DELIVERANCE

Psalm 18:1  "I will love you, LORD. In you I am strong."

Many of you know that I run the grief groups at Keswick. Currently we are studying some of the Psalms in the second level group. Often we can avoid reading a Psalm because it may seem beyond our "understanding". I love what Phillip Yancey* wrote about the Psalms, when he said:

"The book of Psalms comprises a sampling of spiritual journals, much like personal letters to God... I must read them as an 'over the shoulder' reader since the intended audience was not other people, but God."

Psalm 18 is a special psalm in that it is also found in 2 Samuel 22, and is believed to be one of the last psalms written by David. It is about David's reflection on his life, as he is looking back on his life and describing all the ways in which God has faithfully been present in his life. It is the story of God's deliverance and work in David's life. Check out this basic outline of Psalm 18:

Part 1: Who God is to David (vs. 1-3)

Part 2: David needed God's help and God heard him (vs. 4-6)

Part 3: God's Answer (vs. 7-19)

Part 4: David reviews what he has learned about who God helps and why (vs. 20-27)

Part 5: David remembers that everything he has came from God alone (vs. 28-42)

Part 6: David knows that only God could have made Him King (vs. 43-50)


Read Psalm 18 and then reflect on my questions to you.

1. Do you love God, in the deepest sense of the word? Who has God been to you?

2. When you are overwhelmed, lost, feeling like a victim, do you cry out to God, or do you try to face life on your own?

3. How has God led you out of your storms?

4. How does your life stand before God's rules? Are you righteous before God?

5. What have you received from God? Can you make a list?

6. What has God done for you that no one else could - even you? What can God still do in your life?


The Psalms were meant to be sung... Maybe you know this song - sing it now to the Lord.

I will call upon the Lord,
who is worthy to be praised;
so shall I be saved from my enemies...
The Lord liveth; and blessed be my rock;
and let the God of my salvation be exalted. (Psalm 18:3, 46 KJV)


Lynne Jahns
Christian Counselor
Director, KESWICK Institute of Biblical Studies

*Phillip Yancey, The Bible Jesus Read (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999), 112.