Pleasing God, Making Disciples of Jesus Christ

Our Everything

Psalm 18:1-2 – I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord 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.

THEME OF THE DAY. OUR EVERYTHING. Count the number of times “my” appears in today’s scripture. Do we think David is trying to tell us something in both his understanding of who God is and who He is to him personally? These verses are a wonderful exposition and description of a growing Christian’s relationship with the living God. When a person becomes a believer in Jesus Christ and the radical event called “born again” is experienced, the truths of David concerning God now belong to the new believer. Yes, they occur instantaneously when God saves us, but then the whole of the Christian life now becomes one of realizing and experiencing all of these descriptions of God in a powerful and personal way.

First, God is our source of strength empowering us to live a life pleasing to the God who saves us. Married to this truth of God in this Psalm is the familiar exclamation of the Apostle Paul – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). There will be nothing we encounter today that God’s power in us and through is not incapable of getting us through for our good and His Glory.

God also becomes the believer’s stability in times of turmoil and instability. Twice David proclaims God is his “rock” pointing us to the unchanging nature of God who will always be the Christian’s point of stability when life seems to be a raging sea. We rest upon the “rock” of God’s unchanging love and grace to help in times of need.

David further defines his God and relationship with Him in language of safety – fortress, refuge, and stronghold. When the winds of a howling world of tough circumstances, family stress, and trying situations seek to blow us over and expose us to spiritual danger, where may we go? To our God who has promised to be our shelter in times of storm. Run there when the harsh winds of life are upon us. Hide in the security and safety of His arms creating a safe place, a protective fortress, refuge, and stronghold.

A fourth description of our relationship with God modeled by David is that of armor in times of spiritual warfare – my shield. In times of battle with the flesh, devil, and world, how do we withstand their attacks? The shield of faith – “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16). Hide behind this shield which is God Himself. He has never lost a single spiritual battle and none have ever become spiritual casualties who put their trust in Him.

Still yet another description of our God making Him our everything in this life and the life to come is that of deliverer. David uses the words “my deliverer” and “my salvation” to declare the delivering power of God. Friends, we don’t have to live in bondage to sin, self, or situations. The God who saved us for eternity is able to save us from the temptations and trials in this life.

And how does David respond to such a God who is his everything? He starts out with the worshipful words, “I love You, O Lord.” Is that not the best and only response to our God who has promised to be our strength, rock, fortress, deliverer, refuge, shield, salvation and stronghold; our everything?

PRAYER: “Father, help me to see in Your Son is all I need for today, tomorrow and all eternity.”

QUOTE: “Let faith grasp all that Jesus is to us and learn to make that faith in Him a daily reality of reliance.”