From Glory To Glory: The Story Of Christ In Psalms 15–24 (Part 9): Psalm 18 And Remembering God’s Works

by on November 22, 2025 | Comment

Whisked to Worship

What David says in Psalm 18:20–30 is a little bit startling, and his statements should probably give us pause before we are willing to say them in reference to ourselves. He opens these stanzas by praising God for delivering him and gives the reason why God delivered him: “The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.” At first glance, it seems like David is thanking God for honoring him on account of his own merit.

We said in our first article on Psalm 18 that David likely wrote this psalm when reflecting on his time on the run from Saul. Nevertheless, David did not write this psalm early in life during that period when he might have had a better shot at the righteous record claim. This psalm appears in almost the exact same words in 2 Samuel 22, which records events towards the end of David’s kingship

Hearing David’s claim may make you want to ask him, “Hey David, did you forget about that whole Bathsheba thing where you committed blatant adultery? Did you forget about how you had her husband murdered to cover up your sexual infidelity? Have you forgotten about how God will not let you be the king who builds the temple because you have killed so many people?”

David had not forgotten all of his sin when he penned these words. Neither was David talking about himself as righteous in comparison to all the people around him. What then is going on in these verses and how does it help us to worship?

First, keep in mind that David is still praising God. He has not switched to talking about how good he is—rather, he is still honoring God’s work and giving him the ultimate credit. We can do the same. Praise the Lord that he accepts our good works, as flawed and stained as they may be. We are like children trying to help dad wash the car. Really, we are just in the way, but our Father delights in our desire to please him by good works.

Second, David spoke with full awareness of how God had forgiven his sins and had declared him righteous. In verse 24, David shows he knew that he was justified, and he prayed knowing that saving blessing is true: “So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.” In the Old Testament, you had to wash your hands for them to be ritually clean, which symbolized forgiveness of sins. Additionally, David does not say, “the cleanness of my hands as they really are in themselves.” No, he says, “the cleanness of my hands in your sight.” He knows that God sees him as righteous because he is forgiven.

We ought to pray this way as well. We should pray boldly, knowing that we are united to Jesus Christ by faith. God really does see you as righteous because Christ has justified you, has forgiven your sins, and has given you his righteous record. You can pray knowing that God fully accepts you. Worship God because he deals with you according to Christ’s righteousness and because he will always rush to save his righteous people. Our affections are stirred when we give ourselves to think upon the greatness and goodness of such a Savior. Thus, when we reflect on the richness of the gospel and the manifold blessings from God, we are whisked to worship. This is what David is doing in Psalm 18:20–30.

Rapt by Reminiscence

Verses 31–50 are a wonderful display of praise that shows us how poorly we worship God, we who so easily forget what he does for us. Whereas David is moved to write amazing poetry, we are often uninterested in what God has done in the past. He is astounded unto praise as he ruminates on what he knows God has done for him—rapt by reminiscence.

If you have ever heard Psalm 18 preached in a service, was it hard to listen to all fifty verses be read aloud? How many people tuned out or ignored it by the end? I have twice preached on it, and some days in preparation I struggled to stay attentive to the end. What does that challenge say about us? We are a people who cannot even give five uninterrupted minutes to hearing the praises of God. We cannot read three pages about praising God without wishing we were doing something else. We do not even have to do the work here! David already made the effort of recording God’s deeds and writing down the words of praise for us. We just have to sit and listen—and we can barely do that.

This shows us how deeply uninterested we are in rendering praise to our God. If we cannot even listen to God’s praises, then who of us would ever give ourselves to write an extensive and specific praise to God for something specific he has done for us.

We are supposed to be completely fascinated by what we remember about God. We easily but wrongly grow bored with him. A conversation about the things of God is sometimes the last thing on our minds because there are sports, politics, and social media to talk about. Never mind the God of the universe, who gives us breath and life each day. We act as though God blesses us because he has nothing better to do.

God blesses us because he forged a relationship with us before the beginning of time and looks to deepen that relationship. When God answers your prayers, respond to him in praise for answering you. You called to him, and he blessed you because you called on him. As in Psalm 18:3, “I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise and I am saved from my enemies.” Call on the Lord! Call to him and he answers. The fact that we have a God who hears and answers is in itself reason for rendering praise.

I have been talking thus far about a big picture type of sin—a failure to worship. There is another more specific sort of sin, however, that this psalm also draws out for us. Namely, we fail to praise God for caring for us. Instead, we pretend that we endure through trials by our own strength and neglect to recognize how God has been the one to provide rescue for us. In Psalm 18:31–50, David gives praises to God because he was able to defeat his enemies. Verses 31–34:

For who is God, but the Lord?

And who is a rock, except our God?—

the God who equipped me with strength

and made my way blameless.

He made my feet like the feet of a deer

and set me secure on the heights.

He trains my hands for war,

so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

Where I am from, it is popular to go hunting using a bow and arrows. Some of these bows are really difficult to bend and shoot—one must be quite strong. And these bows are only made of fiberglass. David writes that God made him strong enough to bend a bow made from bronze. He recalls that it was God who strengthened him to perform this feat, God who aided and sustained him as he pressed forward to defeat his enemies. Thus, David reminds us to recognize and remember how God upholds us. We come up short in our worship if we do not give God the glory for equipping us to endure every challenge we face.

Being rapt by reminiscence is recognizing God’s hand in our lives, remembering how he came to our aid, and then offering praise back to him for his marvelous deeds. Being rapt by reminiscence requires that we intentionally recount God’s works on our behalf and worship him specifically for those saving acts in our lives.

Conclusion

We may never face wartime enemies like David. We may never be pursued by persecutors. We may never get caught in jellyfish tentacles, as I recounted in my story in part seven. Yet all of these are ultimately trivial examples of the cords of death. The fact of the matter is that we have all been tied up in cords of death. We have all been wrapped up in the cords of our own sin. We have all been tied to the coming judgment.

Each of us must then call out to God for help, for him to be our rock and fortress. Every one of us has need for rescue. Then, if we trust in Christ by faith, we can offer specific praises to God because he has redeemed us from those cords of death. We can offer praise because we know we are accepted in his sight. Christ has died for us, and by that death, he breaks every shackle of sin and death that would bind us. Sin no longer has victory, and death no longer has its sting because Christ is risen and stands forever for us. Because Christ has died for us, death’s cords are broken forever.

© Harrison Perkins. All Rights Reserved.

You can find this whole series here.

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