THOUGHTS FROM THE PSALMS

O LORD, MY STRENGTH

Psalm 18 is David's song of praise to the Lord reflecting on the way the Lord rescued him from his enemies, and established him as the leader of Israel, respected by people from the surrounding nations.

His physical situation had been extreme. He speaks of 'cords of death', 'torrents of destruction', 'cords of the grave', 'snares of death' and 'distress' [v4-6]; he mentions 'enemies', 'deep waters', 'my powerful enemy', 'foes', 'attacks of the people', 'violent men' [v14,16,17,43,48]. 

David's reality of physical rescue by God and physical security in God provides us with a powerful picture of the spiritual rescue and spiritual security we have in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

For David God is 'my strength', 'my rock', 'my deliever', 'my shield', 'the horn of my salvation', 'my stronghold', 'my Savior' [v1,2,30,31, 45], and as such David considers him 'worthy of praise [v3,46,49].   At a much deeper and more permanent level God is all of this for those who believe in him through believing in his Son.

Through Jesus Christ his Son, God rescues us and gives us refuge from far greater enemies than those physical enemies from which he rescued David. Through his Son he saves and protects us from our sin, from the just penalty of our sin, from our guilt and condemnation, from the ultimate adversary, Satan - the accuser, the deceiver, the destroyer.

In the presence of our own spiritual weakness Christ is our strength.

In the presence of our own spiritual instability and vulnerability Christ is our Rock.

In the presence of the destructive accusations of our own consciences, of our fellow believers, and of the enemy, Christ is our shield.

In the presence of all that would come against us spiritually, threatening our spiritual destruction, Christ is our place of refuge - our fortress, our stronghold, our strong tower.

In him we hide. In him we are hidden [Colossians 3:3]. Under the cover of his perfect righteousness we find protection and security. Identified with him in his substitutionary death for our sins, we will never be condemned for those sins [Romans 8:1]. Just as God did for David physically, so he does spiritually for those who trust in Christ: he reaches down from on high, he takes hold of us, rescuing us from our powerful enemy, and brings us into a spacious place - his own presence, his own eternal kingdom [v16-19; John 5:24].

May we with David come to the same confident and joyful conclusion: that this God, our God, is worthy of praise.