Psalm 18:37-45
We have a term in our vernacular, the “presidential plural”, where a single speaker says “we” instead of “I” when speaking to an audience. It seems less boastful to say that a team has accomplished an activity rather than just one person doing the work. In today’s reading we see just the opposite. David speaks of all that he has accomplished, never speaking in the presidential plural, when in fact he certainly has had an army of men going to battle for him. And again, to put ourselves into the Psalm, we can imagine that we are among those who went through “basic training” in David’s army yesterday and joined David in his victorious battle today. David’s words spoken personally can apply to us corporately.
An extension to what I’m saying is this – we are seldom doing anything alone! A quarterback may get substantial media credit for having thrown five touchdown passes, but some sure-handed receivers were on the other end catching the ball, an offensive line was blocking for him, and a team of coaches had drawn up the plays with specific duties for each of the 11 players. Thankfully, most quarterbacks so highly lauded in most cases will defer praise to those teammates and coaches. Ben might give a great sermon on a given Sunday and no doubt he spent many hours preparing his talk. But he was trained for sermon delivery in seminary; he read books and Internet commentaries on the topic he was covering; and he very possibly consulted others (Stephanie?!) as to specifics that he might speak. Ben may stand alone at the pulpit, but he has had an army behind him, not unlike David today.
We can’t do it alone! David recognizes that in today’s reading. Five times in verses 39 to 43 David begins a sentence with “You”, acknowledging the Lord’s hand in his preparation, in his victory, and in his kingship. A few days ago I noted that David models prayer for us. Today he models action – the Lord working with him in everything he does. For us, the ultimate “we” in our lives is the Holy Spirit guiding us! It’s good to have that thought front and center in all that we do.