Psalm 18
a Psalm of David
In this Psalm,
David is giving a testimony
and a praise
to the Mighty Power
and the Wondrous Deliverance
of the Lord God of heaven and earth.
In the video below
the Psalm is read
and the words are seen.
Many names of God
are given in Psalm 18.
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In Psalm 18 verse 2
the Lord - clearly - gives us several of his names.
The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer ;
my God, my
strength,
in whom I will trust ; my buckler,
and the horn of my
salvation, and my high tower.
Psalm 18:2 KJV
Names of God in Psalm 18:2:
My Rock
My Fortress
My Deliverer
My Strength
My Buckler
The Horn of my Salvation
My High Tower
You could say that the power of God
is revealed in God's names.
Many theologians, preachers, and teachers have studied the names of God that are revealed in the Bible.
Here are some of God's Hebrew names from the Old Testament:
Adonai - which means Lord or Master
Jehovah Shalom - The God of Peace
Jehovah Rapha - The God who Heals
Jehovah Nissi - God is our Banner
Jehovah Rohi - God is our Shepherd
El Elyon - The Most High God
El Olam - The Everlasting God
Here are some names we have gleaned from descriptions of Jesus in the New Testament.
Jesus is called:
The Lamb of God
The Good Shepherd
The Light
The Vine
The Bread of Life
Note that the Hebrew word "Bethlehem" means
House of Bread.
So Jesus - the bread of life - was born in the house of bread.
I think God did that intentionally.
As I was reading Psalm 18 one day, I began to notice lots of names of God in its verses. Some were more obvious than others.
As I began intentionally looking for names of God
in each of the verses of Psalm 18,
I noted that some of the verses
had a name or had names that were clearly expressed.
In other cases, I needed to read a verse and
try to glean a name for God out of the text.
~
You may want to consider using Psalm 18 to
create your own list of names for God.
That would be a good activity for your family to do together.
It would also be a good activity for Sunday school classes -
Even Adult Sunday school classes!
AND
Don't miss my Jesus Game for children
farther down the page!
Psalm 18:1-50
Finding the names of God
Here are some names that I found
Verse 1
O Lord, my Strength
Verse 2
My Rock, My Fortress, My Buckler, The Horn of my Salvation, My High Tower
Note: I didn't use all of the names of God for verse 2, because I am using some of them in later verses.
The word "horn" represents power. The word "buckler" gives us the idea of a type of shield of protection.
Verse 3
The Lord who is worthy to be praised
Verse 4
The Lord over Death
Verse 5
The Lord who defeats my enemies
Verse 6
The Lord who Hears
Verse 7
The Lord who shakes the earth
Verse 8
The Lord of Fire
Verse 9
The Almighty One
Verse 10
The Lord of the Wind
Verse 11
The Invisible God
Verse 12
The God over Hail and Fire
Verse 13
The God of the Heavens
Verse 14
The God of the earth
Verse 15
The God of Creation
Verse 16
The God who brings me through
Verse 17
The Mighty God
Verse 18
My Support
Verse 19
My Deliverer
Verse 20
My Rewarder
Verse 21
The God of Righteousness
Verse 22
The Eternal Judge
View 23
The God of Truth
Verse 24
My Pure Example
Verse 25
The Merciful God
Verse 26
My Pure Savior
Verse 27
My Salvation
Verse 28
My Light
Verse 29
The God of Miracles
Verse 30
The Perfect One
Verse 31
The Rock of Ages
Verse 32
My Supplier
Verse 33
The Lord who steadies me
Verse 34
My Teacher
Verse 35
My Shield and My Upholder
Verse 36
The God who Enlarges and Widens my Steps
Verse 37
My Victory
Verse 38
The One who trains me for Battle
Verse 39
The God who strengthens me during Battle
Verse 40
The God of all Authority
Verse 41
The God who opposes Evil
Verse 42
The God who gives me power over my enemies
Verse 43
The God who makes me the Head and not the Tail
Verse 44
The God who Raises up his people as Leaders
Verse 45
The Lord who will make every knee to bow
Verse 46
The Exalted God
Verse 47
The Subduer
Verse 48
The Lord Most High
Verse 49
Ha Shem - Hebrew name for God meaning "THE NAME"
Verse 50
The Sovereign Lord
Notes:
Verse 43:
We are to be the head and not the tail. This is found in Deuteronomy 28:13.
Verse 49:
In the language of Hebrew, there are three ways to express "the highest" of something. One of them is to say "THE."
For example the Hebrew expression "The Name" would be translated into English as "The Highest Name."
So the fullness of the translation of "Ha Shem" into English would be "The Highest Name."
Note:
This page is copyrighted.
If you use this in church, etc., please give copyright credit.
