A Path Through Chapter 18 - A Full Deliverance

 

There's a path, let's follow it We've made it chapter 18, and it's a belter, in fact we'll take two weeks on this one. There is so much packed into this passage, it is a deep well to draw from.  We'll look at this chapter by getting our focus on the Lord, digging into this song and more. This week our guest speaker comes to us from Derby. It's Simon Shaw who was the principal of Kings Bible College when I attended many moons ago. After leading Community Church Derby for sometime he is now UK Director of World Horizons and the leader of the Source, Derby. He not only shares his thoughts on the first part of chapter, he also wrote a song for the occasion! so lets... get on the path

Psalm 18  For the director of music. Of David the servant of the Lord. He sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: I love you, 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[b] and the horn[c] of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies. 4 The cords of death entangled me;     the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. 5 The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. 6 In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. 7 The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. 8 Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. 9 He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. 10 He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky. 12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. 13 The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.[d] 14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them. 15 The valleys of the sea were exposed     and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, Lord,     at the blast of breath from 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 my foes, who were too strong for me. 18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,  but the Lord was my support. 19 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.

There are some amazing words to start our path this week, check out verses 1-2. It was hard to narrow down a song choice to start us off, I've gone with a recording done in lockdown. It's the medley of In Christ Alone/Solid Rock by Travis Cottrell and Brentwood Baptist Worship.

That's mine! Get your hands off it, it's mine! You get your own, that one's mine.  If you have children in your house you likely hear these little statements quite often, maybe you still do even without children present. Having ownership is important, we all want it to some extent. My girls are extremely clear when something is theirs, when it's not a toy which they feel should be shared. If Katrina has a doll, it's hers, if Amy has an LOL it's hers. These are items not to be shared, we hear 'mine' stated or even shouted if other hands try to get their hands on those toys.  The psalmist David says 'my' over and over at the beginning of our psalm. My deliverer, my God, my rock, my shield, my, my, my. He's right, the Lord is his, and the Lord is mine. It's hard to wrap our minds around the idea that the Lord is everyone's all at the same time, with the same level of love and care for each and every person. So when David declares my, he's right, and you too can declare my, and you're right.

Let's take notice of the setting of this psalm. We find David after he had been fully delivered from his enemies including his arch nemesis, Saul. After all that David had endured and been through he was able to declare that God heard his call, that He had saved him. How? By the power of God. We see the images in verse 2; rock, fortress, deliverer, shield, horn and stronghold. Each of these is a striking picture of strength. They are meant to defend, to protect and keep one safe. With all that David had been through you can see why he chose these examples to speak of the immense dominance of the Lord.  As a result of his saving and power, David can see much like we often sing, 'He is worthy of praise'. As you read this psalm once again find yourself in the reality of these ancient songs. We all experience distress, trouble and hidden cords which entangle us from the inside. The virus effect and lockdown has brought the words of the psalms even closer to our minds and heart.

It would be really good to hear Simon Shaw's perspective, I think it will help us as we look further at this psalm along with looking at ourselves in these words.

Psalm 18 interpreted in song by Simon Shaw.

Below you'll see a link to the Source. Check it out if you like, it's the Christian community that Simon and Gaynor lead based in Derby.

The Source, Derby

From verses 6-13 we get a close up view of the awe inspiring imagery that David uses to help us understand the authority of the Lord. If I could draw or paint (well) these verses would elicit a scene in the ilk of what's seen in Revelation.   The earth quaking, trembling! Mountains shaking  Smoke rising Fire burning Blazing coals all coming from the face of the Lord.    This is how David attempted to describe the response of God when he was in distress and needed help. How did God help?   Parted the heavens Came down Mounted the cherubim He flew, he soared Made darkness his covering, canopy Clouds advanced, hailstone and lightning Thundered from heaven Voice of the Most High resounded Trying to put this imagery into our minds is well mind-blowing. Thinking about the power that is seen in these words of David shows us the immensity of the greatness that is attached to the name of the Most High. With this kind of response from God no wonder David could be so sure that the Lord did and would save him from his enemies. The Most High, the Lord can and does save us. Salvation isn't just a one-off when you're a child in Sunday school, it's a lifestyle and being saved continually. Much like we are filled with the Spirit, not just once or twice but being filled over and over, to overflowing.

It was a blustery day and we were up north with our friends spending an afternoon at a seaside town. After enjoying fish and chips some of our group decided to go down to the shell covered shore. The tide was beginning to come in, but it was still quite safe where we stood and watched the waves. Eventually my daughter Amy went into water, just a bit, then as you do a bit further. I was still up on the promenade watching, Rebecca was down on the shore. I ambled down to see what was happening and just as I reached the others the biggest wave came along and knocked Amy down. I saw this and immediately ran into the what I found out very quickly was extremely cold water. She had gone under, flailing a bit when I pulled her out and carried her sopping wet to the safety of the shore. Most likely she would have been ok, and caught her footing, but she recalls the day that 'daddy came in and saved me'.

Some of the most amazing stories are stories of rescue. We've all heard stories of An avalanche screaming down a mountain and burying all in it's way. Miraculously three days later skiers are found, and they are alive. What about the earthquake leaving rubble throughout, then somehow, someway a voice is heard and the rescuers dig their way to child who's been pinned, yet is still alive. Maybe you've been in a powerful rescue story?  Actually you have, so have I. Romans 6:23 says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All have been offered salvation not by works but by the grace of God. Life in Christ, it's the most powerful rescue story you can tell.  Take a bit of time to reflect on the last verse of our path today. Why does God rescue? Because he delights in you. He loves you, cares so deeply for you and brings you into a spacious place with Him. Ruminate a bit on the rescue of God in your life, it's really worth thinking about.

As we come to a close today, we've seen that God is a God of rescue, he is the one who draws us out, keeps us safe and offers salvation. Forgive me for a bit of mixing metaphors with this song but here is You are my Rescue Story by Zach Williams.

Dear Lord, You are a God of rescue, you are the one who draws us out of the water and miry clay. Father I thank you that you have drawn me out, that I too have a rescue story to tell. Lord I pray that where I feel the enemies are closing in my life would you extinguish the fiery arrows of the evil one, keep me safe, secure and in your spacious place  Amen

This coming week we'll carry head-long further into chapter 18. We've looked at the first part today, coming next we'll hear from our guest speaker Nancy Bentliff as she takes us further on in this chapter.