Psalm 18:29-33 - February 22, 2009

Psalm 18:29-33 "29 With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. 30 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. 31 For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God? 32 It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. 33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights." NIV

Where does the victory come from? David was a seasoned and successful warrior and yet he knew one thing for sure. All that he was able to accomplish came through God’s help. He lived in a confident assurance of what is possible when we tap into the strength, boldness, and power of God. As he continues to write this psalm David begins connects the knowledge of his source with the nature of his source.
David celebrates the perfections of God in this next portion of
Psalm 18. Verse 30 is a great reminder that all of God’s ways are perfect. In other words his dealings with you are not a mistake, nor are they unjust. Rather all that God is doing concerning you is perfect. When we accept this reality in can help us to reinterpret the difficult seasons of our lives. One of the greatest snares for the believer is to look upon the difficult times in our lives and interpret them through a lens that brings judgment and accusation against God. To accept that God’s ways are perfect enables us to then consider. If God’s ways towards me are perfect then what is God doing for my good in the midst of this trial or difficulty? We can lift up the prayer, “Help me to understand the good that you are bringing from this.”
The flawless word of God! What a hope David reminds us of. Every word from the mouth of God is good for 2 Tim 3:16 instructs us that, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” When God speaks to me it is with perfection and it is a reflection of his desire to bring us me to maturity that is the underlying motive of his speaking. David is celebrating the shield that God is to his children. I believe that it is through the word that he shields us. Though there is also a dimension of the mystical protection of God there is a significant degree to which it is adherence to the word that God calls us to live by that is our shield, our power, our strength. David makes such a powerful statement about the perfections of the word of God right in the midst of declaring the provision of God’s power and might for battle and his protection from his enemies. All of this shouts to my spirit that it is the word that is the source of these things. As we stand on God’s perfect word we receive power for the fight, protection from the enemy and direction into his perfect promises.
David declares, “It is God who arms me with strength.” Isaiah 40:31 states that those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. This waiting upon the Lord is a waiting in the place of meditation upon the word until faith and revelation flow. God imparts strength to those who will abide in his word until that which is simply the written word affecting our minds becomes the living word impregnating our spirits with life and power. The more we wait on the perfect counsels of God the more we receive power and wisdom to defeat our enemies and to accomplish the victories that God has prepared for us. As we do this it is God who enables us to stand on the spiritual high places and enjoy the fruit of an intimate relationship with God.