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God Rescues Us From Violent Men - Psalm 18

Writer's picture: Naeemah ShakirNaeemah Shakir

Have you ever prayed that God would rescue you, deliver you, help you so you could stop suffering in your marriage? I have. Was it your expectation that God's answer would bring peace and beauty to your marriage and your relationship would move forward in harmony with God's will, with all of the issues resolved and your husband finally valuing the gift of you in his life, committing to loving you as Christ loved the church? It was mine..


Did you wonder what God was doing when it was beginning to appear that your marriage was ending, instead of becoming the harmonious, loving, mutually beneficial, piece of heaven on earth relationship you envisioned? I did.


One day you will see, as I came to see, that God in His infinite wisdom could see in the future and know that your husband was not going to yield his will to His. God could see that you would continue to love and support him and he would continue to trample on you and your expressions of love and commitment, rendering your offerings as pearls before swine.


A narcissistic man is a violent man. Being in a marriage with a covert narcissist is to experience a slow death in mind, body, and spirit. It is a life of near constant distress amidst the lies, gaslighting, anger, and manipulation. It. is. utterly. exhausting. Managing the symptoms of complex (CPSTD) that result, compounds the whole-person exhaustion. Thankfully, God rescues, and He heals victims of such bondage and oppression.


Psalm 18 is an anthem for the narcissistic abuse survivor. Being in relationship with such a person is destructive. Often the pain is so suffocating, it can be hard to breathe. The tears seem to never stop falling. You force through the anguish to be strong for your family, your community, and to be a good soldier for God. Friend, you can cast your burden on Him. He will comfort and care for you. He will fight for you. As you rest in Him, He will strengthen you. He sees you and will deliver you. Be encouraged by God's word.


Psalm 18

I love you, Lord, my strength.


2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.


3 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,

and I have been saved from my enemies.

4 The cords of death entangled me;

the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

5 The cords of the grave coiled around me;

the snares of death confronted me.


6 In my distress I called to the Lord;

I cried to my God for help.

From his temple he heard my voice;

my cry came before him, into his ears.

7 The earth trembled and quaked,

and the foundations of the mountains shook;

they trembled because he was angry.

8 Smoke rose from his nostrils;

consuming fire came from his mouth,

burning coals blazed out of it.

9 He parted the heavens and came down;

dark clouds were under his feet.

10 He mounted the cherubim and flew;

he soared on the wings of the wind.

11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—

the dark rain clouds of the sky.

12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,

with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

13 The Lord thundered from heaven;

the voice of the Most High resounded.[d]

14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,

with great bolts of lightning he routed them.

15 The valleys of the sea were exposed

and the foundations of the earth laid bare

at your rebuke, Lord,

at the blast of breath from your nostrils.


16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me;

he drew me out of deep waters.

17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,

from my foes, who were too strong for me.

18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,

but the Lord was my support.

19 He brought me out into a spacious place;

he rescued me because he delighted in me.


20 The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness;

according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord;

I am not guilty of turning from my God.

22 All his laws are before me;

I have not turned away from his decrees.

23 I have been blameless before him

and have kept myself from sin.

24 The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,

according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.


25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful,

to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

26 to the pure you show yourself pure,

but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.

27 You save the humble

but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.

28 You, Lord, keep my lamp burning;

my God turns my darkness into light.

29 With your help I can advance against a troop[e];

with my God I can scale a wall.


30 As for God, his way is perfect:

The Lord’s word is flawless;

he shields all who take refuge in him.

31 For who is God besides the Lord?

And who is the Rock except our God?

32 It is God who arms me with strength

and keeps my way secure.

33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;

he causes me to stand on the heights.

34 He trains my hands for battle;

my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

35 You make your saving help my shield,

and your right hand sustains me;

your help has made me great.

36 You provide a broad path for my feet,

so that my ankles do not give way.


37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them;

I did not turn back till they were destroyed.

38 I crushed them so that they could not rise;

they fell beneath my feet.

39 You armed me with strength for battle;

you humbled my adversaries before me.

40 You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,

and I destroyed my foes.

41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—

to the Lord, but he did not answer.

42 I beat them as fine as windblown dust;

I trampled them[f] like mud in the streets.

43 You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;

you have made me the head of nations.

People I did not know now serve me,

44 foreigners cower before me;

as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.

45 They all lose heart;

they come trembling from their strongholds.


46 The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!

Exalted be God my Savior!

47 He is the God who avenges me,

who subdues nations under me,

48 who saves me from my enemies.

You exalted me above my foes;

from a violent man you rescued me.

49 Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;

I will sing the praises of your name.


50 He gives his king great victories;

he shows unfailing love to his anointed,

to David and to his descendants forever.


You matter. Your voice matters. Your story matters. Your valley will be exalted, and your triumph will bring glory to God.

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