Psalm 18 God Is Our Deliverer

Daily Bible Study for Friday July 22 2016

By: Hanny Lynn Stearns

Fish N Loaves Ministries, Inc.

“Multiplying God’s Word Around The Globe”

Chapter Reading for Today: Please read in your Bible before proceeding. Note that most translations are considered paraphrases. The Young’s Literal Translation provides a more accurate translation since he is the one who authored a concordance. Others are helpful for seeing a different perspective, but we cannot always depend on their wording. I hope this is helpful to you. If you are studying in another version, that is fine. I am studying from the KJV, but for the purpose of this study, I will keep it with the New King James Version.

One final note: I will put the scripture in italics to differentiate from my own writing. I am adding red to the letters when it is Jesus talking – just like the Bible. Thank you.

Bible Gateway Verse of the Day

Matthew 16:15-16

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 

Psalm 100:4

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

and into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Song:  Nothins’ Too Big for My God    By: Lillie Knauls

Psalm 18

God Delivers His People

In this chapter of 50 verses, we see king David praising God for delivering him from his enemies. God is our Deliverer. As we get into it we will see the list of things that God is for us – and the list is long. David certainly didn’t name every role that God can play in our lives, but he covered a lot of ground. Do you know that God is ready and willing to deliver you? Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father:

Thank You for Your great love and gentleness. Father, I want to thank You for the many times You have delivered me from trouble. You alone are my God and the solid Rock of my Salvation – my Horn and the lifter of my head. Lord, I adore You above all else and place my trust in You knowing that whenever trouble comes my way, I can come to You for help. Father, I ask You to speak through my mind, my heart and my hands today to bring the message that You have for us in this lesson. Lord I ask that every person who ever reads it will be blessed and encouraged to know that You truly do deliver those who place their trust in You. May Your word go forth unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or my flesh. Father, we will purpose to be hearers and doers of Your word. Thank You for always watching over Your word to perform it in our lives when we place our full confidence in You, in Jesus name. Amen.

We notice in the very first sentence of our scriptures today that David said I will love You Lord, my strength. Did you notice that he didn’t just say, “I love You Lord?” That is because love isn’t a feeling or an emotion – it is an action. It is something that we do. And David knew that. We know from the scriptures how he proved his love for the Lord. Instead of just an “I love you” he said, “I will love You, O Lord.” He was making a concentrated effort to love God by what he did, not by what he said. We all know that words are meaningless unless they are backed up by actions.

In this Psalm, David had a lot to shout praises about. We can see a difference from the others Psalms we have studied so far, can’t we? In all of the previous chapters, we have seen him crying out for the help and deliverance from his enemies. He was pressed on every side. He faced trouble everywhere he turned. He was oppressed by Saul who chased him down like a hungry lion. He was pursued not by a few people, but by hundreds. If anyone ever knew what it was like to have the enemy breathing down his back, David certainly did. And isn’t that why the Lord used his many writings in the Bible? God spoke to him and through him in his spirit man to birth the cries of the human heart as they were directed to the one true God and Deliverer who could come to the rescue every time – hallelujah!

  

In verse 2 he listed several key attributes about the Lord that gave him confidence toward His Deliverer. He saw God as his Rock, his fortress, his Deliverer, his God, his strength, - someone he could trust. Does that describe your attitude toward God? David went on to describe the Lord as his Shield, and the Horn of his salvation (meaning strong Savior). He saw God as his stronghold (fortified place of security). He knew he could call on God and that the Lord deserved his highest praise. Again the question is asked, does that describe you? Do you see God as not only your Savior, but your Deliverer? Is He the strength of your life and the Solid Rock that you stand on day in and day out?

In verses 4-5 he describes the difficulties he faced. When the troubles came against him, he cried out (in faith) to the Lord and He heard his cries. You remember we talked about how to get God to hear our prayers, right? We have to go before Him with clean hands and hearts and then we can approach Him with confidence as His righteous ones and know He can step into our situation to bring relief. Verses 7-15 show God rising up in His righteous anger and coming to David’s (our) aid with great power and authority. Theses verses give us but a tiny glimpse of how powerful God is. Everything trembles when He gets angry. Everything gets shaken. When He rises up in our defense, the enemy will have no place to run and hide from His anger – hallelujah!

