I will love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies. Psalm 18:1-3
Dear Heavenly Father, I love you. You are everything I will ever need. Please keep before me the fact that when I have you, I will never have need of any good thing. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.
Today, as we continue our study on The Rock, we return to Psalm 18, a psalm of David, written after God delivered him from all his enemies. We will listen as David praises God in very descriptive language. denoting the attributes of God in his deliverance.
He speaks of the Lord as his strength. There are some situations that at a glance we realize that we will not be able to handle them. If we are wise we will turn them over to the Lord who has both the strength and the wisdom to tackle them and win the victory on our behalf.
The Lord is not only his strength, but also his rock, his fortress, his deliverer. In yesterday’s devotion we find God placing Moses in the cleft of a rock and covering him with His hand so that he would only see His back. In times of peril when our hearts fail us for fear because of the things that threaten us and, or, our loved ones, God not only places us in a rock or a fortress, He becomes our Rock and our Fortress – our strong Deliverer, and saves us with His mighty and stretched out arm! Praise His holy name!
My God in whom I will trust. This sentence could also be translated, to whom I will flee for protection. I can personally recommend this course of action! There is absolutely nothing, that can compare, in a moment of distress, pain or fear, with fleeing (going as rapidly as you can) into the presence of God, preferably in your private closet, and closing the door behind you, and become fully and completely immersed in His presence! No therapy can take its place!
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. My Rock, is all of this, and then some! A shield is a very important piece in a soldier’s armor or protective clothing. The apostle Paul refers to it as the “shield of faith.” It is that piece of armor that protects from the weapons aimed at the soldier’s body; incuding his or her heart!
Certain situations are intended to try our faith to the utmost – but God, who is our shield and our stronghold stands between us and the fiery darts, and keeps us from being overcome by doubt and despair. He keeps our feet standing firm on His promises!
Finally, David announces his intentions to call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised! This he does with the assurance that he will be saved from all his enemies! There is nothing that can take the place of praising God in the midst of your distress. It confuses the enemy and causes him to step back, at least for a season. It is not the norm to praise when you are in pain, but it is the best thing you can do!
We know that the real enemy behind all other enemies is the Adversary, the devil. Therefore, the next time you are in despair and distress, try praising the Lord sincerely, from the depth of your heart, and watch God free you from your enemies in whatever way He considers best!