God will win the battle against sin and evil; so can we.
Psalm 18 is a royal Psalm, likely written while the people of Israel were captive in Babylon and had no king. So, the Jews in captivity and exile prayed this Psalm as a way to plead with God to restore the nation and their king in the line of the greatest king, King David. It is a prayer for the Messiah, God’s sent and anointed one, to come to guide God’s people into God’s good future. Notice it is written through the eyes of the king who we now know is Jesus-the-King.
The language is epic and often difficult for us to grasp. We have come to see God’s forgiveness of our sins as a neat little transaction where Christ’s death is exchanged at the cost of a few words on our part. Instead, this Psalm reveals the epic battle with cosmic proportions worthy of “The Lord of the Rings” or “The Chronicles of Narnia” that God fights against sin and evil.
Jesus is the one who perfectly lives out Psalm 18:23-24, “I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.” So, Jesus is the rightful King – Jesus-the-King
The battle that the king wages at the end of the Psalm must be seen in the context of Jesus-the-King battling sin and evil. Scholar Brian Russel says, “These words do not justify violent acts by us or any person of faith. They assume that the Lord’s messiah is under heavy assault from the enemies of God.”
Psalm 19 also paints an epic picture of all of Creation praising God. The writer then calls us to keep our lives saturated with the Scriptures. The God who created the whole cosmos is also the God who has reveled himself to us in the words of the Bible. The writer uses six words referring to the Scriptures, six corresponding words explaining the nature of the Scriptures and six words expanding on the work of the Scriptures in our lives:
The law of the Lord perfect reviving our souls
The decrees of the Lord sure making us wise when we are simple
The precepts of the Lord right rejoicing in our hearts
The commandments of the Lord clear enlightening our eyes (to see God)
The fear of the Lord pure enduring forever (trustworthy)
The ordinances of the Lord true leading us to live right before God
This should be our prayer every morning from Psalm 19:14, “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”
Finally, Psalm 20 is anther royal Psalm. We pray that we will follow Jesus in God’s work in our world. Our surety is this in Psalm 20:7-8, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.” God-the-Father give Jesus, God-the-Son, victory to draw others to you and hear us when we call you to help us follow Jesus through the power of the God-the-Spirit living in our lives! We want to rise up and stand firm in you, oh God.
AMEN for Now,