Copyright © 2014 Beth McLendon of Inspirational Prayers.com
Note that when we read verses about
our "enemies"
in the book of Psalms,
I remind you that we are to basically see our enemies
as those of the demonic kingdom.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Ephesians 6:12 KJV
Below is a beautiful video
that highlights many of the names of God.
Psalm 18
highlights many things that
the Lord has given his people.
Verses 1-50
1) You give me strength.
2) You protect me.
3) You save me.
4) You raise me up above my fears.
5) Your eyes are always on me. You see my troubles.
6) You always hear my voice.
7) You become angry when the enemy forces hurt me.
8) You have righteous anger that is directed at my enemies.
9 - 15) You run to help me when I need you.
16) You draw me out of troubles.
17) You rescue me.
18) You give me support.
19) You bring me out of danger.
20) You reward me.
21 - 22) You give me commands of truth to follow, and they protect me.
23) You guide me toward purity.
24) You reward me as I diligently seek You, because You are a rewarder of those who diligently seek You.
25) You are merciful to me.
26) You give blessings to me when I obey You, but You discipline me when I rebel and leave your path.
27) You call me to humility.
28) You bring me light.
29) You help me to do miraculous things.
30) You give me your Word, and You teach me to trust you.
31) You are my rock.
32) You guide me toward godliness.
33) You give me authority.
34) You teach me the skills needed for spiritual warfare.
35) You teach me to value gentleness.
36) You steady me as I seek to follow you.
37) You give me victory.
38) You teach me to be a mighty warrior for You.
39) You make me more than a conqueror.
40) You show me how to defeat my enemies.
41) You are on my side. You stand by me.
42) You position me to stand victorious over my enemies.
43) You make me the head and not the tail.
44) You give me power and promotion.
45) You show me the fear in the hearts of those who defy You.
46) You teach me to exalt You.
47) You subdue my enemies.
48) You deliver me. You lift me up.
49) You teach me to come into your gates with thanksgiving and into your courts with praise. You remind me to sing a new song to You.
50) You give me miracles in my life.
Notes:
Verse 24 - Hebrews 11:6
Verse 39 - Romans 8:37
Verse 44 - Psalm 75:6-7
Verse 49 - Psalm 100:4, Psalm 96:1
Note:
This page is copyrighted.
If you use this in church, etc., please give copyright credit.
Copyright © 2014 Beth McLendon of Inspirational Prayers.com
Suggestion:
You may want to make your own list from Psalm 18, and then use the phrases to give praise to the Lord as you speak out your written blessings of God.
In Psalm 18:35 and in 2 Samuel 22:36b,
David tells us that he has discovered that gentleness is
very important in life.
"Thy Gentleness hath made me great."
That is one of my favorite verses.
I have thought a lot about that verse, and I have studied gentleness.
Gentleness and tenderness are essentially the same.
The Bible talks a lot about hardheartedness and about gentleness/tenderness.
Gentleness is one of the fruit of the spirit. (Galatians 5:22)
So if we are allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us, we will be growing in gentleness.
I want to encourage you to view our two pages on Gentleness/Tenderness
** If you look at 2 Samuel chapter 22 and Psalm 18, you can see they are basically the same.
Speaking of Psalm 18 and 2 Samuel chapter 22:
It is interesting that these words of David inspired by the Holy Spirit are so important that God put them in the Bible twice.
Psalms 18 verses 9-15 portray our God
as one who runs to help us when we need him.
Reading these verses make me feel good, because I see how much God cares about me.
I enjoy reading those verses in The Living Bible.
Here are verses 6-16 in the Living Bible:
In my distress I screamed to the Lord for his help.
And he heard me from heaven, my cry reached his ears.
Then the earth rocked and reeled, and
mountains shook and trembled.
How they quaked! For he was angry.
Fierce flames leaped from his mouth, setting fire to the earth; smoke blew from his nostrils.
He bent the heavens down and came to my defense;
thick darkness was beneath his feet.
Mounted on the cherubim,
he sped swiftly to my aid
with wings of wind.
He enshrouded himself with darkness,
veiling his approach with dense clouds
dark as murky waters.
Suddenly the brilliance of his presence broke through
the clouds with lightning and a mighty storm of hail.
The Lord thundered in the heavens;
the God above all gods has spoken -
oh, the hailstones; oh, the fire!
He flashed his fearful arrows of lightning and
routed all my enemies.
See how they run!
Then at your command, O Lord,
the sea receded from the shore.
At the blast of your breath the depths were laid bare.
He reached down from heaven and took me and
drew me out of my great trials.
He rescued me from deep waters.
Many people who study the Bible associate the number 50 with deliverance or freedom from a burden.
They have noted that God told Israel that every 50th year was a Jubilee year of blessing to the people. At that time, all debts were erased. (Leviticus 25)
I enjoy thinking that perhaps this psalm has 50 verses because 50 sometimes represents deliverance, and Psalm 18 talks about how God delivers us.
