Morning Light – May 20th, 2016: You are the Seed of David

Morning Light – May 20th, 2016
Today: [Psalms Eighteen] You are the Seed of David. In this chapter David describes the victory and dominion that God has given him. All of David’s enemies are destroyed. David is enthroned and every detractor and all opposition have been put down in his life. This will be your experience sooner or later as you walk with Christ. David understood it wasn’t his might or power but the hand of God that delivered him. He also understood that this protection and blessing was not just his to enjoy but was the inheritance of his seed which THROUGH CHRIST includes you and I.
[Psa 18:1-50 KJV] 1 [[To the chief Musician, [A Psalm] of David, the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day [that] the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said,]] I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. 2 The LORD [is] my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, [and] my high tower. 3 I will call upon the LORD, [who is worthy] to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. 4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. 5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. 6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, [even] into his ears. 7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth. 8 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. 9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness [was] under his feet. 10 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him [were] dark waters [and] thick clouds of the skies. 12 At the brightness [that was] before him his thick clouds passed, hail [stones] and coals of fire. 13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail [stones] and coals of fire. 14 Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. 15 Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
There will come a point in your life that that as David – the Lord will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies. What you do next is a reflection of your character and your relationship with Christ. One of the most trying times you will ever experience will be in the aftermath of a great victory in your life? What will you do? Will you as David give glory to God or will you as Saul draw praise to yourself? Will you set yourself to seeking God all the more or as Saul build a kingdom to serve only yourself? There are two kinds of pressure and temptation – one experienced in failure and the other experienced in success.
David gives all the praise and the glory for his victories to the Lord his God. He has armies and fortresses and armament but his confidence is in none of these. David’s secret weapon was his relationship with the Lord. He understood that he could have put forth all the effort and purpose and struggle and come up empty. Your success involved hard work, determination, creativity and effort but you could expend yourself in these and still be a failure. If you have success it comes from who God is in your life. Success without a relationship with God is an empty triumph. Jesus spoke of this in Matt. 16:26:
[Mat 16:26 KJV] 26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
In verse 3 David says that when he calls upon the Lord so shall he be saved and delivered. Again a reference to his prayer life. Prayer changes things. When we get to heaven we will look back and be astonished how far below our blessing and privilege we lived due to a lack of prayer. David understands this and incorporates prayer into his emergency response. He doesn’t reach first for any human instrumentality but for prayer.
Verse 13 describes what happens when David prays and when we pray. The Lord thunders from heaven and (v. 14) sends out His arrows. The angels in Revelation describe your prayers taken as coals and laid on the altar before God as an incense for Him to enjoy. Then they hurl these live coals into the earth and there are thunderings, lightnings, and earthquakes in answer to your prayer.
16 He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. 17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me. 18 They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay. 19 He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me. 20 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. 21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. 22 For all his judgments [were] before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me. 23 I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity. 24 Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight. 25 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright; 26 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward. 27 For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks. 28 For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness. 29 For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.
What is God’s response when you are in jeopardy? He will send from above and draw you out of many waters. Even when you are outnumbered (v. 17) He will deliver you from those who hate you. From this verse you can predict what happens next in your life. Do you have people who hate you? Are you facing overwhelming problems without enough resources to answer the need? God’s response is to deliver you, to prevent the calamity and be your stay and your rock in time of trouble. This is who He is and what He does and when you call upon Him this will be your testimony and experience at the end of the matter.
God will bring you forth into a large place (v. 19) and reward you as David says in (v. 20) according to your righteousness. For David – his righteousness was based on adherence to Moses’ law. For us our righteousness is not in the law but in the Lord Jesus Christ. God bestows upon you the reward and blessing that Jesus earned in your behalf. He is your righteousness and the standard by which your entitlement to God’s grace and blessing and benefit in your life is measured. Therefore even when you have failed and fallen short you can still expect an answer to prayer when you run to Him.
