Psalm 18:1–16

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord rescued him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:

1I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.

4The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of destruction assailed me;
5the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.

6In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.

7Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
8Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
9He bowed the heavens and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.
10He rode on a cherub and flew;
he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
11He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,
thick clouds dark with water.
12Out of the brightness before him
hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

13The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered his voice,
hailstones and coals of fire.
14And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;
he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
15Then the channels of the sea were seen,
and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O Lord,
at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

16He sent from on high, he took me;
he drew me out of many waters.

Imagine This

If you ever find reading the Bible boring, it might very well be because you’re not using your imagination when reading.

Now, I certainly don’t mean to say that we should use our imaginations to insert things into the Bible or add to it. But sometimes people approach the Bible as if it were merely a dry text book of information to be studied. This is not the case!

God’s Word is filled with word pictures that should stir our imaginations and cause us to wonder.

Psalm 18 is a great example of a text that is best read with the imagination engaged.

David writes this Psalm after God has delivered him from King Saul. Now, David could have explained how God delivered him in prose, but instead he does so through poetry.

1I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.

Notice the descriptions of God here! David speaks of God as his strength, rock (twice), fortress, deliverer, shield, horn of salvation, and stronghold.  Let your imagination consider these words and what they say about the Lord!

Now, as you read the following verses, picture in your mind what David is describing.

4The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of destruction assailed me;
5the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.

Do you see David trapped? What do the cords look like? What are the cords?

David, thrashing about, couldn’t break free from the cords, but he calls out to the Lord for help!

6In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.

Can you picture the Lord in His temple cupping His ear to hear David? Can you see Him leaping from His throne to come to the rescue?

Here He comes! And oh, what a scene it is!

7Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
8Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
9He bowed the heavens and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.
10He rode on a cherub and flew;
he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
11He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,
thick clouds dark with water.
12Out of the brightness before him
hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

Can you picture this? The earth is rocking and shaking as God leaps forth, breathing fire! The Lord isn’t riding upon a horse, but he’s riding on an angel! And not just any angel, but a cherub. This is the kind of angel God appointed to guard the Garden of Eden to prevent Adam and Eve from re-entering. Two cherubim were placed on the mercy-seat of the ark and two of colossal size overshadowed it in Solomon’s temple.

And God, riding upon a cherub, simply grabs the darkness of the sky and the covering of the clouds and wraps it around Himself as if putting on a cloak. God comes…unseen perhaps…but He comes and He comes to rescue and deliver with great might!

Now, let your imagination go as you read or hear the rest of the appointed verses this Psalm.

13The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered his voice,
hailstones and coals of fire.
14And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;
he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
15Then the channels of the sea were seen,
and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O Lord,
at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

16He sent from on high, he took me;
he drew me out of many waters.

Now, consider these questions:

What do you see in your mind?
What do these words and the words found in the previous verses tell you about God?
What do they tell you about God’s relationship to His chosen people?
How can this Psalm be comforting for you?

For Further Study

Now that we’ve walked through this Psalm with imaginations engaged, read Revelation 1:9-20 with the same approach and consider what it is communicating about Jesus.