I love the Psalms!  It seems like every time I read one, I feel like, “Oh wow, that is such a great verse, or such an awesome thought!” I was reading Psalm 18 awhile back, and it was such an encouragement.  To imagine David writing this when he was on the run from Saul, which must have been a scary and stressful time, gives me hope and encouragement in the issues that I face in life.  Verse one starts out with “I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.”  David loved God because He was his strength.  He looked to God to give him power, support and security.

We can love the Lord, because He is our strength.  We can look to him for power from the Holy Spirit, for support and security when we are anxious and afraid, and our enemies (the world, the flesh and the devil) are after us.

David said, “I will love thee”.  It was a choice, an act of his will to love the Lord.  Sometimes we need to remind ourselves why we love Him. When we go through trials, many times our emotions get the best of us, and try and make us lose all reason.  We need to get to God’s word, and determine to think on the truth.

Verse 2 goes on to give many more reasons why David loved the Lord, and why he was right in saying that the Lord was his strength.   “The Lord is my rock”—we know a rock is a large stony mass, but we see David using a rock as a picture of a place of safety, a place of protection and strength. As a child I often visited a place near my grandparents’ home called “elephant rocks”. These are giant granite rocks—elephant sized and much bigger—you can climb up on or even hide under.  This is what I think of when David said that God was his rock.  Rocks like that are not easily moved. It is comforting to know we have a God who is immovable, who can protect us and keep us safe.

David says that God is “my fortress”.  We might think of a fortress as a castle, or place of defense or security, like Masada in Israel, or the Great Wall in China—a strong, fortified structure.  David looked at God as his fortress.  When he needed a place of refuge, God was that place.

David describes God as “my deliverer”.  David needed someone who would free him, or release, rescue or save him, as he was fleeing for his life from Saul. We all need a deliverer—someone to rescue us from our sin.  Thank you God, for sending Jesus to rescue us from the ultimate prison.

He said that God was “my God”—he had a personal relationship with God. We are blessed to call God “our God”.  He made a way for us to come near to Him, through Jesus Christ so that we could have a relationship with him. 

Again, David says that “God is my strength, in whom I will trust”.  David is choosing to trust in God, and he has given us several reasons why he trusts God—Because God is his strength, his rock, his fortress, his deliverer and His God, he knows he can trust God to care for him and do what is best for him.

As if this was not enough, David continues to give more reasons why we can love and trust God. Still in verse 2, David says God is “my buckler”. This is a kind of shield or piece of defensive armor—it was often made of wood, covered with skins, and sometimes had metal framing.  It would be worn on the left arm—right arm was the sword arm—and it would deflect the stones and the darts that would come a person’s way.  It was not a little shield, but full body length, to protect the whole body.  So God is his full body protection. Ephesians 6 tells us that we have the whole armor of God.  We have the shield of faith, so we can extinguish all the fiery darts of the evil one.  The armor of God is full body armor that we need to utilize every day.

Then David tells us God is the “horn of his salvation”.  This horn is a symbol of strength and power and reminds us that God is the only one who can save. We also have the helmet of salvation that reminds us of our salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord.

God is also David’s “high tower”. A person in a high tower has an advantage, because they can see out into the distance, so they can see what is coming their way.  God was David’s high tower. God is able to give us perspective to see further than we could see on our own.  He enables us to see the eternal, not just the temporary. We get God’s perspective when we spend time with Him in his word.

Then in verse 3, David again says “I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: So shall I be saved from my enemies”. David called on the Lord, he praised him and trusted him to save him from his enemies.  David, in these three short verses, has given us eight reasons why we can and should love the Lord, trust the Lord, and why we can praise Him as we call upon Him.

 He is our:

• strength
• rock
• fortress
• deliverer
• our God
• buckler (shield)
• horn of salvation
• high tower

Whatever enemy you are facing today, you can run to God and take refuge in Him.  Love, trust and praise Him today!