God’s love transforms our love so we can declare His love to a dying world.

Psalm 18 is a song of thanksgiving and a royal psalm. The song responds to the many deliverances David experienced from his enemies, especially from Saul. The psalm also highlights God’s blessings on Israel’s kings.

Psalm 18:1–3—David loves the Lord and counts all the ways.

—My strength, my rock, my fortress, my God, my deliverer, my shield, my horn of salvation, my refuge, and my stronghold.

—David called, and the Lord answered.

Psalm 18:4–19—God displays His love in a seismical way.

—Deadly cords, torrents of water, and the bands of Sheol brought David down into a metaphorical grave (that could quickly become literal).
—God rushed down from heaven. The earth reeled and rocked; the foundations trembled, dark clouds billowed, and burning coal went forth, along with lightning and hail.
—God is David’s support and delights in David.

Psalm 18:20–30—David committed his life to the Lord’s standards.

—God is merciful to the merciful, blameless to the blameless, pure to the pure, and shrewd to the crooked. He saves the humble and humbles the proud. He lights up the dark and empowers His people.
—God is perfect, and so are His ways. His word is trustworthy and reliable.
—The Lord is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

Psalm 18:31–45—Love for God recognizes that God alone is able to give His people victory.

—God equipped David, made him blameless, made him secure, trained him for war, and gave him complete victory over his enemies.

Psalm 18:46–50—The Lord lives, and so does His king.

—David’s victory is a foreshadowing of the victory Jesus will experience. Except Jesus will literally die and be raised from the dead. When Jesus died, seismic events occurred—the earth shook, the veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and some of the dead were raised and walked around. All the nations will come under the rule of Christ.