January 27, 2026 -- Psalm 18:1-3 -- What is God like? He is your strength

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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.
Psalm 18:1-3 ESV
 
What is God like? David, while he was fleeing from the king who wanted to kill him, was delivered by the gracious hand of the LORD. In praise, David declared the LORD is His strength. Anyone who has engaged in verbal sparring with someone, or has a long-standing argument, knows how draining that is. Such engagements sap one’s strength. For David, it was a mental, spiritual, physical and a leadership battle. It was a battle for godly leadership as the men under his command looked to him. What he did before he became king, and the integrity he displayed (or didn’t have) would be remembered by those men. He acted with integrity. Though he was exhausted and spent.
 
What a beautiful declaration, once he’d been delivered by the LORD, to affirm it is the LORD Who was, is, and ever will be David’s strength. What is God like? He is the One Who revives the energy of the weak. He is the One Who inspires hope in the one whose hope is seeping away. He is the LORD Who works in and through life’s circumstances so that His people learn all hope is in Him alone.
 
Why isn’t the Christian life easier? If my life is anything to go by, I realized that periods of relative ease and comfort can easily become times when I begin to drift from complete reliance on God as my strength. Because things are going well, I can easily fool myself and think I’ve accomplished something, when in fact, a quick look in the rearview mirror of my life would clearly show me it was God. He alone has always been my strength.

We need the strength of our triune God to face temptation and then in Him to gain victory over it. We need the strength of our Father to be sustained in our Christian life. We need the strength of Jesus, Who is ever praying for us. We need the strength of the Holy Spirit, Who lives in us, so that we lift our eyes from our circumstances, inability, and weakness, and look to Jesus, in Whom in all our joy and strength.
 
O God our Father, we bless You, the strength of Your people. The bible clearly proves You are the strength of Your people. Our own lives declare Your power is matched to our helplessness so that in You alone we can rise above our circumstances. Forgive us for the times we sinfully ascribed to ourselves strength and wisdom and power, when in fact, all our help has always been found in You, and in You alone.
I love You, O LORD, my strength! Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/TxC16duiHvQ?si=vw3E1cE6sdz7eJr_ O Lord, My Rock and My Redeemer
 

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