Psalm 18:1-19, So Shall I Be Saved

 

Psalm 18:1-19 (NRSV)

​¹I love you, O LORD, my strength.
²The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,
my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
³I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,
so I shall be saved from my enemies.
⁴The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of perdition assailed me;
⁵the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
⁶In my distress I called upon the LORD;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.
⁷Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
⁸Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
⁹He bowed the heavens, and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.
¹⁰He rode on a cherub, and flew;
he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind.
¹¹He made darkness his covering around him,
his canopy thick clouds dark with water.
¹²Out of the brightness before him
there broke through his clouds
hailstones and coals of fire.
¹³The LORD also thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered his voice.
¹⁴And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them;
he flashed forth lightnings, and routed them.
¹⁵Then the channels of the sea were seen,
and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O LORD,
at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
¹⁶He reached down from on high, he took me;
he drew me out of mighty waters.
¹⁷He delivered me from my strong enemy,
and from those who hated me;
for they were too mighty for me.
¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my calamity;
but the LORD was my support.
¹⁹He brought me out into a broad place;
he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

Observation: The Psalm speaks in the future tense in v. 3: "I will call upon the Lord...so shall I be saved." For assurance that this is so, the psalmist turns to ways God has saved her/him in the past.

Application: When Christians hear the word "saved," we often focus on how God "saves" us from sin and death, and offers us eternal life. But in the Hebrew Bible (and even to some extent the Gospels) the word "saved" is about more than just eternal life. God saves us from illness, despair, danger, injustice, and a whole host of other this-worldly problems, too. Looking back over my life, and thinking of the many ways, big and small, in which God has saved me, helps me have a hopeful outlook on the future. God will save me, because God has already done so many times. 

Prayer: God, thanks for saving me. Help me trust in the many times, many ways you will save me in years to come. Amen.