WEEK 7 ● Day 3
READ PSALM 18:4-18
Today we’re going to get into all sorts of imagery as David describes God’s protection and deliverance. This isn’t just wishful thinking —remember, David is looking back over his life. He’s talking about things he actually experienced, the firm reality that God has protected and delivered him time and time again. Life with God means that each of us can find strength in our struggles by reminding ourselves of God’s faithfulness in the past.
1. Go through the passage here, underlining words or phrases that show David’s distress and circling those that talk about God’s hand of aid.
4-5 For when the ropes of death wrapped around me
and terrifying torrents of destruction overwhelmed me,
taking me to death’s door, to doom’s domain,
6 I cried out to you in my distress, the delivering God,
and from your temple-throne you heard my troubled cry.
My sobs came right into your heart
and you turned your face to rescue me.
7 The earth itself shivered and shook.
It reeled and rocked before him.
As the mountains trembled, they melted away!
For his anger was kindled, burning on my behalf.
8 Fierce flames leapt from his mouth,
erupting with blazing, burning coals as smoke
and fire encircled him.
9-10 He stretched heaven’s curtain open and came to my defense.
Swiftly he rode to earth as the stormy sky was lowered.
He rode a chariot of thunderclouds amidst thick darkness,
a cherub his steed as he swooped down,
soaring on the wings of Spirit-wind.
11 Wrapped and hidden in the thick-cloud darkness,
his thunder-tabernacle surrounded him.
He hid himself in mystery-darkness;
the dense rain clouds were his garments.
12 Suddenly the brilliance of his presence broke through
with lightning bolts and with a mighty storm from heaven —
like a tempest dropping coals of fire.
13 The Lord thundered, the great God above every god
spoke with his thunder-voice from the skies.
What fearsome hailstones and flashes of fire were before him!
14 He released his lightning-arrows, and routed my foes.
See how they ran and scattered in fear!
15 Then with his mighty roar he laid bare the foundations of the earth,
uncovering the secret source of the sea.
The hidden depths of land and sea were exposed
by the hurricane-blast of his hot breath.
16 He then reached down from heaven,
all the way from the sky to the sea.
He reached down into my darkness to rescue me!
He took me out of my calamity and chaos
and drew me to himself,
taking me from the depths of my despair!
17 Even though I was helpless in the hands
of my hateful, strong enemy,
you were good to deliver me.
18 When I was at my weakest, my enemies attacked —
but the Lord held on to me.
2. What was your favorite verse, phrase, or imagery in this passage? Why?
The portion that jumped out at me most is verse 6:
I cried out to you in my distress, the delivering God,
and from your temple-throne you heard my troubled cry.
My sobs came right into your heart
and you turned your face to rescue me.
3. Please head to the BLB, click on verse 6 and then Interlinear. Tap on the phrase I called or qara’ (קָרָא , pronounced kah-rah) in Hebrew. Write some of the synonyms below:
David is saying he cries out to God in prayer —but did you notice he doesn’t list a memorized set of words? He doesn’t say, “When I uttered this litany or repetition of words, God heard me and helped me out.” Neither did he say, “Only when I expressed the most beautifully eloquent prayer, my heavenly Father’s ear turned toward me, and He came to my aid.”
As we learned in our word study, qara’ (קָרָא) means “to call, cry, utter a loud sound.”[1] Did you catch that last one? A loud sound . . . not even necessarily a coherent word. So often we think our prayers need to be neat and tidy, wrapped with a beautifully crisp bow. Whether we do it to show the world we are good Christians or because we’re convinced that the Lord listens because we speak in such beautiful prose, we’re massively missing the boat. Prayer isn’t about eloquence at all.
Prayer can be prewritten, beautifully expressed and presented to the Lord, sure. But it can also be falling on our face, dirty, disheveled, not knowing how to even form a coherent sentence. Our prayers may be eloquent one moment and a battle cry the next. We can be tongue-tied, unintelligible, muffled, stammering, and even wordless.
Romans 8:26-27 (ESV) helps us understand how this works:
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
4. What does intercession (or interceding) mean? (Feel free to look it up if you don’t know.)
One night, after a special event at the Christian college I went to, a guy came up to me as my friends and I were heading back to our dorm. He said, “I’m interceding for you.” I looked at him like he was a crazy person, said, “Uhhhh . . . thanks,” and kept walking. I had no clue what he was talking about or how to respond. Was this how “super spiritual” guys flirted and tried to hit on girls? Or was he serious? I was so confused that I pulled out my dictionary when I got back to my room (yes, this was before Google).
The dictionary basically taught me that this term was all about pleading, advocating, and meditating on the behalf of someone else. And what we learn in Romans 8 is that, unlike this guy who didn’t know me and what my needs were, the Holy Spirit does and can translate the deepest ugly-cry prayers or wide-eyed I don’t even know where to start, what to say, or what to pray about this thoughts into powerful and articulate requests and conversations with our heavenly Father.
Our gut-cry prayers are heard and understood more than we even understand them —because the Holy Spirit translates our hearts and presents them to God Himself. Isn’t that amazing?
I love praying and have most certainly felt the impact of coming before God no matter how simple my words, but I sometimes wish I was one of those women who prays and makes everyone think, Wow. God definitely heard that one —it was absolutely incredible! Is that silly to admit? I’m sure you’ve heard those people —where they pray and you feel ready to jump into anything because their words were so full of life, inspiring beyond measure!
5. Do you sometimes feel intimidated about praying? If so, why?
I love praying by myself throughout the day but it’s taken years for me to be comfortable praying in front of others. If you want complete honesty, I still struggle with confidence doing so because I often don’t feel like my prayers are enough. Deep enough, prettily worded enough, bold and impactful enough. And that’s such a lie right from the evil one himself. Truly. God listens to the heart behind our prayers more than the words we use.
6. As David continues on past verse 6 and talks about what happens after his prayer reached God’s ears, what happens? (Hint: Look at Psalm 18:7.)
7. Why is God angry in this verse?
We are God’s precious children. Because of His deep love for His child, God’s anger burns bright when David is despised, harmed, and suffering because of someone else.
8. How would you describe God here? Go back and look over the imagery that David uses in this passage. What words come to mind when you read about the shaking earth, fire blazing from God’s mouth, garments made of dense rain clouds, and the like?
Our God is wild, strong, and protective. He gets angry when we are mistreated and harmed. There’s no evidence that David ever saw any of this with his own eyes, but instead he is using beautiful symbolism that connects back to Moses’ encounter with God at Mount Sinai.
16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. 20 The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
9. What similarities do you see between David’s words and this scene? Write the words or phrases below:
Our God is powerful and He loves you. Deeply. He doesn’t just sit on His throne in heaven, watching things unfold on earth below Him. He is a profoundly personal God, involved and active in our lives. His hand is on us, and He walks beside us. Yes, we’ll go through hard stuff. Yes, there will be times we can’t figure out why He didn’t stop something from happening. Things may not be perfect and seamless in your life right now, but He is perfect and seamless, and He has a grand purpose: deep growth out of the ground of this hard stuff. God’s end goal is more beautiful than you could ever imagine. And we’ll never, ever be alone in it. In fact, He promises to be with us forever.
Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”
Let’s end today in prayer as we thank the Lord for His never-ending presence in our lives, no matter what season, struggle, or success.
Amen.