Psalm 18:46a  
Drive them out!
      There is a statement in Joshua 3:10 that explains David’s exclamation here in this verse, “The Lord lives!” Joshua is speaking to the Israelites just before they are to cross Jordan into the Promised land and he tells them, “This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that He will certainly drive out the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites.” In other words, if you want evidence that God lives, watch what He does to your enemies! 
A number of “charismatic” teachers have written at length about the above 7 nations and the spiritual powers that they characterize. These nations represent territorial spirits that had to be driven out of the land and whilst Joshua saw partial success, it was King David who achieved the greatest victories in cleansing Israel of these pagan influences. How much can be read into these analogies in relation to the warfare of the church is open to argument but a brief summary is shown below; it goes without saying that similar battles are waged in our own personal lives, in our churches and in our communities and countries. 

Nation             Name meaning                       Spiritual effects
Canaanites      Lowlands people                     Addictions, perversions
Hittites            Sons of terror                          Torments, phobias, depression
Hivites             Tent villagers                          Materialism, deceivers
Perizzites         Rural people                           Low self-esteem, laziness, limited vision
Girgashites      Clay dwellers                           Earth-bound, belief only in the visible
Amorites         Renowned mountain people  Domineering, ambitious, fame seekers
Jebusites         Threshers                                Legalism, habitual sin, undermined authority

The Canaanites worshipped household gods and goddesses and acknowledged Baal, El, Asherah and Astarte. The Hittites boasted that they worshipped a thousand gods! Less is known about the Hivites, the descendants of Ham; they deceived Joshua when the “men of Gibeon” pretended to be foreigners. The Perizzites lived in unprotected villages, without restriction. The Girgashites were clay dwellers but little more is known about them. The Amorites worshipped many gods including the moon god. Jebusites were also worshippers of numerous gods. The name Baal occurs regularly in the history of these peoples, it means “lord” and is probably a generic term for many false deities worshipped by the numerous nations. All of these tribes had their superstitions and pagan beliefs and were therefore a threat to the monotheism of the Israelites. 

I suspect that all of us struggle with one or more of these spiritual enemies, isn’t it time they were driven out? This wonderful Psalm has been showing us how to achieve this, that our land may be at peace and that we might worship and serve our wonderful God free of evil, deception and spiritual interference. The Lord lives! How do we know He lives? He will drive out the powers of darkness and give us victory! Hallelujah!

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