"Delivery From Those Who Hate Us"

David Sings About The Power of His LORD's Delivery!

Psalm 18:2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

This is from a Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, to the chief Musician. David said to the LORD the words of this song on the day that the LORD had delivered him from all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. You could say that this was a song of triumph! He felt victory over those who were seeking to do him wrong! We could compare it today with allot of things that we experience in our lives. Maybe it's getting free from a abusive relationship. Maybe it's went to court and the final decision was in your favor. It could be, finally getting a new job where your boss is friendly and respectful towards you. Maybe you were being bullied by someone who you couldn't avoid or they were trying to control every decision you made and they finally moved away. This can happen in ministry sometimes too.

Hopefully you haven't found yourself in the shoes of the abuser; the aggressor; the unfair boss or the controller in these examples, but if you have and you wish you weren't like this you ought to look at making some changes in your behavior and search your heart. We have worked for people before that may even be reading this today and might find it offensive, but remember, it is you who will find yourself as the person you really are and only you can make a difference in your heart and actions. God holds us responsible for our actions and other people have to deal with the consequences of your behavior. If we all depended on the LORD as David did in our battles that we face, we probably would find ourselves not loosing our cool in the heat of the battles we face in our lives.

David had found it all in this song that he proclaimed to his LORD. Just the name that he used for God in verse two tells us so much about David. He said, "The LORD" which in the Hebrew means "(the) self Existent or eternal; Jehovah".
Then he says that the LORD is his "rock" which means "literally or figuratively (a fortress): - (ragged) rock, stone (-ny), strong hold".
Next David calls the LORD his "fortress" meaning in the Hebrew "a fastness: - castle, defence, fort (-ress), (strong) hold, be hunted, net, snare, strong place."
He follows this with "my deliverer" which refers to his escaping from the enemies capture. The Hebrew for this is "to deliver: - calve, carry away safe, deliver, (cause to) escape."
Then David addresses the LORD with a different title when he seems to pause for minute and meditate on how majestic his LORD really is and he says, "my God". Many times we say this in prayer but do we really take the time to meditate on it's literal meaning and feel the power as we call out to "God"? The literal Hebrew meaning for the title of God used here is as follows,
The Hebrew word is 'êl
It is pronounced ale
It's meaning is strength; as adjective mighty; especially the Almighty (but used also of any deity): - God (god), X goodly, X great, idol, might (-y one), power, strong. Compare names in “-el.”
David starts again with more declaration of the meaning of God in his life as he sings out, "my strength, in whom I will trust". The literal Hebrew would sound like this, "my refuge which is solid as a rock who I can run to and confide in when things seem hopeless". That reminds me of the song that was so popular years ago about someones love being solid as a rock. It meant that it was unmovable. It wouldn't change! That is the message David is singing out in his Psalm. Let us rejoice with him!
Then David goes on to say that his Almighty is his "buckler" meaning a shield or figuratively a protector and is compared to the hide of the crocodile. David was covered from head to toe with the protection of his God!
Next David says that his God is "the horn of his salvation" and this is a bit confusing at first until we look into the Hebrew translation. The word horn is used figuratively in this Psalm meaning power. The word salvation is referring to "liberty,deliverance,prosperity: -safety,salvation,saving." So when we put this together we get "qeren yesha"; "and the power of my deliverance". This is why David was able to remain free! It was through the power of his God Almighty, not his own. David knew this too!

The last of his expressions in this verse are expressed "and my high tower". I'm just going to give you the literal Hebrew definition because I would probably mess it up if I tried to say anything about this part of the verse.
The word in the Hebrew is miśgâb
It is pronounced mis-gawb'
Properly a cliff (or other lofty or inaccessible place); abstractly altitude; figuratively a refuge; misgab; a place in Moab: - defence, high fort (tower), refuge. H4869; Misgab, a place in Moab: - Misgab.

David had truly had grown in his relationship with God through all of the trials and tribulations he had been. Some of his writtings sounded as if he was in total despair but now he is claiming the truth that he had learned. It is so amazing how much we realize when the storm passes, isn't it? Then we see how it was not by our power but by our LORD God Almighty's power that we were delivered and protected in His fortress high upon the cliffs, unreachable aby the enemy. It is then that we realize we aare coated with a hide like the crocodiles that withstands the enemies attacks. We can see how when we were defenceless God was capturing those who meant us no good. Our God is victorious and He calls us to run to him and confide in Him with ALL of our problems.

Many times I have heard it said in the management positions, "There are no problems; only solutions!". What we meant by that was that we could solve every problem if we tried hard enough. The thing that I began to realize over the years was that I was only making my life more stressful and difficult when I believed I could do it all myself. I believe we have abilities but I also believe that as a believer in Christ, we can take everything to God in prayer. Do you believe that God can make a difference in everything you do? Can you say that out loud and believe it yourself? If you answer yes, then do it right now! If your answer was no, then I encourage you to just try it and see what happens. David was not always so brave and seemed to be panicking at times but he kept coming back to God for his help. Each step he took in faith helped David's faith to develope a little bit more.
Remember this principle, faith developes as we step out. Not huge steps or ten steps all at once, but little steps one at a time and each time God works in us to build our faith stronger and stronger every day.

David didn't go out there to fight Goliath as his first step of faith to show God that he trusted in Him! David had been growing in faith as he protected his family's sheep. God had protected David when he killed the lion and David's faith developed a little more. Then God protected David when he fought and killed the bear and his faith developed a little more. You see, we don't have to prove ourselves to God; God wants to prove Himself to us!

I encourage you to write this verse down on a piece of paper and put it on your refrigerator or mirror where you can quote it each morning to remind your self of just how much your LORD is doing for you each day.

Let's say this verse together from the Hebrew translation,
"The self Existent and eternal Jehovah is my fortress and my defence, and my deliverer; my Almighty God, my refuge and strength who I will confide in and find hope; my sheild and defence, and the power of my liberty and safety, and my high fort that is in a high and inaccessible place. I will call upon the self Existent LORD, who is worthy to be celebrated and praised above all others, so will I be free from those who are hating me and wish to do me wrong!"

Contact Rob Bailes by email at: rbailesnc@yahoo.com or call (919)745-1210
*Request to receive messages by email and I will add you to the email list.
*Get Prayer Partners instantly at my facebook group "Parents Praying on facebook"
*Single Parents on facebook find support at my group "Single Parents Daily"
*To reach out to those in need with monthly support, join my group "I Care Enough"