Psalm 18:1

Review: This psalm was first recorded in II Samuel 22 and then fine-tuned as we have it here in the 18th Psalm for worship services. It is also to be noted, that II Samuel 23:1a says: "Now these be the last words of David." I take that to mean it was written after all his experiences, the good and the bad.

"This is one of the most majestic and beautiful of the worship psalms. It is at once a perfect pattern of praise, and therefore a great revelation of the method and might and mercy of God." G. Campbell Morgan.

"The piety exceeds the poetry as holy faith, love, joy, praise and hope are here active and lively." Matthew Henry

"To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said," (Deliverance from all enemies, especially Saul).

"I will love Thee, O LORD, my strength." Psalm 18:1.

Let us reflect for a moment on Matthew 22:34-40.

"But when the Pharisees had heard that He had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting Him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment of the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

The Ten Commandments have been taken down from public buildings and courtrooms as if to say---"We will not have God to rule over us"---but the summation of the decalogue, as we just read, is in the heart's of God's people. We do not serve our Lord from a legalistic viewpoint, but out of a heart of love, and in being led of the Spirit we understand our Savior's summation of the moral law, and thus fulfill the law as we love Him and our neighbour.

Love to God is the first and great commandment of the law, because it is the bases of all acceptable praise and obedience.

"We love Him, because He first loved us." I John 4:19.

"An interest in the Person loved is the lover's delight; this string therefore David touches, and on this he harps with much pleasure." Matthew Henry.

"The future form I will love, represents it as a permanent affection, and expresses a fixed purpose. I not only love Thee now, but am resolved to do so forever...from the etymology the verb seems to express the strongest and most intimate attachment." J.A.Alexander

We often refer to the Apostle Paul coining new words because of the magnitude of the expression. The same Holy Spirit Who inspired brother Paul, also inspired David, for he made a new word to cover the magnitude of his devotion. I want to quote some great men of the past who endeavored to capture the meaning of the word "love" as used here in Psalm 18:1.

To quote John Calvin:

"And he said, 'I will affectionately love Thee, O Jehovah, my strength.' This is the rendering of the French version. The word in the text is very expressive...Coccuies says it is to love with deepest and strongest affections of the heart, with moving of all the bowels. Ainsworth-I will dearly love Thee.

Street-I love Thee exceedingly. Bishop House-With all the yearnings of affection, I will love Thee, O Lord. Dr. Adam Clark-From my inmost bowels will I love Thee, O Lord.

The word, therefore, denotes the tenderness and intensity of David's emotions.

It is to be observed, that love to God is here laid down as constituting the principal part of true godliness; for there is no better way of serving God than to love Him."

Matthew Poole said:

"Most affectionately and with my whole soul; as the Hebrew word signifies. I can return Thee no better thing for all Thy favors than my love and heart, which I pray Thee to accept., By loving Him he understands not only his inward affections, but also all the outward expressions and testimonies of it; praising, and glorifying and serving Him."

These interesting comments come from Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's commentary:

"I will love Thee, O Lord"- Hebrew, love with intense affection (to love from the inmost bowels; a word made by David, as no existing term was strong enough to express his feeling...The love of God, experienced so richly by David, generated in him an intense reciprocal love toward God."

From the Treasury of David (C.H.Spurgeon):

"'I will love Thee, O LORD' with strong, heart affection and will cling to Thee,...The word is intensely forcible, the love is of the deepest kind. I will love heartily, with my most intimate union with the Most High. Our triune God deserves the warmest love of all our hearts...The solemn purpose, never to cease loving, naturally springs from present fervor of affection. It is wrong to make rash resolutions, but this, when made in the strength of God is most wise and fitting.

Lastly, Warren W. Wiersbe's comments:

"When David expressed his love for the Lord, he used a special word that means 'to love deeply..a deep and fervent love, the kind of love all of us should have for our Lord."

To borrow some thoughts from "The Preacher's Homiletic Commentary" there is good reason for this true love to the Lord. First of all, The object of it was right. "I will love Thee." As faith must needs have an object, so must our love.

Some direct their love toward nature and place their admiration and delight on the works of God. They go from admiration to idealization, then to idolization of it.

Some lavish their affction on their friends and love the creature more than the Creator. Our love for our Lord is to far exceed any love to man.

Some love self. How common is self-idolatry! To be wholly occupied with our own interests ever buring incense to our own greatness! How many are their own divinities, living to glorify, to serve, to worship themselves!

Some the world. The Apostle says that the love of the world is enmity with God. What is this love of the world which is opposed to the love of the Father?

The setting of our affections on the gifts of God...almost to the forgetting of the Giver of the gifts.

He is the chief object of our love. "Thee" only "Thee...nothing must we love above God, or so much as God, much less against God.

O that our hearts would be in accord with the Psalmist, may we love our Lord unreservedly, with all our being. The more we know our Lord, we cannot help but love Him that much more. David loved God's Word devotedly, which enabled him to understand and love the LORD intensely through his experiences.

By Warren Hartman