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Christ in the Psalms - Psalm 18

seyiodusPosted for Everyone to comment on, 6 years ago9 min read

In this series about Christ in the psalms, we have seen different forms of prophecy. Some psalms can only be read as a prophecy about Jesus. Others describe the situation in which the psalmist himself is, but where we see Jesus in similar circumstances, and of which the writers of the New Testament apply some verses to Jesus. Still, other psalms describe a situation that goes further than would apply to the psalmist. This last category only gets a complete fulfillment in Jesus. An example of such a psalm is Psalm 18.

Psalm 18 and the application to David

The psalm begins with a situation sketch. "He spoke the words of this song to the Lord when the Lord had taken him from the clutches of his enemies, also from Saul" (Psalm 18: 1). So the title mentions two redemptions: a redemption of the pursuits by Saul, and a redemption of all his enemies around. Only when the psalm is accurately read it is noticeable that there are indeed two redemptions. The first takes place when he is appointed by Samuel to succeed King Saul and he is anointed king. Saul chases him regularly and tries to kill him. But God redeemed him miraculously a number of times. Then we read of a second salvation, in the period when he is king, when God delivers him from all his enemies. The latter we read in so many words in 2 Samuel 7: "Then ... the Lord had given him rest by delivering him from all his enemies ...". This describes the climax of David's life when he says he wants to build the temple. His mistake with Batseba, and the subsequent years of problems, are still in the future.

The first redemption, from Saul, is seen in verses 2-20. It is described in visual language. The first few verses describe David in danger of death. He calls to God: "In my distress, I cried to the lord, I cried out to my God for help" (v. 7). The following verses tell us how God acts to deliver him. It is visual language, but it describes the Almighty God who saves David. "He offered help from on high, seized me, and drew me up from the wild waters, and shaken me from my mighty enemy, from my haters who were stronger than I." (Psalm 18: 17-18). In David's life, these words are indeed most applicable to the period in which he is constantly on the run from Saul, and a number of times it is wonderfully saved.

The second series of enemies is found in verses 38-49. Here is David as victorious king: "I pursued my enemies, overtook them and did not return before I had destroyed them, I crushed them, they no longer stood up, they were dead under my feet" (Psalm 18:38). -39). The psalm then shows us how David rules Israel's former enemies. As said, this describes the period in which he settles as a king with all the nations that Israel has enslaved for it. We see that described, among other things, in 2 Samuel 8.

Between these two deliveries, we find verses that show David's trust in God. The way God always saves him, and the way God shows him that he does not have to fear Saul, has built his faith, until he can say, "It is you who makes my lamp shine, you, sir, my God illuminates my darkness, with you I storm upon a congregation, with my God I climb the highest wall "(Psalm 18: 29-30). These verses also describe the blessings God has given him and the reasons for this: "The Lord repaid my innocence, rewarded me for my clean hands: I followed the ways the Lord had pointed out, and my God was not unfaithful, his regulations kept I have in mind, I never rejected his laws. I was completely devoted to Him and always kept an eye on evil, so the Lord has rewarded my innocence,

With this, this psalm gives a kind of summary of David's trust in God, and how that saved him from his enemies at different stages of his life. Perhaps that is why we also find this psalm in 2 Samuel 22, at the end of David's life, as a kind of overview. He is there, in 2 Samuel 23, followed by a very different psalm in which David more thoughtfully expresses how good God is, despite the failure of man.

Why as a prophecy of the Messiah?

Why would a psalm like this, which according to the inscription belong to the life of David, be seen as a prophecy about Christ? A first good reason is that the writers of the New Testament do that. Verse 50 is directly quoted in the letter to the Romans (15: 9) and also in other places is referred to. A second reason, however, is that the description seems to go beyond what would apply to David. Above is a quote from verses 21-25 with a description of how God has rewarded his innocence, and these words speak of someone who has never sinned. But also in verses later in the psalm, we see more the situation under Jesus than that of David: "You delivered me from a rebellious people, made me the head of the nations." A people that I did not know, submitted, obeyed me as soon as it heard from me. Foreigners showed themselves submissive, foreign peoples lost their strength, trembling they came from their castles. "(Psalm 18: 44-46) The NIV puts all the verbs in the past tense, but the translators do not agree. for example, much in the future "a community that I did not know will serve me ".

When we look at the psalm again in the light of Jesus, we are dealing with the same division, a first redemption when He was appointed king, but not really ruled, then a sign of his trust in God, followed by a deliverance from all enemies, if all nations are subject to Him. In the light of Psalm 2, it is easy to apply the final verses to Jesus. Also in Psalm 110, we see how God subjects all enemies to Jesus: "Thus saith the Lord's word unto my Lord, Set ye at my right hand until I have laid your enemies as a footstool for your feet" (Psalm 110: 1, NBG'51). Both of these Psalms were the subject of earlier articles in this series, whereby it became clear that both can only refer to Jesus and have no other background.

But what about the first redemption, from Saul. It is striking that in Hebrew the name Saul (lit .: sha'uwl) has the same consonants as the word sheol (actually: sha'owl), meaning the realm of the dead - the written Hebrew did not have any vowels. In this pun, we see in the psalm a comparison of the redemption of David from the power of Saul, with the redemption of Jesus from the power of the realm of the dead. Peter uses the Greek translation of the "bands of death" (v. 6) in his speech on the day of Pentecost, translated into the NIV as "burden" ("God has brought him to life and the burden of death, taken away from him, because death could not keep his power over him "(Acts 2:24). The calling for redemption could happen on two occasions: On his battle in Gethsemane, but also on his words on the cross "My God, my God, why did you leave me?" The latter seems to be closer to God's answer in the psalm.

The structure of the Psalm

The Psalm thus has a structure that can be applied to both David and Christ. He is structured as follows:

VersesApplied to DavidApplied to Christ
1-4IntroductionIntroduction
5-6David's fear of dying by Saul's handThe "bands of death" that enclose Christ
7Call for God for salvationCall for God for salvation
8-20God's miraculous deliveranceGod's miracles at the crucifixion and resurrection
21-28All this because of David's justiceGod redeems Jesus because he is sinless
29-37God's wonderful blessingsGod's blessings poured out on His Son
38-49David's victories over the nations through God's helpJesus' future victories and kingship
50-51Closing praiseClosing praise

The most difficult part of the psalm is formed by verses 8-20, but especially in its application to the situation of David. We see some verses quoted in connection with Jesus. Compare the words of the psalm. "Then the earth shook and shook, the mountains trembled on their foundations, trembled because of the fierce anger", with the words from Matthew: "At that moment the veil was torn from the top to the bottom in the temple. two, and the earth trembled and the rocks split. " The psalm also repeatedly says how God descends into darkness, darkness, dense clouds and with that contrasting fire, lightning, and light sheen. At the crucifixion, we see three hours of darkness when God takes away His son from the scorn of bystanders.

The psalm continues: "He reached up, grabbed me, drew me up from great waters. He enraged me from my powerful enemy "(Psalm 18: 16-17). Water is often a picture of death in Scripture; that is also symbolized in baptism. Death was also the big enemy that this section was about (sheol). God raised him from the dead and exalted him to his right hand. But that does not stop there, as the psalmist shows. Eventually, He will, like David, accept the kingship and rule over all nations. We can look forward to that.

Thanks for reading.


You can read:

Christ in the Psalms. The introduction.

Christ in the Psalms - Psalm 2

Stay Blessed.


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