October 1, 2014

Psalm 18:16-31



Rachel Workman: 16 He reached down from heaven and rescued me;
    he drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemies,
    from those who hated me and were too strong for me.
18 They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress,
    but the Lord supported me.
19 He led me to a place of safety;
    he rescued me because he delights in me.
20 The Lord rewarded me for doing right;
    he restored me because of my innocence.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord;
    I have not turned from my God to follow evil.
22 I have followed all his regulations;
    I have never abandoned his decrees.
23 I am blameless before God;
    I have kept myself from sin.
24 The Lord rewarded me for doing right.
    He has seen my innocence.
There are parts of this Psalm that I love and parts I'm not sure about. I love how David said he rescued me because he delights in me. I can't imagine the Lord delighting in me. It completely blows my mind. Deep down I'm still the sinner that has failed time and time again. But the Lord does delight in us. We are His treasured possession. The part where David talks about being rewarded for doing right is the part that makes me stumble a little. It's my understanding that we are not rewarded on this earth. God does not reward us nor does he punish us. Our decisions are what causes a consequence. If we suffer bad consequences because of a bad decision then it would stand to reason that we enjoy good consequences for our good decisions. The Lord saved David because he had a purpose for David that was yet to be fulfilled. God's favor and blessings are upon us. And I can tell you I don't deserve either one of them so I wouldn't consider them a reward. They are a gift from God to someone who deserves nothing.

25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful;
    to those with integrity you show integrity.
26 To the pure you show yourself pure,
    but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.
27 You rescue the humble,
    but you humiliate the proud.
28 You light a lamp for me.
    The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.
29 In your strength I can crush an army;
    with my God I can scale any wall.

30 God’s way is perfect.
    All the Lord’s promises prove true.
    He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.
31 For who is God except the Lord?
    Who but our God is a solid rock?
Love, love love verses 25-31. God's way is perfect and mine is not. Why is that so hard to understand at times?

____________________________________________________________________________________

John Burnett:  16 He sent 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 me, for they were too mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my stay.
19 He brought me forth also into a broad place;
He rescued me, because He delighted in me.
20 The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness;  I tremble to think of how the Lord would reward me according to my righteousness.
According to the cleanness of my hands He has 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 did not put away His statutes from me.
23 I was also [a]blameless with Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.
24 Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.  Any cleanness that I have is because I have been washed in the blood of Christ and it is Christ’s righteousness that God sees when He looks at me.
25 With the kind You show Yourself kind;
With the [b]blameless You show Yourself blameless;
26 With the pure You show Yourself pure,
And with the crooked You show Yourself [c]astute.
27 For You save an afflicted people,
But haughty eyes You abase.
28 For You light my lamp;
The Lord my God illumines my darkness.
29 For by You I can [d]run upon a troop;
And by my God I can leap over a wall.
30 As for God, His way is [e]blameless;
The word of the Lord is tried;
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
31 For who is God, but the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God,
____________________________________________________________________________________

Allen Michaels:  16 He reached down from heaven and rescued me;
    he drew me out of deep waters.
Do your troubles, like “deep waters,” threaten to drown you? David, helpless and weak, knew that God alone had rescued him from his enemies when he was defenseless. When you wish that God would quickly rescue you from your troubles, remember that He can either deliver you or be your support as you go through them (18:18). Either way, His protection is best for you. When you feel like you’re drowning in troubles, ask God to help you, hold you steady, and protect you. In His care, you are never helpless.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemies,
    from those who hated me and were too strong for me.
18 They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress,
    but the Lord supported me.
When David realized his helplessness and turned his life over to God, God came to his aid. Many of us have known this truth as a theological principle, but now we are beginning to experience it in our own life. We also are given a clear warning in these verses. Our enemies or temptations always attack us when we are most vulnerable. A careful inventory helps us see what our weaknesses are and when temptation will most likely attack. Then we need to evaluate the situations we encounter and decide which ones should be avoided.
19 He led me to a place of safety;
    he rescued me because he delights in me.
20 The Lord rewarded me for doing right;
    he restored me because of my innocence.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord;
    I have not turned from my God to follow evil.
22 I have followed all his regulations;
    I have never abandoned his decrees.
23 I am blameless before God;
    I have kept myself from sin.

24 The Lord rewarded me for doing right.
    He has seen my innocence.
25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful;
    to those with integrity you show integrity.
26 To the pure you show yourself pure,
    but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.
27 You rescue the humble,
    but you humiliate the proud.
28 You light a lamp for me.
    The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.
29 In your strength I can crush an army;
    with my God I can scale any wall.

30 God’s way is perfect.
    All the Lord’s promises prove true.
    He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.
Some people think that belief in God is a crutch for weak people who cannot make it on their own. God is indeed a shield to protect us when we are too weak to face certain trials by ourselves, but He does not want us to remain weak. He strengthens, protects, and guides us in order to send us back into an evil world to fight for Him. And then He continues to work with us because the strongest person on earth is infinitely weaker than God and needs His help. David was not a coward; he was a mighty warrior who, even with all his armies and weapons, knew that only God could ultimately protect and save him.
31 
For who is God except the Lord?
    Who but our God is a solid rock?

No comments:

Post a Comment