Psalm 18

 

⁰⁴          The waves of death encompassed me,

the torrents of ungodliness terrified me,

⁰⁵          the cords of Sheol entangled me,

the snares of death confronted me.

            ₀₆          In my distress I called upon the LORD;

to my God I cried for help.

                        From His temple He heard my voice,

                                    My cry reached His ears.

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The Cords of Sin

For the Lord’s Day:  the 28^th of March 2004

 

Introduction: Let us begin today, with a partial outline of where we are in this lengthy hymn-psalm.  Last week we considered a three verse preface and today we dig into a three verse recital of David’s desperation and real need for the Lord’s personal rescue.  Next week we will begin a three part consideration of God’s power and might before the final closing of this section in a declaration that God will and has accomplished the necessary rescue.

 

In the midst of driving around the county with my students lately, I have read a little more of the area history so as to be able to describe the local scenery.  One thing that I recently discovered that when the Greenville Treaty line was established across the breadth of our county and state, there were built in and around Logan County a series of five block houses, stocked and guarded under the loose militia authority of a company of Rangers, who were charged with watching the frontier and rallying to the cause of threatened settlers.

 

On at least one occasion, one of those block houses was surrounded after the local neighbors sought refuge in the sanctity of its walls.  One farmer was sent off to rally the militia five to seven miles away.  In the meantime – the locals were able to protect their wives and children with their flintlock weapons – which at that time were never far from reach.  Later that same day a gallant band of mounted Rangers and Militia galloped into the township to affect a rescue and thereby the crisis was temporarily settled.

 

Yet still, the mental anguish of being shut up almost like captives in the confines of their small fortification was enough to unsettle a few of the pioneers and like many others – some would return to the relative safety of the Virginia and Kentucky Commonwealths: thereby, leaving the pushing back of the frontier to braver and hardier souls.

 

In that same time-frame: of the late eighteenth century, a French visitor and historic social commentator Alexis de Tocqueville wrote glowingly of the vibrant faith and morality of the American nation arising in the wilderness of North America.  He was utterly amazed at the promissory potential of goodness and greatness which he predicted would have a world wide impact.  Certainly, we all realize the nasty sides of warfare that accompanied the conquest of a continent – yet, still a large majority of those who settled the wilderness counted on the strengths of Christian character to see them through the ongoing turmoil of nation building.  And that generation of Americans was more likely to note the hand of providence not only in the saving works of God, but also in the Divine protections with which they were regularly blessed.

 

There were many, many moments – even days and weeks when the colonial settlers were spiritually challenged even as David was in the more primitive deserts of Palestine.  And yet, like David – many learned to turn to the hand of providence in times of danger, weakness and want.  And so it is in this spirit which we learn from David as well as from experience – that we turn to the deep scenes of spiritual and worldly realities outlined in this precious Psalm.

 

Development:  Delitzsch observes that “in these verses David gathers into one collective figure all the fearful dangers to which had had been exposed during his persecution by Saul, together with the marvelous answers and deliverances he experienced.”

 

The first thing I should note here is that even though the same Hebrew word occurs in both verse four and five, the poetic energy runs towards a different sense in the two colons.  In verse four, the “cords of death” seemingly imply “rivers of destruction… whose engulfing floods lead down to the abyss of destruction,” as Delitzsch notes. Calvin also senses that “the torrents of Belial” had almost engulfed David and thereby might have drowned him under the “waves of death” which I have used to set the scene here as best I can.  While “Belial” may well have significance as a satanic nuance, it may just as well describe the ordinary wickedness of the world which will never rise from being encompassed and overwhelmed just because it is the detestable work of Satan.

 

In the oceanic sense that I have used here, we may note the well known disposition of the Hebrews to avoid going down to the sea in boats, except on the limited surface of the Sea of Galilee.  I can certainly share in that ordinary feeling – since the only times I ever traveled at sea I wished I were flying instead.  And it is not without some great cause or purpose that I would even get on an airplane.  Decades ago, I was asked why I joined the Army – I announced that since I couldn’t fly or swim – I intended to remain on the ground, even if it meant hugging it dearly in the midst of a deadly swarm of lead.

 

In verse five the mood of the text shifts ever so slightly, even though it is the same snare or trap laid for the unwary in both verses.  David writes of his near escape:  “The cords of Sheol entangled me, the snares of death confronted me.”

 

Years ago, when we had a barn full of livestock, flies could easily get to be a problem, and so strips of fly paper would be unrolled, only to be thrown away before the week was out.  One year the fly problem seemed worse than usual and I discovered a fly tape that was eight feet long and ten to twelve inches wide.  I hung it up and waited for the anticipated results.  The next morning, when I walked into the barn, my fly paper was gone.  Then I heard a pathetic meow over in the corner where the Yellow Tom cat was completely entangled in the snare of glue, straw and everything else he had collected when he batted at a trapped white moth which must have caught his fancy.

