The Hard Work of Victory Text: Psalm 18:37-42
Introduction: A Theology for Victors, Not Victims
We live in an age that has grown soft, sentimental, and squeamish. The modern church, particularly in the West, has developed a severe allergy to the language of spiritual warfare, conquest, and total victory. We prefer a domesticated deity, a Jesus who is more of a celestial guidance counselor than a conquering king. We are comfortable with psalms that speak of green pastures and still waters, but we squirm when we come to psalms that speak of shattered enemies and necks underfoot. We have traded the sword of the Spirit for a foam noodle, and we wonder why we are losing the culture.
This passage in Psalm 18 is a bracing tonic for our anemic age. It is raw, it is violent, and it is unapologetically triumphal. This is the language of a man who knows that God is not a neutral party in the cosmic conflict. This is David, the man after God's own heart, singing praise to the God who trained his hands for war. And we must understand that this is not just David's song; it is the song of the Greater David, the Lord Jesus Christ. And by extension, it is our song. We are the body of Christ, and we have been enlisted in a war that has a foregone conclusion.
Our postmillennial hope is not a lazy optimism that expects things to just get better on their own. It is a robust, muscular confidence that Christ must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. And how does He do this? He does it through us. He crushes the serpent's head with His heel, and we, the church, are that heel. The Great Commission is not a suggestion to go out and make friends; it is a command to go out and make disciples of the nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey everything Christ commanded. This is a program of conquest. It is a declaration of war against every idol, every false philosophy, and every rebellious institution that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.
The verses before us are a graphic depiction of what total victory looks like. This is not about personal vendettas or carnal triumphalism. This is about taking God at His word when He promises to subdue His enemies. We must recover this biblical mindset if we are to be of any use in the battles that are raging around us. We must learn to pray the imprecatory psalms, not because we are filled with personal malice, but because we love the glory of God and long for His justice to be established in the earth. This passage teaches us what it means to fight in faith, to pursue our enemies relentlessly, and to give all the glory to God when the victory is won.
The Text
I pursued my enemies and overtook them, And I did not turn back until they were consumed.
I crushed them, so that they were not able to rise; They fell under my feet.
For You have girded me with strength for battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, And I destroyed those who hated me.
They cried for help, but there was none to save, Even to Yahweh, but He did not answer them.
Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind; I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.
(Psalm 18:37-42 LSB)
Relentless Pursuit (v. 37)
David begins with a description of his own action in the battle, an action empowered by God but carried out with total commitment.
"I pursued my enemies and overtook them, And I did not turn back until they were consumed." (Psalm 18:37)
Notice the active role of the believer. David did not sit back and say, "Well, God promised victory, so I'll just wait here for it to happen." No, faith is not passive resignation; it is active, obedient courage. He pursued. He chased them down. He engaged in the hard, sweaty, bloody work of war. This is a picture of sanctification and of our role in the Great Commission. We are called to pursue sin in our own hearts and lives and not turn back until it is consumed. We are to hunt down every last vestige of pride, lust, and bitterness. We do not make treaties with our sin; we make war on it.
Likewise, in the cultural battle, we are to pursue the enemies of God. We are to chase down lies with truth. We are to overtake falsehood with sound doctrine. We are not to be content with a defensive crouch, hoping the world will leave us alone. The commission is to go forward, to advance, to take ground. And the standard of victory is not mere survival; it is consumption. We continue the fight until the enemy's arguments are consumed, until their strongholds are torn down, until every thought is taken captive to the obedience of Christ. There is no room for half-measures or a negotiated peace with the powers of darkness.
Total Subjugation (v. 38)
The result of this relentless pursuit is the complete and total defeat of the enemy.
"I crushed them, so that they were not able to rise; They fell under my feet." (Psalm 18:38 LSB)
This is the language of finality. "They were not able to rise." This is not a temporary setback for the enemy; it is their final destruction. When Christ wins a victory, it is a decisive victory. When He saves a soul, that soul is eternally secure. When He defeats a foe, that foe stays defeated. The image of enemies falling "under my feet" is a potent one throughout Scripture. It signifies ultimate authority and dominion. This is what God promised the Son in Psalm 110: "Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet."
And as we have noted, we are the body of Christ. When His enemies are made His footstool, He accomplishes it through the faithful obedience of His people. Every time a church is planted in a dark place, every time a Christian family raises their children in the fear of the Lord, every time a believer stands for truth in the public square, another of Christ's enemies is being placed under His feet. This is not arrogance on our part; it is a confident faith in the promises of God. We are on the winning side of history, and our job is to act like it. We are not fighting for victory; we are fighting from victory.
