1I will love You, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.
4 The pangs of death
surrounded me,
And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
5 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.
And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
5 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.
7 Then the earth shook and
trembled;
The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken,
Because He was angry.
8 Smoke went up from His nostrils,
And devouring fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.
9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With darkness under His feet.
10 And He rode upon a cherub, and flew;
He flew upon the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness His secret place;
His canopy around Him was dark waters
And thick clouds of the skies.
12 From the brightness before Him,
His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.
The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken,
Because He was angry.
8 Smoke went up from His nostrils,
And devouring fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.
9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With darkness under His feet.
10 And He rode upon a cherub, and flew;
He flew upon the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness His secret place;
His canopy around Him was dark waters
And thick clouds of the skies.
12 From the brightness before Him,
His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
14 He sent out His arrows and scattered the foe,
Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen,
The foundations of the world were uncovered
At Your rebuke, O Lord,
At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
14 He sent out His arrows and scattered the foe,
Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen,
The foundations of the world were uncovered
At Your rebuke, O Lord,
At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
16 He sent from above, He
took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me,
For they were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my support.
19 He also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.
He drew me out of many waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me,
For they were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my support.
19 He also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.
20 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands
He has recompensed me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all His judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.
23 I was also blameless before Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.
24 Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.
According to the cleanness of my hands
He has recompensed me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all His judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.
23 I was also blameless before Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.
24 Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.
25 With the merciful You
will show Yourself merciful;
With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;
26 With the pure You will show Yourself pure;
And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.
27 For You will save the humble people,
But will bring down haughty looks.
With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;
26 With the pure You will show Yourself pure;
And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.
27 For You will save the humble people,
But will bring down haughty looks.
28 For You will light my
lamp;
The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.
29 For by You I can run against a troop,
By my God I can leap over a wall.
30 As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the Lord is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.
29 For by You I can run against a troop,
By my God I can leap over a wall.
30 As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the Lord is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
31 For who is God,
except the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?
32 It is God who arms me with strength,
And makes my way perfect.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of deer,
And sets me on my high places.
34 He teaches my hands to make war,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
And who is a rock, except our God?
32 It is God who arms me with strength,
And makes my way perfect.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of deer,
And sets me on my high places.
34 He teaches my hands to make war,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have also given me
the shield of Your salvation;
Your right hand has held me up,
Your gentleness has made me great.
36 You enlarged my path under me,
So my feet did not slip.
Your right hand has held me up,
Your gentleness has made me great.
36 You enlarged my path under me,
So my feet did not slip.
37 I have pursued my
enemies and overtaken them;
Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed.
38 I have wounded them,
So that they could not rise;
They have fallen under my feet.
39 For You have armed me with strength for the battle;
You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
40 You have also given me the necks of my enemies,
So that I destroyed those who hated me.
41 They cried out, but there was none to save;
Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.
42 Then I beat them as fine as the dust before the wind;
I cast them out like dirt in the streets.
Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed.
38 I have wounded them,
So that they could not rise;
They have fallen under my feet.
39 For You have armed me with strength for the battle;
You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
40 You have also given me the necks of my enemies,
So that I destroyed those who hated me.
41 They cried out, but there was none to save;
Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.
42 Then I beat them as fine as the dust before the wind;
I cast them out like dirt in the streets.
43 You have delivered me
from the strivings of the people;
You have made me the head of the nations;
A people I have not known shall serve me.
44 As soon as they hear of me they obey me;
The foreigners submit to me.
45 The foreigners fade away,
And come frightened from their hideouts.
You have made me the head of the nations;
A people I have not known shall serve me.
44 As soon as they hear of me they obey me;
The foreigners submit to me.
45 The foreigners fade away,
And come frightened from their hideouts.
46 The Lord lives!
Blessed be my Rock!
Let the God of my salvation be exalted.
47 It is God who avenges me,
And subdues the peoples under me;
48 He delivers me from my enemies.
You also lift me up above those who rise against me;
You have delivered me from the violent man.
49 Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles,
And sing praises to Your name.
Blessed be my Rock!
Let the God of my salvation be exalted.
47 It is God who avenges me,
And subdues the peoples under me;
48 He delivers me from my enemies.
You also lift me up above those who rise against me;
You have delivered me from the violent man.
49 Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles,
And sing praises to Your name.
50 Great deliverance He
gives to His king,
And shows mercy to His anointed,
To David and his descendants forevermore.
And shows mercy to His anointed,
To David and his descendants forevermore.
It’s ambitious, but I want to talk about the whole psalm,
all 50 verses. I was going to split it into two, but we have to keep in mind
that these were composed as songs. Splitting it might make some of the
important portions get lost.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer
Over all, God is compared to a rock in this psalm. Rocks are
strong and immovable, and they can crush things when needed. They can be smooth
and stationary, but you certainly don’t want to be in the path of a rock slide.
I
will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies
I remember this song from my childhood I will call upon the Lord video
Sometimes it still pops in my head, except, I think it should sound more like a
folk song. I like this verse because it does three things. It reminds us of the
importance of calling on God first. Then it says that God is worthy to be
praised. Sometimes we forget this and just ask for what we want without giving
God any praise. Finally, it reassures us that God saves us from our enemies,
our troubles.
Verses 4-6 show the psalmist (in this case,
people who know more than I do about this sort of stuff say that he is David)
in his distress. He’s in mortal danger, and he says “the floods of ungodliness
made me afraid.” Unrighteous people are surrounding him, both literally trying
to kill him and figuratively trying to shake his faith. But, David cries out to
God.
In verses 7-15, God comes out to do
something about it, and we see that rock slide. “Then the earth shook and
trembled…smoke went up from His nostrils, and devouring fire from His mouth…His
thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.” The image is almost
like a volcano. I can’t really imagine a more powerful and destructive rock
than a mountain with liquid rock inside of it that explodes. It’s violent and
all-consuming. No one in the way of God’s wrath escapes.
But, verses 16-27 reassure us that those
who love the Lord are spared from His wrath. God, “drew me out of the waters,”
indicating that God saved him from the natural/ supernatural forces that
destroyed the enemies, and He “delivered me from my strong enemy,” the answer
to David’s original prayer. David then goes on to talk about how the righteous
man keeps God’s statutes (verse 22), reminding us that God loves those who keep
His commandments. Then, verses 25-7 tells us that God rewards people according
to their actions, He is merciful to the merciful, blameless to the blameless,
pure to the pure, and shrewd to the devious.
For
You will light my lamp; the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness
I love the image of God being a lamp in the
darkness. God illuminates our path when we can’t see it, and He lights up the
dark times in our lives.
For
who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock,
except our God?
Not much to say about this, but I love it.
The Lord is God, and God is a rock.
Verses 32-42 concentrate on God preparing
us to fight our own battles. I’m reminded of Ephesians 6:11, “Put on the
whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil.” David was, after all, known for his military might in his own day, much
more than for writing songs and being a shepherd boy. He knew a thing or two
about what it took to defeat enemies in real battle, in combat with swords and
shields and hands. It’s not easy. But, God equips us for it.
But, in verses 43-5, David reminds us that we can’t do it on
our own. God is always the one who is truly responsible for delivering us from
the hands of our enemies.
Verses 46-9 are my favorites. First, there is the second
half of the song from verse 3 (and one of my favorite verses in the Bible),
which I will always remember in the KJV, “The Lord liveth and blessed be my
Rock and let the God of my salvation be exalted!” Three great points again. 1.)
God is alive and active, 2.) He is our Rock, and 3.) He must be praised for
what He does for us. Then David backs that up, saying, “It is God who avenges
me…Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord.”
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