"I will love thee, 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 buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower." —Psalm 18:1-2
The nugget we have selected for today sets before us two important things. The first is reverence: "I will love Thee, O Lord… " The second is the reason for that reverence, in a catalogue of divine graces bestowed upon the believer, set forth for the most part in figures of speech.
Reverence is appropriate for the child of God. "Praise is comely for the upright [Ps. 33:1b]," and the best among us engage in too little of it. "I will love thee, O Lord," ought really to be the first utterance of our souls with the dawning of each new day. Love for God is the wellspring of spiritual stability and victory. Here the Psalmist expresses his love for God, but in another place he urges it upon all the saints: "Oh love the Lord, all ye His saints; for the Lord preserveth the faithful… [Ps. 31:23]." And, it is not mere coincidence that finds the Savior saying, "If ye love me, keep my commandments [John 14:15]." In the final analysis, a life well lived, from a heavenly perspective, is a love story.
Love on our part, however, is a response to reflection upon the goodness and grace of God. "We love Him because He first loved us." That requires reflection on our part. The scripture says, "He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him [Heb. 11:6b]." Believing that "God is," is much m ore than an academic statement. David here, believing that God is, sets before us a wonderful example of reflection upon the God Who IS, in v.2, and it is this that enlarges his love.
THE LORD IS:
MY ROCK. That is, the Lord is the foundation of my life. While some suggest that the Rock here is representative of the crags in which David found refuge from the harassment of Saul, I am rather inclined to think of the Savior's parable in Matthew 7:24-27. "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto wise man, which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it f ell not: for it was founded upon a Rock." Other scriptures reinforce the idea that Jesus Christ is the Rock in Whom trusting, we have a solid foundation for life, here and hereafter. Taking Him at His word and trusting Him as Savior, we have every reason to love and to praise Him from here to eternity.
MY FORTRESS. The Lord is the precious hiding place for our defense against the adversary and the adversities that are inevitable in life in a world turned out of order by sin and sinners. He is our bulwark against every foe.
MY DELIVERER. It is the Lord who has secured our deliverance from the enemy of our souls, enabled our recovery "out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will [II Tim. 2:26]." Whether initially or in the course of our conflicts as believers, it is the Lord who is our deliverer.
MY GOD. The LORD is the proper object of all our worship. Peter, stubbornly resisting the report of Christ's resurrection, when confronted with the evidence of the nail pierced hands and the wounded side of the Savior cried, "My Lord and my God!" It changed the character and course of his life, and so should it be with us.
MY STRENGTH. He will love the Lord who recognizes his spiritual impotence and comes to rely on the strength of the almighty. The scripture says, with respect to salvation, "For when we were yet without strength (lit. "strengthless"), in due time Christ died for the ungodly [Rom. 5:6]." Every victory we have ever won is a tribute not to our strength, but to His. He is the secret of stability in this chaotic world.
MY BUCKLER. Behind every battle the believer faces is "the wicked one," who has an arsenal of "fiery darts" suited to demoralize, if not to destroy us. It is Christ who affords us an armory which includes equipment to shield us from "all the fiery darts of the wicked [Cf. Eph. 6:14-17]."
The HORN OF MY SALVATION. Here, if I may be so bold, is an appreciation of the divine gift of prayer. When we are surrounded by the enemy, how marvelous the privilege of sounding the alarm before a throne of grace and finding the resources of heaven available for our aid, to sustain us in the battle and ultimately to secure our deliverance.
MY HIGH TOWER. Abiding in Christ, we are lifted high above the threatening landscape ("seated with Christ in the heavenlies")to see the enemy approaching, and to be secure against his attack. We may feel the impact of his assault, but our High Tower will withstand every onslaught and we will emerge from the smoke of battle secure at last.
Reflect on these thoughts, here but sketched in barest outline, and you will have every reason to revere the Lord. By His grace, and for His glory, I will love the Lord… in Whom I will trust… " Will you?