David also understood something about the reciprocity effect in God’s mercy (v. 25). David often showed mercy to his enemies. Why would he do this – because very seldom did his enemies requite him for his kindness. When you show mercy it will be very rare that those who hate you will recognize it and be thankful or humble about it. In fact when you show mercy to an enemy they will many times perceive it as weakness and redouble their attacks on you when possible. The point of showing mercy is not about how people respond but how God responds. He shows mercy to those who show mercy to others. Your treatment of others – particularly your detractors and those who trouble you – is a metric of the scope of God’s mercy you yourself will personally experience.
In all things be merciful – but do it on God’s terms and not man’s. We are to walk in love but not according to the demands or dictates of others. Many times people will accuse you and point the finger claiming you are not walking in love. They want to plow you under and pillage your life and take everything you have to give and leave nothing and if you don’t they wag their finger and say “I thought you were a Christian…” You can’t love a devil. You don’t love people on their terms because they will always ask and demand of you what you have no permission from God to give. Listen the Lord and do what He says and don’t expect thanks or reciprocity. God will repay you and God alone when you show mercy to the undeserving and the unkind and those who harbor enmity in their hearts toward you.
30 [As for] God, his way [is] perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he [is] a buckler to all those that trust in him. 31 For who [is] God save the LORD? or who [is] a rock save our God? 32 [It is] God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. 33 He maketh my feet like hinds’ [feet], and setteth me upon my high places. 34 He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. 35 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great. 36 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip. 37 I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed. 38 I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet. 39 For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me. 40 Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me. 41 They cried, but [there was] none to save [them: even] unto the LORD, but he answered them not. 42 Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets. 43 Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; [and] thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people [whom] I have not known shall serve me. 44 As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me. 45 The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places. 46 The LORD liveth; and blessed [be] my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted. 47 [It is] God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me. 48 He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man. 49 Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name. 50 Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.
In v. 30 when David says God’s way is perfect we know that from a New Testament perspective that His way is Jesus. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is a buckler and shield to ALL those that put their trust in Him. Do you trust Him? This is who He will be to you without deviation or variation. Theologians and religious mentalities teach that God will protect and bless some but not others because He is sovereignty and (the suggest) can violate His own word if He chooses to for some arbitrary purpose. This is contradictory to the words of David. If you trust Him and your life reflects trust in Him you will be saved, preserved, blessed and provided for. That may not be your experience but you have to decide: where does the authority in your life lay? In experience? Or in what the word of God says?
In verse 33 David says that God puts his feet on the high places. This is said in the context of battle, war and conquest. The high places are not natural things but seats of authority and principality. Adam and Eve were given authority and rule in the garden of Eden and told to subdue and conquer the earth. Satan took that authority when they sinned and Satan became the small god of this world. What was lost in the fall is restored in Christ.
It amazes me the reaction many Christians have to this. They don’t see themselves as the inheritors of Edenic authority in the earth. They don’t want the responsibility. They have a visceral reaction to the suggestion that they have authority as a believer. They would rather have a Santa Claus god who comes down the chimney of their life and rescues them while they dream of sugar plums and such. God is a God of authority and wants you to participate in your own rescue by the anointing of authority He has placed in your life.
God is a god that teaches your hands to war (v. 34). He is your shield and your salvation (v. 35). He enlarges your step (v. 36) so that your feet will not slip. In other words you are not living your life on the razor’s edge of the supposed will of God – He is actually enlarging your steps everywhere you go and will even make your mistakes to prosper. He girds you with strength for the battle (v 39) and gives you the necks of your enemies. When someone becomes your enemy – when they consider themselves in opposition to you – then you become god in their live. What happens next in their life will be determined by the parameters of your prayer life. If you have never experienced this then you haven’t ever prayed appropriately for your enemies.
God takes responsibility for avenging wrongs done to you (v. 47). God is your avenger and it is up to God to subdue your enemies. You do not have to subdue people. You do not have to make people bow to your will. When you leave things to God and war in your prayer life and walk in mercy you will see the deliverance of heaven visited upon your life in an unprecedented way. This is the deliverance that God gives to those He considers (kings) and those that are of David’s seed which includes you and I (v. 50).