The Divine Enabler (v. 39-40)
David is clear to give the credit where it is due. His strength and his success are not his own, but are a direct gift from God.
"For You have girded me with strength for battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me. You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, And I destroyed those who hated me." (Psalm 18:39-40 LSB)
Here is the perfect synthesis of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. David says, "I crushed them," but then immediately follows with, "For You have girded me with strength." God is the one who provides the strength, the ability, the opportunity. To be "girded" means to be equipped, to have your loins wrapped for action. God does not just command us to fight; He equips us for the fight. He gives us the armor, the weapons, and the strength to use them.
God is the one who subdues our enemies. He is the one who makes them "turn their backs" in retreat. But notice again the interplay: God makes them turn tail, and then David says, "I destroyed those who hated me." God's sovereign work does not negate our duty; it enables it. He gives them into our hand, but we must still wield the sword. This is why we can fight with such confidence. We are not relying on our own cleverness or power. We are relying on the God who has promised to go before us and fight for us. The enemies we face are not just our enemies; they are "those who hated me," which in the context of David the Lord's anointed, means they are those who hate the Lord. We are fighting the Lord's battles, and the Lord does not lose.
The Futility of Rebellion (v. 41)
This next verse is a sobering and terrifying glimpse into the end of all who stand against God.
"They cried for help, but there was none to save, Even to Yahweh, but He did not answer them." (Psalm 18:41 LSB)
There comes a point when the day of grace is over. There is a line that, once crossed, brings nothing but irreversible judgment. The enemies of God, in their final desperation, cry out for help. They might even cry out to Yahweh, the very God they have spent their lives fighting against. It is a foxhole conversion, born of terror, not true repentance. And the text is chillingly clear: "He did not answer them."
This is a hard word for our sentimental age, but it is a necessary one. God is not a cosmic bellhop who can be summoned at the last minute to clean up a mess of our own making. His mercy is offered freely, but it is not offered indefinitely. Proverbs 1 tells us that Wisdom calls out in the streets, but those who despise her call will one day call on her and receive no answer. They will eat the fruit of their own way. This is the terrible reality of final judgment. The time to cry out to God is now, while it is still the day of salvation. For those who persist in their rebellion, their final cries will be nothing more than the soundtrack of their own destruction.
The Final Humiliation (v. 42)
The psalm concludes this section with a graphic depiction of the utter contempt with which God's enemies are treated in their final defeat.
"Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind; I emptied them out as the mire of the streets." (Psalm 18:42 LSB)
This is not just defeat; it is humiliation. They are beaten as fine as dust, insubstantial and blown away by the wind. This echoes Psalm 1, where the wicked are like the chaff which the wind drives away. They have no root, no substance, no permanence. All their proud boasts, their institutions, their philosophies, are ultimately dust in the wind.
Then the imagery gets even more graphic. They are emptied out like the "mire of the streets." This is the filth, the mud, the sewage that is trodden underfoot and scraped off the sandals. This is God's final verdict on all who set themselves against His Christ. For all their temporary pomp and power, their end is to be treated as refuse. This is what it means to be on the wrong side of God. It is to go from being a proud rebel to being street sludge. This should fill us with a holy fear and a renewed urgency to proclaim the gospel. The choice before every human being is to either bow the knee to Christ as King or be crushed to powder under His feet.
Conclusion: Girded for Our Battle
This psalm is not a museum piece. It is a training manual. It is a battle hymn. It is a prophetic vision of the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ, a victory in which we are privileged to participate. The enemies David faced, Philistines and Ammonites, were types and shadows of the spiritual enemies we face today: the world, the flesh, and the devil.
The principles of warfare are the same. We must be relentless. We must not make peace with sin or with the world's rebellion. We must pursue our enemies until they are consumed, both in our own hearts and in the world around us. And we must do it all in the strength that God provides. He is the one who girds us for battle. He is the one who subdues our enemies. Our job is to show up, fully armed, and obey our marching orders.
Let us therefore shake off our spiritual lethargy. Let us stop being embarrassed by the martial language of our own holy book. We are the church militant, and we have a world to win for Christ. Let us fight with the confidence of those who know the outcome is already secured. Let us pray with the boldness of those who know that God hears and answers. And let us look forward to that great day when all the dust and mire of this world's rebellion is finally swept away, and the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.