The Lord Is My Rock and My Fortress

 

Psalm 18:21-37

 

December 30, 2021

 

 

The Lord Is My Rock and My Fortress

 

For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.  For all his rules were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me.  I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt.  So, the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.  With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous. For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.  For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness.  For by you, I can run against a troop, and by my God, I can leap over a wall.  This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.  For who is God, but the Lord?  And who is a rock, except our God?—the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless.  He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights.  He trains my hands for war so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.  You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great.  You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip. I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back till they were consumed.

 

For many years now I have understood I live in a world where it is all about me.  I was introduced to a concept when I joined the Electrical Markets sales team, it was called “WIIFM”  (What is in it for Me) and as I looked at the culture, it became clear it was not a sales term, it was a world view.  Growing up in the 40^th and 50^th, we never use the term I’m bored, we did not have much, but even as a child we learned to value what was important, family, friends,  God, and work, and we entertained ourselves, no TV, but we sure enjoyed the radio and we had a vivid imagination of what Roy Rogers and Dale, and Trigger looked like.  But things began to change in the sixties and stuff became more important than it had ever been, Mom's were getting jobs not baking cookies, and training their children in how to value family, friends, God, and work, they may have been quilted for not doing so, so the replace what was value in the past with stuff.

 

But as we read these 16 verses of Psalm 18, we see a different picture with David, it was all about God and what God his rock, and salvation have done.  Dave understood, and you and I must also if we hope to live victorious lives on planet Earth, that our hope is found in God alone.  I have always enjoyed this quote from Major Ian Thomas, “I can’t You never said I could, You can and you promise You would.”  David had a great understanding of that, and from a small boy watching his dad’s sheep knew it was God who would give him the tools and skill to win the battles, no matter if it were against a bear or a king that wanted his life.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice