Homilist Psalm 18:1-3 I will love you, O LORD, my strength.… This Psalm is a fervent outpouring of gratitude, not for any single deliverance, but for all the deliverances of his tried and stormy life. I. A LIFE GREATLY TROUBLED. Four facts concerning "ungodly men." They were worthless, numerous, violent, and indefatigable. And our sufferings, as David's, grow out of our physical constitution, our social relationships, our moral delinquencies and remorses. II. A GOD EQUAL TO ALL EMERGENCIES. God appears to David in his trials in a two-fold aspect — passive and active: resting as a rock, and moving as a thunderstorm. 1. God appeared to him as his all-sufficient protector. A refuge impregnable, ever accessible, and everlasting. 2. God appeared as his triumphant deliverer. The description of God moving for his deliverance is grandly poetic. This poetic description is both natural and religious. Three observations are suggested — (1) It is a movement in answer to prayer. (2) It is a movement sublimely grand. (3) It is a movement completely effective. III. A SOUL ALIVE WITH TRUE SENTIMENTS. 1. Love. Love to God is the essence of goodness, and the sum total of man's obligation. 2. Trust. This is connected with love. True love has respect to excellence, and will ever lead to trusting. 3. Praise. "I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised." Worship is heaven. (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: {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. |
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