Mensa Otabil - The Lord Delivered Me
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Psalm 18, verses 16 and 17: He sent from above; He took me; He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.
As we said earlier, Psalm 18 is a song of deliverance, David celebrating God’s deliverance to him and for him. He talks about his many enemies that surrounded him; he almost felt that he was at the point of death. Then help came from God because he cried to the Lord in his distress.
David says, this is how God helped me; this is how the Lord showed up for me. He says He sent from above, and that’s a very important picture that David paints for us. When you are sinking down in a pit or you’re going down the waters, you don’t want somebody just helping you from the bottom because it means they probably are also sinking. You want some help from above, someone who is above your problem, who’s above your situation. That’s how David saw God; that although he was going down, God is above and God is reaching from above to help him and to deliver him.
We always want to remember that, no matter how bad our situation is, God is above it. No matter how deep your problem is, God is above it. No matter how harsh your circumstance, God is above it. It may be drowning you, but God is above it, and you have to always look to Him from above to help you. The second thing David says is that He drew me out of many waters. So the picture is God, who is above; it’s almost like a helicopter that is above you. You’re sinking in the sea, and they send down a ladder from above, and you’re supposed to hold on to the ladder, or a hand reaches out and draws you out from the many waters.
The many waters that David is talking about are the many problems, the calamities, the difficulties that he is facing. What he teaches us is that if we are surrounded by many waters, we’re surrounded by many problems; God sends help from above, and He doesn’t just hover above us, He draws us out from above to where He is. He takes us from the low place to a higher place, and that’s a mark of God’s deliverance. He doesn’t deliver you and just drop you where you are; He delivers you and takes you to a higher place. There was a time when you were low, but He’s taking you higher, and we can all trust God that He’s taking us higher. He’s lifting us higher because He draws us from above. The third thing that David states in this verse is that God delivered me from my strong enemy.
Now, if you know anything about David, he had many strong enemies. The first ones he mentions were the lion and the bear; these are strong enemies that came against him, came against his flock, and God gave him victory over the lion and the bear. So that’s a strong enemy. We know about Goliath; that’s a very huge giant, a strong enemy. He said, God delivered me from Goliath. We know about Saul, the king; that’s also a strong enemy politically. Saul is strong, but God delivered him.
So David is telling us, no matter what the strong enemy is, it may be a beastly strong enemy; God will deliver you from it. It could be a giant; God will deliver you from that enemy. It could be a political foe, someone who is politically situated more powerful socially than you are, but God still will deliver you from your strong enemy. So the Lord is our deliverer, and no matter what problem you are faced with, it may look like a very strong enemy, but the Lord will deliver you from your strong enemy. You can trust Him as David trusted Him and see His salvation.
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, You are my helper and deliverer; Your mighty hand lifts me up to a high place. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.