Psalm 18: Giving Thanks to the Lord for Your Past, Present & Future
David was a faithful worshipper of the Lord and it was that connection through praise that that set him apart from the earliest days of his life. David was supernaturally blessed by God, supernaturally protected, supernaturally provided for, and supernaturally sustained.
It was David’s commitment to give thanks to the Lord in everything that carried him through all the days and seasons of his life and God honored it as He will also do in your life.
In Psalm 18, David, wrote his powerful and descriptive words as a record and a testimony of who God was to him in all the seasons of his life – past, present and future. Like David, you can determine to give thanks to God in all circumstances and as you do you’ll begin to see your life through God’s perspective and His vision will become your own!
Praise Puts Your Testimony into Perspective
David wrote Psalm 18 because giving thanks to the Lord was his natural response to God’s faithfulness. He had received promises from the Lord about his family, his kingdom and his legacy, yet David still had to walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death several times to get there! Praise was David’s testimony of faith and God’s faithfulness.
This journey included the death of his best friend, the slaying of four giants, the burning of his village, betrayal, pain, fear and more, yet David saw his problems through the lens of God’s faithfulness. That made all the difference!
David always remembered to stop and give thanks to the Lord. Even in his hardest times, he found reasons in his heart to be thankful to God.
Praise was David’s testimony of faith and God’s faithfulness.
~Alicia Purdy
Every believer has their own personal reasons to give thanks to God in their past, present and future, but in hard times, those reasons may be hard to think of. But entering His gates with thanksgiving in your heart is the key that opens the door to His presence and you’ll need that to keep your faith strong as you journey through your life!
In Your Past: Giving Thanks to the Lord for What He has Done
According to Psalm 18, David recalled the past events of his life and saw the hand of God upon him. God has always been faithful to His Word and when you align your life according to His will, the promises He made in His Word are yours – and He will stand by them.
Yet, even when you struggle – He is still faithful! As you look back on your own life through the lens of God’s faithfulness, mercy, love, salvation, power, and might, starting giving thanks to God for what He has done for you, just like David did. Gratitude is where all true worship begins and it is the secret to the fire of faith!
One of the hardest aspects of allowing the Lord to change you is doing that changing in front of those who knew you back “then”. Sometimes it seems like no matter how far you’ve come, it’s never far enough; or no matter how different you are, they’ll always see you the same way, doesn’t it?
- Philippians 1:6 says that you can be confident that “He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.”
- Psalm 138:8 says that the Lord will bring to completion all that is involved in your life.
When you come into Christ, you are a “new creation“ and the old things have passed away and everything about you has become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17) But it doesn’t always feel that way, does it? Everyone struggles with the “old man” from time to time, but the power of praise can help you keep the past behind you and hold your feet to the path the Lord has for your future!
The power of praise in your life is one of the greatest spiritual weapons the Lord has given you.
It is a tactic of the enemy to try and keep you held back by your past, to hold you captive by the very chains the Lord broke off of you. Satan would love nothing more than to keep you discouraged, frustrated, distracted, angry, depressed and afraid that the Lord didn’t really do a deeper and new work in you.
He’ll try to tempt you with old behaviors and old patterns of thinking and if you do stumble, he’ll kick you while you’re down! But the Lord has a plan through the power of praise!
God has always been faithful to His Word and when you align your life according to His will, the promises He made in His Word are yours – and He will stand by them.
~Alicia Purdy
Read Psalm 18 and you will see the words of your own testimony from which you should give thanks to God!
