Psalm 18

¹ I love you, O LORD, my strength.
² The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
³ I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am 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 enemies, great bolts of lightning and routed them.
¹⁵ The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, O 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 have not done evil by 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 crooked you show yourself shrewd.
²⁷ You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
²⁸ You, O 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.
³⁰ As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
³¹ For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?
³² It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.
³³ He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights.
³⁴ He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
³⁵ You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great.
³⁶ You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn.
³⁷ I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed.
³⁸ I crushed them so that they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet.
³⁹ You armed me with strength for battle; you made my adversaries bow at my feet.
⁴⁰ You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes.
⁴¹ They cried for help, but there was no one to save them – to the LORD, but he did not answer.
⁴² I beat them as fine as dust borne on the wind; I poured them out like mud in the streets.
⁴³ You have delivered me from the attacks of the people; you have made me the head of nations; people I did not know are subject to me.

⁴⁴ As soon as they hear me, they obey me; foreigners cringe before me.
⁴⁵ They all lose heart; they come trembling from their strongholds.
⁴⁶ The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!
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.
⁴⁹ Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O LORD; I will sing praises to your name.
⁵⁰ He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.

As you read this psalm it refers to David and his descendants. Of course, the last descendant we know from the Bible is Christ. A form of this Psalm is also found in II Samuel chapter twenty-two. This Psalm reveals David’s understanding of God’s way. Read each phase and see if your understanding of God’s way matches David’s understanding of God’s way.

I love you

I take refuge in the Lord

I call to the LORD

I am saved from my enemies.

The cords of death entangled me the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me the cords of the grave coiled around me the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called to the LORD I cried to my God for help.

The Lord heard my voice

my cry came before him
The Lord reached down from on high and took hold of me

he drew me out of deep waters.
He rescued me from my powerful enemy

from my foes, who were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support.
He brought me out into a spacious place

he rescued me because he delighted in me.
The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness

according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
For I have kept the ways of the LORD

I have not done evil by turning from my God.
All his laws are before me

I have not turned away from his decrees.
I have been blameless before him

I have kept myself from sin.
The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
To the faithful you show yourself faithful

to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
to the pure you show yourself pure

but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.
You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning

my God turns my darkness into light.
With your help I can advance against a troop

with my God I can scale a wall.
As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights.
He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great.
You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn.
I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed.
I crushed them so that they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet.
You armed me with strength for battle

you made my adversaries bow at my feet.
You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes.
They cried for help, but there was no one to save them – to the LORD, but he did not answer.
I beat them as fine as dust borne on the wind; I poured them out like mud in the streets.
You have delivered me from the attacks of the people

you have made me the head of nations; people I did not know are subject to me.

As soon as they hear me, they obey me; foreigners cringe before me.
They all lose heart; they come trembling from their strongholds.
The LORD lives!

Praise be to my Rock!

Exalted be God my Savior!
He is the God who avenges me,

who subdues nations under me,
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.

So pants my soul after thee

Psalm 42:1 As the hart pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after thee, O God.  2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

One of the sweetest times of my day is the time I devote to walking.  This is my quiet time with the Lord.  It is a time when I can cast off most of the noise of this world and put on my focus on God’s Word and the great hymns of faith.  This is a time when I can take my prayer request to the Lord and wrestle with God on the daily issues that God has placed in my life.  David describes times like these as the thirst that a hart (deer) has for a drink at the water brook.  This thirst becomes the driving force for the path that the hart pursues.  May God’s Word and his presence in my life be the path I pursue as I daily mediate on God’s Word.

This is the importance of hiding God’s Word in your heart.  By studying and knowing God’s Word these quiet times of just reflecting on His Word and letting the Holy Spirit speak to your heart will give you the peace that passes all understanding.  It is wonderful to see in times of mediation how the verses of the Bible open up and you can grasp how God is working in your life.  Having the knowledge of these verses in your memory will open up a deeper relationship with God.  As David states in verse two his desire of coming and appearing before God.  Make your life rich and place a verse on your mind and go for a quiet walk and let the Holy Spirit open up a wonderful time of fellowship between you and God.   

