A Majestic Picture Of A Magnificent God

Psalm 18:7-19

7Then the earth quaked and trembled;

the foundations of the mountains shook;

they quaked because of his anger.

8Smoke poured from his nostrils;

fierce flames leaped from his mouth;

glowing coals flamed forth from him.

9He opened the heavens and came down;

dark storm clouds were beneath his feet.

10Mounted on a mighty angel, he flew,

soaring on the wings of the wind.

11He shrouded himself in darkness,

veiling his approach with dense rain clouds.

12The brilliance of his presence broke through the clouds,

raining down hail and burning coals.

13The LORD thundered from heaven;

the Most High gave a mighty shout.

14He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies;

his lightning flashed, and they were greatly confused.

15Then at your command, O LORD,

at the blast of your breath,

the bottom of the sea could be seen,

and the foundations of the earth were laid bare.

16He reached down from heaven and rescued me;

he drew me out of deep waters.

17He delivered me from my powerful enemies,

from those who hated me and were too strong for me.

18They attacked me at a moment when I was weakest,

but the LORD upheld me.

19He led me to a place of safety;

he rescued me because he delights in me.

How powerful is your God? In theology we use big, four-syllable words like omnipresent, omnipotent, and everlasting to describe him, and often those words don’t really help people understand very well. But David describes God in language we can grasp. In stark, strong images, David paints the picture of God shooting arrows and flashing lightning. He speaks of smoke pouring from God’s nostrils and flames leaping from his mouth. He sees God stepping down from heaven and soaring on the wings of the wind, veiled in darkness until he brilliantly breaks through the clouds.

A majestic picture indeed. But why is God doing this? Go back to verse 6. God is doing all this in answer to a shepherd boy’s prayer.

No doubt David was recalling how God had rescued the people of Israel over and over again, and he was also recalling how God had rescued him.

As you look back on your life, you, too, will realize that these magnificent verses are not simply for David or the Israelites. They are your verses as well because you, too, have a magnificent God.

How Thou canst think so well of me

And be the God Thou art

Is darkness to my intellect

But sunshine to my heart.

FREDERICK W. FABER

A Word on Words

In verse 19 the “place of safety” is literally a broad, open space. By contrast, “distress” in verse 6 is literally a narrow place, a “tight spot.” Perhaps David is thinking back to times when he was hiding from Saul in a cave and longed to be free to come out into a broad, safe place.

Notable Quotable

Making his way through the rubble after an earthquake devastated San Francisco, a newsboy said, “It took a long time to put all this stuff up, but God tumbled it over in a minute.”