Psalm 18.1-3
I love you, Lord, my Strength.
The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress and my Deliverer;
my God is my Rock, in whom I take refuge,
my Shield and the Horn of my salvation, my Stronghold.
I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I have been saved from my enemies.
Monday
The Psalm-poet begins with a declaration of love – “I love you, Lord, my Strength.” Our prayers and singing, our reading and living into Scripture, are exercises in devotion, habits of faithfulness, regularly nourishing our relationship to God, the Holy Spirit helping us find strength in God. These verses are about who God is, assuring us that God is for us. The words in bold are ways of naming God, calling on God as my rock, my fortress, and so on. Each word suggests God’s dependability, God’s durability, and the sufficiency of God’s mercy and power to save us and to keep us. In trouble, these names comfort and hold us firm in the struggles of faith.
Tuesday
“The Lord is my Rock.” Ancient, solid, a strong foundation, a shelter from desert sun, its clefts a hiding place, a constant always there presence on the landscape. Perhaps a trip to the Scottish Highlands might help us understand better what it means to call upon God the Rock, my Rock! Those huge overhanging boulders bringing to mind shelter and safety in a hostile landscape. If you’re caught in a storm, call upon the name of God the Rock. “O safe to the rock that is higher than I, my soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly…Thou blest Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in Thee.”
Wednesday
“The Lord is my Fortress.” God is the place of maximum protection. Faith looks backwards and forwards as we live faithfully in the present. God has been my fortress, God will be my fortress – because God is, now and always, my fortress. The whole of our life, past, present and future, God remains the same wise and loving providence, protection and surrounding care. We live in time and within the limits of our days; God is eternal, unchanged and unchangeable in faithfulness to his promises in Christ, and to his eternal covenant of love. Nothing is safer than knowing that our life is hid with Christ in God. “My shelter, my fortress, tower of refuge and strength…”
Thursday
“The Lord is my Deliverer.” Many of the names of God in this Psalm recall the Exodus deliverance of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt. To look to God as the one who delivers, who brings us through danger, who is the One strong enough to protect – that faithful trust is central to the faith of Israel, and every Christian feeling hemmed in and unsure how to find a safe place and solid ground again. “Strong deliverer, strong deliverer, be Thou still my strength and shield…” I often think that many praise songs we sing might be greatly improved if instead of telling God how wonderful we feel, they called upon and named the God whose mercy, grace, and power have brought us here in the first place. Or so it sometimes seems to me.
Friday
“The Lord is my Shield.” Every fighter knows that their life depends on having a shield to protect and deflect the blows that wound or kill. At those times in our journey of faith, when we feel under attack, in temptation, in relationships gone wrong, facing circumstances that threaten and trigger anxieties, this is the name of God, who has our back, and our front. From a Psalm like this came the lines: “We rest in Thee, our Shield and our Defender. We go not forth alone against the foe.” Of course Paul also spoke of the shield of faith to deflect the fiery darts of the evil one. Combine the two strong texts: The Lord is my Shield, so I will take the shield of faith.
Saturday
“The Lord is my Horn, my Stronghold.” These terms refer to those high peaks where it’s possible to flee to hide, and find shelter. Again, a hostile landscape, the presence of enemies, and the urgent search for a place of safety. To cry, “O God, my Strong Tower”, both names God and pulls our eyes upwards to where safety lies. For David on the run from Saul, every place of safety was a reminder that “Help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.” Large boulders in which to hide, and high peaks where he could throw off his pursuers, reminded him that in the end, it is God who is our best defence: “A safe stronghold our God is still, a trusty shield and weapon…”
Sunday
“I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.” This rich cluster of military terms has provided David with names for God who has saved and delivered him. On our own faith journey, there are enough times of struggle and confusion, of anxiety and seeming hopelessness, when faith comes hard. These verses give us a vocabulary for faith, and a grammar for prayer. These are God’s names, to be used in the prayers of the desperate, those who feel hemmed in by difficulties, those who would gladly run a mile from all this. “O God, my Strength, my Rock, my Fortress, my Deliverer, my Shield, my Strong Tower.”
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