 

Oh, he was feisty in his frustration and so the best I could do for him was to grab a strategic corner and gently pull the opposite direction that he was.  Slowly, one limb at a time he escaped, leaving clumps of fur behind.  Even though I had rescued him, he was not sociable for several weeks afterward.  With this image in mind, let those who have followed Tolkien’s Hobbits and Dwarves: remember the forest spiders in “There and back again” –  Biblo’s first account of adventures in Middle Earth.  And then at the end of the final trilogy – remember the obstacle to Mount Doom and the dangerous spider that threatened Bilbo’s nephew Frodo.

 

Sin is an entanglement of just such a magnitude David would have us realize.  And given the nature of David’s ongoing problems – it was not necessarily his own sin which endangered his life.  The poor peasants who live in Iraq must contend daily with wicked terrorists even as the wealthier citizens in Israel.  Just like a spider and a fly – an unhealthy relationship is only a web of deceit away!  Here in this country there are also countless opportunities for the agents of Satan to grab our attention and draw us away after base desires.

 

Application: In both of these scenes Delitzsch tells us that: “David here appears as passive throughout; the hand from out of the clouds seizes him and draws him out of mighty waters.”  Do we comprehend the outside agency of the Lord’s protective hand in all of David’s escapades?  Back when the movie industry was young, there appeared several series of short teasers to keep the audience coming back to the theater week after week.  “The Perils of Pauline” was only one of those popular advertising strategies.  I that same sense, we can read in David’s Psalms a similar pattern:  The Perils of David, we may even call the collection of his psalms.  And week by week these last sixteen years we have visited the escapades of David regularly – all the more to be drawn in to the same vision of God that David realized.  To the same spiritual need, the same spiritual calling that he knew so well day after day – his whole life long.

 

Our last verse for today is an acknowledgement of the daily necessity for God’s kind hand of providence:  “In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help.”  Calvin tells us that “it was a very evident proof of uncommon faith in David, when, being almost plunged into the gulf of death, he lifted up his heart to heaven by prayer.  Let us therefore learn, that such an example is set before our eyes, that no calamities, however great and oppressive, may hinder us from praying, or create an aversion to it.”

 

Spurgeon quotes this observation of John Flavel:  “It was said of Luther (That man could have of God what he would); his enemies felt the weight of his prayers; and the church of God reaped the benefits thereof.  The Queen of Scots professed she was more afraid of the prayers of Mr Knox, than of an army of ten thousand men.  These were mighty wrestlers with God, howsoever contemned and vilified among their enemies>”

 

We do not have to be bunkered down in Iraq to know that Satan carouses nightly and even during the daylight: to see whom he may devour.  Even as this year’s election heats up in an untimely fashion – the verbal battles must be realized as more than just political jousting.  At the very least – it should be noted that a real cancer of hatred is infecting a significant portion of the electorate: and that motivation is unsettling to those who know what it looks like!

 

In this psalm at least, David was celebrating the end of his early troubles.  There would of course be many more over the course of his long life in service to the Creator God.  But at the very least, he is strengthened for that service with the knowledge that he affirms in the last line of our poetry for today: “From His temple He heard my voice, my cry reached His ears.”

 

Just as the early Ohio pioneers that I mentioned when we started – if we know where to send messages for help, we may hope all the more that our most intense and important needs will be met.  In the last year or so in public service, there was a handful of students who were fragile in their emotional constitution. That I knew of.  Providentially – they found a few of us amongst the faculty who would not only listen to their problems but also do something about them.  While they were instructed to deal with any problems that they could handle, they also realized that when they were in over their head – someone could be counted on.  One of these David like students could be an emotional wreck by Tuesday and she wanted to stay home and recuperate every Wednesday.  Then I gave her a Bible and assigned a psalm a day.  It took some time, but she ended up being able to bear up under the strain through the end of the Semester.  Then we made arrangements for her to move on to a better place, where regular persecution of the innocent was not so well tolerated.

 

Yes, this old world is full of struggles, trials and no end of challenges and problems – yet, underneath us all who call upon the Name of the Lord, there is ever and always, His support, guidance, encouragement and protection.  What is the worst that could have happened to David?  He could have been killed and thereby sent on to glory!  There is at least one nervous Nelly up our way who worries that I shouldn’t be involved in “Extreme Education.”  No matter how much I explain my confidence in the Lord of heaven and earth – he does not understand.  I wish he could – his life could be ever so much calmer, refreshing and everlasting: just like David’s.  Where is your heart in this life?  You could learn a lot from David, and I hope you will.  Amen.

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PREACHING RESOURCES

 

Calvin, John:  Commentary on Book of Psalms.

Delitzsch, F:  Commentary on the Old Testament – Psalms.

Spurgeon, C.H:  Treasury of David.

The Westminster Confession & Catechisms.

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