Today we are going to read the first half of Psalm 18, which is the longest Psalm in the book so far. It also has parts that will seem very strange if you try to apply them directly to yourself. There’s a good reason for that – a bit like Psalm 2, this is specifically about the Messiah. There are two big clues for that: one is the heading, which is much longer than most Psalm headings, and tells us that this Psalm was a song King David sang about how God delivered him. The other clue is that the Psalm also appears in 2 Samuel 22, near the end of David’s rule as king. So as you read this Psalm, it’s especially important to remember that King David was the forerunner of the true Messiah, Jesus.

You should still think about the two questions – what things can I relate to, and what things remind me of Jesus? Then tomorrow I will give a few of my own thoughts on the Psalm as a whole.

For the choirmaster. Of David the servant of the LORD, who sang this song to the LORD on the day the LORD had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:

1 I love You, O LORD, my strength.

2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer.
My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold.
3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;
so shall I be saved from my enemies.

4 The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.
5 The cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the LORD;
I cried to my God for help.
From His temple He heard my voice,
and my cry for His help reached His ears.

7 Then the earth shook and quaked,
and the foundations of the mountains trembled;
they were shaken because He burned with anger.
8 Smoke rose from His nostrils,
and consuming fire came from His mouth;
glowing coals blazed forth.
9 He parted the heavens and came down
with dark clouds beneath His feet.
10 He mounted a cherub and flew;
He soared on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness His hiding place,
and storm clouds a canopy around Him.
12 From the brightness of His presence
His clouds advanced—
hailstones and coals of fire.

13 The LORD thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded—
hailstones and coals of fire.
14 He shot His arrows and scattered the foes;
He hurled lightning and routed them.
15 The channels of the sea appeared,
and the foundations of the world were exposed,
at Your rebuke, O LORD,
at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
He drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from foes too mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in my day of calamity,
but the LORD was my support.
19 He brought me out into the open;
He rescued me because He delighted in me.

20 The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness;
He has repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands.
21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all His ordinances are before me;
I have not disregarded His statutes.
23 And I have been blameless before Him
and kept myself from iniquity.
24 So the LORD has repaid me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

REFLECTIONS

Now think about the two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

Then pray, seeking to delight in God or to depend on God.