Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

1 Kraus 2 Spence 3 Scroggie

4 Keil & Delitzsch 5 Keil & Delitzsch 6 Spence 7 Kraus 8 Keil & Delitzsch 9 Keil & Delitzsch 10 Wolff, page 88 11 Keil & Delitzsch

PSALM 144: HE GIVES ME STRENGTH FOR WAR War and Peace

This psalm is the final victory over the depression and oppression that David experienced in the last 4 psalms. He rises up through the dynamics of spiritual warfare that includes an appeal to the name of Yahweh the warrior/deliverer (4x), strong personal declarations of who God is to him, new songs of praise and impassioned prayer. It contains many of the same elements of Psalm 18, David’s thanks- giving song. The last section of this psalm (12-15) has no other likeness in all of the ancient sacred lit- erature and is thought by many to be an added fragment to the song. It is most likely a prayer for the prosperity of the nation after David won the war against his enemies. Christ is seen as the “rock” (v.1) of Israel, the one who “subdues the nations” (v.2), the one who became human for our salvation “mere humans” (v.3) and the one who came down from heaven to save us, “Bend down the heavens , Lord, and come down.” (v.5) It breaks down into 4 sections: I MY STRENGTH - 1-4 What God and Man Are II SCATTER YOUR ENEMIES - 5-8 Warfare from Above III SING A NEW SONG - 9-11 Weapon of Worship IV SONS FLOURISHING - 12-15 Welfare of the Victorious Nation

INTRODUCTION:

“A Psalm of David”

There is an old tradition based on verse 11, “Save me from the fatal sword!” that this psalm was a celebration of David’s victory over Goliath. Delitzsch refers to David’s words in 1 Sam. 17:47; “And everyone will know that the Lord does not need weapons to rescue his people. It is his battle, not ours. The Lord will give you to us!” ‘ … it was intended to express the feelings with which David entered upon the single-handed combat with Goliath and decided the final victory of Israel over the Philistines.’ 1 While these views cannot be easily dismissed, in reality there is no definite instance in David’s life to which this psalm can be attached.

I

MY STRENGTH - 1-4

What God and Man Are

“Bless the Lord, who is my rock. He gives me strength for war and skill for battle. He is my loving ally and my fortress, my tower of safety, my deliverer. He stands before me as a shield, and I take refuge in him. He subdues the nations under me.” (1, 2)

David begins this song of spiritual warfare by ‘blessing’ the Lord with a deep, inner affection. In his outpouring of love he boldly declares all the wonderful things God is to his life.

1. My Rock- “…who is my rock. ” Throughout scripture the rock symbolizes the Messiah who stands in immovable strength; “…For they all drank from the miraculous rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ.” (1 Cor. 10:4)

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