We often hear of David as the Warrior King.

Yes, he was a mighty warrior but the reason he had success in battle because he put the Lord first. I ran across Psalms 18 in my study time this morning. The Lord is bringing me into a new level of faith in not only His ability to save me, but in His desire to do so. Verses 1-30 give us a vivid picture of just that! His ability and His desire to defend us.

In verse 1-3 of Psalm 18 King David professes his love for God. But he also reveals to us that he recognizes that the Lord is his strength.

(1)  To the Chief Musician. [A Psalm] of David the servant of the Lord, who spoke 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. And he said: I LOVE You fervently and devotedly, O Lord, my Strength.

(2)  The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, and my Deliverer; my God, my keen and firm Strength in Whom I will trust and take refuge, my Shield, and the Horn of my salvation, my High Tower.

(3)  I will call upon the Lord, Who is to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.

Verse 4 and 5 show us how desperate David’s situation had become:

(4)  The cords or bands of death surrounded me, and the streams of ungodliness and the torrents of ruin terrified me.

 (5)  The cords of Sheol (the place of the dead) surrounded me; the snares of death confronted and came upon me.

Have you ever felt surrounded? Do you sense the desire of the ungodly to ruin you? To kill you? David did. He felt like death was closer than close. But he fought back.

The first thing he did was to call upon the Lord, and the Lord responded in a BIG way!

(6)  In my distress [when seemingly closed in] I called upon the Lord and cried to my God; He heard my voice out of His temple (heavenly dwelling place), and my cry came before Him, into His [very] ears.

(7)  Then the earth quaked and rocked, the foundations also of the mountains trembled; they moved and were shaken because He was indignant and angry.

(8)  There went up smoke from His nostrils; and lightning out of His mouth devoured; coals were kindled by it.

(9)  He bowed the heavens also and came down; and thick darkness was under His feet.

(10)  And He rode upon a cherub [a storm] and flew [swiftly]; yes, He sped on with the wings of the wind.

(11)  He made darkness His secret hiding place; as His pavilion (His canopy) round about Him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

(12)  Out of the brightness before Him there broke forth through His thick clouds hailstones and coals of fire.

(13)  The Lord also thundered from the heavens, and the Most High uttered His voice, amid hailstones and coals of fire.

God came to the defense of his anointed child in ANGER! This is a fierce anger that we are often encouraged to overlook. But go back and re-read those verses so you can understand that God does not take it lightly when someone is attacking one of His children! He got angry. He moves in anger while defending His child! He will defend you just like this!

(14)  And He sent out His arrows and scattered them; and He flashed forth lightnings and put them to rout.

(15)  Then the beds of the sea appeared and the foundations of the world were laid bare at Your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

He removed His child from danger:

(16)  He reached from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.

(17)  He delivered me from my strong enemy and from those who hated and abhorred me, for they were too strong for me.

(18)  They confronted and came upon me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my stay and support.

He dealt with the enemies of David because He was pleased with David:

(19)  He brought me forth also into a large place; He was delivering me because He was pleased with me and delighted in me.

Notice this:  He dealt with David according his righteousness and according to the cleanness of his hands.

(20)  The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness (my conscious integrity and sincerity with Him); according to the cleanness of my hands has He recompensed me.

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

(22)  For all His ordinances were before me, and I put not away His statutes from me.

(23)  I was upright before Him and blameless with Him, ever [on guard] to keep myself free from my sin and guilt.

(24)  Therefore has the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness (my uprightness and right standing with Him), according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

God is faithful. He will ALWAYS come to the aid of those who call on Him in their time of distress. If you seek Him first in EVERYTHING, He will fight for you in every circumstance!

(25)  With the kind and merciful You will show Yourself kind and merciful, with an upright man You will show Yourself upright,

(26)  With the pure You will show Yourself pure, and with the perverse You will show Yourself contrary.

(27)  For You deliver an afflicted and humble people but will bring down those with haughty looks.

(28)  For You cause my lamp to be lighted and to shine; the Lord my God illumines my darkness.

(29)  For by You I can run through a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.

(30)  As for God, His way is perfect! The word of the Lord is tested and tried; He is a shield to all those who take refuge and put their trust in Him.

Do not allow yourself to become distracted from the “First Things”. God is keeping an accounting of the deeds of your enemies against you, but also your deeds towards Him.

walkininthespirit

05-06-06