Psalm 21

In Psalm 20 David had called on the blessing of the Lord. Now he seems to give thanks for having received it. The Lord gave David strength and victory.

David has received the answers to his prayers and The Lord has bestowed on him splendour and majesty. We need to read this carefully, for we carry a lot of religious baggage. We are rightly aware of our sinfulness and complete need of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. God saves us as helpless sinners, but He does not leave us as helpless sinners, and that is certainly not our destiny. At the beginning He created us in His image (male and female), we were the pinnacle of His creation and were to have dominion over the earth. Then we sinned. In Christ we are restored, and God has great plans for us.

How does David enjoy this success? It is because he has learnt to work in partnership with the Lord (obviously with the Lord as the senior partner!). For we see in verses 7 onwards that David trusts in the Lord and the Lord appears with him in battle. That is how we are meant to live.

Psalm 20

This Psalm was quite probably written as a preparation for battle. In a sense it is a declaration of blessing, so let's look at what the blessing is that we live under.

David starts with God answering us in our distress. We sometimes have the notion that if only we had enough faith then we would never be in distress, but this is fantasy thinking. There will be times when we are in distress, but in the midst of them we can be confident that the Lord will answer and protect us.

We receive help from God's sanctuary. This is echoed in the New Testament when Paul speaks in Ephesians about us having every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms (Eph 1:3).

We have no need to offer sacrifices now, for we have the one true sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We can be certain that God remembers that sacrifice, and He treats us according to the death and life of Jesus, not according to what we deserve.

We will be successful. Some may find this difficult, as success can be associated with certain types of cheap prosperity teaching. But in rightly rejecting some of the nonsense that goes under the name of prosperity teaching, we should ensure that we do not throw out true Biblical teaching. Success and victory are part of our heritage in Christ. We achieve this not by relying on human strength and wisdom, but by trusting in God.

Psalm 19

In this Psalm David begins by proclaiming how creation declares the glory of the Lord. There is a lot of nonsense spoken these days about how science and religion are in opposition, but there is no need for this. The more we learn of the world, the more of God's glory becomes apparent.

David then moves on to the Law of the Lord. There is no separating the wonders of God's creation and His moral attributes. The Law of the Lord is good for man. It is not something that constrains us, but something that brings true freedom, refreshing the soul.

The ways of the Lord make a man wise. They bring joy to the heart and light to our eyes. When we are struggling we should seek the Lord's way, for it is the only way that will bring life.

The fear of the Lord goes together with this. To fear the Lord means to have reverence for Him and to know that it is His ways that we need to know and follow. The Lord's ways are worth much more than gold.

David closes by acknowledging his own sin and weakness. When we look at the greatness of God it can be wonderful, but then we look at ourselves and this can put us in fear. The answer is to humble ourselves before the Lord, depending upon His grace.

Psalm 18:16-24

The Lord reached down to help David. The most almighty God is willing and able to help us, whatever situation we find ourselves in. 

David was not in a little bit of trouble, but in deep waters. He was facing a powerful enemy, foes who were too strong for him to deal with by himself. We should take heart from this when we face circumstances that are overwhelming us, for our God is a God who rescues us from enemies that are too strong for us. Indeed, when He took the Israelites into the promised land, it was a land occupied by people stronger than they, but God was with them, so they could overcome. The enemies confronted David in the day of his disaster, ie at the worst possible time, but God rescued him. We need not fear any circumstance.

Then we have a section where David declares that the Lord has dealt with him according to his righteousness and his uprightness. How are we to apply this to ourselves? In two ways. On the one hand we rely on the righteousness of Jesus, His perfect life, perfect sacrifice and resurrection are the basis for our confidence. On the other hand we are to seek to live lives of integrity, life will go better, and we will be stronger, if we do so. There is no conflict in the Bible between relying only on Christ's righteousness and striving to live upright lives.

Psalm 18:25-50

People like to complain about God, but the way God appears is dependent upon the condition of our heart. If we are faithful and pure we will find God to be faithful and pure. But if we are devious we will find that God can outwit us quite easily. The Lord favours the humble over the proud. This is a fundamental tenant of the Bible.

The Lord keeps our lamps burning. In the midst of a struggle He supplies us with strength, and gives us light in dark times. So no matter what the circumstances we can have confidence that in Christ we are able to overcome.

David then continues with further attributes of God. His way is perfect and His word flawless. There is no one like our God. The Lord equips us with His attributes. Here David talks about being trained for war. Now the through the Holy Spirit we are sanctified and made more and more like Christ.

So David was able to pursue and defeat his enemies, and David reigned victorious. David endured many difficulties, and at times defeat seemed certain, but in the end it was his enemies who were defeated, because of the saving power of the Lord.

Psalm 18:1-15

This Psalm is also contained 2 Samuel 22. It was written towards the end of his life, and, as it says in 2 Samuel 22, is a Psalm of praise to the God who rescued him from all his enemies and Saul. The God whom we serve is the God who rescues us. So when we face difficulties we should rejoice, for we can be certain that God will rescue us. This does not mean things will necessarily be easy, for many of David's Psalms involve him crying out for help and telling of his anguish, but the result is certain.

The first 3 verses sum up what David has learnt about God during his life. He loves God, and God is his strength. He is a source of strength and protection in all circumstances. David has called upon the Lord many times, and each time the Lord has saved him.

David called out of his distress, and God heard him. Often when we cry out to God we may not feel full of faith, but even so God hears us. The key point is that we call out to the Lord, that in itself is an act of faith.

When God heard David He acted, and His action affected the heavens and the earth. When we call out to God things change. When He hears us He does things that change the world. We need to meditate on the wonder of this, and the implications for our life. We can often feel so small and think we are at the mercy of forces and events beyond our control. But we worship the God who created all things, and He makes decisions and takes action on our behalf.

Psalm 17

David makes a plea to the Lord for justice. 

He starts off by reminding God that he, David, has been upright. This may jar with some of us, thinking that we are righteous only because of what Christ has done for us. This is true, but even so there are times when we are in the right and yet are treated unjustly. We should live lives of integrity and should shun evil ways, such as accepting bribes. If we do this we have a clear conscience, and it is a lot easier to walk with God and to resist opposition when we do have a clear conscience.

David seeks refuge in the Lord, and to be shown the wonders of God's loves. 

David is completely honest about what he thinks of those who are out to get him. We may find some of the things he says a bit hard to take (eg verse 14).