The Foreigners Fading: The Reach of the King Text: Psalm 18:43-45
Introduction: Two Kinds of Kingdom
We live in an age that is allergic to authority, allergic to kingship, and allergic to submission. Our democratic sensibilities want a world of equals, a flatland of opinions where every man does what is right in his own eyes. The modern mind wants a Christ who is a helpful spiritual advisor, a celestial life coach, but not a conquering king. But the Christ of the Scriptures is not tame, and He is certainly not running for office. He is on the throne.
Psalm 18 is a royal psalm. It is a song of triumph, a victory anthem sung by King David after God delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. But as we read it, we quickly realize that the language strains the historical boundaries of David's own life. He is speaking of a victory so complete, a dominion so vast, that it can only find its ultimate fulfillment in the greater Son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ. Much of what is said here, as Calvin noted, "agrees better with Christ" than it does with David. David was the shadow; Christ is the substance.
This psalm, then, is not just about a local skirmish in the ancient Near East. It is a prophecy of the global reign of the Messiah. And these verses in particular, verses 43 through 45, are a direct assault on every form of eschatological pessimism. They are a rebuke to the timid, fearful Christianity that expects to lose every cultural battle until a last minute cavalry charge at the end of history. The Bible knows nothing of such a cowering faith. It presents us with a victorious King, a spreading kingdom, and a gospel that conquers. This passage describes the engine of the Great Commission. It tells us what happens when the gospel goes out in power. It is a picture of the nations being discipled.
The Text
You have delivered me from the contentions of the people;
You have placed me as head of the nations;
A people whom I have not known serve me.
As soon as they hear, they obey me;
Foreigners cower before me.
Foreigners fade away,
And come trembling out of their fortresses.
(Psalm 18:43-45 LSB)
From Contention to Coronation (v. 43)
We begin with the foundation of this authority in verse 43.
"You have delivered me from the contentions of the people; You have placed me as head of the nations; A people whom I have not known serve me." (Psalm 18:43)
The first clause speaks of deliverance from "the contentions of the people." For David, this was literal and personal. He was hounded by Saul, betrayed by his own countrymen, and faced civil war. His throne was established through conflict. But for Christ, this points to His victory over the ultimate contention. He was delivered from the strivings of His own people, the Jews, who rejected and crucified Him. He was delivered from the grave itself, which was the ultimate expression of their hostility. His resurrection was His vindication. God the Father delivered Him from the strife of men by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand.
And what is the result of this deliverance? "You have placed me as head of the nations." The Hebrew word for nations here is goyim, the Gentiles. David had dominion over some surrounding gentile nations, true. But was he the "head of the nations" in this sweeping, global sense? Not at all. This is messianic language. This is the fulfillment of the promise made in Psalm 2: "Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession." Christ's resurrection was His coronation. At His ascension, He declared that all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to Him. He is, right now, the head of the nations. Not just the head of the church, but the head of every tribe, tongue, and people, whether they acknowledge it yet or not.
This results in a startling reality: "A people whom I have not known serve me." For David, this meant foreign tributaries. For Christ, this is the mystery of the gospel revealed, the calling of the Gentiles. The Apostle Paul quotes the end of this very psalm in Romans to make this exact point, that Christ became a servant to the Jews to confirm the promises to the patriarchs, "and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy" (Romans 15:9). We, the wild olive branches, a people who were once not a people, who were strangers to the covenants of promise, have been brought near. We are the people He had "not known" who now serve Him. This is the story of the last two thousand years of church history.
The Conquest of the Word (v. 44)
Verse 44 describes the nature of this new submission. It is not primarily a military conquest, but a spiritual one.
"As soon as they hear, they obey me; Foreigners cower before me." (Psalm 18:44 LSB)
Notice the instrumentality: "As soon as they hear." How do the nations come to serve Him? They hear something. What do they hear? They hear the gospel. "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). The weapon of this King is the sword of His mouth, the Word of God. His kingdom advances not by tanks and bombs, but by the proclamation of the good news. When the gospel is preached in the power of the Spirit, the response is obedience.
This is the "obedience of faith" that Paul speaks of. It is a submission of the heart that leads to a transformation of life. This is the engine of postmillennialism. We believe that the Great Commission will be successful. We believe that as the gospel is preached, the nations will hear, and they will obey. This is not a pipe dream; it is a divine promise embedded in the victory of Jesus Christ.
But the verse also says, "Foreigners cower before me." The Hebrew here can mean to "feign submission" or to "submit unwillingly." This is a crucial piece of realism. Not everyone who bows the knee does so with a sincere heart. As the kingdom of Christ advances in a culture, as His standards become the law of the land, many will conform outwardly because it is the path of least resistance. They will pay lip service to the King. This is not the goal, but it is an inevitable byproduct of the gospel's cultural influence. A society shaped by Christian ethics will produce a great deal of external compliance, which is still preferable to a society that openly celebrates perversion. It creates a stable environment where the gospel can continue its true work of converting hearts.
The Crumbling Fortresses (v. 45)
The final verse of our text describes the ultimate fate of those who resist the King.
"Foreigners fade away, And come trembling out of their fortresses." (Psalm 18:45 LSB)
The enemies of the King "fade away." Their strength withers, their influence diminishes. This is the story of history. Where is the mighty Roman empire that fed Christians to the lions? It is a museum. Where are the pagan gods of the Norsemen or the Celts? They are footnotes in mythology books. Where is the Soviet Union that boasted of its atheism? It is in the dustbin of history. The enemies of Christ are always formidable in their own time, but in the long run, they are ephemeral. They fade like a summer flower.
And what of their defenses? They "come trembling out of their fortresses." A fortress is a place of security, a stronghold. For the enemies of God, these are their ideological systems, their political structures, their institutions built on rebellion. They trust in their secular universities, their media empires, their legislative bodies. But when the kingdom of God advances, these fortresses are shown to be prisons of paper. The inhabitants eventually must come out, trembling. They come out because their defenses have failed them. Their worldview cannot account for reality. Their rebellion cannot satisfy the human heart. Their fortresses cannot withstand the seismic power of the resurrection.
They come out trembling because they are facing a king they cannot defeat. For some, this trembling is the beginning of wisdom, the fear of the Lord that leads to repentance and life. For others, it is the terror of the wicked who see the writing on the wall, who know their time is up. In either case, the fortress falls. No human institution built in defiance of Christ the King is ultimate. They all have an expiration date.
Conclusion: Our Victorious March
So what does this mean for us? It means we must banish from our hearts every last vestige of a defeated, retreating, pessimistic faith. We serve a victorious King who is, right now, the head of the nations. The story of the world is not spiraling downward into chaos. It is marching upward, inexorably, toward the day when "the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9).
Our task is to be the heralds of this King. Our task is to be the ones through whom the nations "hear." We are to preach the gospel, build faithful Christian households, establish Christian schools, and work to see the crown rights of King Jesus acknowledged in every sphere of life. We are not fighting for victory; we are fighting from victory.
The foreigners are fading. Their fortresses are trembling. This is not because of our cleverness or strength, but because God has delivered His Anointed One from the contentions of the people and set Him as head of the nations. Therefore, let us go forth with confidence. Let us proclaim His kingship. Let us call the nations to the obedience of faith. For the Father has promised the Son His inheritance, and He will not be short-changed.