Darkness Into Light Series

He turns my darkness into light - Psalm 18:25-30

Greetings: “The Lord is good his love endures forever.”

Introduction of the monthly theme:

Introduction of the theme for the day:

KJV: Psalms 18:25-30

“With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright; With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward. For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.

For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall. 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.”

Outline of Psalm 18:

The bridge way commentary summaries:

‘The outpouring of praise recorded in this psalm as title, applicable to many of David’s experiences. It was probably put into its present form after David reached the height of his power as king. He had conquered all his enemies and now controlled all the country from Egypt to the Euphrates (2 Samuel 8, 22).

David opens by declaring his love for God (1) and thanking God for hearing his prayers and saving him from death at the hands of his enemies (2-6). God revealed himself in dramatic exhibitions of his mighty power (7-15), to deliver his servant (16-19). David walked in God’s ways and kept himself pure and humble (20-24).

God’s attitude to people, whether he helped them or opposed them, depended on whether they were devoted to him or rebelled against him (25-27). That is why David was always confident of God’s help (28-30).

?God had blessed David with good health, physical strength, natural ability, and the desire to train and practise till he was skilled in the abilities God had given him (31-34). God gave David his saving power (35-36). David had victory, and conquered his foes (37-42), expanded his kingdom (43-45) and brought glory to God (46-48). As he looks back on what God did for him in the past, he offers further praise for God’s unfailing kindness (49-50).’

I would like to share with you under the theme “Darkness turned into Light” with the sub themes of ‘Right dealings of God, Light dealings of God, and mighty dealings of man of God’

Right dealings of God

David penned the important principles of God’s dealings with each of us in the same way we choose to relate to him. If we respond to him positively, seeking to know him better and imitating his ways by striving to be merciful, blameless, and pure, God will, in turn, be merciful to us. However, if we respond negatively, sinfully pursuing our own wicked inclinations, he will then treat us “perversely”.

David says the Lord deals with all of us according to the characters of each one of us. Human beings see our outward appearance and deal with us falsely, but God is looking into the inner being of every one. Nothing is hidden in his sight.

He knows our sitting, our standing, our thoughts even before we utter any word he knows the end of it. He is omniscient God. He deals, compensates in accordance with the intention of the hearts of humanity. We are basically evil and wicked. From our childhood, the satanic rebellious, disobedient nature is within us. We are filled with jealousy, ego, pride, cunningness and full of iniquity. David had all these in his life, he confessed those feelings, dealings and sought the blessings of God.

Though we cannot earn our eternal salvation through our own good works or supposed righteousness (Titus 3:5; Romans 11:6; Ephesians 2:8–10), God does respond to our actions.

Galatians 6:7 assures us that "whatever one sows, that will he also reap."

Matthew 5:7 states: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy."

Christ's model prayer for us contains a reciprocal relationship: we are to ask God to "forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matthew 6:12).

Therefore he says, “With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright; With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward. For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.”

‘It is better to change all the futures into our present through our actions.The human heart makes its God like itself’ (Ellicott).

These are ‘the general principles of the divine administration’ (Barnes).

‘David lays down the general method of the procedure of God’s providence and moral government’ (Benson).

He doesn’t run an immoral government where everything is free, where every evil acts go unpunished. Only salvation is free but we can’t be scot free from our actions.