Praise the God who makes us great

Whether or not we have flesh-and-blood enemies, we all have dark powers bent on our destruction. This psalm celebrates the God who powerfully defends us and makes us great.

A song YHWH’s servant David sang to him after he rescued David from the grasp of Saul and all his enemies. He said:

¹ I love you, YHWH, my strength.
² YHWH is my rock
my fortress, my deliverer, my God,
the rock that gives me shelter, my shield,
the horn that saves me, my stronghold.
³ I called on YHWH, worthy of all praise
and he rescued me from my foes.

⁴ Death’s noose cinched tight around me
deadly torrents overwhelmed me.
⁵ I was sinking down into a watery grave
with Death my unyielding undertaker.
⁶ I called out to YHWH in my distress.
I cried out to my God for help.
He heard my voice from his sanctuary—
my plea for help reached his ears.
⁷ The earth rocked and reeled
his wrath made the mountains shudder and shake.
⁸ Smoke shot out of his nostrils
and flames from his mouth
setting the earth around him on fire.
⁹ He burst through the sky and came down
with storm clouds under his feet.
¹⁰ He mounted a mighty celestial being
and soared on the wings of the wind.
¹¹ He came under cover of darkness
dark storm clouds surrounding him.
¹² Then the light of his presence burst through
with a crash of lightning and hailstones.
¹³ YHWH thundered from heaven
his voice booming across the sky
with a crash of lightning and hailstones.
¹⁴ He let fly his arrows in every direction
great bolts of lightning.
Pandemonium reigned!
¹⁵ The ocean floor was laid bare
its deepest trenches exposed
at your rebuke, YHWH
the blast of air when you snorted.
¹⁶ He reached down from high above
took hold of me
and pulled me out of the deep waters.
¹⁷ He rescued me from my terrifying foes
enemies way too strong for me.
¹⁸ They attacked me when I was in distress
but YHWH came to my defense.
¹⁹ He brought me out into a wide-open space
he rescued me because he delighted in me.

²⁰ YHWH rewarded me for doing right.
He restored me because of my faithfulness.
²¹ For I’ve held to YHWH’s ways
and not turned away to follow evil.
²² I’ve kept all his commandments
never disregarding his laws.
²³ I’ve lived with integrity before him
and never let down my guard against sin.
²⁴ So YHWH has rewarded me for doing right.
He rescued me because of my devotion.
²⁵ To the faithful you’re always faithful
to the truthful ever truthful.
²⁶ The pure can always count on your purity
and the crooked you always outmaneuver.
²⁷ You rescue the humble
but you humiliate the arrogant.
²⁸ You light my lamp, YHWH my God
flooding the darkness around me with light.
²⁹ For by you I can rush an armed band
by you I can leap over a wall.
³⁰ This God, his way is perfect.
Everything YHWH promises proves true:
he’s a shield to all who put their trust in him.

³¹ For who is God except YHWH?
And who is a mighty rock except our God?
³² God arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect.
³³ He makes me as surefooted as a gazelle
walking with ease on the mountain heights.
³⁴ He so trains my hands for battle
that I can bend back a bow of bronze.
³⁵ You’ve given me the shield that saves me
your strong right hand holds me up
your gentleness has made me great.
³⁶ You cleared the path before me
so I could walk without stumbling.
³⁷ I pursued my enemies till I caught them
and I didn’t turn back till I’d destroyed them.
³⁸ I struck them so hard they couldn’t get up
they fell under my feet.
³⁹ You armed me with courage for the battle
and laid my attackers low before my feet.
⁴⁰ I trampled them underfoot
totally vanquishing those who hated me.
⁴¹ They cried for help
but no one saved them.
They cried out to YHWH
but got no answer.
⁴² I ground them to dust before the wind
and swept them like dirt into the gutter.
⁴³ You saved me when my own people attacked me.
You appointed me ruler over nations—
people I didn’t even know existed now serve me.
⁴⁴ They surrendered upon hearing of me.
Foreign nations now cower before me.
⁴⁵ They all lose heart
and come trembling out of their strongholds.

⁴⁶ YHWH is alive!
May my Rock be praised
and the God who rescues me be exalted!
⁴⁷ He’s the God who repays those who harm me
who subdues nations under me
⁴⁸ and rescues me from my foes.
You raise me up
above those who rise up against me.
You save me from violent oppressors.
⁴⁹ So I’ll praise you among the nations, YHWH
I’ll sing the glories of your name.
⁵⁰ He’s given great victories to his king.
He shows unfailing love to his anointed
to David and his descendants forever.

With unflagging energy, this psalm—one of the Psalter’s longest—tells how God has rescued David from death and made him great. We glimpse David’s deeply personal relationship with God in each of the psalm’s five sections. Though he writes as God’s anointed king, he effectively invites us into that same kind of intimacy with God.

