Making “Psense” of Psalms-- Psalm 18: Rock

The "rock" above my town, shown during springtime, is called
"Saddlerock" and said to be an old volcanic neck.

Part of a continuing series on selected Psalms.
Hope and doubt warred in my heart as I walked to the college track that muggy summer morning. To ease stress headaches, I’d started jog-walking around the track. In a few weeks, I’d receive a long-sought-for master’s degree in my field. But job applications had yielded nothing. I was physically, emotionally and mentally worn out.  I couldn’t go “home” to transition. My parents’ recent deaths ended that option, and their emptied house, 2,000 miles away, was actively for sale.Then squirrels, flinging from trees to power poles, interrupted my dark thoughts as phrases from Psalm 18 slipped into my mind: “With my God I can scale a wall.” “He enables me to stand on the heights.” Those wall-scaling, height-defying squirrels reminded me of biblical truth that, in the face of a dismal future, God had a track record of helping me. I had to trust Him—and hang on.

Years later, connecting Psalm 18’s historical dots, I realized King David wrote it to reflect on God’s faithfulness during life-threats from Saul, tribal enemies, and his own power-hungry son. Second Samuel, which offers historical context, contains essentially the same psalm in chapter 22.

GOD’S CHARACTER (VV. 1-3)

At 50 verses, Psalm 18 is the fourth longest Psalm. David “sang it to the Lord” (subtitle), and we get to listen in. “I love you,” he begins, then uses seven metaphors to praise God’s attributes. Some connect with David’s needs as a military leader: strength, shield, horn of salvation.  Others relate to David’s years “on the run”: rock (twice in v. 2, also 31, 46), fortress, deliverer, stronghold.  David knew the rocky wastelands well as his protection, hideout, and spy stations. They also symbolize a sure foundation, in contrast to the mire and sand of Psalm 40:2 and Jesus’ “house-building” parable (Matt. 7:25).

 GOD MY DELIVERER (VV. 4-19)

The modern saying, “I’m drowning in troubles,” parallels David’s distress. Then David uses poetic license (a “theophany”) to picture Almighty God rising from His throne and coming down in a celestial battle on behalf of David. This harkens to historical accounts in the Exodus, at Sinai, and during the days of Joshua and the judges. “The Lord was my support,” David declares. “He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me” (18:19).

GOD MY SAVIOR (VV. 20-30)

When God orchestrates an answer to a difficult situation, we’re more apt to attribute it to His mercy than say, “I deserved it.” Yet David seems to lean to the “deserved” side as the next section opens: “The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me” (v. 20). Is this the same man whose adultery and conspiracy to murder made national headlines? The next verses point to an explanation: that, as a general principle, when we try to live for God, He blesses us. When we stray from God, we suffer consequences. Yes, David sinned in a big, public way, and suffered through the baby’s death and his own dysfunctional offspring. But he still had a heart after God, and provides an ancient model for the “fresh-start” God offers us: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
 

GOD MY ROCK (VV. 30-36)

In calling God his “rock,” David used the same name as Moses hundreds of years earlier: “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just….for their [the enemies’] rock is not like our Rock” (Deuteronomy 32:4, 31). God is our stalwart, protective Rock through His flawless word (v. 30). That discouraging summer morning, God reminded me to keep trusting Him through my recent reading of Psalm 18:33 (about deer navigating rocky heights), the similar Habakkuk 3:19, and images from Hannah Hurnard’s classic inspirational novel, Hinds Feet in High Places. David also calls God his “shield” or protection (v. 30). God equips us for our battles (v. 34), which in my case included overcoming discouragement and timidity. He strengthens us to go beyond our perceived strengths (bending a bronze-buttressed bow, v. 34), and evens out places that try to trip us up (v. 36).
 

LOOKING BACK TO PRAISE (VV. 37-50)

David then returns to memories of the battles he faced with God’s help, re-telling it from his ground-level perspective. This isn’t a super-charged, chest-beating, brag session of wartime prowess. Instead, David returns to the Rock (v. 46) and declares, “Exalted be God my Savior.”

Verse 49 may have a familiar ring:  “Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O LORD; I will sing praises to your name.” In Romans 15, Paul used four scriptures, including this one, to show that Jesus brought salvation to Gentiles as well as Jews. That’s not the only “New Testament” connection for this psalm. Some Bible teachers see the psalm prophetically tracing the death, resurrection, exaltation, Second Coming, and final glorious kingdom of Jesus Christ. When David wrote, “He [God] shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever” (v. 50), he had no idea those descendants would include the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

But for me, this will always be the “feet like squirrels/deer” psalm. Recalling God’s amazing help in that dismal time (a job offer came just days before I’d become homeless), I can still affirm: God is my Rock. He was, and is, my strength and refuge.

 

Next week: Psalm 19