Do you realize that He can do the same for you that he did here for David as described in this text? Did you know that this information was given to encourage us so we could know that what He did for David He will do for us? God is no respecter of persons. If we are living a righteous life with Him, then every enemy that ever tries to come against us had better stand back because He is on our side and their weapons will do them no good…

Isaiah 54:17

No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,” says the Lord.

That’s good news, isn’t it saints? Please remember as we discuss what God can do for us that we must be in right standing with Him in order to see Him step in and fight for us. Too many Christians today think that He is standing idly by while His children are suffering great difficulties, but nothing could be further from the truth. He is a just God, like we talked about previously. He can only do what He is legally able to. We have a great responsibility to live a righteous life so that all of the promises we are reading about in this Psalm today can and will be applied to us, amen?!

When God showed up on the scene for David, everything changed – hallelujah! What a mighty God we have. The Lord drew David out of many waters. What does that mean? When troubles come, they can seem like a flood. David surely knew this. The pursuits and attacks of his enemies were rising up around him like a raging overflowing river, exceeding its banks with a mighty vengeance. But God helped him. Look at this…

Isaiah 43:1-2

But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.

God brought up David from the waters that seemed to want to overtake him. His enemy was too strong for him. They were kicking him while he was already down – he needed the Lord to support him, and He did. Do you know that He will do this for you too? I mean, do you really know this? Friends, these words are from the mouth of God Himself to encourage anyone who would ever see them and take them to heart – truly. Without faith we cannot please Him – it is impossible. Faith pleases God, doubt and unbelief does not. So if we view these promises as our promises, we will have what David had – total deliverance from our enemies. Praise His name forever!

Not only did the Lord deliver David, but he brought him into a “broad” place. What does that mean exactly? We can say like Webster, to a large, open and clear place. To be more specific, God took David, (and He takes us) to a great place. Not only does He save us from trouble but He delights in bringing us to a wonderful safe and flourishing place – hallelujah! I have seen Him do it for me and I know He will do it for you too! He delighted in David – that man after God’s heart. So when he cried out to the Lord for help, it was His great pleasure to assist Him and then bring him to a really wonderful place.

I can relate so well to this. When the Lord called me to leave Michigan and come to Florida, He was literally pulling me from the jaws of the devil and what seemed like a flood that would certainly overtake me. When He got me to Florida, the doors of heaven opened wide. He was delighting in me as I sought after and placed my trust in Him, and I can’t even imagine how happy it must have made Him to do all those wonderful things that He did for me back then. And He has been doing great things for me ever since. Now the place where I am at is getting bigger and bigger – brighter and brighter every single day – shout His praise!

Numbers 14:8

If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’

And here are some more verses along those same lines…

Psalm 22:8

“He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”

  

Psalm 118:5

I called on the Lord in distress; the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.

When I decided to forsake everything and leave Michigan to follow hard after the Lord, He came to my rescue and indeed brought into the best place of my life! I never dreamed I would see such goodness extended to me. And it was just the beginning. As of the time of this writing, that was just over 9 years ago. As I have continued to devote myself to Him, even though He has had to correct me many times, I have seen Him expand my territory more and more! Oh He is such a good and merciful God. Do you know that – for yourself? Do you understand that what He has done for me and others, He will do for you?

Oh friends, it is so important that we get this. God wants to shower us with abundance in every area of our lives. He wants to make us wealthy beyond our greatest dreams in our hearts and minds and in our bodies and pocketbooks- healed, rich and healthy, what a deal! Hallelujah! Before I came here, all I knew was what ‘religion’ teaches. I thought I had to be poor to serve God. But I later learned that it is a lie from the pit of hell. 

