Psalms 18:30

Psalm 18:30

The Bible says in Psalms 18:30, “As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.” There are a great many things to learn about the LORD here in Psalms 18. But knowledge will do you no good if you do not use that knowledge to make the right decision. You can decide to go your way or to go God’s way. Most people go their way instead of God’s way. It certainly is easier to do things, “My way,” than to do things God’s way. But know this, God’s way is perfect. The word “perfect” which is used here literally means without blemish. This word is used throughout the Old Testament in reference to the lambs of sacrifice. One of the first uses you will find of this word is in reference to the Passover lamb. Exodus 12:5 says, “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:”

Of course, we know from the New Testament that Jesus is both the passover and the Lamb that was slain for our sins. First Corinthians 5:7 says, “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:” First Peter 1:8-19, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:” God’s way is perfect. And to go God’s way you must first turn to Jesus for forgiveness of your sins. If you have never trusted in Jesus, then you have never even begun to go God’s way.

Proverb 16:25 says, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” You might think your way is the best way. You will certainly be tempted to go your own way instead of God’s way because of your desires. But the things you desire are not as good as the things God desires for you. You are a sinner, your way is sinful. God is holy, His way is perfect. Who are you compared to God? It is always better to go God’s way rather than your own.

The most important reason to go God’s way is for forgiveness of sins and eternal life through Jesus but also because of what is explained in the last half of verse 30, “the word of the LORD is tried:” Notice the word “tried.” It is a word that refers to the process used for the purifying of gold. God’s Word has stood the test of time. It is incorruptible just as Jesus is incorruptible. Jesus himself said not one jot or title shall pass away. Therefore we know we can trust His word because it is tried. We know God’s way is perfect because His Word is His way and His word is tried. It does not matter how high your IQ is you will never be as smart as God is. And therefore you will never have all the wisdom nor the information you need to make the best decisions in life. If you want to go the perfect way, if you want to make decisions that are without error and that lead you down the path of being without spot or blemish there is only one way to go and that is God’s way. Therefore, when God tells you to do something, do it. No matter how much you know, He knows more than you. No matter how much you understand, He understands more than you.

Going God’s way mean more than just trusting in Jesus for salvation from your sins. But it means trusting in His Word day by day because it is through His Word that He will give you wisdom. The more you know about the Word of God the better equipped you will be to make the best decisions possible and to be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit.

This phrase in verse 30 which says, “the word of the Lord is tried,” is a very important phrase. Most often in the Bible when we think of trying, we think of men being tried or God trying men. How often do we think of God’s Word being tried? If something has been tried then you know it is reliable. Do you doubt that God’s way is perfect, that God’s way is better than your way? Then read the Bible and you will see it is so. Experience is a great teacher, but you do not have to walk a mile in another person’s shoes, you do not have to make the same mistakes that other men make and learn the hard way. Simply look in God’s Word because the Word of God is tried. Everything recorded in the Bible is true. Every teaching, and every story of men, who trusted in God and who did not, are true stories. Look carefully at their lives for you will find no better examples of both faith and failure.

We live in a world today in which the Bible is constantly attacked in regards to its reliability. But this is nothing new. These same attacks, these same lies as to the accuracy of the Bible have been occurring for thousands of years. When it comes to a contest between that which is a lie and that which is the truth, the truth always wins in the end. And that is why God’s Word always outlasts any lie. Do not believe the lies, God’s way is perfect, and His Word is tried.

Notice that the last part of verse 30 says, “He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him.” Once again we are reminded who is our protection, our shield. It is Jesus. If you choose to go God’s way, then you will have all the protection that you need from any attack, whether it is a lie cast to pierce a fiery dart into your faith or whether it is the temptation to go your own way instead of God’s perfect way. That is why when Paul spoke of the armor of God he said in Ephesians 6:16, “Above all, taking the shield of faith.” Your faith in Jesus is a shield but Jesus himself also will shield you. Even when you have your doubts and failures, He still will protect you because of His great love for His children and because of His great mercy.

