David’s Victories Are Due to The Power of God

Psalms 18:30–45
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This passage is introduced by the major themes of refuge and God as “rock” (vv. 30-31), which is how this Psalm began (vv. 1-2). David was not a coward, he was a mighty warrior, who with all his armies and weapons, knew that only God could ultimately protect and save him. He uses the language of war to describe his victories. He consistently acknowledges that his victorious efforts are solely due to the power of God. He is convinced that his battle record is due to the Lord’s hand upon him.

David describes how God prepared him for battle, giving him strength and efficiency (vv. 32-34).  God promises to give us strength to meet challenges, but he doesn’t promise to eliminate them. If He gave us no rough roads to walk on and no battles to fight we would not grow. He gave him victory over his enemies, pursuing, crushing and destroying them (vv. 35-42) and how God gave him rule over other nations (vv. 43-45). Everything he had done and everything he now enjoyed was because of the Lord’s enabling strength. Just as God has provided the offensive weapons for the believer, likewise He provides adequate defensive weapons (v. 35). Seeing the victory of David, the enemy, as a last resort, cried out to God for victory but victory was denied to the ungodly (v. 41). God gave him victories in every battle (vv. 43-45). He did not attribute his victories to himself but realized it was a part of God’s plan.

Application

Some people think that belief in God is a crutch for weak people who cannot make it on their own. However God is truly a shield to protect me when I am too weak to face certain trials by myself.