“I pursued my enemies and overtook them. I destroyed those who hated me. They cried for help, but there was none to save.” Many proud kings have made such boasts about their victories in battle. Rulers have always wanted to take credit for anything good that happens on their watch, and those who follow them have always prized strength as much as they have admired winners.

But in Psalm 18, David insists that all the credit for any success he may have experienced should go to God alone. He says it was God who trained him and gave him the ability to fight (vv. 34, 39). It was God Who caused his enemies to run away from him (v. 40) and God Who he trusted to keep subduing his enemies (v. 47).

And how was God able to give David all this success? Because of His mighty power, a power that David describes poetically in verses 7-15. When God is angry, the earth quakes (v. 7). When God comes to deliver His servants, He rides not on horses but on the wind itself (v. 10). God fights His enemies not with bows and arrows but with hailstones (v. 12 – see Joshua 10:11). Even in the blackest night, God splits the darkness with His lightning (v. 14).

And so, David is naturally amazed that this mighty God would choose to bless Him with protection and salvation. That’s why, instead of bragging about his own strength, David is content to look to God as his rock, his fortress, his deliverer, his shield and his stronghold (vv. 1-2). That’s why David insisted on giving God all the praise and all the thanks for any triumphs he may have achieved (vv. 49).

So, what about us? Are we willing to humble ourselves and give God the credit for our own successes? Will we respond to His faithful, covenant-keeping love (v. 50) by loving Him in return (v. 1)? Given God’s power and grace, it would frankly be foolish to do anything else.

Psalm 18 (NASB)

For the choir director. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who spoke to the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said,
“I Love Thee, O LORD, my strength.”
2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death encompassed me, And the torrents of ungodliness terrified me.
5 The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.
7 Then the earth shook and quaked; And the foundations of the mountains were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry.
8 Smoke went up out of His nostrils, And fire from His mouth devoured; Coals were kindled by it.
9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down With thick darkness under His feet.
10 And He rode upon a cherub and flew; And He sped upon the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
12 From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds, Hailstones and coals of fire.
13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire.
14 And He sent out His arrows, and scattered them, And lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.
15 Then the channels of water appeared, And the foundations of the world were laid bare At Thy rebuke, O LORD, At the blast of the breath of Thy nostrils.
16 He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the LORD was my stay.
19 He brought me forth also into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me.
20 The LORD has 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 ordinances were before me, And I did not put away His statutes from me.
23 I was also blameless with 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 eyes.
25 With the kind Thou dost show Thyself kind; With the blameless Thou dost show Thyself blameless;
26 With the pure Thou dost show Thyself pure; And with the crooked Thou dost show Thyself astute.
27 For Thou dost save an afflicted people; But haughty eyes Thou dost abase.
28 For Thou dost light my lamp; The LORD my God illumines my darkness.
29 For by Thee I can run upon a troop; And by my God I can leap over a wall.
30 As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the LORD is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
31 For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God,
32 The God who girds me with strength, And makes my way blameless?
33 He makes my feet like hinds’ feet, And sets me upon my high places.
34 He trains my hands for battle, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 Thou hast also given me the shield of Thy salvation, And Thy right hand upholds me; And Thy gentleness makes me great.
36 Thou dost enlarge my steps under me, And my feet have not slipped.
37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them, And I did not turn back until they were consumed.
38 I shattered them, so that they were not able to rise; They fell under my feet.
39 For Thou hast girded me with strength for battle; Thou hast subdued under me those who rose up against me.
40 Thou hast also made my enemies turn their backs to me, And I destroyed those who hated me.
41 They cried for help, but there was none to save, Even to the LORD, but He did not answer them.
42 Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind; I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.
43 Thou hast delivered me from the contentions of the people; Thou hast placed me as head of the nations; A people whom I have not known serve me.
44 As soon as they hear, they obey me; Foreigners submit to me.
45 Foreigners fade away, And come trembling out of their fortresses.
46 The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock; And exalted be the God of my salvation,
47 The God who executes vengeance for me, And subdues peoples under me.
48 He delivers me from my enemies; Surely Thou dost lift me above those who rise up against me; Thou dost rescue me from the violent man.
49 Therefore I will give thanks to Thee among the nations, O LORD, And I will sing praises to Thy name.
50 He gives great deliverance to His king, And shows lovingkindness to His anointed, To David and his descendants forever.