July 3rd, 2016
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

PRAISE FOR DELIVERANCE

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Help me, Lord, to praise You when I have been blessed and to remember those blessings when times are hard.

Read PSALM 18:1–29

[1] For the director of music. Of David the servant of the LORD. He 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. He said: I love you, LORD, my strength. [2] The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. [3] I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies. [4] The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. [5] The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. [6] In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. [7] The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. [8] Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. [9] He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. [10] He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. [11] He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him- the dark rain clouds of the sky. [12] Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. [13] The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. [14] He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them. [15] The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, LORD, at the blast of breath from your nostrils. [16] He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. [17] He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. [18] They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support. [19] He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. [20] The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. [21] For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I am not guilty of turning from my God. [22] All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees. [23] I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. [24] The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. [25] To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, [26] to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the devious you show yourself shrewd. [27] You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty. [28] You, LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. [29] With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Meditate

In this psalm, David rejoices in God’s deliverance from his enemies. It is a reminder for us to remember God’s mercy in delivering us from our sin.

Think Further

 This psalm is reproduced almost word for word in 2 Samuel 22. Although many psalms are attributed to King David and are either written or commissioned by him, this one has an unusually full introduction, telling us that David sang it when he was victorious.

 

Historically, it probably comes at the end of 2 Samuel 8, when “The Lord gave David victory wherever he went” (2 Sam. 8:14). He had brought the Ark of the Lord into Jerusalem; his enemies were defeated; his reign was secure. As he sang with the people, he may have recalled Nathan’s prophecy: “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever” (2 Sam. 7:16).

 

When we read this psalm, are we aware of the rest of the story? David sang, “The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me” (20). After he had written those words, he committed adultery and murder, acquired numerous wives and concubines, created impossible situations for his commanders and failed to discipline his unruly and rebellious sons. Looking back at the end of his life, maybe he recalled verse 27, “You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.” We know, from Psalm 51, that he recognized his sin and came before the Lord in penitence and tears. When he died and met his Lord and Savior face to face, then he would have understood that Nathan’s promise of a kingdom that would endure forever was fully and finally fulfilled. So for us, as we join the praises of all those down the ages who have known the Lord, our rock and our deliverer, we sing in the knowledge of our own frailty and his enduring love and forgiveness.

Apply

Recall times when God turned your darkness into light and enabled you to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds (28,29).

Closing prayer

Lord, help me to walk in humility, knowing, like David, that I cannot see the future nor fully evaluate the past.

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