“David sang this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul. He sang: ‘The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. He is my refuge, my savior, the one who saves me from violence’” (II Samuel 22:2-3, NLT).
“My rock.” David had learned that as long as his feet were firmly planted on the Rock of Ages, he wouldn’t be overwhelmed by his difficulties.
“My fortress.” David also understood that his ability to run to the Lord in his moments of great need were dependent on his spiritual health. Let me put it this way: if you climbed into your car to go somewhere very important and found that your car wouldn’t start, would it be easier to ask for help from a neighbor that you’d hardly ever spoken to or one that you communicated with on a regular basis? God doesn’t want to His own children to treat Him like a stranger until they need something from Him; He wants us to spend time with Him daily.
Next, David calls God “my savior.” David could recall a jillion times God had delivered him from his enemies. He could also recall the times when God had delivered him from his own foolishness.
In two short verses, David offers at least seven descriptions of who God is in his life: “my rock;” “my fortress;” “my savior;” “my shield;” “the power that saves me;” “my place of safety;” “my refuge;” “the one who saves me from violence.”
Nine times David uses the word “my” as he describes who God is to him. David claimed God as his personal Savior. Do you?
Second Samuel 22 continues: “I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and He saved me from my enemies. The waves of death overwhelmed me; floods of destruction swept over me. The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path. But in my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I cried to my God for help. He heard me from His sanctuary; my cry reached His ears” (verses 4-7).
Verse 4 begins with two important elements: (1) David “called on the Lord.” The One True God is touchable, reachable. (2) He is also “worthy of praise.” While He stands ready to listen when you call on Him, He loves to hear from you when you don’t want a thing, but simply want to praise Him for who He is.
And what was the result of David’s crying out to the Lord? “He saved me from my enemies.”
Then David backs up and describes the sort of mess he had been in: “The waves of death overwhelmed me; floods of destruction swept over me. The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path.” David had been slammed on every side. He knew what it was like to suffer spiritually, physically, emotionally and socially.
But he also knew who to turn to: “In my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I cried to my God for help.” Don’t miss this, y’all. David wanted everyone who heard this psalm of praise that he didn’t merely call out to “the Lord,” but to “my God.” In good times and bad times, David knew God as a personal God.
And David was ready to declare what had happened: “He heard me.”
Your Savior hears you, too. Your worries are His worries. Your cares are His cares. Your pain is His pain. “Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall” (Psalm 55:22).
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