... in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen. Through the prayers of our
holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen. Glory
to You, our God, Glory to You.
O Heavenly King,
the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things,
Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us
from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy
Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).
To the Chief Musician, [A
Psalm] of David, the servant of the Lord, who spoke to the Lord the
words of this song in the day [that]
the Lord
delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said,
I will love You, Lord, my strength. The Lord [is] my rock, my
fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my
buckler, the horn of my salvation, [and]
my high tower. I will call on the Lord, [Who is worthy] to be
praised. So I shall be saved from my
enemies.
The sorrows of death circled me, The floods
of ungodly men made me afraid. The
sorrows of hell circled about me. The
snares of death confronted me. In my
distress, I called on the Lord, and cried to my God. He heard my voice from His temple, My cry came
before Him, to His ears.
Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the hills moved and
were shaken, because He was offended. There
went up a smoke from His nostrils, and fire from His mouth devoured. Coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Darkness [was]
under His feet. And He rode on a cherub,
and flew. Yes, He flew on the wings of
the wind. He made darkness His secret place. His pavilions round about Him [were] dark waters, thick clouds of the
skies. At the brightness before Him, His
thick clouds passed, hail and coals of fire.
The Lord also
thundered in the heavens, The Highest gave His voice. Yes, He sent out His arrows, and scattered them. He shot out lightning, and discomfited them. Then the channels of waters were seen, The
foundations of the world were discovered at Your rebuke, Lord, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils. He sent from above, He took me, He drew me from
many waters. He delivered me from my
strong enemy, from those who hated me: for they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity;
but, the Lord was my stay. He brought me forth
also to a large place. He delivered me,
because He delighted in me.
The Lord rewarded me
according to my righteousness. According
to the cleanness of my hands has He repaid me: for I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God: for all His judgments [were] before me, I put not away His
statutes from me. I was also upright
before Him, I kept myself from my iniquity.
Therefore, the Lord has repaid me according to my
righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His eyesight.
With the merciful You will show Yourself
merciful. With an upright man You will show
Yourself upright. With the pure, You will
show Yourself pure. With the forward, You
will show Yourself forward: for You will save the afflicted people: but will
bring down high looks: for You will light my candle. The Lord my God will
light my darkness: for by You I have run through a troop. By my God, I have leaped over a wall.
[As
for] God, His way [is]
perfect. The Word of the Lord is tried. He [is] a buckler to all those who trust in Him:
for Who [is] God save the Lord? Who [is] a rock save our God? God
girds me with strength, and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like deer’ [feet], and sets me on my high places. He teaches my hands to war, so that a bow of
steel is broken by my arms. You have
also given me the shield of Your salvation. Your right hand has held me up, Your
gentleness has made me great. You have
enlarged my steps under me, so that my feet slipped not.
I have pursued my enemies, and overtaken
them. Nor turned I again until they were
consumed. I have wounded those so that
they were not able to rise. They are
fallen under my feet: for You have girded me with strength for the battle. You have subdued under me those who rose up
against me. You have also given me the
necks of my enemies, so that I might destroy those who hate me. They cried, but [there was] no one to save: to the Lord, He
answered them not. Then I beat them
small as the dust before the wind. I
cast them out as the dirt in the streets.
You have delivered me from the striving of
the people. You have made me the head of
the heathen. A people I have not known
shall serve me. As soon as they hear of
me, they shall obey me. Aliens shall
submit themselves to me. The aliens
shall fade away, and be afraid from their hiding places.
The Lord lives. Blessed [be]
my rock. Let the God of my salvation be
exalted. God avenges me, and subdues the
people under me. He delivers me from my
enemies. Yes, You lift me up above those
who rise up against me. You have
delivered me from the violent man.
Therefore, I will give thanks to You, Lord, among the heathen, and sing praises to Your name. He gives great deliverance to His king; [He] shows mercy to His Christ, to David,
and to his seed forever.
________
If you have been
blessed or helped by any of these meditations in Psalms, please repost or share
all of them.