It keeps many Christians in a place of terrible bondage so that they are not empowered to serve God effectively. It takes money to spread the gospel around this world. We all need money to do things – it is the currency of the earth that fuels God’s work. A person can’t even eat unless they have money. Look how God gave David abundance after he overtook his enemy in these verses…

2 Samuel 12:26-31

²⁶ Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the people of Ammon, and took the royal city. ²⁷ And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, “I have fought against Rabbah, and I have taken the city’s water supply. ²⁸ Now therefore, gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called after my name.” ²⁹ So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah, fought against it, and took it. ³⁰ Then he took their king’s crown from his head. Its weight was a talent of gold, with precious stones. And it was set on David’s head. Also he brought out the spoil of the city in great abundance. ³¹ And he brought out the people who were in it, and put them to work with saws and iron picks and iron axes, and made them cross over to the brick works. So he did to all the cities of the people of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

The Lord not only delivers us but He brings us out with great abundance. I have seen Him do this in my life and it is ever increasing, more and more. That’s worth shoutin’ about! The next several verses in our chapter today show us how the Lord rewards us for walking uprightly and having clean hands. David had kept to the ways of God, and as a result, he was rewarded. God greatly enjoys giving us rewards for good behavior. We do that for our kids, don’t we? When they do well at school, we usually give them some special privilege or treat that really means something to them. It’s no different with our heavenly Father. He is a rewarder of those who seek Him…

Hebrews 11:6

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

When we really follow hard after God and His ways – there will be tremendous rewards saints. It may get difficult at times as we learn to crucify our flesh, but in the end it is always worth it. David showed us this in verses 20-24. In the next two verses, 25-26, we learn that God will deal with people the same way they approach Him. If we are pure in heart toward Him, He will show Himself pure to us. The same applies to being merciful and blameless. It is the law of sowing and reaping. We get what we give to others, right back in our own laps. That can be a good thing, or it can be a not so good thing. Whatever we are dishing out is what will return to us. So we should do good and be good to everyone, most importantly the Lord.

Hosea 10:12

Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.

David also noted that the Lord would be shrewd with the those who are devious. People who disregard the Lord will be treated quite differently by Him than those who love and honor Him. Look at this…

1 Samuel 2:30

for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.

Job 4:8

Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.

God helps the humble while He brings low those who are puffed up or proud – one in the same. David went on to say that he knew the Lord would bring light into his darkness. Did you know that God will do the same for you? Wherever there is darkness in your life, God is able to help you. It may be in your soul in the form of wounds from the past. Let’s face it, people get hurt in this life. We are living in a sin cursed, fallen world. And nobody escapes untouched. Yes, some of us get it worse than others - agreed. But everybody has hurts down in their souls that need to be healed. God can shine His healing light on those wounds and take the sting right out.

This is something I have had a great deal of experience with, so I will give you an example. I was terribly hurt by my Dad. It used to be that when I would talk about him I would cry. The wound was still open and bleeding you could say. And every time I talked about it, I was reopening those old wounds. But God was right there for me. As I focused on Him, He worked on the pain in my soul and over time, He shone His healing light on that very tender spot until finally the sting of it was all gone. Now when I talk about it, when I am giving a testimony to others, I do not fall into instant tears. That is a little glimpse of how God can shine the healing light on your heart too. He wants to you know, but we have to allow Him access by opening ourselves up to Him and His ways – make sense?

Jeremiah 30:17a

For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds,’ says the Lord,

That is good news to all who will believe. Moving on, David says that with God, he can go against a host of enemies. He can jump over any walls that stand in his way. Did you know that with God you can overtake every enemy that comes against you? That’s right! Look at this…

Psalm 91:7

A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.

Isn’t that great? In reality, a person could study out these verses in Psalm 18 today line by line and find other scriptures that support each one. That saints, is also known as rightly dividing the word of truth. We need to find supporting scriptures in two or three other places. In the mouth of two or three witnesses, let every word be established. We must know what we believe and we need to be able to find it in the scriptures. If we can’t, we better be asking ourselves why we have a particular belief in the first place. Anyway, God gives us the victory over a multitude of enemies, and that is good news for us as His children. We have many that come against us, but with God is on our side…

Romans 8:31

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

And every wall that we encounter in life, with God, we can climb right over and “keep on truckin” as they say. LOL! A little humor is good – amen! In the Bible, a “wall” is the same as a “mountain”, or in other words, it is something that gets in our way – an obstacle. Let’s look at what happened to the walls of Jericho after the people did what God asked of them. He was helping them go in and take over the enemy territory. And He gave them the victory all right. Look at what happened to the walls they constructed to protect themselves…

Hebrews 11:30

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days.