Psalms 18:31, “For who is God save the LORD? Or who is a rock save your God?” Verse 31 is a rhetorical question. Rhetorical questions are often a form of sarcasm because they ask a question, not for the sake of asking a question, but because the answer should be so blatantly obvious. There is only one God, the LORD Jesus Christ. There is only one rock, Jesus. There is no other. You should know this because God’s way is perfect and these things are all revealed in His Word. If you so choose you can go the hard way and the foolish way and the way of destruction in life, the way that sadly, most people choose to go, their own way. But you don’t have to learn through experience. You can avoid all of the mistakes that most other men make if you only look to God’s Word. King Solomon said, wisdom crieth in the streets. There is much to be learned by looking at the lives of other men and the results of their choices. Even further than this, if you want to see both the beginning and the end and if you want to go the perfect way, then you must go God’ way.

Psalms 18:32, “It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.” Verse 32 is very important. What does it tell us? That God supplies the strength and that God does the leading. There is a philosophy in this world that says to look inside yourself for your inner strength, or rely upon your inner strength. Man has some strength and some ability but that strength is limited and the strength of man of itself is weakness against the forces of evil. Man is not strong. God is strong. If you want to find strength to overcome the challenges and spiritual struggles of this life, then you must let God supply that strength for you. This strength comes by trusting in His Word, through prayer, and through submission to the will of God. Which is why the next part of verse 32 says, “and maketh my way perfect.” The only way your way is going to be perfect is if you do things God’s way. It is very easy to go your own way. To go God’s way you will need to be girdeth with the strength of God, otherwise your own selfish will shall lead you astray. You are not going to be able to make your own way perfect, but your way is going to be made perfect by submitting yourself to God’s way. I am weak but He is strong. If you rely only upon your own strength, in the end you will fail because man is a sinner. But if you rely upon Jesus, then you will overcome because Jesus is the Almighty God.

Psalms 18:33-34 says, “He maketh my feet like hinds feet, and setteth me upon my high places. He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.” One thing to keep in mind about Psalms chapter 18 is that it was written by King David as a praise to God for the victory in overcoming his enemies. Psalms 18 can also be found in the book of 2 Samuel chapter 22. 2 Samuel 22:1 says, “And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul.” This is the reason we rely upon Jesus for strength and not ourselves. He died for our sins. He overcame. Not us. We did not overcome. We have failed. He has not. He is perfect and His way is perfect. Therefore, we know He will gird us with strength.

In verse 33 a hind is mentioned. A hind is a deer. Two outstanding qualities of a deer pertain to its feet. A deer is swift and has the ability to escape its enemies and the endurance to run far. The application is this, if you trust in Jesus, God will make your feet like hinds feet so that you have the natural instinct and the swiftness to run away from temptation, and the endurance to go the distance in running the spiritual race that is set before you.

The last part of verse 33 says, “And setteth me upon my high places.” The high places are places of worship. There is no better place to be in life than a place of worshiping the LORD Jesus Christ. But where are these places? You do not have to be in a particular building to worship God. In fact most people that go to a building to worship are not truly worshiping anyway. Jesus said in John 4:23, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.”

To Worship is to serve. That is why the next verse in Psalms 18:34 says, “He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.” Life is a spiritual warfare. If you are learning the things that you should be learning from God in this life, and from His Word, and if you are applying that truth to every situation of your life then you are serving God and you thus are Worshiping him.

Notice how all these verses emphasize what God is going to do. God girdeth with strength, God makes the way perfect, God makes the feet like hinds feet, God sets upon the high places. We live in a world in which a lot of emphasis is placed on what men can do with their own strength and their own abilities. But if you want to serve God, if you want to worship God, you must realize that it is God that is going to do all the doing and you simply need to trust in Him.

Consider again this phrase in verse 33, “And setteth me upon my high places.” There are millions and millions of people in the world that are involved in organized religion. They think they are worshiping God. They set themselves in their high places. They are making the same mistake that the woman at the well in this passage of John chapter 4 made. Look again at John chapter 4:19-25, “The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men out to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know that we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiash cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.”

What is the great mistake that so many millions of people keep making regarding worship of the Father? First they think that going to a particular place like a building is worshipping. For the Samaritan woman it was a high place in the mountain. Just because you go to Church does not mean you are worshipping. Notice what Jesus said in the last part of these verses. He said, I am the Christ. To worship the Father you must worship the son. There are many who claim to worship God the Father but they do not worship Jesus Christ the Son. They set themselves in their own high places. But God is a Spirit and those that worship Him must worship him in spirit and in truth. And such worship, true worship, begins by turning from your sins and turning to Jesus. You are not worshiping the Father unless you are worshiping Jesus.

