Psalms 18:35, commentary and pictures

God has given the shield of salvation as protection, his right hand holds up and sustains the one who trusts him, and his gentleness enlarges the steps and makes the servant great to stand firm in the work before him. That gentleness is forbearance, longsuffering, mercy, patience, compassion and complete self-control, not weakness but the union of mercy and justice in which mercy does not set aside the law and justice does not eclipse mercy. It is revealed in Jesus in his humility and suffering on the cross to bear human sin, and beholding that self-denying love gives light and life to the soul and draws the heart to gratitude and faith. It makes great not by rank, wealth or human achievement but by meekness, lowliness and humble dependence on God, as the needy soul rests by faith in Christ, yields fully to him, and is reformed and ennobled into purity and holiness. Those made great by it reveal the same gentleness toward others in patient, kind and encouraging speech, especially in correcting the erring without harshness or crushing, so that others are won and reformed.

Shield, Hand, and Greatness

The shield spoken of is salvation itself, a divine protection that covers the one who trusts, while the right hand is the sustaining power that holds him up and keeps him from falling. Strength and success are not self-produced but are gifts upheld by God, who enlarges the steps under the servant so that the feet do not slip. That same sustaining care enables the servant to stand firm and to carry out the work set before him.

God is the source of both salvation and strength, protecting and sustaining his servant, and it is his gentleness and not any merit in the servant that makes him great. All ability and all success and honor therefore belong to God, and the one so upheld is to walk humbly and give God the credit rather than seek to exalt himself. David's testimony gives this truth its personal form, that God's gentleness made him great.

That confession is the fitting response of a heart that knows God sees and searches every heart, answering divine searching with acknowledgment that greatness received comes from his gentleness. The greatness given is thus traced to its source in him who knows the inward life completely.

The Lord adapts himself to special needs, helping the feeble and strengthening those who have no strength. Where trials and conflicts and poverty are greatest, there he gives increased protection, standing as a shade on the right hand. He walks close beside those engaged in willing service for him, supplying all necessities, knowing everyone by name, and surrounding them with assurances of tender love. Minds purified from sin better comprehend the depth of that grace and break out in wonder over such gentleness enlarging understanding and making great.

Meaning of Divine Gentleness

Gentleness is forbearance, longsuffering, mercy, patience, compassion, kind words, and complete self-control. It is not weakness of character, and its power to shape and elevate a person is greater than is imagined.

That gentleness is the blend of mercy and justice standing together as twin sisters, for without both together the result is terrible. Mercy does not set aside justice, the law, its penalty, or the requirement of holiness and purity, and justice does not eclipse mercy. Mercy opens the way to God's city while justice requires holiness and purity, and together they make salvation full and complete. Seen in the world's Redeemer and the law of Jehovah together, this mingling of judgment with mercy and justice with mercy reveals the immutability of God's law and inspires the heart with hope and with love for God.

In gentle mercy God bears patiently day by day with failures and perversity, and though people live dependent on Him and continually do things displeasing to Him, He does not cast them off. He is ready to forgive transgressions and sins when errors are seen and repented of with humility and confession before Him. No provocation justifies dislike, resentment, or retaliation, and no one can trust in personal goodness but only in abounding mercy, which is to be confessed every day and, when its greatness and the boundlessness of love are realized, leads to manifesting the same tender, compassionate, forbearing, merciful, loving spirit in ready forgiveness of others. Such gentleness belongs to the peace of heaven, where people do not scold, punish in anger, or exercise arbitrary authority.

Gentleness Revealed in Christ

His gentleness is seen in strength joined with compassion, and above all in humility and suffering on the cross to bear human sin so that His righteousness may be counted to sinners. Seeing Jesus die for sin reveals an amazing love that softens the heart, fills it with love, removes barriers, and leads to faith and love for Him. That softened, believing response is what is expressed in the words that His gentleness has made great.

Meekness and gentleness were beautiful features of His character, and those who follow Him are to become like Him. That character appeared in kindness toward children and youth and in entire freedom from discourtesy, providing the model for parents who reflect His tender love. Only divine grace can correct objectionable tendencies so that such Christlikeness is formed.

Christ first draws the heart by self-denying, self-sacrificing love in giving Himself for fallen humanity. Beholding His grace, goodness, truth, and love gives light and life to the soul, and as sinners behold that love and receive forgiveness they become highly favored and exalted through faith and connection with Jesus. The heart responds to His sacrifice with gratitude, faith, and willing return to Him. Gratitude for that redeeming grace then moves His people to serve others and make it known.

The sinner transformed by looking to Christ lifted up on the cross sees his own unlikeness of character against the purity and holiness of Jesus. In that light he comes to hate practiced sin, judges his uncleanness as God judges it, and lays hold on Jesus by living faith for forgiveness. That commanding and attractive character reforms and transforms, purifies mind and heart from defilement, and ennobles by lifting out of impurity into purity and holiness. This is the grateful declaration that His gentleness has made great, as His purity and saving love expose sin, turn the sinner from it, and change the character.

How Gentleness Makes Great

True greatness is not grounded in rank, wealth, intellect, self-esteem, striving to exalt self, or human achievement, but in meekness, lowliness, and oneness with Christ, learned by following Him in self-denial and bearing the cross. Credit belongs to God's goodness and love rather than to human doing, and renouncing self makes room for Christ to work in and through the person. Conversion of souls is simple and not mysterious and complicated: sinners look and live by studying and practicing Christ, simply opening the door of the heart and letting Jesus come in to abide in the soul temple, abiding in Him and rejoicing in His love. Greatness and a transformed religious life come from Christ, not from human ability, good deeds, or legal religion.