Praise God! No wall, no mountain; absolutely nothing can remain standing in our way saints when we place our trust fully in our strong and powerful God – hallelujah! I have seen Him tear down walls in my life enough to know that He is able and He is faithful. But we have to trust Him, even when we can’t see how it could possibly happen. Nothing is too big for God! His ways are perfect and His word is proven. In the case of Jericho, they listened to the word of the Lord and because they did, those seemingly strong walls came tumbling down like a meager set of Legos! Ha!

God is our Shield! If we are walking through our day, born again and trusting in Him, it would look, in the spirit, like we were wearing a suit of armor. We will talk more about that in a minute. This Psalm should surely encourage us to know that God can and will deliver us from our enemies.

There is only one God – one Savior. David knew who his God was/is, and he knew where his strength came from. Yes, God is very strong. He creates planets, and people and animals. His is a mighty God. The things we think are difficult to Him in this world and life are no big thing to Him. We need to remember this. If we do, then none of the things in this life will move us…

Acts 20:22-24

And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, ²³ except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me.²⁴ But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Paul knew hard times. Most of us know that – but he didn’t let those troubles shake him up. We can all learn from Him on that. Verse 32 in our chapter today is another one of my favorites – there are so many! Let’s look at it again…

Psalm 18:32

It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect.

This is one of those verses that is good to have taped up someplace where we can see it regularly. We need to be constantly reminded about where our help and strength truly come from. There will be mountain top days in this life and there will be others that seem more like a trip in the deep valley. But this verse can keep us strong no matter what is going on around us.

Psalm 68:35

O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places. The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people. Blessed be God!

Why not take some time to pick out several verses that help encourage you and place them somewhere that is easy for you to see them? After all, the Lord has commanded us to keep His words ever before us, right? Amen!  David went on to say that the Lord made his feet like that of a deer. Why did he compare his walk to that of a deer? Well, we all know that deer run so swiftly across the ground that it can even look like their hooves are barely touching the ground. They run swiftly and smoothly across the plains and hills as if they were almost flying with great ease. Saints, it is the same way when God is the one ordering our steps. They become easy, smooth, and it can feel like we are walking on clouds. How does that sound? Look at this…

Psalm 27:11

Teach me Your way, O Lord, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.

The more I have followed the Lord’s ways for my life, the easier my path has become. I am amazed at how much smoother things are in my life these days. One could ‘wish’ it had always been that way, but we all have to learn at the pace we will learn it. Thanks be to God who gets us there though – hallelujah! The Lord teaches us how to fight. He can make us so strong against our enemies that they are like ‘silly putty’ in our hands. Doesn’t that sound wonderful? And it is completely available – to all who will trust Him. Everything about what the Lord can do for us is based on faith. That is the number one key component to pleasing God and getting things done. Faith, faith and more faith! When we look at the wording in verse 35, we can see a lot about Ephesians 6 is talking about, let’s review…

Ephesians 6:17a

And take the helmet of salvation

David knew that his salvation protected him like a helmet that covered his head. It is a shield against the enemy. Being saved gives God the ability to hold us up by His mighty righteous hand – hallelujah! How many times have you been in a situation where you knew that God was protecting you against the enemy? I have seen it happen many times. Just this evening I was reminded about a time that I came within seconds of a deadly accident – but the Lord sent His angel to deliver me from something I never could have avoided in the natural realm. It was an awesome thing. It took me many days to get over that and I still praise Him for saving me. Now I can stand here and tell you about all the good things that God has done for me so you can be encouraged too! Praise His name forever!

