“For this, O Lord, I will praise you among the nations; I will sing praises to your name. You give great victories to your king; you show unfailing love to your anointed, to David and all his descendants forever.
Psalm 18:49-50 NLT
David makes no secret about the focus of his worship and praise, giving glory to God “among the nations” and “to [His] name”. And the reason was that he attributed his success on the battlefield to God, and no-one else. David was a warrior king, well-versed in the techniques of war. He knew all about military tactics, hand to hand combat, the importance of being able to handle weapons, and the psychology of motivating his troops and winning battles. But with David it was very much in partnership with the Lord. David wrote earlier in this Psalm, “He trains my hands for battle; he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow. You have given me your shield of victory. Your right hand supports me; your help has made me great” (Psalm 18:34-35). But perhaps we should note the parallel between “great victories” for King David, and the greatest victory of all when Jesus defeated the devil on Calvary’s cross.
In the last verse of Psalm 18, David recorded factually that God “show[ed] unfailing love” to David and all of his descendants forever. The “forever” bit is something often overlooked in the years since. Many people today will stand up and condemn and abuse the nation of Israel verbally and physically. Anti-Semitic behaviour is rampant in many places in the world, with hatred of the Jews going far beyond what is deserved and we remember that Hitler murdered millions of Jews in Europe. Many more are murdered in the hearts and minds of people who are being stirred up and manipulated by the one, satan, who hates anything to do with God, and especially His people, the Jews. Today the rhetoric of hatred from Iran towards Israel is well known and reported on. But there is a very real reason – God has favoured the descendants of David with His “unfailing love” ever since and will do forever. And because an evil and wicked world, under the influence of their ruler satan, hates God, then it follows that they will hate His beloved people, the Jews. Of course, that is not to condone the behaviour of the nation of Israel, particularly in recent years, but that will not stop God loving them. There will come a time when they will be held to account, as we all will be, before the throne of God. And if we read the last book in the Bible, we will find that the Jews will suffer a terrible time before a remnant of them will be saved.
If God will never stop loving the Jews with an “unfailing love” then it follows that He will never stop loving those that have been grafted into His vine, through Jesus. Romans 11:17, “But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree—some of the people of Israel—have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree”. We believers in Jesus also share in God’s unfailing love, as promised to His people, but as any gardeners known grafts can sometimes fail and Jesus warned His disciples, “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more” (John 15:1-2). Jesus continued in John 15:4, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me”.
God’s unfailing love will pursue us all the days of our lives (Psalm 23:6), this we know, and Paul expanded on this in Romans 8:38-39 when he wrote,“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord”. What a tremendous affirmation of our gracious and loving God.
God’s love is unfailing and when we stay within the bounds of His love we will, like David, be able to praise Him for the victories we experience in life. Victories in our battles with sin. Victories in our relationships, our churches and fellowships, and in our families. Victories where we see God come through with salvations, healings and so much more. We praise Him today!
Dear Father God. Thank You for Your unfailing love, so freely given and always there for us, Your people. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 