Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Psalm 18

from September 3, 2008

Psalm 18 starts off with a wonderful description of who God is...

Verse 1 -2 "I love You, O Lord, my strength. 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."

and then WOW! Verse 7-18 describe God and paint a picture of His power... His might,,, His vastness:

"The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies, great bolts of lightning and routed them. 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."

I can see how these verses might sound frightening to some, but as a child of God they awe me. Yes, there is a tinge of fear, but it isn't frightened fear, it is that reverent awe we are to have before God.

I love how God goes beyond for us. The Psalmist cried out for deliverance from enemies and he got it, but God didn't just take care of the situation -- v. 19 tells us He brought the Psalmist out of the situation and into a spacious place. We read of God's vastness in the previous verses and then we see that He rescues us from the chaos of life and sets us in a spacious place.

My minds sees this as being in His presence. When life is swirling out of control, I call on Him... I acknowledge who He is and my need for Him... and I am able to leave the chaos behind and sit at His feet.

Verses 20 - 29 can baffled me a bit -- it appears I must be righteous, clean handed, humble, blameless, faithful, pure... but I am none of these and then I remember the key ingredient -- GRACE. Through the blood of Jesus I am made righteous, clean, blameless, pure....

Verse 30 again speaks of who God is... "...His way is perfect; the Word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him."

I confess that the last part of this Psalm is odd to me... or maybe foreign is the better word. All the war descriptions and terms seem to be things which don't apply to me. And then I realize -- David had a real literal battle (many in fact) and I have a real battle (many in fact) too -- just not a flesh and blood one.

Eph. 6:12 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

So all I read in Psalm 18 about battle and fighting applies to the Spiritual Warfare in my life.

v. 32 God arms me with strength
v. 33 He sets me up and enables me to stand
v. 34 He trains me for battle
v. 35 He gives me His shield of victory
v. 36 He clears the way for me

and so I am able to overtake my enemies (v. 37)... to crush them (v. 38)... for God armed me with strength (v. 39) and made my enemies turn back (v. 40).

David ends Psalm 18 as he began it - praising the Lord.

Father -- We live in a battle zone - You tell us throughout Your Word that our enemy is real and he is out there prowling the earth ready to attack and devour. In his own way, the enemy tells us that in Job 1 when God asks satan where he has been and he replies "roaming through the Earth going back and forth in it." It can be frightening and daunting to think of this, but not if your focus is on You, Lord. Like David, we must keep our eyes on You -- acknowledging who You are -- seeing Your power -- Your might -- Your vastness -- help us to see You, Lord. And I must remember that I am not in this battle alone and that I don't have to go into it unprepared. You are always there to strengthen, guide, protect, deliver... We need only to keep our eyes on You. Amen!

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