Seeing Jesus die for human sin reveals His amazing love, and His gentleness is seen in His strength and compassion and in His humility and suffering on the cross to bear human sin so that His righteousness may be counted to sinners. Contemplating that sacrifice softens the heart, fills it with love, removes barriers, and leads to faith and love for Him. All power has been given to Christ and is for each person who will have it, received by keeping the eyes fixed on Christ, studying His life of goodness, grace, truth, and love and the excellence of His character, beholding His love that gives light and life to the soul, asking whether purpose and character are like His, following His example, and becoming a humble faithful witness. By that receiving, divine gentleness enlarges the believer and makes him great.

God's gentle mercy sustains and raises those who depend on Him, as the needy soul trusts God, follows where He leads, seeks Him in humble dependence, and rests by faith in Christ relying on His strength, wisdom, and counsel. Jesus provides for every emergency for those who walk where He leads, making rough places plain and creating an atmosphere for the soul, bringing the needy soul into seclusion with God to forget everyone and everything but God, where speaking aloud to God drives back Satan's hellish shadow when Satan talks. Those who have been alone with God in prayer come forth with sincere faith, humble, subdued, thankful hearts, rich in the assurance of His love from alliance with God and carrying a heavenly influence wherever they go, able to speak with sincerity from personal trust and knowledge that the Lord is good about the righteousness of Christ and the love of God. Through complete surrender and becoming Christ's child, a person is reconciled to God through Christ's obedience and death and receives the grace that brings salvation, and when people yield themselves God teaches and works through them to serve as His helping hands and impart what they have learned to others. Christ's persistent, gracious love wins people to come to Him not by force but by its compelling power, transforming even those whom He notices and helps when they have been hardened by sin or discouraged by their condition.

Dependence on God transforms character: thoughts are educated, passions softened and sanctified, the heart softened and subdued to think no evil and speak no evil and to watch closely every inward tendency, selfishness gives way to loving, kind conduct, and worthy motives are inspired to work with Christ, bearing the fruit of kindness, love, patience, and long-suffering and lifting believers above all disposition to carp and to make the service of God disagreeable by human ideas and suppositions. Christ's gentleness makes great by a daily, hourly sanctifying influence with controlling power over words, thoughts, and actions, not merely holding firmly to doctrines of truth, keeping truth in the outer court, or quieting the conscience with assent to truth. It is faith that works by love and purifies the soul through entire dependence on God in every plan, letting the word of God detect character and test motive, and intelligently and practically understanding and obeying the word as a follower of Christ, so that creed and life are not separated. Assent to true doctrine alone is not enough since a correct creed can coexist with a carnal life, so truth must be understood and lived so that faith has a sanctifying influence and makes a person a daily follower of Christ.

Christ's gentleness is revealed in believers when He dwells in their hearts and forms His character in them, as people look to His character, daily learn of Him, become meek and lowly so He can lead them and go before them as their righteousness, follow Him and fulfill His requirements. Then their lives are conformed to truth and reveal His character, giving continual advancement in knowledge and understanding, changing them from glory to glory and from character to character, with power of truth to transform human character and cause men to represent Christ and walk as children of the light. Their tenderness, love, and fervent spirit lead others to recognize and take knowledge that they have been with Christ and that His gentleness has made them great, so their influence moves the world and their testimony before the world, before angels and men, makes a permanent impression upon hearts. Those who appreciate the grace they receive by sharing it with others receive increased grace and rejoice in what God has done, and gratitude for His gentle love, grace, and care that draw and redeem draws His people to serve others and make it known. As followers submit to Christ and take up the cross, He carries the weight, making the burden light and the way a pledge of eternal life.

Reflecting Gentleness Toward Others

The verse calls for cultivating that side of character and seeking God to be brought into line, for strong feelings need to be controlled by the Holy Spirit and grace forms a gentle character. That daily converting power is needed because the Holy Spirit must take possession of the mind and control strong feelings, governing words, tone of voice, and actions. Then the manner of addressing people becomes pleasing to God and more Christlike in presenting precious truth, with feet fitted with the preparation of the gospel of peace. The words stand as a prayerful model for looking to Jesus and cultivating kindness, love, patience, and long-suffering rather than criticizing or judging others.

His gentleness is the model for helping others, since patient, kind, encouraging treatment fosters their growth and reform. His peace and gentleness are qualities his followers are to strive for and reveal in their lives. In correcting one who has done wrong, gentle and humble speech helps expose sin and enables recovery from Satan's snares, while harshness that humiliates and crushes seldom brings reform. Apprentices with inherited wrong tendencies, students, and all connected with one's work are therefore to be treated kindly, gently, and patiently for their good, without excusing or concealing errors. To treat those who have gone wrong harshly misrepresents Christ, whose followers are to learn his meekness, compassion, love, and tender dealing.

Showing such mercy to the erring is not weakness of character, for gentleness means forbearance, longsuffering, mercy, and patience with greater power than is imagined. There is no danger of being too merciful, too compassionate, or too sympathetic, with justice and its twin sister mercy standing together, because without both together the result is terrible. That Spirit of Christ must be interwoven into everyday experience morning, noon, and night as a continual abiding principle, like Daniel's abiding principle of fearing God whatever the consequence. Greatness in ministry comes from resting by faith in Christ and receiving his gentleness, right counsel, understanding, and strength instead of working in own strength. It is obtained by preparation from the throne of grace, acknowledging incompetence, receiving divine efficiency through the Holy Spirit, and asking for much of the oil of his grace, producing faith that works by love and purifies the soul and carefulness over every word written or spoken.