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Celebrating our Salvation
Spend the first few minutes of you time with the Lord just being quiet.
Enjoy the stillness and the spaciousness of time together with him. You
might go for a short walk and simply enjoy the beauty of his creation and
the beauty of your presence in this creation.
Psalm 18 – David’s Hymn of Deliverance
Read the through the psalm slowly with your imagination engaged-see other
side. Use all your senses in your imagination and attempt to be present to
the scene. Like many psalms, this one is full of vivid images, some of
which might surprise you. Just soak in the glorious pictures David paints
of his relationship with God.
Now work your way through the psalm.
* What are the images-the word pictures the psalmist uses to describe who
God is?
* What is David’s dilemma?
* How does God meet that dilemma? Notice the high drama and power of vss.
7-19
* And why does God do all of this for David?
* Can you imagine that your own deliverance has involved such high drama?
How is this picture a picture of your deliverance?
In the second half of the psalm David speaks of the effects that such a
dramatic deliverance has upon him. vs 28-50
* What images and metaphors does he use to speak of God?
* How does he picture himself, because of who God is?
* What is the effect does his understanding of God have on him as he
enters into conflict?
Unlike David, who was at war with people, our battle is not, as Paul says
“a battle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, powers and
authorities of this corrupt world” or “the world, the flesh and the devil”.
* As you think about walking forward and maturing in your life of faith
what are you battling?
* Are there fears that make you timid-uncertainties about who you are?
Who God is? What he has called you to?
* Are there misunderstandings that cloud you vision? — About God?
Others? Yourself? The nature of your calling?
* Are there social customs that are hard for you to go against?
* What are the enemies that wage war against your soul?
…against your faith and trust in God?
…against your confidence in the truth of the Gospel both for you,
and for others?
In what ways can the contemplation of your own deliverance give you
confidence against such foes?
Close in Prayer
“You deliver me, God, from the tangled and cramped alleys of sin and
put me in the spacious country of mercy and justice. Now I have
plenty of room to walk in your ways. Assist me to walk “in his steps”
even as I pray in Jesus name.” Amen A
prayer by Eugene Peterson-Praying with the Psalms
Psalm 18
1 I love you, Yahweh, my strength
(my Saviour, you have saved me from violence).
2Yahweh is my rock and my fortress,
my deliverer is my God.
I take refuge in him, my rock,
my shield, my saving strength,
my stronghold, my place of refuge.
3I call to Yahweh who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my foes.
4With Death’s breakers closing in on me,
* Hell’s torrents ready to swallow me,
Sheol’s snares every side of me,
Death’s traps lying ahead of me,
6I called to Yahweh in my anguish,
I cried for help to my God;
from his Temple he heard my voice,
my cry came to his ears.
7Then the earth quaked and rocked,
the mountains’ foundations shuddered,
they quaked at his blazing anger.
8Smoke rose from his nostrils,
from his mouth devouring fire
(coals were kindled at it).
9He parted the heavens and came down,
a storm-cloud underneath his feet;
10riding one of the winged creatures,
he flew, soaring on the wings of the wind.
11His covering he made the darkness
his pavilion dark waters and dense cloud.
12A brightness lit up before him, hail and blazing fire.
13Yahweh thundered from the heavens,
the Most High made his voice heard.
14He shot his arrows and scattered them,
he hurled his lightning and routed them.
15The very springs of ocean were exposed,
the world’s foundations were laid bare,
at your roaring, Yahweh,
at the blast of breath from your nostrils!
16He reached down from on high, snatched me up,
pulled me from the watery depths,
17 rescued me from my mighty foe,
from my enemies who were stronger than I.
18They assailed me on my day of disaster
but Yahweh was there to support me;
19he freed me, set me at large,
he rescued me because he loves me.
28 Yahweh, you yourself are my lamp,
my God fights up my darkness;
29with you I storm the rampart,
with my God I can scale any wall.
30This God, his way is blameless;
the word of Yahweh is refined in the furnace,
for he alone is the shield
of all who take refuge in him.
31For who is God but Yahweh,
who is a rock but our God?
32This God who girds me with strength,
who makes my way free from blame,
33who makes me as swift as a deer
and sets me firmly on the heights,
34who trains my hands for battle,
my arms to bend a bow of bronze.
35You give me your invincible shield
(your right hand upholds me)
you never cease to listen to me,
36you give me the strides of a giant,
give me ankles that never weaken.
37I pursue my enemies and overtake them,
not turning back till they are annihilated;
38I strike them down and they cannot rise,
they fall, they are under my feet.
39You have girded me with strength for the fight,
bent down my assailants beneath me,
40made my enemies retreat before me;
and those who hate me I destroy.
41They cry out, there is no one to save;
to Yahweh, but no answer comes.
42I crumble them like dust before the wind,
trample them like the mud of the streets.
43You free me from the quarrels of my people,
you place me at the head of the nations,
a people I did not know are now my servants;
44foreigners come wooing my favour,
no sooner do they hear than they obey me;
45foreigners grow faint of heart,
they come trembling out of their fastnesses.
46Life to Yahweh! Blessed be my rock!
Exalted be the God of my salvation,
47 the God who gives me vengeance,
and subjects whole peoples to me,
48who rescues me from my raging enemies.
You lift me high above those who attack me,
you deliver me from the man of violence.
49For this I will praise you, Yahweh, among the nations,
and sing praise to your name.
50He saves his king time after time,
displays his faithful love for his anointed,
for David and his heirs for ever.
* “ Belial’s” – meaning perdition, destruction, hell, or even Satan
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