Psalm 18 – God saves us from our enemies, but who are they?

God saves us from our enemies, but who are they? In Psalm 18 David goes into great detail about his enemies. Old Testament enemies. But who's the real enemy today?

Once again, we can learn from a Psalm.

However, once again, we must also make some adjustments.

Old Covenant to New Covenant adjustments.

We must relate David's writing to what he was saying in his time in history, his culture, and very importantly his religion. Namely, Old Testament Judaism. Of course, with some Holy Spirit wisdom in it.

Then, and only then, can we really get the most out of what God's Word, through David, means to us today, in our time in history, our culture, and our religion - Christianity.

Psalm 18 

     18: Title-50pp — 2Sa 22:1-51 

For the director of music. Of David the servant of the LORD. He sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: 

Ps 18:1 I love you, O LORD, my strength. 

Ps 18:2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; 
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. 
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 

Ps 18:3 I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, 
and I am saved from my enemies. 

Ps 18:4 The cords of death entangled me; 
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. 

Ps 18:5 The cords of the grave coiled around me; 
the snares of death confronted me. 

Ps 18:6 In my distress I called to the LORD; 
I cried to my God for help. 
From his temple he heard my voice; 
my cry came before him, into his ears. 

Ps 18:7 The earth trembled and quaked, 
and the foundations of the mountains shook; 
they trembled because he was angry. 

Ps 18:8 Smoke rose from his nostrils; 
consuming fire came from his mouth, 
burning coals blazed out of it. 

Ps 18:9 He parted the heavens and came down; 
dark clouds were under his feet. 

Ps 18:10 He mounted the cherubim and flew; 
he soared on the wings of the wind. 

Ps 18:11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
the dark rain clouds of the sky. 

Ps 18:12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, 
with hailstones and bolts of lightning. 

Ps 18:13 The LORD thundered from heaven; 
the voice of the Most High resounded. 

Ps 18:14 He shot his arrows and scattered  the enemies , 
great bolts of lightning and routed them. 

Ps 18:15 The valleys of the sea were exposed 
and the foundations of the earth laid bare 
at your rebuke, O LORD, 
at the blast of breath from your nostrils. 

Ps 18:16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me; 
he drew me out of deep waters. 

Ps 18:17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, 
from my foes, who were too strong for me. 

Ps 18:18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster, 
but the LORD was my support. 

Ps 18:19 He brought me out into a spacious place; 
he rescued me because he delighted in me. 

Ps 18:20 The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness; 
according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. 

Ps 18:21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD; 
I have not done evil by turning from my God. 

Ps 18:22 All his laws are before me; 
I have not turned away from his decrees. 

Ps 18:23 I have been blameless before him 
and have kept myself from sin. 

Ps 18:24 The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, 
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. 

Ps 18:25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful, 
to the blameless you show yourself blameless, 

Ps 18:26 to the pure you show yourself pure, 
but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. 

Ps 18:27 You save the humble 
but bring low those whose eyes are haughty. 

Ps 18:28 You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; 
my God turns my darkness into light. 

Ps 18:29 With your help I can advance against a troop; 
with my God I can scale a wall. 

Ps 18:30 As for God, his way is perfect; 
the word of the LORD is flawless. 
He is a shield 
for all who take refuge in him. 

Ps 18:31 For who is God besides the LORD? 
And who is the Rock except our God? 

Ps 18:32 It is God who arms me with strength 
and makes my way perfect. 

Ps 18:33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; 
he enables me to stand on the heights. 

Ps 18:34 He trains my hands for battle; 
my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 

Ps 18:35 You give me your shield of victory, 
and your right hand sustains me; 
you stoop down to make me great. 

Ps 18:36 You broaden the path beneath me, 
so that my ankles do not turn. 

Ps 18:37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them; 
I did not turn back till they were destroyed. 

Ps 18:38 I crushed them so that they could not rise; 
they fell beneath my feet. 

Ps 18:39 You armed me with strength for battle; 
you made my adversaries bow at my feet. 

Ps 18:40 You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, 
and I destroyed my foes. 

Ps 18:41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them— 
to the LORD, but he did not answer. 

Ps 18:42 I beat them as fine as dust borne on the wind; 
I poured them out like mud in the streets. 

Ps 18:43 You have delivered me from the attacks of the people; 
you have made me the head of nations; 
people I did not know are subject to me. 

Ps 18:44 As soon as they hear me, they obey me; 
foreigners cringe before me. 

Ps 18:45 They all lose heart; 
they come trembling from their strongholds. 

Ps 18:46 The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! 
Exalted be God my Savior! 

Ps 18:47 He is the God who avenges me, 
who subdues nations under me, 

Ps 18:48 who saves me from my enemies. 
You exalted me above my foes; 
from violent men you rescued me. 

Ps 18:49 Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O LORD; 
I will sing praises to your name. 

Ps 18:50 He gives his king great victories; 
he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, 
to David and his descendants forever. 

Some background on Psalm 18

This is a very long Psalm. However, after reading it today, my thoughts just went to words in the image at the top: "Know your enemy".

Before getting into that though, here's the background.

Psalm 18 is the first long psalm in the Psalter. There are others, of course. Psalm 119 is known for being the longest chapter in the Bible. Yet Psalm 18, with fifty verses, is the longest thus far. Before this the longest was Psalm 9, with twenty verses. Because Psalm 18 is exceptionally long, I will discuss it in two parts, a pattern I will follow more than once from this point forward.