I love you, Lord, my strength.
2 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.
3 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I have been saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death entangled me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
5 The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called to the Lord;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.
…16He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the Lord was my support.
19 He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.
Psalm 18:1-4, 16-19
The introduction to this Psalm instructs us: For the director of music. Of David the servant of the Lord. He sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
David had to fight his way to the throne of Israel. He had many enemies, but the fiercest of them was the wicked King Saul, who was committed to killing David. Without God’s protection, David would not have lived to become King.
This excerpt from the longer Psalm focuses on David’s awareness that God listens to the prayers of His people and answers them. David takes no credit himself for his victories. It is all from the hand of the Lord.
We too face fierce enemies which would take our lives and ruin our faith. We need a rock, and a fortress, and a deliverer in our lives. Praise be to God! We have one! “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer.”
We need a God who actually listens to our prayers, who really hears us. In Christ we have such a God! “In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From His temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into His ears.”
The God who hears us also delivers us: “He reached down from on high and took hold of me, he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy.”
I wonder how many prayers David sent heavenward during his days of danger. How many times did his prayers touch the ears of God? God faithfully listened and heard. And when there was no one, nothing else to save David, God reached down and saved him. That’s a great encouragement to us. God will hear your prayers too, and, at the critical moment, when there is no one else to help you, He reaches down from heaven and takes hold of you. Pray without ceasing. You will never weary God.
-Pastor Anderson