PSALM 18:1-3 – 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. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.”
THEME OF THE DAY: OUR GOD IS A PERSONAL GOD. Today’s scripture is an incredibly encouraging portion of God’s Word. It is a long Psalm of fifty verses but it is a spiritual feast that demands a slow, meditative and prayerful journey through and that quite often. It will be a refreshing spring of living water to a parched soul. It will be a satisfying meal to a famished heart. And it will propel us to praise, adoration, and thankfulness as we see all that God is to us, His delight in us, and His provision for us.”
The Psalm opens up with a “bucketful” of spiritual blessings and encouragement! Take a few moments and ponder all that the Lord is to His people; strength, rock, fortress, deliverer, refuge, shield, salvation, and stronghold. Wow! And to “top off” the bucket, notice what the Lord does – He saves us from our enemies and ultimately that would be Satan, sin, and ourselves!
As wonderful as all these blessings are, they would mean nothing without one little two letter word. It appears ten times with nine of the references pointing to God Himself. It is the pronoun “my” and points us to our God as a personal God and His people in personal relationship with Him. And this is a huge issue. It is one thing to know facts and have knowledge about God and the Lord Jesus. It is quite another to know God and the Lord Jesus that knowledge and facts point us to. The huge issue is that of salvation. A simple knowledge about God without a personal knowledge of Him; knowledge that establishes a living relationship that becomes the center of one’s life falls short of salvation. Jesus gives us two very strong warnings and worthy of self-examination in His Sermon on the Mount.
First, Jesus tells us those who are truly His, able to call out “My Savior and my God” are few. Profession does not mean possession. Confessing salvation does not mean having salvation – “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13-14). Ensure we are in the few by examining ourselves in light of how the Bible defines a Christian and not what we think. Such examination will build assurance as we see our lives affirming God is “mine.”
The second warning Jesus gives us is be aware that active service is not the final measurement of a person able to say “My God, my Savior” – “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’ (Matthew 7:21-23). Here is the deceived crowd who felt they could earn God’s favor instead of receiving God’s favor by grace. They could not claim “Mine” because Jesus did not claim them as His. But here is something to be mindful of. Yes, we cannot earn salvation by service, but genuine service always flows from salvation. In some fashion, saved people who know God as “mine” will be in service for Him and that primarily through our local churches. Not serving Christians and not saved Christians – the Bible never affirms such people as believers.
So, a personal God. Let’s ensure we may read Psalm 18 and proclaim God is my God, and everything else He is to us because of His amazing grace!
PRAYER: “Father, I thank You for being a personal God who is personally knowable.”
QUOTE: “God has made Himself known and extends to us the invitation to know Him. Seize it.”
Because of Him,
Pastor Jim