To the chief Musician, A Psalm or Song of David.
The psalm that we’re about to study is authored by King David. Much like the song of Deborah in Judges 5, which extols the majesty and power of the God of Israel, it’s a song of victory. How wonderful that we have two leaders of Israel, Deborah and David, both singing to the same God because the same God was the reason the two leaders had to sing!
Our psalm for the next few days is considered a royal psalm. We’ll find the character names of God throughout these verses by the Hebrew titles “Elohim,” “Jehovah,” “Jah (the abbreviated form),” “Adonai,” and “Shaddai.”
The apostle Paul quoted verse 18 from this psalm in Ephesians 4:8, writing, “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.” This Messianic assignment to the words of King David not only incorporates a Trinitarian application to the royal song, but it also reminds us that one of the more poetic titles of Jesus concerning the nation of Israel is expressed in these verses: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God,The Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Isaiah 43:2-3a)
The Holy One of Israel is Israel’s Savior, and He is ours as well! All of these elements take us to our title by looking back to Deborah in the time of the Judges of Israel and forward to the Church Age. Then, combined with the words of David in Psalm 68, the only rightful conclusion we can draw about our God and His people is that He is the Champion of the Chosen!
He stood behind Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Rahab, Deborah, David, Mary, James, John, Paul, Spurgeon, Moody, Graham, and He stands also behind you and me. Elohim, Jehovah, Yah, Adonai, Shaddai is the champion of the chosen, whether the chosen be the Jews, whom He chose to set His love upon and through whom He would bring His Messiah into the world, or those who become the chosen by faith and trust in the Holy One of Israel as their Savior. We will find within this psalm some very needful and timely reminders of what knowing God means to our everyday lives as His chosen people on this earth, awaiting our transport home to heaven. Are you ready? Let’s go out today with this thought in our hearts and minds: God loves us, and He has a plan for us, as He did with David and Deborah, that includes bigger things than we can even imagine!
Excerpt from “Beside Still Waters” now available on Amazon.
BARRY STAGNER
Spend a few quiet minutes in the Psalms each day. Keep reading in Beside Still Waters by Barry Stagner.
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