In The Word
Read: Psalm 18
For the music director. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord rescued him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said,
18 “I love You, Lord, my strength.”
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my savior,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
And I am saved from my enemies.
4 The ropes of death encompassed me,
And the torrents of destruction terrified me.
5 The ropes of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.
7 Then the earth shook and quaked;
And the foundations of the mountains were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.
8 Smoke went up out of His nostrils,
And fire from His mouth was devouring;
Coals burned from it.
9 He also bowed the heavens down low, and came down
With thick darkness under His feet.
10 He rode on a cherub and flew;
And He sped on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds.
12 From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
14 He sent out His arrows, and scattered them,
And lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.
15 Then the channels of water appeared,
And the foundations of the world were exposed
By Your rebuke, Lord,
At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
16 He sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
17 He saved me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
But the Lord was my support.
19 He also brought me out into an open place;
He rescued me, because He delighted in me.
20 The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands He has repaid me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not acted wickedly against my God.
22 For all His judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.
23 I was also blameless with Him,
And I kept myself from my wrongdoing.
24 Therefore the Lord has repaid me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.
25 With the faithful You show Yourself faithful;
With the blameless You prove Yourself blameless;
26 With the pure You show Yourself pure,
And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.
27 For You save an afflicted people,
But You humiliate haughty eyes.
28 For You light my lamp;
The Lord my God illumines my darkness.
29 For by You I can run at a troop of warriors;
And by my God I can leap over a wall.
30 As for God, His way is blameless;
The word of the Lord is refined;
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
31 For who is God, but the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God,
32 The God who encircles me with strength,
And makes my way blameless?
33 He makes my feet like deer’s feet,
And sets me up on my high places.
34 He trains my hands for battle,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,
And Your right hand upholds me;
And Your gentleness makes me great.
36 You enlarge my steps under me,
And my feet have not slipped.
37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them,
And I did not turn back until they were consumed.
38 I shattered them, so that they were not able to rise;
They fell under my feet.
39 For You have encircled me with strength for battle;
You have forced those who rose up against me to bow down under me.
40 You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me,
And I destroyed those who hated me.
41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save,
They cried to the Lord, but He did not answer them.
42 Then I beat them fine like the dust before the wind;
I emptied them out like the mud of the streets.
43 You have rescued me from the contentions of the people;
You have placed me as head of the nations;
A people whom I have not known serve me.
44 As soon as they hear, they obey me;
Foreigners pretend to obey me.
45 Foreigners lose heart,
And come trembling out of their fortresses.
46 The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock;
And exalted be the God of my salvation,
47 The God who executes vengeance for me,
And subdues peoples under me.
48 He rescues me from my enemies;
You indeed lift me above those who rise up against me;
You rescue me from a violent man.
49 Therefore I will give thanks to You among the nations, Lord,
And I will sing praises to Your name.
50 He gives great salvation to His king,
And shows faithfulness to His anointed,
To David and his descendants forever.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
In this passage, we see the power of our God defending His faithful ones who love Him with the entirety of their lives. We serve a God who will fight for us and come to our aid. This starts with God being our very source of life. We must wait on His deliverance.
So many times we will take up our own defense and fight a fight that ultimately belongs to God. Whether it is the pressures of life or false accusations, we must know that God is our vindicator. He will make things right. We often need to be reminded that there is only one lawgiver and judge who can make things right: our Holy Father (James 4:12). All too often we like to take matters into our own hands and end up making things worse, causing more of an issue than if we were to patiently wait on Him. Waiting on Him to move in your situation is a testing of your faith. It can produce perseverance so that you can become mature and complete not lacking anything (James 1:2-4). Jesus also tells us that His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:30). We must trust in Him. Whatever the situation you may be walking through today, know that the battle is God’s. You must put it in His hands. He is your rock, your fortress, and your refuge.