Today is the day of victory! I hope that throughout this Psalm, you are reminded of God’s power and his great desire and total capability to rescue you from your enemies. The Lord is the one who gives the victory. He is going to train us for every single battle you and I will ever have to face on this planet, until we get to heaven and live with him forever, where there are no more battles. You serve a God who is victorious and he wants you to be victorious too. Be encouraged as we read Psalm 18 together.
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Transcription:
It’s Friday, and you know what that means? It is time for joy bombs in the Psalms. I’m Erica welcoming you to the Bible for Busy People. Boy, we did a deep dive this week during Shark Week. We studied what God has to say about what to do when we’re under attack, but today is a day of victory. You and I are going to read Psalm 18 together. Listen to the note written before it:
For the choir director: A psalm of David, the servant of the Lord. He sang this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul.
This is what he’s sang, are you ready? Psalm 18 beginning in verse one. Here we go.
I love you, Lord; you are my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. 3 I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies. 4 The ropes of death entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me. 5 The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path. 6 But in my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears.
I want to pause right here and say, your cry reaches God’s ears too. Verse seven now.
Then the earth quaked and trembled The foundations of the mountain shook. They quaked because of his anger. Smoke poured from his nostrils. Fears, flames leaped from his mouth, glowing coals blazed forth from him. He opened the heavens and came down. Dark storm clouds were beneath his feet, mounted on a mighty angelic being. Then the earth quaked and trembled. The foundations of the mountains shook; they quaked because of his anger. 8 Smoke poured from his nostrils; fierce flames leaped from his mouth. Glowing coals blazed forth from him. 9 He opened the heavens and came down; dark storm clouds were beneath his feet. 10 Mounted on a mighty angelic being, he flew, soaring on the wings of the wind. 11 He shrouded himself in darkness, veiling his approach with dark rain clouds. 12 Thick clouds shielded the brightness around him and rained down hail and burning coals. 13 The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded amid the hail and burning coals. 14 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies; great bolts of lightning flashed, and they were confused. 15 Then at your command, O Lord, at the blast of your breath, the bottom of the sea could be seen, and the foundations of the earth were laid bare.16 He reached down from heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters. 17 He rescued me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and were too strong for me. 18 They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress, but the Lord supported me. 19 He led me to a place of safety; he rescued me because he delights in me.
Do you know the Lord delights in you? Verse 20 now.
The Lord rewarded me for doing right; he restored me because of my innocence. 21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not turned from my God to follow evil. 22 I have followed all his regulations; I have never abandoned his decrees. 23 I am blameless before God; I have kept myself from sin. 24 The Lord rewarded me for doing right. He has seen my innocence. 25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful; to those with integrity you show integrity. 26 To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. 27 You rescue the humble, but you humiliate the proud. 28 You light a lamp for me. The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness. 29 In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall. 30 God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true.
You can underline “all” and put that word in italics and put those letters in bold.
He is a shield for all who look to him for protection. 31 For who is God except the Lord? Who but our God is a solid rock? 32 God arms me with strength, and he makes my way perfect. 33 He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights. 34 He trains my hands for battle; he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow. 35 You have given me your shield of victory. Your right hand supports me; your help[d] has made me great. 36 You have made a wide path for my feet to keep them from slipping. 37 I chased my enemies and caught them; I did not stop until they were conquered. 38 I struck them down so they could not get up; they fell beneath my feet. 39 You have armed me with strength for the battle; you have subdued my enemies under my feet. 40 You placed my foot on their necks. I have destroyed all who hated me. 41 They called for help, but no one came to their rescue. They even cried to the Lord, but he refused to answer. 42 I ground them as fine as dust in the wind. I swept them into the gutter like dirt. 43 You gave me victory over my accusers. You appointed me ruler over nations; people I don’t even know now serve me. 44 As soon as they hear of me, they submit; foreign nations cringe before me. 45 They all lose their courage and come trembling from their strongholds. 46 The Lord lives! Praise to my Rock! May the God of my salvation be exalted! 47 He is the God who pays back those who harm me; he subdues the nations under me 48 and rescues me from my enemies. You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies; you save me from violent opponents. 49 For this, O Lord, I will praise you among the nations; I will sing praises to your name. 50 You give great victories to your king; you show unfailing love to your anointed, to David and all his descendants forever.
Yes, today is the day of victory. I hope that throughout this Psalm, you are reminded of God’s power and his great desire and total capability to rescue you from your enemies. The Lord is the one who gives the victory. He is going to train us for every single battle you and I will ever have to face on this planet, until we get to heaven and live with him forever, where there are no more battles. You serve a God who is victorious and he wants you to be victorious too. All right. Until next week, you are so loved.
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