[1] The
lengthy heading indicates that this is most likely a Todah, given formally and
publicly by David, complete with the appropriate animal sacrifices. It would have been given in front of the
temporary tabernacle on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, after the Ark of the Covenant
is restored to him, after the kingdom is united, and after he has received the
Davidic Covenant that promises him an eternal kingdom.
David begins with a formal declaration of his love for God. He does not love God, only because God has
saved him. God has loved him since he
was a small child, since he was an insignificant shepherd. Because of God’s great love. David has been
saved, that is delivered from every threat imaginable; so now, David responds
appropriately from the reality of God’s longstanding relationship with him.
David describes these threats in glowing words. He is not mincing words, or speaking metaphorically. He was on the brink of death, and that on
many different occasions. He notes that
even in those days, when the Ark of the Covenant was still among the
Philistines, that these things are mere icons of the Heavenly Temple, where God
still hears every word of his prayer.
Again, David is not speaking metaphorically. He earth really shook, even though we do not
know the occasion. Because such events
are not ordinary today, we forget that they were ordinary for Moses and for
David. It was ordinary to meet with the
Glory of God in a blazing public display of power. This event must be taken as real as when the
disciples were terrified by the storm on Galilee, when Jesus stilled the
tempest with a word. David understands
this event to be like the giving of the Law at Sinai, so he describes it in
similar terms. This assures David that,
in spite of all the threats to his life, the Universe still operates according
to God’s Law.
David continues his description of God’s Glorious Presence
coming to rescue him as also being very much like the Exodus, and the crossing
of the Red Sea. As Israel was plucked
from the Red Sea and spared death by drowning; so David was plucked from the
hands of Saul. Once again, God was
faithful in the deliverance of His people; because, He loves them.
David’s righteousness is not something merely earned by his
own works. God’s loving relationship with
David has borne fruit, David loves God in return, and has learned to love God’s
Law. It is not that David has achieved
perfection before the Law; but, out of love for God, and devotion to the Law,
his life has been changed: his living faith is inseparable from the works it
performs; so God sees this faith, and rewards it.
David recounts some of the things that God wants to see
reflected in man, things which He rewards in kind. God wants to see Himself reflected in His
creature; He does not want to see Satan and his works reflected there. Works of kindness, justice, and purity are blessed,
while works of pride are condemned appropriately. David sees that he is become “the light of
the world” because God has given him light, along with the strength to run and
jump with that light and show it to all.
Now David shows that all of these things are the outcome of
God’s Word operating in life, changing people into the glory of God. David breaks out in praise: God is perfect, a
buckler (a small, frequently round shield with which to both defend and strike),
self-existent, a rock, the source of strength and perfection. All the lessons and victories of life come
from God. Any temptation to interpret
the preceding paragraphs as human prowess are dispelled. Extraordinary among God’s greatness is God’s
gentleness, from which David learns his own need to learn gentleness.
David did not strike Saul: he refused to raise his hand
against the Lord’s anointed. So who are these enemies that cannot be
spared? After Saul’s death a messenger arrives
who claims to have taken Saul’s life.
This man dies without mercy.
However, David has learned gentleness; he knows that his struggle is not
against mere men, but against powerful demonic forces, and he behaves
accordingly.
David is king of a divided kingdom, with seven years of civil
strife. His chief general turns into a treacherous
murder, fomenting the strife even more.
Nevertheless, the kingdom did unite; the strife was put away; peace was
made with Saul’s family; Philistine battalions came to believe in Yahweh and
serve as David’s bodyguard; many pagans were converted; others hid in shame.
God deserves and gets credit for all of these wonderful
results. Yes, David had a part and did
it; but, God has moved in David’s life making the kingdom and peace a
reality. The violent man who has caused
so much trouble may be Joab, rather than Saul.
David attributes all of these many blessings to the outworking
of the Davidic Covenant. God has
promised David an eternal kingdom; now God is in the process of delivering His
promise.
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