Psalm 18

The LORD Is My Rock and My Fortress

TO THE CHOIRMASTER. A PSALM OF DAVID, THE SERVANT OF THE LORD, WHO ADDRESSED 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. HE SAID:

1 I love you, O LORD, my strength.

2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

3 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.

To our God be all the glory and all the praise. He is many things to us, and as we read here (as I’ve probably read and wrote about before), He is our Rock upon whom we stand firm, secure, and confident.

He is our Fortress where we hide and are safe. All that concerns us are hidden in His walls and chambers.

He is our Deliverer from harm, from sickness, from danger, from traps and from enemies.

To our Lord be all worship and acclaim, for to Him we run, indeed, and we take refuge.

The enemy throws darts against us, but our Lord is our Shield. The enemy tries discouraging us with lies and deception, but the Lord is our horn of Salvation.

We may be assaulted by the many threats in and around this reality… but our Lord is also our Stronghold.

Oh, help us, Lord! You, o God, are our refuge and stronghold. We run to You, and we are safe from our enemies.

I take heart and draw confidence from His word tonight, considering all that’s happening against me from within.

We take heart from the Word of the Lord tonight, considering all that’s happening in and around my dwelling. Considering all that’s happening to my family, and against my brothers and their families.

Indeed, the Lord is our Rock, our Fortress, and our Deliverer. For this, I praise the Lord. I call upon the Lord, and I praise Him – He hears us, He listens.

4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me;

5 the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.

6 In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help.

From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

7 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.

8 Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.

9 He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.

10 He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.

11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water.

12 Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire.

14 And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.

15 Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

16 He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters.

17 He rescued 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 support.

19 He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

I call upon the Lord, and I praise Him – He hears us, He listens…

And, behold – He responds. He responds according to His infinite power, expressed with the shaking of the earth, and with the thundering of the heavens.

We may not necessarily see His response in all He call out to Him for… But we see His response, His terrible response in all of nature, which literally bows down before Him. Creation trembles in awe of its Creator.

Infinite power emanates from our God, and He sends forth His response in the form of arrows, of lightning, scattering all who defy Him – I recall, they attack us in one direction, but His mere presence sends them to flight, disorganized, shattered and broken – in seven separate directions.

Those who call themselves their enemies are sent packing… and in His infinite power, He also ensures that we are drawn from the depths – not by way of His reaching down, but by baring the foundations of the world, parting the waters that we may be drawn out.

We’ve seen how our God is our Rock, our Fortress, and our Deliverer.

I declare, not only for my family and for my household, not only for my brothers and their families, but for all whom we minister to and the families they represent – that our God is not only our Rock, Fortress, and our Deliverer; Yes, He is also the One who sends our enemies fleeing in fear and terror. I declare that He is the One who draws us out of the depths, and sets our feet on a solid Foundation.

God defeats those would call themselves our enemies, completely and absolutely.

He rescues us fully. He saves us from danger.

20 The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.

21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

22 For all his rules were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me.

23 I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt.

24 So the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

25 With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;

26 with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.

27 For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.

28 For it is you who light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness.

Our God and our Lord, He is our Rock and our Fortress – He hears us, and He listens to us.

He sees when we are in danger, and He rescues us from both fire and flame;

He sees when we are surrounded and assaulted, and He confronts those who harm us, causing them to flee and to never come back.

Yes, He sees what happens to us, and He responds… But He also sees us in our righteousness, and He acts.

He sees us clean and obedient. He sees us as faithful and consistent. It’s what we’re naturally made to be.

We are righteous. We are guiltless and blameless, we are clean.

Because this is so, we are granted mercy; We shine bright, even in the darkness.

We dare to make all of these claims, here and now, after the Old Testament, and now that the New Covenant has been established.

We dare to say all of this word applies to us, and we claim all of it as part of the promise provided and fulfilled to us, because it has been made so, by no less than He who the Old Testament points to in the first place;

We are confident to say that our Lord and our God hears us, listens to us, and responds to us – all because of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God.

Through His birth, death, resurrection and ascension, we look to the Creator of the Universe, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Israel…

We call out to Him as our Creator, our God, our Lord, AND our Father.

He is our Merciful God, and He is our Faithful Father… all thanks to Jesus. All thanks to His grace.

29 For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.

30 This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

31 For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?—

32 the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless.

33 He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights.

34 He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

35 You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great.

36 You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.

Christ is the Vine, and we are the branches. From Him we bear the fruit of the Spirit – Love, peace, patience, joy, faithfulness, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control.

However, as we see here we also have Christ as our Strength – By Christ we are bold against armies, and we are strong and agile before obstacles.

Christ is the living Word, and the Word of the LORD who is Faithful and True; He is our Shield and our Strong Tower.

He is our Offense as much as our Defense – By Him we attack, and by Him we stand firm and strong, thriving against endless assaults of the enemy.

He is our strategic position; By Him our hands are strong, and our feet shall not slip.

37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back till they were consumed.

38 I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet.

39 For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me.

40 You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed.

41 They cried for help, but there was none to save; they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them.

42 I beat them fine as dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets.

43 You delivered me from strife with the people; you made me the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me.

44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; foreigners came cringing to me.

45 Foreigners lost heart and came trembling out of their fortresses.

Oh, we give glory and thanks to our God, and our Father! For through Christ we live, and we move, and we have our being, even in this reality.

Because He is our Strength and our Shield, and because we are equipped with the sword of His living Word, we are also able to pursue those who call themselves our enemies.

We are not only strengthened, but we are also equipped. We are armed, and we are covered.

We fight, yet Christ fights our battles for us. Only with our eyes shall we see and behold the punishment of the wicked.

46 The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation—

47 the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me,

48 who rescued me from my enemies; yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me; you delivered me from the man of violence.

49 For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing to your name.

50 Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.

Thank You, Father. Thank You for Your Word. For Your reminders, that through Christ, You are our Lord and God… You are our Father who hears us, who listens to us, who responds to us.

Because Christ is victorious, so we are able to move gladly, boldly, in His victory.

Father, as You move in our midst, as You aid us, and as You move in all that concerns us, as You move in all we are concerned about – May the world continue to see Your goodness and glory.

May the world continue to see Your goodness, and be led to repentance.

For Your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.

To you be all the glory and praise forever and ever. Amen.

May the Lord continue to bless and keep us.

Praise His name, now and forever. Amen, and amen.

334060/365000