To Sum It Up...
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READ: Psalm 18:46-50
“Do you want the long story or the short story?” You’ve probably asked someone that question or been asked it before. More often than not, in the business of our lives, we opt for the short story. We might respond, “Just give me the highlights,” or maybe say, “how about you sum things up.”
These last verses sum up this Psalm very nicely, sort of hitting the “high points,” the basic facts, that David has spent time expounding on in Psalm 18.
Fact 1: God lives! A living being is active, and God was active in David’s life, just like he is active in ours.
Fact 2: God is strong. David calls God his Rock. The first half of the Psalm describes that strength in detail – powerfully destructive strength over the enemies of God and his people. Sure protective strength for those who believe in Him.
Fact 3: God is our Savior. Those who hope in the LORD, who put their trust fully in him, will be delivered from every trial. And as we’ve noted many times throughout the study of this Psalm, our greatest deliverance is from the eternal death and destruction our sins deserve through faith in Jesus, whose perfect life, death, and resurrection have rescued us for eternity.
Fact 4: Praise and exaltation belong to our God alone! As recipients of God’s grace and protection, the children of God, like David, praise their powerful Savior-God for all that he has done and continues to do for them, and proclaim his
wonderful deeds and salvation to the nations.
The short story is important, but the long story gives us deeper appreciation and assurance of the facts: our God is a living, active God that provides salvation and protection for those who believe in Him. Let us rejoice in Him – always!
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT: How has the living God shown his power and grace in your daily life? How could you improve your effort to “praise him among the nations?”
THINGS TO PRAY ABOUT: Thank God for his mighty protective power and for his loving grace in our Savior Jesus. Pray for courage to proclaim his praises and his message of salvation to everyone you meet. Ask God for increased trust in his promises.