23 January 2010
The Lord is my strength
Posted by admin1 under: Devotions/Meditations .
The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation (Psalm 118:14).
When we speak or think of strength, we often think of Samson. He was strong and nothing could defeat him. Delilah often asked him where he got his strength: “And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee” (Judges 16:6). Samson knew that God gave him physical strength, yet his physical strength could not deliver him from the hands of Delilah and the Philistines (Judges 16:18-21 ).
It is not only physical strength that can move mountains. There is another strength, which we need. That strength is not based on our physical stature, but based on our faith in God. When we have that strength though feeble in physical stature, yet like David we will defeat the giants of this world.
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him (Psalms 28:7). Our faith in God and in his word strengthen us. Great things happen when we trust in God and rely on him for our strength. “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him” (Proverbs 30:5). It is the strength of David’s faith in God which defeated Goliath: “David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine…” (I Samuel 17: 37).
Samson had physical strength, but David’s strength came from his trust in God. “Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee…” (I Samuel 17: 45-46). The things and people we trust, often fail us. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes (Psalms 118:9 ). The Philistines trusted in Goliath to defeat Israel. When David killed Goliath, so the trust of the Philistines died also. Such is the case with us, when we put our trust in things and in others and not in God. The Scriptures caution us, “Put not your trust in princes , nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help” (Psalms 146:3). the
Though David had his own record to rely on, how he killed a lion and a bear, yet he fought Goliath with the name of the Lord. He did not trust in the armour King Saul gave him to dress for the war, for he had not yet tried it. He did not know how it works. Instead he used what he had tried and used before, and that was the name of the Lord. He knew that the name of the Lord works, “The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name” (Exodus 15:3).
In our moments of doubt and despair where do we go? what do we use? “My help”, Psalms 121: 2 reads, “cometh from the Lord”. Whatever we are going through, be it sorrow or joy, let us take it to the Lord where lieth our strength and our help.
Meditation: Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation (Isaiah 12:2).
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