God’s ways are what hold us up in this life – His ways sustain us. Without Him we cannot possibly succeed at the things we put our hands to. And as strange as this may sound, His gentleness strengthens us. Yes, when we encounter the tender mercy of our Lord, it gives us strength. Isn’t that good news? Can you see how encouraging this Psalm is for us saints. David was giving a personal testimony of what God had done for him. He went into great detail about the goodness of God and how He had helped him when he called. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Romans 10:17

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

When we hear a word from God, then we can stand on it until we see it come to pass. David knew he could trust in his faithful Lord and that with him, his path was enlarged, and when he did things in his life, he would not slip. That’s the benefit of walking with God. The next several verses in Psalm 18, (37-42), David shows how he overcame his enemies as he went into battle armed with the Lord’s strength. The people back in his day had a lot of battles to face. David was a warrior. But he always called on God to help him.

He did not trust in his mighty men. With God, multitudes of armies have been demolished under the mighty hand of God when He was invited into the fight. It’s no different for us today. We can try to fight our battles on our own in the flesh, or we can call on the name of the Lord. In all cases, we can always stand on His word – it always works!

Psalm 55:18

He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me.

The Lord gives us the victory when we trust in Him – that’s a great promise for anyone who is struggling against the enemy, isn’t it? I did not know how many enemies I was facing in my life. There are those that are seen (working through people) and those we cannot see in the spirit realm. Any person that is coming against us has a wrong spirit. No matter what, we are never fighting against mere flesh and blood – the enemy is working through people to attack us. I have seen it over and over. But when I used God’s word and His principals in dealing with those situations, I have always come out on top – hallelujah!

Ephesians 6:12

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but  against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

David gave a wonderful testimony of how the Lord not only gave him victory over his enemies, but how God also brought the heathen (unsaved people) to serve, submit to and obey him. How’s that for a victory shout? And the strangers around him seemed to just disappear from sight. Again, I have watched the Lord do that for me in the workplace. He is so mighty. We can’t understand how He does what He does, but we are certainly in awe, aren’t we?

What was David’s response to what God had done for him? He proclaimed the name of the Lord and he blessed Him – emphatically we might add. He exalted God above all else – after all is said and done, He alone is worthy of all our praise! When He lifts us up above our enemies and delivers us, we should be shoutin’ from the rooftops, amen! We need to always remember to thank Him for all He does for us and keep on praising Him. If we will stay in faith in Him and what He can and wants to do for us, He will not only deliver us and show us His mercy, but our children will see it too. That’s exciting!

  

Questions:

Name some ways you can choose to love God.

From the list of things God has been to David, name some of the things that He has been for you.  

Why is it important to call on the Lord in trouble?

Name a time recently where you called out to God and He heard you.

What did He do for you?

What does the Lord do for those who live righteously in Him?

List the different ways that God responds to people according to verses 25-26.

How does God enlighten our darkness?

What does the Lord help us to do when obstacles appear in our lives?

Describe the ways and the word of the Lord.

Who is the one that gives us the victory against our enemies?

What can the Lord cause the enemy to do for us?

What should be our response to the Lord for all He has done for us?

Psalm 144:2

My lovingkindness and my fortress, my high tower and my deliverer, my shield and the One in whom I take refuge, Who subdues my people under me.

There are three main points to consider from today’s study…

The Lord hears us when we cry out to Him

The Lord is our Deliverer

The Lord is worthy to be thanked and praised for all He does for us

                        Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for being my strong Deliverer! Lord, You are faithful to those who cry out to You in need. You have never let anyone down who placed their trust in You. Father, thank You for the many times that You have already delivered me from trouble – more times than I can count. Because You have done so much for me, help me to tell others about Your marvelous deeds and great loving kindness. Show me who needs to hear this message Lord and I will be faithful to share it in Jesus name. Amen!

Have you called on the Lord to deliver you from trouble?

And God Said… You fill in the blanks.

   

              

                             

Psalm 40:1-5

I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.
² He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps.
³ He has put a new song in my mouth—
Praise to our God;
Many will see it and fear,
And will trust in the Lord.

⁴ Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust,
And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
⁵ Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works
Which You have done;
And Your thoughts toward us
Cannot be recounted to You in order;
If I would declare and speak of them,
They are more than can be numbered.