Flee from Satan and Praise God

Psalm 18

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:

¹I love you, O Lord, my strength.

²The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

³I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.

⁴The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me;

⁵the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.

⁶In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

⁷Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.

⁸Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.

⁹He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.

¹⁰He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.

¹¹He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water.

¹²Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

¹³The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire.

¹⁴And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.

¹⁵Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

¹⁶He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters.

¹⁷He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.

¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support.

¹⁹He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

²⁰The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.

²¹For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

²²For all his rules were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me.

²³I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt.

²⁴So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

²⁵With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;

²⁶with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.

²⁷For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.

²⁸For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness.

²⁹For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.

³⁰This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

³¹For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?—

³²the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless.

³³He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights.

³⁴He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁵You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great.

³⁶You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.

³⁷I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back till they were consumed.

³⁸I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet.

³⁹For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me.

⁴⁰You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed.

⁴¹They cried for help, but there was none to save; they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.

⁴²I beat them fine as dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets.

⁴³You delivered me from strife with the people; you made me the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me.

⁴⁴As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; foreigners came cringing to me.

⁴⁵Foreigners lost heart and came trembling out of their fortresses.

⁴⁶The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation—

⁴⁷the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me,

⁴⁸who rescued me from my enemies; yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me; you delivered me from the man of violence.

⁴⁹For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing to your name.

⁵⁰Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.

This Psalm harkens back to 2 Samuel 22 where we draw near to the end of King David’s story. Here we are treated to a passionate prayer that this poet speaks in praise of a God who has been with him throughout his life. As you read this Psalm, keep your mind and eyes open, remembering the bits of David’s life we have learned about. As you read these words, think of a young David facing the giant; think of a 20-year-old fleeing for his life from a deranged king; think of a stream of battles and assaults as he comes to power and faces his enemies; remember the troubles with his children as they went their own way rather than God’s. Now we see a life lived for God, even in the midst of sin or bad times. Clearly, God is always in the center of David’s heart.

Do you remember the story of Jonah, the prophet who tried to run away from God’s calling? He is most famous for having been swallowed by a great fish. While he is in the belly of that fish, these are the words that He prays to the Lord! He actually recites some of Psalm 18! (See Jonah 2) At what he probably believed was the end of his life, Jonah too remembers God and takes the time to give Him praise.

The application here is pretty obvious. Every single one of us, no matter the circumstances of our lives, can look back and find innumerable reasons to praise God and thank Him for His hand in our lives. We serve a mighty God and there is never a time when we don’t owe Him praise and honor. The evil one would have us look at ourselves and our lives through his eyes. Then we will see sin, violence, and hopelessness. The Cross does away with that distorted vision. When we look at our own lives through the lens of the cross, we see that we are afforded grace and forgiveness. It doesn’t mean we are not sinners, for to say that would be a lie. But Jesus’ blood on that cross brings forgiveness and God no longer sees us as guilty, but instead, He calls us righteous. When we see ourselves as God see us, rather than the lies of Satan, our lives are lived with joy, hope, and a sense of purpose.