- You cried and He heard your voice from His temple
- He bent the heavens and He came down at your voice
- He rode to get you on a cherub, and flew swiftly on the wings of the wind
- He hid you in the darkness of His secret place
- The Lord scattered your enemies when He thundered in the heavens and He sent out His arrows
- He distressed your enemies when He shot out lightning to disperse them
- He sent from above and He took you out of trouble
- He drew you out of many waters
- He delivered you from your strong enemy
- He supported you
- He also brought into a wide, open space
- He delivered you because He delights in you
- The Lord rewarded you according to the cleanness of your hands
- He has given you a shield of His salvation
- His right hand has held you up
- The Lord’s gentleness has made you great
- God has lengthened your stride under you, so that your feet did not slip
- He has clothed you with strength for the battle
- He subdued under you those who rose up against you
- He gave you the necks of your enemies
- God has delivered you from the hostilities of the world
- The Lord has made you the head of nations
- God has delivered you from the violent man
Gratitude is the point of origin for all praise, but your reasons to praise the Lord will grow over time as the Lord gives you a “new song” for a new season where you’ve seen His faithfulness. (Psalm 40:1-3)
The more time you spend in the presence of God, worshipping and praising the Lord, the stronger you become as a warrior in the battle for your life. Your past is behind you and all the vain imaginings and terrifying “what ifs” are smoke and mirrors!
You can walk in victory because your future is in the Lord’s mighty hands. Satan has no clue what the future holds, he can only bet against your past and he’s a loser. Satan knows the true power of praise better than any other created being in existence. Praise and worship make you stronger.
Do you have eyes to see it? His mercies are new every morning” (Lam. 3:22-23) and even if it doesn’t “feel” that way, you must operate in faith in your praise, not by feelings!
In Your Present: Giving Thanks to the Lord for What He is Doing Now
There’s nothing anyone could ever give the Lord that He needs, but there is something He desires today: Thanksgiving, expressed through worship. Why? Because praise and worship are how He connects with you on a deeper, spiritual level.
Psalm 50:23 says, “Whoever sacrifices a thank offering glorifies Me and makes a way; I will show him the salvation of God.”
In Psalm 18, David’s journey was still unfolding, but as he looked around through the eyes of faith, he saw what you, too, can see when you fix your eyes on Jesus and determine to seek His perspective on the things in your life:
- The Lord is your pillar, and your fortress, and your Deliverer
- He is your God, your rock, in whom you can take refuge
- God is your shield, and the horn of you salvation, your high tower
- He is a shield to all those who take refuge in Him
- God clothes you with strength
- He gives you way integrity
- He makes you feet like the feet of a deer
- The Lord causes you to stand on my high places
- God trains your hands for war
- God avenges you
- He subdues the people under you
- He delivers you from your enemies
- He lifts you up above those who rise up against you
- He gives great deliverance to His beloved
- He shows lovingkindness to His anointed
- Through God you can run through a troop, and with His power you can leap a wall.
Scripturally speaking, gratitude is expressed in two ways: naturally and spiritually. Remember, the point of praise is to minister to the Lord spiritually from a heart of thanksgiving, and to express that praise naturally, through presenting your body as a living sacrifice to the Lord.
These are not Sunday morning activities, but are daily acts of thanksgiving shown to the Lord that bring a deeper intimacy with Him.
Psalm 107:2 says, “Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story, those He redeemed from the hand of the foe.”
Worship without a physical, outward expression is incomplete. Yes, God knows your heart, but your outward expression of being thankful to the Lord in all circumstances – yesterday’s, today’s and tomorrow’s – is the living, flesh and blood, sacrifice of the New Covenant He desires.
The power of praise and worship make you spiritually and emotionally stronger because they are exclusively God-focused and they remove your mind from “self” and center you on the “Savior”! That’s why Satan will do whatever he can to make sure you’re not grateful for anything — because praise and worship are the winning strategy!
Get into worship, prioritize it, remain in the presence of God while the past tries to drag you back. Remember, even Jesus has experienced such trouble.