Just a thought.
To read a psalm that is obviously intentionally amazing in its verses,
see our Psalm 119 page.
I made up a game for children
that became a real hit!
~
It is called
"The Names of Jesus"
and it is like Bingo.
So get the kids, grandkids, nieces, and nephews
together and
Let's play!
The "Bingo" cards:
I made several homemade boards that looked like Bingo cards except that each one only had nine spaces. There were three spaces per line and three lines. I used red construction paper 8 1/2 x 11 cut in half. I used a ruler and a black magic marker to create the spaces.
I made more cards than children so each child had a choice of cards.
The call-out cards:
Then I took small white square pieces of paper and wrote a name of Jesus on each one. I did about 20 names. I mix them up and during the game I choose one at a time and call out the name of Jesus written on that card.
(Scroll down the page if you want my suggestions for names to use for the cards.)
The "Bingo" cards:
On each red "Bingo" card, I used a black marker to write a name of Jesus in each space. (Only use names of Jesus that are already on the Call-Out cards.)
Each "Bingo" card was unique, yet sometimes more than one card had a specific name of Jesus. Note that you want to make the cards somewhat unique, because you want to make sure that the children don't all "Bingo" at the same time.
How the game is played:
Each child picks a "Bingo" card before the game starts.
The game starts by having the adult take a white card from the "call-out" pile and call out the first name of Jesus.
For example: I would pick a card. It had the name "The Lion of Judah" on it. So I called out that name. Then each child would look to see if he or she had that name on his or her card.
If a child did have that name, then that child puts a penny over that name of Jesus.
For younger children who do not read well, allow them to hold the card in their hand in order to search for a match.
This is a great activity to help children in reading.
How you win:
When a child has all nine names of Jesus covered, that child wins!
Prizes
I had really great prizes to create terrific enthusiasm.
I had children begging to play.
~
AND the children learned the names of Jesus.
And at a later time, we would discuss the names!
~
When you want to give your kids
a sugary treat,
consider playing the game!
Note that if one day, one of the children never wins a game, I had a "Great Attitude" consolation prize ready.
Also:
I urge you not to continually day-after-day give a child with a Bad Attitude a "Great Attitude" prize. That will make most of the children not want to play anymore, because that is unfair. And it will teach the child with the bad attitude that he doesn't have to change to be rewarded. God tells us in his Word that good behavior is rewarded.
A Friendly Reminder:
Children do not naturally understand that Jesus IS God.
For help with explaining this concept, scroll down to the section called
"Helping Children understand that Jesus IS God."
Here are some names of Jesus
you might want to use for the game:
The Lamb of God
The Lion of Judah - Click here to see a page on the Lion of Judah
The Door
The Vine
The Good Shepherd
The Way (the way to heaven - no one gets to heaven but by Him)
The Light of the World (or just "The Light")
The Bread of Life
The King of Kings
The Lord of Lords
I am
The Savior
Lord of All
Immanuel (which means "God with us")
Prince of Peace
Lord
Adonai (which means "Lord")
Son of God
Christ (means "Anointed One" in Greek)
Messiah (means "Anointed One" in Hebrew)
Mighty God
Jesus of Nazareth
Alpha and Omega (The meaning is below)
Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet, and Omega is the last letter in the Greek alphabet. This name of Jesus gives us the idea of "The First and the Last." We find this name of Jesus in Revelation 22:13. I encourage you to read that verse to the children.
Children do not naturally understand that
Jesus IS God.
It helps children, if we explain to them that when people say the word "God" they are usually referring to Father God. Yet, Jesus is as much God as Father God.
It is hard for children and adults to understand the Trinity.
I explain to children that Jesus is called the "Son of God" because he is generally in the role of a son - doing what the Father asks. But The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit are each co-equal, co-eternal, and co-powerful and each of them is fully God.
When Jesus came to earth, he was 100% fully God and 100% fully man.
Jesus did have to lay down some of his divinity in order to come to earth. For example, on earth he was in an earthly body and therefore, he could not be everywhere at once.
Before Jesus came to earth as a baby, he was everywhere at once.
God is omnipresent which means "he is everywhere at once."
So God the Father is omnipresent.
Jesus is omnipresent.
The Holy Spirit is omnipresent.
God is one, yet he is three persons or personalities. There is nothing else in the world like God.
The Trinity works together as ONE, and they are actually ONE.
So we can tell children that The Trinity is a mystery that we do not totally understand.
You also might like to visit Psalm 121
For all our Bible Studies click: Bible Devotions
This page is copyrighted
as are all our pages
Copyright © 2014 Beth McLendon of Inspirational Prayers.com
Psalm 18 and the names of God
The names of God in the Psalms
Christmas
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