“Let’s forget about ourselves, and worship Him…” These are the thoughts of David as he pens the next prose of praise to the God he loves.  This is a beautiful testimony of who God is and what He has personally provided for David throughout his life—from shepherd boy to king!  In the challenging, scary times, King David cried out to God in great distress. He recognized and believed that God would save him through his mighty power—and God did!

David acknowledged that help and deliverance come only from God and he wants the world to know Truth. The “song” has a lot of verses and refrains because David also included the many reasons that God saves and helps His people. 

So, let us join in this song of praise to God, pausing to lay down all other distractions and the undo attention of pressing circumstances to remember Jesus. Let us lay our hearts, minds, and souls at the feet of Jesus as an offering of sacrifice of our will for His as we honor the Supreme Sacrifice He made for us so our sins could be paid in full.  May we remember the resurrection power God provided Jesus—proof beyond doubt—that the gift of eternal life is possible with Him.  Oh, what a Savior! There is no one like our God!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17, NIV

Psalm 18, The Message

^1-2 I love you, God—you make me strong.
God is bedrock under my feet, the castle in which I live, my rescuing knight.
My God—the high crag where I run for dear life, hiding behind the boulders,
    safe in the granite hideout.

³ I sing to God, the Praise-Lofty, and find myself safe and saved.

^4-5 The hangman’s noose was tight at my throat; devil waters rushed over me.
Hell’s ropes cinched me tight; death traps barred every exit.

⁶ A hostile world! I call to God, I cry to God to help me.
From his palace he hears my call; my cry brings me right into his presence—
    a private audience!

^7-15 Earth wobbles and lurches; huge mountains shake like leaves,
Quake like aspen leaves because of his rage.
His nostrils flare, bellowing smoke; his mouth spits fire.
Tongues of fire dart in and out; he lowers the sky.
He steps down; under his feet an abyss opens up.
He’s riding a winged creature, swift on wind-wings.
Now he’s wrapped himself in a trenchcoat of black-cloud darkness.
But his cloud-brightness bursts through, spraying hailstones and fireballs.

Then God thundered out of heaven; the High God gave a great shout,
    spraying hailstones and fireballs.
God shoots his arrows—pandemonium!
    He hurls his lightnings—a rout!
The secret sources of ocean are exposed, the hidden depths of earth lie uncovered
The moment you roar in protest, let loose your hurricane anger.

^16-19 But me he caught—reached all the way from sky to sea; he pulled me out
Of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos, the void in which I was drowning.
They hit me when I was down, but God stuck by me.
He stood me up on a wide-open field; I stood there saved—surprised to be loved!

^20-24 God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him.
When I got my act together, he gave me a fresh start.
Now I’m alert to God’s ways; I don’t take God for granted.
Every day I review the ways he works; I try not to miss a trick.
I feel put back together, and I’m watching my step.
God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.

^25-27 The good people taste your goodness,
The whole people taste your health,
The true people taste your truth,
The bad ones can’t figure you out.
You take the side of the down-and-out,
But the stuck-up you take down a notch.

^28-29 Suddenly, God, you floodlight my life; I’m blazing with glory, God’s glory!
I smash the bands of marauders, I vault the highest fences.

³⁰ What a God! His road stretches straight and smooth.
Every God-direction is road-tested. Everyone who runs toward him Makes it.

^31-42 Is there any god like God? Are we not at bedrock?
Is not this the God who armed me, then aimed me in the right direction?
Now I run like a deer; I’m king of the mountain.
He shows me how to fight; I can bend a bronze bow!
You protect me with salvation-armor; you hold me up with a firm hand,
    caress me with your gentle ways.
You cleared the ground under me so my footing was firm.
When I chased my enemies I caught them; I didn’t let go till they were dead men.
I nailed them; they were down for good; then I walked all over them.
You armed me well for this fight, you smashed the upstarts.
You made my enemies turn tail, and I wiped out the haters.
They cried “uncle” but Uncle didn’t come;
They yelled for God and got no for an answer.
I ground them to dust; they gusted in the wind.
    I threw them out, like garbage in the gutter.

^43-45 You rescued me from a squabbling people; you made me a leader of nations.
People I’d never heard of served me; the moment they got wind of me they listened.
The foreign devils gave up; they came on their bellies, crawling from their hideouts.

^46-48 Live, God! Blessings from my Rock, my free and freeing God, towering!
This God set things right for me and shut up the people who talked back.
He rescued me from enemy anger, he pulled me from the grip of upstarts,
He saved me from the bullies.

^49-50 That’s why I’m thanking you, God, all over the world.
That’s why I’m singing songs that rhyme your name.
God’s king takes the trophy; God’s chosen is beloved.
I mean David and all his children—always.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

David blends worship with witness!  We can learn from David!  Because David trusted God, God enabled him to run, leap, fight, and defeat the enemy as we read throughout this psalm. David could run through a troop, scale a wall, or leap like a deer up the mountains (see Habakuk 3:19).

This is my story, this is my song—

God is God alone. We are not God.  God did for us what we could not do for ourselves—save us from our sins, redeeming us from the bondage that sins that restrain us.  God sent His Perfect Son without sin as the sacrifice for the sins of the world—yours and mine. Why?  Because of His relentless, unconditional, limitless love for each one of us.

When we feel overwhelmed and frightened by the “enemies”, people led by darkness, hurting and unknowing of God that we call the bullies in our life, remember David’s song. God is our rock and your protector. He is able and willing to save us because He delights in us, “created in His image”, but in need of Him to be whole and complete. Jesus did the work on the cross that was needed to set us free.

Three days later, God’s resurrection power raised Jesus from death to life in victory over the Enemy of Death, the Deceiver. The war is over. God/Jesus/Holy Spirit won.  And because Jesus lives; all who believe in Him has gifted with eternal Life!

The War has been won; but The Enemy still skirmishes with us to distract, deceive, and deconstruct our faith using the trials and challenging circumstances we experience living in an imperfect world.  We must remember the Truth—The war has already been won!  What the devil does are mere limited power plays to throw shade on our faith!

Read the end of God’s story where Jesus reveals to John how it all ends—God wins!  (Revelation) We who believe win with Him. Victorious living is living as a redeemed people who know we are on the winning side of Jesus who is Life!  Yes, There is no one like our God!

Believe and be saved.

Live like the Redeemed who give God all the glory as we tell His Story!

Lord,

Thank you, thank you, thank you!  On yet another Good Friday; I remember.

In Jesus Name, Amen