Psalm 18:1-30
Dear RTB’ers,
Psalm 18, beginning. Thirty verses today and we’re just over halfway through this psalm. My guess is that most of us will read through the entire psalm today, even though STS breaks it down into two readings. But today, only the first thirty.
It often helps for me to see these psalms in smaller chunks. Today’s first six verses point to David’s love for the Lord and for his need for God to intervene against his enemies: I call upon the LORD … The cords of death encompassed me … From His temple He heard my voice… Then verses 7-15 paint a majestic picture of natural forces raining down upon these enemies – try to picture “hailstones and coals of fire” coming down side-by-side – hailstones during a volcanic eruption…!!?? And we see these together twice (vv. 12, 13), so that must have been what David saw. Then with these heavenly forces we see David delivered in the next four verses: He brought me out into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me. (v. 19) Then David reflects further on his deliverance in the next five verses: The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He rewarded me. (v. 20) We might think of David as a bit arrogant in these verses, but my Study Bible suggested that David is measuring himself up against his enemies. And yes, in that realm he is indeed righteous!
Today I was most struck by our last six verses, where David brings the rest of humanity (us!) into his reflections. Look at his descriptors of who we are: merciful, blameless, purified, crooked, humble, haughty. (vv. 25-27) Yes, we are both blameless and crooked, both humble and haughty. He sees us with those behaviors because that’s how he sees himself. He sees his shortcomings, but he also knows Him in whom I have believed (II Timothy 1:12). David closes today’s reading with confidence: For by You I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. (v. 29) Any walls confronting your path today…??
Blessings!