Evoking the Exodus and Mount Sinai, verses 4-19 detail David’s desperate need and how God delivered him from the dark forces against him. Describing him in superhero terms, David tells how YHWH saved him from certain death, lit up his life, and brought him out into a place of freedom and promise, where he could breathe easy. In view of all this, the love he professes for God and the thanksgiving he offers are hardly extravagant.

YHWH does all this because he’s faithful and good, and David has walked in his ways (vv. 20-30). God blesses those who bless him and resists those who resist him. He bends down to save those who humbly seek him and cuts their arrogant oppressors down.

Utterly unlike the gods of Israel’s neighbors, YHWH cares for the lowly and gently lifts them in his arms. It’s that gentleness that has made David the king that he is (vv. 31-45). Having enabled David to overcome every barrier and defeat his oppressors, the living God has appointed him to rule over nations and has promised to bless his royal line forever. With all that in mind, David wants to honor God by praising and thanking him before the nations.

Prayer:

How amazing, Jesus, that you stooped so low to pull me out of the surging waters and give me hope and a future! How wonderful that your gentleness makes me great, as I learn from you. Help me to trust you, love you, and give you all the glory you so richly deserve. Amen.

In your free moments today, pray these words:

You’ve given me the shield that saves me
your strong right hand holds me up
your gentleness has made me great.

Vindicate me, Lord!

Despite all our technological advances, not much has changed since ancient times when it comes to how the strong treat the weak. Thankfully, God is as committed as ever to righting all wrongs.

A prayer of David.

¹ Hear my plea for vindication, YHWH.
Listen to my appeal.
Pay attention to my prayer
uttered without a word of a lie.
² It’s your verdict I await
for you see what’s right.

³ If you examine my heart—
catch me at night unawares—
you’ll find nothing.
I’ve determined not to sin
in anything I say.
⁴ Despite what others do
I’ve obeyed your word
resolutely avoiding the plunderer’s path.
⁵ My steps have held to your path—
my feet haven’t faltered.

⁶ I call on you, God
for you will answer me.
Bend down and hear the words I pray.
⁷ Reveal the wonder of your lovingkindness
you who powerfully deliver
all who seek refuge from their enemies in you.
⁸ Guard me as you would the apple of your eye
hide me in the shadow of your wings.
⁹ Protect me from the wicked who ravage me
these brutal enemies surrounding me.
¹⁰ They’ve become rebellious
and speak arrogantly.
¹¹ Having tracked me down
they now hem me in
and look for a way to hurl me to the ground
¹² like a lion eager to rip me apart
a strong lion crouching in ambush.

¹³ Rise up, YHWH!
Attack them and take them down!
Wield your sword to save me from the wicked.
¹⁴ Rescue me by your strong hand, YHWH.
Destroy those who look to this world
for their reward.
Give them their bellies-full
of what you’ve stored up for them.
Enough so all their kids get plenty
and their grandkids get some too.
¹⁵ When you vindicate me
I’ll behold your face.
I’ll be satisfied when I awaken
to the sight of your glorious face.

Behind this plea for justice is the idea of mutual obligation seen in the previous psalm and going right back to God’s covenant with Abraham, where God promised to care for those who obey him. Formidable enemies have accused David of crimes that would cost him his life, such as treason against King Saul. Like powerful lions, they want to devour him.

David appeals to heaven’s high court because he’s not guilty, and he’s clearly not finding justice down here. Thankfully, God sees all, is just and compassionate, and his verdict is final. So David asks God to examine him thoroughly—even to show up when he’s not expecting to be examined. He wants just one thing to come out: the truth.

Then in language that evokes the Exodus, David prays for vindication, deliverance, and judgment on his enemies. As with Israel at the Red Sea, powerful enemies have tracked him down, cornered him, and are about to destroy him. His only hope is the God who delivers the oppressed seeking shelter in him. David cries out to him, fully convinced that—as in the Exodus—God’s face will shine on him at the break of day and YHWH will prove to be all he needs and more.

Prayer:

Jesus, you don’t tolerate slander or oppressive lies because they destroy not just the weak, but the strong too. You suffered the brunt of such falsehood so that you could vindicate, deliver, and richly bless your poor and judge their enemies. Smile on us, I pray. Amen.

During your free moments today, meditate on these words:

When you vindicate me
I’ll behold your face.
I’ll be satisfied when I awaken
beholding your glorious face.

You are my everything!

We so easily fall prey to the gods of our age, materialism, sensualism, hedonism. But as in David’s day, nothing compares with the joy of knowing God.

A David psalm.

¹ Watch over me, God
for I’ve taken refuge in you.
² I’ve said to YHWH
“You are my master.
I have nothing good in this world
apart from you.”
³ Those in the land who live wholly for you
they are my heroes, my delight.
⁴ Those who run after other gods
are asking for nothing but trouble.
I won’t offer their gods blood libations—
my lips won’t even utter their names!

