He sent from on high. He took me. He drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me. For they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity. But the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a broad place. He rescued me because he delighted in me.
– Psalm 18:16–19
What imagery! What a picture of God’s rescue and the reason for God’s rescue!
Psalm 18:16–19 Is a Picture of Divine Rescue
So just picture, first, the rescue that the psalmist is describing here. How God sent from on high, took him and drew him out of many waters. Picture him drowning in waters. Do you ever feel like you’re drowning? You have a God who sends from on high to help you. “He rescued me,” Psalm18:17 says. And then specifically starts talking about the strength of his enemies and his weakness. “They were too mighty for me.”
But verse 18 says, “The Lord was my support.” Do you ever feel weak, too weak to address all the things happening around you, the attacks coming at you from all kinds of different directions, and even specifically spiritual attacks, attacks of the adversary in your life, your family, your work, in the church, in the world? We can feel weak, and really should feel weak in those circumstances. When the Bible tells us the devil is a lion looking to devour, there’s not one of us who, in and of ourselves alone, wants to go up against a lion. But verse 18 says, “The Lord was my support.”
And when the Lord is your support, it doesn’t matter how weak you are. Because he is strong, infinitely strong. And verse 19 says, “He brought me out into a broad place. He rescued me.” So all this picture of rescue.
Psalm 18:16–19 Reminds Us God Triumphs Over Adversity
So be encouraged today. In your weakness, in your drowning, you have a God who sends from on high to help you with his strength. Why? Verse 19, “He rescued me because he delighted in me.” The God who has all power, all authority, all sovereignty in all the universe delights in you as his child, as a man, as a woman who is trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. God is your father. He’s put his spirit inside of you, and he delights in you today.
So no matter what the adversary brings your way, no matter how weak and overwhelmed you feel, know that the God of the universe delights in you. And he will ultimately rescue you.
God, we praise you for Psalm 18:16-19. We praise you for this reality in our lives, the lives of every single person who trusts in you, that you are our rescuer. You are our support. You are our deliverer because you, by your grace, O God, delight in us. I just pray that, especially over every single person right now listening to this who’s walking through hard days, or just needs rescue in different ways, who needs support in different ways. God, be their rescuer, be their support, and help them to remember at all times that you delight in them.
And God, we pray for people around us who don’t know this, who don’t have this confidence, who’ve not been rescued by your grace in the gospel. God, we pray. Help us to share the gospel today, not as people who are trying to rescue others, but as the rescued who want to lead others to the rescuer. God give us boldness to share the gospel today around us.
Praying for the Azerbaijani People
And God, use us to spread this gospel to the ends of the earth, to the peoples of Azerbaijan. God caused the gospel of rescue, the good news of the rescuer, to be made known among all the peoples of Azerbaijan that they might experience your delight. Bring it about, God. Send out laborers to Azerbaijan. Bless brothers and sisters in Christ in Azerbaijan for the spread of your rescue and your glory as their rescuer.
God, may it be so among all the nations, even as we praise you for how it’s so in our lives. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
