Chapter 17: The Righteous Shall See God
A Prayer of David.
“…O
Lord, attend unto my cry, give ear to my prayer…” (Psalms 17:1)
Like most
of the Psalms, David opens by asking God to hear him. He goes on to say that he
has “…kept…
from the paths of the destroyer” (Psalms 17:4) and he asks God to “Keep…
[him]… as the apple of the eye, [and to] hide… [him]… under the shadow of…
[God’s]…wings.” (Psalms 17:8)
The men (and women) of the world
are wicked, but those who are righteous “…will behod… [God’s]…face in righteousness”
(Psalms 17:15). We learn that the righteous will in fact see God when
they die (face to face). Here we can also learn that God is like us, afterall
we were created in his image!
David
closes with a very interesting statement; “…I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with
thy likeness.” (Psalms 17:15). In other words, when David dies and
become resurrected again (in the resurrection) shall “awake” with the likeness
of God!
What does that mean? Welll we
already know that we are created in God’s likeness, therefore God has a body of
flesh and bones like we do. But we also know that God is still above us, we are
not God. However, we can become “like” God in the sense that our end goal is
perfection, to become like our Father in Heaven.
If we are faithful, and live in
righteousness then when we awake, we will be come like our Father in Heaven, a
god. Notice how the “god” is not capitalized? Because God is our Father, we can
become like Him, but NOT become Him. We have the ability to become “gods” but
not become THE God.
Chapter 18: The Lord is Perfect
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of
David, the servant of the Lord, who spake unto 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,
Most of the Psalms are relatively
short, however this is a long Psalm; there only happen to be three Psalms longer
(78, 89, and 119). Its length is well suited to its theme, as described in the
title. The title itself is long, with only one longer (Psalm 60).
David
starts by telling us in the title that the Psal was written for God. He tells
us why he was writing the Psalm and for what period in history… which includes
not only the immediate aftermath of Saul’s death (1 Samuel 31; 2 Samuel 1), but
also of the time leading to David’s enthronement (2 Samuel 2-5) David also tells
us about Saul. This Psalm can be com pared to the Psalm sung by David at the
very end of his life (2 Samuel 22). It is likely that David composed this song
as a younger man and while in his old age, David could look back with great
gratitude and sing this song again!
“I
WILL love thee, O Lord, my strength.” (Psalms 18:1)
This was a bold and triumphant declaration
made in a season of great triumph. It is true that David decided to
love the Lord; but David also felt more compelled to love the Lord who
delivered him from his enemies!
“In
my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice
out of his temple…” (Psalms 18:6)
Although, the temple of Solomon was
to be built many years later, the city of Jerusalem wasn’t even in Israeli
control when David wrote this (2 Samuel 5:6-10). Yet David knew
that God had a temple, a heavenly temple that was the model for
the tabernacle and the later temple (Exodus 25:9, 40), and that God heard him
from his holy temple.
“The
Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of
my hands…” (Psalms 18:20). The Lord will reward those who are not only
righteous, but who have clean hands. This means that they had faith in God,
enough to follow ALL of His commandments.
David
once again repeats this same declaration of rewards for the righteous 3 verses
later. This of course is strongly favoring that Salvation comes through Faith
AND WORKS! Salvation is infact a FREE
gift, in that sense having faith will get you salvation! However, faith
includes works. If you have faith in someone, it means that you have faith in
what they stand for. Following the commandments of God, requires work; “…faith,
if it hath not works, is dead…” (James 2:17)
David
proclaims that “The Lord liveth; and blessed by my rock; and let the God of my
salvation be exalted” (Psalms 18:46)
David
knows that the “rock” was not a person, but more of an idea. If you have that
rock, which is strong and hard to break…, i.e. your faith in the Lord and his
strength (as a rock) you will build a foundation upon that rock that cannot be
torn down! David ends his Psalm by giving thanks to the Lord for his
deliverance!
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