⁵ YHWH, you are my inheritance
my bountiful cup.
You hold my future in your hands.
⁶ The land you’ve marked out for me
is pleasant, a rich inheritance.
⁷ I bless YHWH who counsels me
enabling my spirit to teach me by night.
⁸ I’ve made YHWH my sole focus.
With him beside me
I won’t be shaken.
⁹ So my heart is glad
my soul is joyful
and my body rests easy.
¹⁰ For you won’t abandon my soul in Sheol
or let your holy one rot in the grave.
¹¹ You show me the path of life.
In your presence is joy unbounded
at your right hand pleasures unending.

In ancient Israel, servants owed their masters absolute loyalty, while masters were bound to protect and provide for their servants. David begins this psalm, like many others, seeking God’s protection. Then he professes his devotion to YHWH and recounts his divine master’s bountiful provision for him.

Just like many Christians today, the ancient Israelites often served other gods along with God. The main difference is that their gods came with physical idols, while gods like materialism, sensualism, and hedonism do not. David knows worshipping other gods ultimately leads to disaster. Inspired by his heroes, those fully devoted to YHWH, David totally renounces all such gods.

What draws us to other gods is thinking they’ll meet needs we can’t trust God to meet. David says YHWH meets all his needs and more besides—and God holds David’s destiny in his hands. David acknowledges the goodness of God’s numerous gifts: where he’s put him, his constant guidance, and his unfailing support. With so loving and gracious a master, David is determined to look to him always and trust that he’ll keep him from falling. David lives in the confidence that, far from abandoning him to death, God will show him the pathway to endless life in his bountiful care.

But David isn’t free from suffering because he’s clearly facing opposition and the threat of death. He doesn’t have everything going his way. For David, as for us, suffering and glory go together. And David’s abundance and security are the result not of his having achieved all his goals, but rather of entrusting his whole life to God.

David goes far beyond just talking about God’s sure protection and generous provision. He speaks about his beloved as a lover does. He savors the joy of being in God’s company since God himself is his sustenance and his life. Living in God’s presence is in itself his reward.

Prayer:

Lord, like every addiction, materialism, sensualism, and hedonism demand ever more and more while giving less and less. You offer me a life truly without lack. Keep me looking always to you, entrusting my life to you, confident that your love and care will never fail me. Amen.

During your free moments, pray these words:

You show me the path of life.
In your presence is joy unbounded
at your right hand pleasures unending.

Welcomed at God’s table

The Torah called God’s people to be holy in God’s strength, never their own. This psalm essentially states what it means to be in union with our gracious and holy Redeemer God.

 A David psalm.

¹ What kind of person
do you welcome into your tabernacle, YHWH
to live on your holy hill?

² People of integrity
who do what’s right
and speak truth from the heart.
³ Who don’t slander
harm their neighbor
or hurt their neighbor’s reputation.
⁴ Who loathe depraved people
and honor God-fearers.
Who keep their oaths, no matter what
and refuse to go back on their word.
⁵ Who lend to the poor
without charging them interest
and refuse to rob the innocent of justice
for a bribe.

The person who lives like this
will never be shaken.

In contrast to the preceding psalms, this one describes the person who pleases God. Besides being the tent devoted to God’s worship, the tabernacle was God’s earthly residence. Here David asks what God looks for in the person he takes into his royal household, as Saul included David in his household and David later included Mephibosheth in his. What kind of person does God welcome into the blessing and protection of his home? This question is vital because inclusion in a royal household always held the promise of royal favor, provided one’s life was in accord with the king’s values and concerns.

So, who makes it onto David’s list? People of integrity, who longed to live holy lives and sought his forgiveness whenever they fell short. The sanctuary, after all, was where God, who knows how weak we are, forgave his people’s sins. God doesn’t demand perfection and, while his standards are high, he never meant for us to live by his moral values in our own strength.

David’s list alternates between the positive and negative, both being equally important. Positively, God welcomes those who have integrity, do what’s right, speak honestly, loathe the loathsome, honor the God-fearing, and keep their word. Negatively, they don’t slander, harm others, gossip, take advantage of the poor, or take bribes.

David’s underlying point is that we can know what to expect of YHWH. He doesn’t cut deals with evildoers to gain their adulation or loyalty. And he never withdraws the welcome he extends to those who, by his grace, seek to live as the psalm describes. Through no fault of his own, David had to flee from Saul because Saul was so messed up. Canaan’s gods were capricious too, but not YHWH. Thus, his people can be confident that they’ll never fall from his favor.

Prayer:

Though you are holy and I am far from perfect, Lord, I long to eat at your table and serve in your kingdom. Help me see as you see, love what you love, hate what you hate, please you in all I do, and model my character after yours. Make me holy as you are holy, I pray. Amen.

In your free moments today, meditate on these words:

The person who lives like this
will never be shaken.