Holy confidence is grounded in the promises of God and unleashes the power of God for us.
So far in Psalm 18, we’ve seen a portrait of David’s Delight (vv 1-3) in the God who cares about him, then David’s Distress (vv 4-6) and the enemies attacking him, followed by David’s Defender (vv 7-15), confronting his foes, and finally David’s Deliverance (vv 16-19) and the embrace of the Lord who delights in him. Now what of the second part of the psalm? Verses 20-24 follow the “He-me” pattern of the previous section (vv 16-19) and show us the relationship between ourselves and God, how taking the Lord and His Word seriously gives us confidence to seek His aid and anticipate His help. This section begins and ends the same way: “The Lord rewarded [or recompensed] me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands” (v 20, see v 24). It isn’t that He doesn’t help a believer who has been careless about being clean, but such a believer has often lost confidence that the Lord will help, and so doesn’t seek His aid. The reverential fear of the Lord is often the antidote to fearing our foes. Even when we have not been “blameless before Him” (v 23), still He pleads, “‘Return to Me,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord of hosts” (Zech 1:3). Nonetheless, verses 25-30 show the link between our attitude to God and His actions for us. The merciful obtain mercy (v 25), as the Lord Jesus also taught. Not the haughty but the humble are the recipients of God’s help (v 27). The Lord will enlighten us (v 28), invigorate us (v 29), and educate us in His perfect ways through His proven Word (v 30), if we make ourselves available to Him for tutoring. David gives the specifics of His field training in vv 31-36. Yes, “who is God, except the Lord?” (v 31). His care is beyond compare!