He’s clearly David’s Rock, but what about little ol’ me?
Every single time that I have humbled myself, cried out to God, and been willing to listen, He has proven to be a place of safety and powerful to save me.
But how does me telling you about what God is to ME — affect YOU, my friend? This is an important question, indeed.
Psalms 18:2 NLT
[2] 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.
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.18.2.NLT
In this Psalm, David doesn’t say that God will be a genie granting our every wish or desire, and God isn’t just a mental escape where we put the brakes on our troubles through meditation or reflection. God isn’t a powerful weapon for us to wield for our own benefit and glory. Neither is He a powerless concept or religious superstition that provides no true benefit or change.
David doesn’t even say in this one verse (when taken solely out of context) anything directly about what God is for you or for me.
Yet, I can today confidently say that, “He is the power that saves me. He is alive. He is real. He is far beyond just a ‘belief’ or a ‘blind hope’ that He ‘might be out there’.”
I also realize that may not be true for you — and hasn’t always true for me.
Admittedly, this is hard for me to fully appreciate and to truly live as a reality in my life daily (even after “accepting Christ into my heart as Lord and Savior” as a child — and even after falling deeply in awe and wonder and recommitment to Him as an adult believer).
So if you read this scripture and you just aren’t sure, you’re not alone. If mere words that I quoted to you from the Bible didn’t just take hold of your heart and convince you to accept that they are a promise TO YOU THAT YOU CAN COUNT ON — I get it.
If you read this Psalm and know that it is attributed to King David, who is often called “a man after God’s own heart” and think to yourself, “Well of course David could say these things about God, but what right do I have to claim his words about God, or to expect that this is also about me?” This, my friend is such a fair, reasonable and wise question for anyone who might be choosing to begin the journey of “fearing the Lord”.
Why should God love ME?
Why would God love ME?
Why would He be MY rock, MY fortress, MY Savior, MY shield, MY power, and MY safe place — not just these things that David claimed for himself?
David doesn’t say in this kind of scripture “He is your rock, Harold Ballinger” or use the name of each individual reader who might stumble upon this website. So am I reading too much into this scripture, my friend?
I enviable you to read the whole Psalm and hear David pleading with his personal testimony of what God has done for David.
Even though most of this whole Psalm is David crying out with his personal testimony, over and over again of everything the Lord has done for David, in verse 30, he tells us something we can latch hold of personally:
Psalms 18:30 NLT
[30] God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.18.30.NLT
Have you and I looked to Him for protection today, my friends?
Or have we kept it comfortable and academic and meditative — considering how we might protect ourselves by our own strength?
Are we waiting until we are almost utterly crushed under the heavy weight of a rock of troubles falling upon us, rather than falling down upon that Rock of Ages to seek His protection even in the smallest things (and surely in the heavier matters as well)!
Lord, I can be so prideful and so stupid trying to make my own way, leaving my safe place without shield or power sufficient on my own for what lies ahead if I go my own way. Thank you for your loving kindness and your patience towards me. You always welcome me back into your arms. Thank you for showing us The Way that is perfect and true, that exists when we walk with you. Amen.
Harold J. Ballinger 