It is no wonder Psalms 18:35 goes on to say, “Thou has also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.” We read in previous verses that the LORD, or Jehovah, or that is to say Jesus, said, I am a buckler or I am a shield. Here in this verse it says, “The shield of Salvation.” You do not have to look far not just in the New Testament but also in the Old Testament to see that the Bible clearly teaches Jesus saves.

In the book of Ephesians in the New Testament the Apostle Paul taught the very same thing when speaking of the armor of God. He said in Ephesians 6:16, “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” To say the shield of faith or the shield of salvation is almost saying the same thing because salvation is by grace through faith. This concept of a shield is mentioned a great many times in the Bible. Therefore, we know it is very important.

Life is a spiritual warfare. The devil is going to attack you. You will need protection. Your Salvation is a shield. Your faith is a shield. And Jesus Himself will be your shield. Just being saved from your sins itself provides great spiritual protection from the attacks that the evil forces of this world will bring your way. Once you have trusted in Christ for forgiveness of your sins, you are now in a position where the victory is already won. Even if you fail, you cannot be defeated because Jesus already paid it all and won the victory when He died on the cross.

Of course, faith itself is a shield. But it is not believing that is a shield, but believing in the promises of God, His Word. There are many things, many good things that God is going to do one day that He has promised to do but has not yet done. It is important to know what these things are and to believe them because until the time comes for God to fulfill those promises, you must endure the spiritual attacks that will come your way.

And lastly Jesus Himself is a shield. Many times when we think of Jesus and the attributes of God we think of things like: Jesus the rock, Jesus the Prince of peace, God the Almighty, Jesus the Savior. Jesus the Shield should be one that should come to mind. Often God protects us even when we don’t know it. Sometimes even the closing of a door is God’s protection. It is very important that you rely upon Jesus as your shield. There is no one who can better protect you from both the physical and the spiritual dangers of life.

Perhaps this is why the next part of verse 35 says, “And thy right hand hath holden me up.” This is a saying that refers to strength. Jesus is strong. We are weak. But because He is strong He is able to protect us. The last part of verse 35 says “And thy gentleness hath made me great.” The Word that is translated here “gentleness” is elsewhere translated as humility.

You will not find many people in this world who have great strength or great power and yet are gentle or meek or humble. There is none with greater strength or power than Jesus. He is the king of kings, the creator and ruler of heaven and earth. Yet you will find none as gentle as he. We live today in the age of grace. Though God does not change, the way in which He deals with man does change.

There certainly is no greater example of the “gentlenesss” of God than the Christmas story of how the Christ came into this world to die for our sins. The king of kings, setting aside his glory, being born into this world in a stable and then suffering and dying on the cross for our sins. What gentleness and meekness indeed!

Now notice the word “great,” the last word in verse 35. This word is elsewhere translated “multiply.” It is the will of God that those who trust in Him bear fruit, that they be conformed to the image of Jesus. Have you ever thought about how strong willed humans can be? Well, God has a will too, and His will is much stronger than men’s. Yet with all His unlimited power He does not force men, but He uses his gentleness and the gentleness of His Spirit. This is the way that God works in our work. You can resist the gentleness of Christ but not forever because the day will come when God is going to change the way in which He deals with men. Perhaps that is why this word “gentleness” is also found in Zephaniah 2:3 which says, “Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.”

One thing is for sure if you want to follow Jesus, then you need to learn that it is His gentleness which will make you great, which will make you into the person that you should be and bring you to accomplish all that is your greatest potential. Don’t’ be hasty, don’t be self-willed, and don’t be fearful. Jesus is a shield He will protect you and His gentleness will make you great.

God is so powerful He does not need to use force on men for He can use His gentleness. The hearts of men are like stone. The Spirit of God is like the wind. And in time God can soften even the hardest of hearts. If you want to follow the perfect way, if you want to worship the Father then turn to Jesus today and let His gentleness make you great.

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