Jesus throughout the Scriptures: Psalms 2 (1)
Pray Psalm 18.1-3.
I will love You, O LORD, my strength.
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.
I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.
Sing Psalm 18.1-3.
(St. Columba: How Sweet and Awesome Is the Place)
I love You, LORD, my Strength, my Rock, my Savior and my Fort;
my God, my ever-shelt’ring Rock, You shield my trembling heart.
My Stronghold, LORD, my Saving Horn, I call to You with praise!
From those who Your salvation scorn You save us all our days.
Read Psalm 18.1-19; meditate on verses 13-17.
Preparation
1. How did David refer to God?
2. What did God do for him?
Meditation
An old, beautiful, and beloved spiritual features the words, as part of the refrain, “He come down.” This is echoed by “He come from the glory!” Then again, “He come down” and “He come from the glorious Kingdom!”
And that seems just impossible. But the song continues, “O yes, believer! O, yes, believer!” Because those who believe in Jesus know that what David experienced is what we have all experienced, how God “come down” from His glorious Kingdom in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ, fought and bound the devil, and took us as plunder to Himself (Ps. 18.9-15; cf. Matt. 12.22-29). He drew us out of the murky waters of sin (v. 16) and reached us while we were in the snares and pangs of death (vv. 4, 5). He spoke His Word to us from heaven (v. 13) and sent His Spirit to take us to Himself (v. 16; cf. Gal. 4.4-6).
Psalm 18 gloriously portrays in David’s experience what happens when a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus has come down for us in the flesh to fulfill all the righteous requirements of God’s Law and bear all His wrath against lawless sinners such as we. Now Jesus has returned to His throne, but He continues to come down to us, by His Word and Spirit, to lift us out of our fears and folly, set us on the broad place of His love (v. 19), and send us forth as rulers in His Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
O yes, believer: Rejoice! He come down!
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
The virgin Mary had a baby boy
The virgin Mary had a baby boy
The virgin Mary had a baby boy
And they say that His Name is Jesus.
Oh yes, believer!
“I will love You, O LORD, my strength” (Ps. 18.1)
My Rock, Fortress, Deliverer, Trust, Shield, Stronghold, and Praise (Ps. 18.2, 3).
“David spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul” (superscript to Psalm 18). An expanded version of this psalm is found in 2 Sam. 22.2-51.“
…but David strengthened himself in the LORD his God” (1 Sam. 30.6).
“The LORD is the strength of His people, and He is the saving refuge of His anointed” (Ps. 28.8).
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Ps. 27.1).
Oh yes, we believers cherish these same promises.
“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12.9).
“I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me” (Phil. 4.13).
“For You are my rock and my fortress;
therefore, for Your Name’s sake, lead me and guide me.
Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
for You are my strength” (Ps. 31.3, 4).
“Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints!
For the LORD preserves the faithful, and fully repays the proud person.
Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart,
all you who hope in the LORD” (Ps. 31.23, 24).
“Jesus has come down for us” to bear our sins, to conquer death, because He chose to give us life and to strengthen, protect, secure, and deliver us here and now, and there and then. And He left glory to do that for us. “…Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2.6, 7).
“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 Jn. 4.11) and, if we love Jesus, we will keep His commandments (Jn. 14.15).
Jesus and His amazing love.
He come from the glory,
He come from the glorious kingdom.
He come from the glory,
He come from the glorious kingdom.
Oh yes, believer!
Oh yes, believer!
He come from the glory,
He come from the glorious kingdom.
Oh yes, for you and for me!
Reflection
1. Do you remember when Jesus came down to save you? Share your testimony of His grace with someone today.
2. What does it mean to say, as David did, that God is our Rock and our Fortress? When do you experience Him like this?
3. Whom will you encourage today to remember when Jesus came down for them?
This psalm, therefore, is the first of those psalms in which David celebrates, in lofty strains, the wonderful grace which God had shown towards him, both in putting him in possession of the kingdom, and in afterwards maintaining him in it. He also shows that his reign was an image and type of the kingdom of Christ, to teach and assure the faithful that Christ, in spite of the whole world, and of all the resistance which it can make, will, by the stupendous and incomprehensible power of the Father, be always victorious. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Psalm 18.1
Pray Psalm 18.31-36.
Thank God the Father that He sent Jesus to “come down” and bring salvation to the world and to you. Pray for His gentleness to strengthen you and enlarge your steps as you follow along the Jesus Path.
Sing Psalm 18.31-36, 49.
(I Am Thine: I Am Thine, O Lord, I Have Heard Thy Voice)
Who is God but You, there’s no other Stone where we find the strength to stand.
Let my hands and feet be for You alone as I walk in Your commands.
Refrain v. 49
I will thank You, thank You gracious LORD, I will lift Your Name in praise
’til the nations hear Your saving Word and amend their sinful ways.
You have saved me, LORD, and Your gentleness holds me up and makes me strong.
You enlarge my steps as You guide and bless and preserve me all life long.
Refrain
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
For more teaching about the subject of this series, “Jesus throughout the Scriptures”, download our free ReVision study, “We Would See Jesus”, by clicking here.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
