God Is Always Our Hope & Our Refuge
Word-Of-The-Day: ’The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.’ (Psalm 18:2)
Psalm 18 was written by David as a psalm of Royalty; proclaiming God’s sovereignty and kingship over Israel; and for the future king(s) of Israel, including himself and the Messiah who at that time was still to come, Jesus. This Psalm is set in place by the events of 1 Samuel 24:1-22, where at the beginning Saul hears that David is in the Ein Gedi region of Israel; next to the Dead Sea it is a desert area with hills and caves, extending into Qumran, where the Dead Sea scrolls were found.
Saul wants to kill David and chases David into the hills, and Saul (like many of us on a long road trip) finds he has to take a ‘potty break’ and so Saul steps into a cave to have some privacy. David happened to be in that cave, and while Saul was ‘taking care of business’, David cuts a piece of Saul’s role off. After Saul left the cave, David comes out after Saul, and explains to Saul that he could have killed him, but he didn’t, showing the piece of robe to Saul as proof. Saul then forgave David and acknowledged that David would one day be Israel’s king. David promised Saul that he would not harm Saul’s descendants, and Saul went back to his stronghold, and David and his men went back to theirs…
This sets up the reason David wrote Psalm 18. David wrote this Psalm after God had delivered him from the wrath of Saul. He starts Psalm 18 with praising God for defending and protecting him, and acknowledging God saved him (v1-3). David realizes he was in great peril, to the point of him possibly killed (v4-5), but David called upon God to help him out of the situation (v6a). God heard David’s cries for help (v6b) and with His omnipotent power God responded, describing God’s power as like a lightning & hail storm, earthquakes, and fire all combined together, as he came from Heaven to clear out all obstacles and rout David’s enemies (v6b-15).
God rescued David from his enemies, who by David’s word were too strong from him to hold back, but God was able to save David and comfort him and release him from his enemies’ grasp (v16-19). In the events of 1 Samuel 24:1-22, God’s power was to either silence David’s movements or to deafen Saul’s ears and dull his senses, or both. David, with Righteous intentions, was able to cut off the corner of Saul’s robe and retreat deeper into the cave, until Saul left.
David acknowledges what he tries to stay righteous and sinless (as much as possible) with God by following the Law (v20-23), to which God rewards him (v24). The future King of Israel shares God rewards those who are faithful, pure, and humble (v25-26a, 27a) but stymies those who are too proud or crooked (v26b, 27b). God is a beacon for David to follow, and David asks God to keep his own light lit (v28), and acknowledges God is a ‘force multiplier’ and that using ‘God-Math’ (God + me = Infinite Majority) David can conquer all his enemies and overcome any obstacles (v29).
David lifts God up for being Perfect; the One who can prepare His people to overcome any obstacle or enemy, while protecting His people and clearing a path so they don’t stumble (v30-36). David speaks of overcoming such enemies and obstacles all with God’s preparation and deliverance (due to David staying in the path of righteousness) (v37-40, 42-45). David’s enemies did not know God, so their cries for help went unanswered – even if they cry out to God in a last-second ‘Hail Mary’ pass, without Faith God will not answer them (v41).
David ends Psalm 18 as he starts it – with praising God as David’s foundation and power source, who gave David ‘top cover’ to subdue his enemies, including allowing David to sneak up on a ‘busy’ Saul, and giving David and his descendants (including Jesus) and all His people unending love, kindness, and comfort (v46-50).
Applying Psalm 18 to our modern lives, it is a lesson to not fret or worry about today’s calamities, whether it is global (socialism/communism, one-world governance, the growth of Islam and ‘woke’ movements) or personal (sickness, financial, home issues, nasty neighbors, etc.). Our Lord can and will help you (and us) overcome these issues. As with Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18-19, where God repelled Sennacherib and the Assyrians, God’s winning percentage is 100% and his batting percentage is 1.000, all home runs!
God is undefeated against all odds, whether against an Assyrian army of 185,000 (God’s angel routed them), a king wanting to kill his servant David (Saul relented and allowed David to live), or an illness (Jesus healing the chronically sick or disabled through His earthly ministry).
God has done it before, He is doing it now, and He will do it again (read Revelation 20-22 – spoiler alert, He wins, and so do we who are His children!) Whenever we are in the midst of struggles, remind yourself of Psalm 18 – the future King of Israel, David, was there. So was Hezekiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and even Jesus. But in all events God was there with them, and all were able to face their struggles and with God overcome them. Your problems and struggles may seem insurmountable, but to God they are solvable and can be overcome with Him.
