God is Worthy of All My Love

I need to love my God supremely.

February 22, 2022

"And he [David] said, I will love thee, O LORD, my strength."

Psalm 18:1

Yesterday –  “Love is learning how to treat others as Jesus did, with agape love.”

 

Today:

David’s eighteenth Psalm is a long Psalm of praise for His God.  [1]  He has high praise for the LORD (Jehovah), who has been his Deliverer throughout his life.  In this Psalm, we see –

David rejoices in God who has delivered him (vv. 1-19).
David takes comfort in living right before God (vv. 20-28).
David praises the LORD for all the times He delivered him (vv. 29-50).

David had not led an easy life.  As a shepherd, he knew what the danger of wild beasts was.  And later, King Saul “discovered him” as a brave shepherd boy who was willing to fight the giant that no one in Israel’s army would dare tangle with.  Saul, intimidated by this godly, meek shepherd lad, made it his personal plan to kill him!  And David lived in peril of his life, he had only the LORD to protect him, and he learned that the LORD is enough!

“Since he was taken from the sheepfold and anointed the future king of Israel, David had lived some 20 or so years as a fugitive and as a man who had lost everything.  He lost his safety, he lost his youth, he lost his family, he lost his career, he lost his rights, he lost his connection with the covenant people of God, he lost his comforts, and at times he even lost his close relationship with God.  Despite all, he remained steadfast to the Lord, and God – in His timing – delivered David and fulfilled the long-ago promise of his anointing” [2] (EWC).

Interestingly, in the introduction of this Psalm, David speaks of the LORD “delivering him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.”  Remarkably, David never saw his king as his enemy, but he credited the LORD for protecting him from the king.  As a result of everything that the LORD had done for him, he wrote this beautiful psalm.  Please take the time to read it.

 

“And he said, I will love thee, O LORD.”
David, overwhelmed by God’s goodness to him, burst forth with emotion!  Not only did David love the LORD, but he declared that he would continue to love Him.

“He expressed his love for the Lord who had shown mercy to him throughout his many struggles” [3] (BKC).

“I will love thee most affectionately and with my whole soul.  I can make thee no better return for all thy favors than my love, which I pray thee to accept” [4] (Benson).

“With strong, hearty affection will I cling to thee; as a child to its parent or a spouse to her husband.  The word is intensely forcible, the love is of the deepest kind” [5] (Spurgeon).

“Love – Most affectionately, and with my whole soul; as the Hebrew word signifies.” [6] (John Wesley).

“Hebrew, I will love thee dearly and entirely…from the very heart-root” [7] (Trapp – EWC).

As we pause to think of David’s great love for the LORD, let’s take a moment to assess our love for Jesus Christ.  He has treated us graciously, and He constantly cares for our needs.  Indeed, we owe Jesus our deepest love from here on.  But David’s love was not just some internal feel-good emotion.  His love for God was also external in what he did for God and others.  Telling Jesus is essential but doing for Him is vital.  What am I doing for Jesus today and tomorrow?

 

“My strength.”
In our verse, David tells how he could function in his affliction – “the LORD, my strength!”  God faithfully strengthened him for service.  In these first two verses, David describes God in at least nine ways that help us understand who He is and what He does for His child.

He is my Strength (v. 1) – He is the real power behind His child’s life.

He is my Rock (vv. 2, 31, 46) – He gives us security (stability), a firm foothold.

He is my Fortress (v. 2) – His place of total safety for His child, high up from the enemy.

He is my Deliverer (v. 2, 43, 48) – He makes a way of escape for us.

He is my God (v. 2, 30, 32, 47) – “God” – a Protector, Helper, Friend, Father, Saviour” [8] (Barnes).  “…my strong God, not only the object of my adoration but he who puts strength in my soul” [9](Clarke).

He is my Strength (different word from v. 1) (v. 2, 31, 46) – “He is my rock in whom I take refuge” [10] (CB).  What good is a “refuge” if we don’t use it?

He is my Shield (buckler) (v. 2, 30, 35) – He protects my heart and my head.

He is my Horn of Salvation (v. 2, 35, 46) – He is powerful, and He defends me and gives me strength.

He is my High Tower (v. 2) – He is my stronghold.  It is high and a great vantage point.  It keeps me safe from the enemy.

It is no wonder that David called upon this Great God!  He is worthy of David’s words of praise.  And Believers, we are here to live for Him and to love and glorify Him and show Him to others as the great God that He is!

 

“Love is our internal and external gratitude that we show to God and others.”

 

Quote:  “David was a praying man, and God was found a prayer-hearing God” [11] (Matthew Henry).  If we were praying, people, wouldn’t God be free to work in our lives as He did in David’s?

 

 

 

[1] Psalm 18 has 50 verses; only Psalms 78, 89, and 119 are longer.
[2] EWC – David Guzik.  Enduring Word Commentary, the electronic version in eSword.
[3] BKC, Allen P. Ross, “Psalms,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed.  J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 806.
[4] JBC – Joseph Benson.  Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments, the electronic version in eSword.
[5] TOD – C.H. Spurgeon.  Treasury of David, the electronic version in eSword.
[6] JWN – John Wesley.  John Wesley’s Notes on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword.
[7] Trapp’s quote is borrowed from EWC, ibid.
[8] BNB – Albert Barnes.  Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword.
[9] ACC – Adam Clarke.  Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword.
[10] CBCambridge Bible, the electronic Bible notes in eSword.
[11] Matthew Henry and Thomas Scott, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), Ps 18:1.