In Your Future: Giving Thanks to the Lord for What He Will Do
In Psalm 18, David gave thanks to God, even though he hadn’t yet seen God’s promises fulfilled. But he saw them a long way off, and thanked the Eternal God for what he knew God would do, and you have the same promises:
- One day you will call on the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and you will be saved from you enemies
- In the days to come, the Lord will rescue those afflicted by the wicked
- He will bring down prideful eyes at His chosen time
- The day is coming soon when the Lord will cause your lamp to shine
- The Lord your God will enlighten your darkness so you can see in the shadows
2 Corinthians 9:10 says that the Lord will “multiply your seed sown” and “increase the fruit of your righteousness.”
When you sow in faith by worshipping the Lord for His supernatural role in your future, not only will God multiple that seed, but He will also increase the fruit that grows from that seed because of your righteous act of faith!
Anyone can thank God when things are great, but giving thanks in hard times is a spiritual strength.
~Alicia Purdy
“…So you will be enriched in everything to all bountifulness which makes us give thanks to God,” Paul wrote. God will supply for all your needs (Philippians 4:19), but you have the responsibility to sow. If you sow a little, then the fruit of your faith will reflect that. (2 Corinthians 9:6)
- Your first responsibility in the principle of supply is to sow in faith.
- The second is to give thanks.
Paul said you “will be” enriched in everything. God is faithful to His promises! Anyone can thank God when things are great, but giving thanks in hard times is a spiritual strength! In fact, worshipping God in thanks, in faith, that He will do what He said He would do it what proves your faith is in Him.
Thought for today: Give Thanks to the Lord Before, Between and Behind
David spent time recalling the days of his life, and thinking about his future and walking in his present situations with a perspective of praise not because he was perfect, but because he had a grateful heart.
After he had reflected on the journey of his life, even into the future, he gave thanks to God for all of it, saying, “…Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to Your name.” (Psalm 18:49 MEV) All true worship begins with gratitude – not love.
Even Jesus Had a Past
In Luke 4, Jesus had just emerged from the wilderness, which was a powerful and deeply spiritual season of transformation and growth for Him. He had overcome the temptations of Satan, fasted for 40 days, and then:
“Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and His fame went throughout the surrounding region. He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by everyone.” (Luke 4:14-15)
What a wonderful time that must have been in Jesus’ life! Freshly empowered by God’s Spirit, sent to do His work, launching a new ministry, traveling, crowds appreciating Him, learning, growing under His teaching… But then??
“He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up…” (Luke 4:16)
Although Jesus returned home as a “new” person – a wiser, more mature person, victorious, with a God-given ministry, a destiny, a mission, a purpose, once He began to operate in that role before the people who had known Him before, they didn’t want to hear it from “Joseph’s son“.
People who had known Jesus and had seen Him grow up immediately reduced Jesus to who they had once known Him to be and mocked and rejected His message.
In response to their dismissive and condescending words Jesus said this, “You will surely say to Me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal Thyself’. Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country…no prophet is accepted in His own country…” (Luke 4:23-24)
No one would let Jesus move forward from His past! (Well, it’s more accurate to say that the people from Jesus’ past decided to remain where they were, while Jesus ran ahead with the mission God had given Him.) He didn’t look back – and He’ll help you do the same!
Giving Thanks to God Has Nothing to do with Your Situation
The fact is, some people will never see you for who you really are. Some people will always try to keep you from your future by reminding you that you are just “Joseph’s son”. Some people will demand proof to validate that you are different (“do also here in Your country…“). Some people will never see you as any different no matter what you do.
But you can’t define who you are in Christ by other people’s criticism nor by their praise. If you’re called by God then harness the power of praise – present your body as a living sacrifice to the Lord daily and with commitment to remain in His presence, “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you were called.” (Ephesians 4:1) You do the work. God will do the wonders!
God has a plan for your life, a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11) You can look back and see Him. You can see Him right now if you have eyes to see. And you can know in faith He’s already in your future, because He said so in His Word. That is why you worship.
If you want that to be your testimony, then start testifying now. Your praise of the Lord in every season of your life is proof that His promises are true!
