My Strength

January 31

Exodus 5-6

Psalm 18:1-6

Proverbs 3:29-32

Matthew 21:1-17

My Strength

“He said, ‘I love You, O Yahweh, my strength.’  Yahweh is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.  I call upon Yahweh, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.”  Psalm 18:1-3 LSB

David wrote this psalm shortly after the death of Saul.  It marks a great triumph.  David had been running from Saul for years.  God had promised to make him king and yet 20 years had passed since that promise.  David had remained faithful and steadfast in his faith, but he was weary.  Now his running was over and the day for God to fulfill His promise was at hand.  You can almost feel a sigh of relief as he was able to exhale after holding his breath fearing the next moment for so long.  He started his psalm with “I love You, O Yahweh, my strength.”  What a fitting way to begin! Nothing else would seem quite right.  Then he called God his strength. Strength is more than just physical might, it conveys the idea of personal fortitude.  Anyone can endure a trial for a short time, but it takes strength of character and spirit to endure a long season of trial.  That is what David had experienced and had come through because he had leaned on God as his source of strength who empowered him to survive against and defeat his enemies. 

            “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer.”  David trusted this to be true before, but now he knew it to be true.  God had delivered him.  I visited Israel in 2018 and saw the area where David hid from Saul.  There were numerous rocks on the side of the mountains that formed crevasses, cracks and caves throughout the region. Seeing that gives me new insight to this verse.  David was not talking about a figurative rock.  He had lived among these rocks for many years, hiding, sheltering, and finding refuge in them while he was being hunted down.  He was intimately familiar with these rocks.  God had hidden him in the cleft of the rocks for years to protect him from Saul.  They had literally been his fortress that kept him safe. 

            “My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”  A shield protects the head and torso from the flaming arrows of the enemy.  David is expressing that God is the One who protected his mind and heart not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally from the attacks of his enemy.  While David was in physical danger, he also experienced mental and emotional struggles during those long years on the run.  He was lonely, scared, and depressed, but God had been the One who had gotten him through the darkest moments of despair.  A horn represents strength, power and the ability to defend yourself, like how an animal uses its horns to protect itself from attack.  David acknowledged that God was the One who protected him.  A stronghold is a fortified place, usually high up where you can see danger as it approaches.  David was expressing that God had given him the ability to anticipate danger and fend it off. 

            We may not be in physical danger running for our lives like David was, but we can definitely relate to David.  We all face battles mentally and emotionally with our greatest enemy, Satan.  The only way we can hope to come out victorious is by recognizing that God is our strength.  Whether the battle is short or lasts a long time, we need God to empower us to survive and defeat Satan.  We need God to be our rock and fortress to protect us and give us shelter during the struggle and deliver us through to the other side.  We need Him to shield our heart and mind from Satan’s attacks and to give us the power to persevere.  And finally we need Him to be our stronghold so  we can wisely anticipate danger as it approaches and fend it off.  As we trust and rely on Him we will be able to exclaim with David, “I love You, O Yahweh, my strength!”