Psalm 62

1 Truly my soul waits upon God: from him cometh my salvation.

2 He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.

3 How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.

4 They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.

5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.

6 He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved.

7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

8 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

9 Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.

10 Trust not in oppression and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.

11 God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongs unto God.

12 Also unto thee, O Lord, belongs mercy: for thou render to every man according to his work. (KJV)

As I read this psalm today it shed a lot of light on the verse found in Matthew: 13:23 “The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted.” What is the seed? It is the word of God. Therefore, the harvest that is spoken here is not lost souls, or works that one does for the Lord, but your own personal growth in God’s word. Verse eight in this psalm points to three areas that a Christian needs to focus on: walk in faith and lean not on your own understanding (trust Him), a life devoted to prayer (pour out your heart to Him) and applying Romans 12:19 in your life “Dear friends never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God.” so make God your refuge. Ask these questions to yourself today: did I let God’s word grow in me today? Did I surrender to sinful acts or ways, or did I look to God’s Word for direction in my decision making today? And last of all did I really believe his word even when I read a sentence like verse twelve in this psalm “Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done.”

This sentence from Oswald Chambers’ book My Utmost for His Highest from the reading on December 9 “It is not a question of giving up sin, but of giving up my right to myself, my natural independence and self-assertiveness, and this is where the battle has to be fought” reflects the life that we must live. The last part of verse twelve reads “Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done” points to the direction we must live our life as we go about our day-by-day activities. Are we living our life for the rewards that the world heaps upon us or are we heeding the words of I John 2:15, 16 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vain glory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world”. Going back to the Psalm one we must realize that there are only two directions in which we walk: the way of the righteous or the way of the wicked. Therefore, when we consider our rewards for walking in the way of the righteous, we must look carefully at this chapter and considering this verse.

1. My soul finds rest in God this verse points to our faith. Do we trust God and lean not on our own understanding.
2. My salvation comes from Him, I cannot earn it nor deserve it
3. I will never be shaken because I trust in him.

Psalm 57

1 Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusts in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be over past.

2 I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performs all things for me.

3 He shall send from heaven and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.

4 My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.

5 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.

6 They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have dug a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.

7 My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.

8 Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.

9 I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations.

10 For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.

11 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth. (KJV)

This is another psalm of David as he fled from Saul into the caves. David’s starts out this psalm off in the same manner as he did in psalm 56. He asks for God’s mercy as he takes refuge in him.

Key Facts:

We must ask for mercy because we have no righteousness to stand on.

God has provided a refuge for us and that is where we need to hide.

God has his purpose for me.

God does save me.

He rebukes those who are against his chosen.

David’s faith was steadfast and so must our faith in God.

The wicked will falls into their own traps.

I will praise Him. Why?

For great is His Love.

Great is His faithfulness

And He alone is exalted.

As I read verse two “I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills {his purpose} for me” it takes me back to Matthew 26:39 where Jesus prays “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” as his purpose. David did become the king of Israel as God purposed him to be as we will someday be made Christ-like when Christ appears the second time. However, until this event takes place, we must that refuge in the shadow of God’s wing and pray the same prayer that Christ our example prayed in the garden of Gethsemane. It is God who fulfills his purpose, not us fulfilling the purpose that God has given us. As a good soldier puts his life on the line to fulfill the military commander’s objectives so must we put on life and our dreams on the line to serve Christ.

When studying David’s life at this time in his life, we must realize that he was going through a period of self-examination. Everything that he believed was being tested. At this time, he was surrounded by a small band of followers who like him was running and hiding. It is a setting like this that even when you are part of a group you still feel like you are alone with God. It is in these times of testing that God will slowly work to transform us to be making according to His purpose.

This period is David’s life was probably very difficult for developing his relationship to God.  One of the greatest life lessons I have learn from my studies in the Psalms and the study of David’s life is how amazing the relationship that an individual can have with the Creator of this universe.  In Philippians 3:10 Paul writes these words about his relationship to Christ “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death”.  One of Paul’s greatest desires was to be made conformable unto the death of Christ.  As we study the individuals from the scriptures, we witness the personnel relationship they had with God. So in times of testing, we must be like David and not forsake God, but wait on him to reveal his purpose to us.