One thing I keep coming back to with David is an admiration of his trust and reliance on the LORD. He knew and said often that man’s help was worthless, and that it was better to trust the LORD than the nobility.
But what made him different was that it wasn’t just words for him. Time and time again he had to trust the Lord in the most difficult of circumstances. He could have put his trust in man and made alliances that were not of God, but rather he put his faith in the Lord.
This is one of those times where he had put his faith in the Lord and the Lord had delivered him.
“The LORD disciplined me severely but did not give me over to death” (Ps 118:18).
We don’t know the context, but we know that God gave Israel victory. And so David, instead of flaunting himself as the victorious king and taking all the accolades for himself with great pomp and circumstance, he instead directs praise rightly — to the LORD.
“Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever” (Ps 118:1).
And more than that, he entreats all of Israel to proclaim that “His faithful love endures forever” (Ps 118:1-4).
Then David proclaims repeatedly that He will praise the LORD.
And perhaps that is one of his keys to his life of faith and trust in the LORD. Because of his continuous praise and worship of the LORD, he was able to keep who he was and what he did in a right place, and the LORD in his rightful place of honor.
Perhaps we way underestimate praise and worship. Not just corporately but in our own lives of worship.