“My Strength”

by Mitchell Tan
October 09, 2015

DISCOVERING GOD AS OUR SOURCE OF GREAT STRENGTH

There is no better way to discover the Lord’s great strength than by experiencing it personally. King David went through seemingly insurmountable situations in his life and yet God was his sole source of great strength as he exercised faith in Him. As he looked back on his life, he could see how the Lord God distinctly with His surpassing strength enabled him and this was recorded in the text of Psalm 18. I would like to highlight three ways by which King David found this great strength.

1. FINDING STRENGTH THROUGH HUMBLE CRIES TO GOD FOR HELP

“In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice”
Psalm 18:6

“But the Lord was my support.”
Psalm 18:18

King David cried out to God in times when he was greatly overwhelmed. His enemies were surrounding him like a great flood and he was extremely distressed (Psalm 18:4). However, it was in those difficult moments that he humbly cried out to the Lord for help. These cries to God in prayer were made with faith, with much humility and with the heart. God wonderfully and graciously answered those prayers of David. The Lord delivered him from his grave situations and became a strong support for him. The Lord was his mainstay and brought him to a “broad place”. We can also discover God as our position of strength and rock as we pray.

2. FINDING STRENGTH IN THE LIGHT OF THE LORD AND HIS WORD

“For You will light my lamp;
The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.
For by You I can run against a troop,
By my God I can leap over a wall.”
Psalm 18:28-29

The lamp is an imagery for our personal perspective. It was the Lord who enlightened David’s darkened perspective. When God brought light from His proven word to David, he was able to find strength. In fact, he found exceeding strength in the Lord that would enable him to overcome challenging situations. He would be able to overcome “a whole army” or “jump over a wall”. He would be able to overcome mountains (Psalm 18:33). The Lord would arm him with strength and enable him to be triumphant over his enemies. When the apostle Paul prayed for the spiritual enlightening of the Ephesian church, one of the things they would discover would be the exceeding greatness of the Lord’s power in their life as they believed (Ephesians 1:18-20). Let’s also exercise faith in seeking for this light and strength from the Lord and His word.

3. FINDING STRENGTH THROUGH A DEPTH OF RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God , my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
Psalm 18:2

As David experienced God personally and triumphed over his enemies, he found a depth of knowledge of God and a depth of relationship with Him. He was able to relate to God in a multi-faceted manner. The Lord was indeed a solid rock which he could rely on. The Lord was there as his fortress and deliverer in times of great difficulty. He was there to protect him and keep him safe. The Lord was his personal God and he felt a tremendous sense of security in Him. He found great sufficiency in Him. Strength comes when we relate to the Lord in such depth. With strength, we can love the Lord more. We can call upon Him more. Let’s deepen our knowledge of God and our relationship with Him. Let’s learn to love and trust Him more with all our heart.

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