David titled this psalm “Rescued from Saul”, and it is longer than most of his psalms. David wrote praises to God who rescued him. David praised the Lord because he said God rewarded him for doing right in verses 19-23. What did David do right? Twice David could have killed Saul but he didn’t. In spite of urging from his soldiers, David said he could not kill Saul because God had Saul anointed king of Israel. David knew that God is the source of life and death, that God had anointed him as the next king, and he would wait for God to determine the time.
In verses 4-5, David described his thoughts on the dangers he was in. Then in verses 6-17, David gave a vivid metaphor of how God rescued him. This is a beautiful poetic picture of reality. How often I have missed these word pictures by just reading words and not meditating on them. His faith in God was so full of confidence there is no wonder as to why he was so successful. So many of us lose confidence when problems arise; we think we have failed instead of recognizing each test as an opportunity for strengthening our faith. May we remember what we read here when trials come in our lives.