Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

INTRODUCTION :

“ For the choir director: A psalm of David, the servant of the Lord. He sang this song to the Lord on the day the lord rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul. ”

This psalm is matched in David’s life by 2 Samuel 7 and 8 where he received God’s promise through Nathan that his throne would last forever and he experienced victory over all his enemies. Up to this point in biblical history only Moses and Joshua were called ‘servants of the Lord’, now David joins them as the great king and psalmist of Israel.

I THE SHIELD OF PROTECTION - 1-27

The Song of Love 1-6 (NKJV)

“ I will love You, O Lord, my strength. ” ‘ I will love you ’ is not found in the 2 Samuel but was added in the psalm version. This is the foun- dation for our entire relationship with God, loving him because he first loved us. Next are listed seven things that God has become to David: • “ The Lord is my ROCK ” (2) David starts by confessing the Lord as his rock and ends the psalm with blessing the Lord his rock. (46) • “ and my FORTRESS ”(2) David had no castle to protect him but the Lord. • “ and my DELIVERER ; ”(2) This is the theme of the psalm. • “ My God, my STRENGTH , in whom I will trust ” God was faithful to David when there was noth- ing left to rely upon. • “ my stronghold.”(2) The stronghold was the inner defense of the fortress, a high tower where you could retreat when the outer defenses collapsed. A deep relationship with God in worship and prayer is an inner life, a stronghold where you can retreat in times of battle and trouble. “ I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.”(3) The three-fold cord of ‘prayer’, ‘praise’ and ‘preservation’ from our enemies is underscored in this verse. Prayer and praise is the beginning of the great deliverance described in the rest of the psalm. • “ My SHIELD ” (2) The Lord was his defensive armor in times of battle. • “ and the HORN of my salvation, “ (2) This was for offensive battles of attack.

“ The pangs of death encompassed me, and the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me. (4,5)

David experienced this many times as Saul hunted him to murder him. Jesus experienced the cords of death upon the cross and the curses of ungodly people flooding his mind.

“ In my distress I called upon the lord, and cried out to my god; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, even to His ears.”(6) Distress has a way of turning our ‘calls’ upon the Lord into ‘cries’ for help. David ‘cried out’ nine different times in the psalms and always it was a cry for freedom from extremely difficult situations. Jesus cried out upon the cross: “ Then, at that time Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (Mrk. 15:34)

The Lord Comes Down 7-15 (NLT)

“ Then the earth quaked and trembled; the foundations of the mountains shook; they quaked because of his anger. Smoke poured from his nostrils; fierce flames leaped from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. He opened the heavens and came down; dark storm clouds were beneath his feet. Mounted on a mighty angel, (cherub) he flew, soaring on the wings of the wind. He shrouded himself in darkness, veiling his approach with dense rain clouds. The brilliance of his presence broke through the clouds, raining down hail and burning coals. The Lord thundered from heaven; the Most High gave a mighty shout. He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies; his lightning flashed, and they were greatly confused. Then at your command, O Lord, at the blast of your breath, the bottom of the sea could be seen, and the foundations of the earth were laid bare.” (7-15)

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