Psalm 18
Pt. 3
David’s Hymn in Retrospect of a Life Crowned with Many Mercies
How God rose to save him when he cried to Him

This section of the Psalm reflects on the response to how God answered when he cried, “In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.” V.6.

In reality none of God’s people actually know what goes on in the spiritual realm when the Lord moves to answer a prayer of one of His children. Since we do not, we have a difficult time deciding if the words David used are literal or a figure of some kind, “it is as if…”

Ps 18:7-15
7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

We know that creation reacts to God’s anger. What an amazing thing it is to think of the God of heaven becoming angry on behalf of one of His sheep! The imagery is that of an earthquake but is caused by the earth’s reaction to His wrath. Next, we see a picture of a volcano, which is sometimes associated with an earthquake.

8 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

David was describing the most profound earthly events we know to point to the energy with which God moves on occasions to deliver His people.

As these verses go on to describe, the being heard became manifest in the form of deliverance. All nature stands to man in a sympathetic relationship, sharing his curse and blessing, his destruction and glory, and to God is a (so to speak) synergetic relationship, furnishing the harbingers and instruments of His mighty deeds. Accordingly in this instance Jahve’s interposition on behalf of David is accompanied by terrible manifestations in nature. Like the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, Ps 68; 77, and the giving of the Law on Sinai, Ex 19, and like the final appearing of Jahve and of Jesus Christ according to the words of prophet and apostle (Hab 3; 2 Thess 1:7 f.), the appearing of Jahve for the help of David has also extraordinary natural phenomena in its train. It is true we find no express record of any incident in David’s life of the kind recorded in 1 Sam 7:10. (from Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
10 And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel. KJV

But the intensity of David’s description points undoubtedly to something profound that he had witnessed. It would probably be a mistake to assume that we have on record every mighty deed of God during the life of David or of any of the other personalities of Israel’s history.

What follows closely parallels that which happens in the sky when a volcano erupts but the timing of it in David’s time of need made it to him a sure sign that God was in it and he included that imagery in his
description.

9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.
10 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds
of the skies.
12 At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.

Clouds and the lava launched high into the air are also realities of volcanoes. It is known that the Golan Heights of northern Israel lie in on a fault line that contains evidence of volcanic eruptions. To the date of this article: (https://www.livescience.com/29693-arabias-largest-volcano-field.html), no eruptions are scientifically known to have occurred as recently as David’s lifetime but it does seem that he had seen one and that it had come at a fortunate moment for him. The Psalm reflects his awe, not at the volcano itself but at the fact that God would so intervene in his rescue.

Now, it is true that this may have simply been his mental images and glorification of some other amazing deliverance that God had provided, expressed in the ‘as if’ mode but it does really seem that he had witnessed something that left a powerful impression on him.

13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
14 Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.
15 Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. KJV

How glorious it is as a child of God to see Him move so as to deliver us from danger. And, again, we have no idea as to what happens in the spiritual universe when He does so. All deliverances are mighty and glorious.

— April 23, 2020