Ps 18 50 He gives his king great victories;

he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed,

to David and his descendants forever.

The Psalmist is teaching that God is our Rock.2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.3 I call to the LORD , who is worthy of praise,and I am saved from my enemies". He is describing our relationship with God in comparing it with his victories in war. He is comparing the declaration of war with our calling upon God. 4 The cords of death entangled me;the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

5 The cords of the grave coiled around me;the snares of death confronted me.6 In my distress I called to the LORD ;

I cried to my God for help." He is saying that all of our struggles in this life are inward struggles. We fight with principalities and powers in the heavenly places. But he is teaching that we do not directly engage these spiritual forces. Rather we call upon God. All of our struggles are put into the context of being in a corrupt world and being familiar with the curse. We were never made to endure the terrible departure from innocence. However small the attack from the enemy of our souls , is always direct to destroy us and our faith. There is no thought that we struggle with that does not rise up to the threat of death.

The Psalmist is teaching that we must learn how to attack the opposition until it is killed. He is comparing his conquest of victory in battle to the fight we have with spiritual forces. We cannot be satisfied with the thinking that we must endure the sorrows of this life. In this way the Psalmist takes up the spiritual weapons of warfare. Just like the sword and the shield were used to fight Israels battles so the we have been given these gifts of the law, decrees, curses, promises and statutes to wage war with the schemes of the Evil one. But these spiritual weapons are not like the physical weapons. These weapons are supernatural. They take the enemy captive and demolish schemes of evil.We must learn how to crush these spiritual forces. 38 I crushed them so that they could not rise;they fell beneath my feet.39 You armed me with strength for battle;you made my adversaries bow at my feet.

40 You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,and I destroyed my foes".

The christian is not a apologist in the sense that we are trying to convince other men that the gospel is true. We are men who know the circumstances and experiences of invincibility by using these gifts. In other words we are convinced by experience and not someone who is passing on information. 41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them-to the LORD , but he did not answer.42 I beat them as fine as dust borne on the wind;

I poured them out like mud in the streets." You can get a flavor of the experience of the Psalmist as he rises to stand over his opposition from the throws of death.4 The cords of death entangled me;the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

5 The cords of the grave F34 coiled around me;the snares of death confronted me.6 In my distress I called to the LORD ;

I cried to my God for help". He is teaching that every struggle that we have in this life is much worse than how we measure the difficulty by our first reaction. One small thought can determine the direction we take. We can go down side roads for many years. We can get lost in the battle.

This is why we must understand these spiritual weapons are absolutely necessary in order to avoid being permanently damaged. 43 You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;you have made me the head of nations;people I did not know are subject to me." We must understand that everyone is under the obligation to view themselves and the world by the communication that they use as the definition of their view of the world. The Psalmist teaches that the Gods ordering of all things is the perfect description of unity of all things. It is the perfect connection that describes the reasons for the existence of all things. The gifts of the law..etc are Gods outline of the full description of all things. When we are fighting a spiritual battle we are engaged in a war of ideas and dispositions of spiritual understanding. 44 As soon as they hear me, they obey me;

foreigners cringe before me.45 They all lose heart;they come trembling from their strongholds".

We fight with words that redefine Gods covenants, curses, promises and laws. This redefinition refined by years of false ideas. After many generations the words of redefinition define the culture that we are born into. This is why Gods word is self attesting because it can never be deluded or miss understood. The word reorders the most degenerate culture. Its pronouncements of curses , covenants , laws etc are yea and amen. The word rises up the the level of the worse scheme and demolishes it. 47 He is the God who avenges me,who subdues nations under me,48 who saves me from my enemies.You exalted me above my foes;from violent men you rescued me." The Psalmist is teaching that our opposition goes beyond our culture so that our use of the gifts affect the entire universe. We speak these gifts with the view that they will be the words that determine our rewards in eternity. 50 He gives his king great victories;he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed,to David and his descendants forever." Have a great Memorial day.