For God's glory,
"Pastor" Frasier
The nugget we have selected for today sets before us two important things. The first is reverence: "I will love Thee, O Lord… " The second is the reason for that reverence, in a catalogue of divine graces bestowed upon the believer, set forth for the most part in figures of speech.
Reverence is appropriate for the child of God. "Praise is comely for the upright [Ps. 33:1b]," and the best among us engage in too little of it. "I will love thee, O Lord," ought really to be the first utterance of our souls with the dawning of each new day. Love for God is the wellspring of spiritual stability and victory. Here the Psalmist expresses his love for God, but in another place he urges it upon all the saints: "Oh love the Lord, all ye His saints; for the Lord preserveth the faithful… [Ps. 31:23]." And, it is not mere coincidence that finds the Savior saying, "If ye love me, keep my commandments [John 14:15]." In the final analysis, a life well lived, from a heavenly perspective, is a love story.
Love on our part, however, is a response to reflection upon the goodness and grace of God. "We love Him because He first loved us." That requires reflection on our part. The scripture says, "He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him [Heb. 11:6b]." Believing that "God is," is much m ore than an academic statement. David here, believing that God is, sets before us a wonderful example of reflection upon the God Who IS, in v.2, and it is this that enlarges his love.
THE LORD IS:
MY ROCK. That is, the Lord is the foundation of my life. While some suggest that the Rock here is representative of the crags in which David found refuge from the harassment of Saul, I am rather inclined to think of the Savior's parable in Matthew 7:24-27. "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto wise man, which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it f ell not: for it was founded upon a Rock." Other scriptures reinforce the idea that Jesus Christ is the Rock in Whom trusting, we have a solid foundation for life, here and hereafter. Taking Him at His word and trusting Him as Savior, we have every reason to love and to praise Him from here to eternity.
MY FORTRESS. The Lord is the precious hiding place for our defense against the adversary and the adversities that are inevitable in life in a world turned out of order by sin and sinners. He is our bulwark against every foe.
MY DELIVERER. It is the Lord who has secured our deliverance from the enemy of our souls, enabled our recovery "out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will [II Tim. 2:26]." Whether initially or in the course of our conflicts as believers, it is the Lord who is our deliverer.
MY GOD. The LORD is the proper object of all our worship. Peter, stubbornly resisting the report of Christ's resurrection, when confronted with the evidence of the nail pierced hands and the wounded side of the Savior cried, "My Lord and my God!" It changed the character and course of his life, and so should it be with us.
MY STRENGTH. He will love the Lord who recognizes his spiritual impotence and comes to rely on the strength of the almighty. The scripture says, with respect to salvation, "For when we were yet without strength (lit. "strengthless"), in due time Christ died for the ungodly [Rom. 5:6]." Every victory we have ever won is a tribute not to our strength, but to His. He is the secret of stability in this chaotic world.
MY BUCKLER. Behind every battle the believer faces is "the wicked one," who has an arsenal of "fiery darts" suited to demoralize, if not to destroy us. It is Christ who affords us an armory which includes equipment to shield us from "all the fiery darts of the wicked [Cf. Eph. 6:14-17]."
The HORN OF MY SALVATION. Here, if I may be so bold, is an appreciation of the divine gift of prayer. When we are surrounded by the enemy, how marvelous the privilege of sounding the alarm before a throne of grace and finding the resources of heaven available for our aid, to sustain us in the battle and ultimately to secure our deliverance.
MY HIGH TOWER. Abiding in Christ, we are lifted high above the threatening landscape ("seated with Christ in the heavenlies")to see the enemy approaching, and to be secure against his attack. We may feel the impact of his assault, but our High Tower will withstand every onslaught and we will emerge from the smoke of battle secure at last.
Reflect on these thoughts, here but sketched in barest outline, and you will have every reason to revere the Lord. By His grace, and for His glory, I will love the Lord… in Whom I will trust… " Will you?
For God's glory,
"Pastor" Frasier
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