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
In Psalm 18, as in so many of the Psalms, David begins by praising God and His attributes. He is David’s strength, stronghold, fortress, rock. God is his deliverer, shield and salvation. David can take refuge in God’s loving presence. He calls upon God in praise, and he is saved from his enemies.
Physically, perhaps. The accounts of his hiding out are in order to escape Saul’s sword are recorded in 1st Samuel and later from Absalom in 2nd Samuel. David certainly knew physical danger. He definitely has enemies.
But we can also experience spiritual danger, and our enemies are not always of the flesh and blood variety. When we turn to God and realize again in our hearts and our minds that He is our ultimate strength and refuge, the hold that fear, anxiety, doubt, or whatever it is that has a grip on us, releases. We are saved from that downward spiral into despair.
Praise lifts us up out of the danger and puts it into God’s hands. We realize in the battle who our general is. In a devotional on Samuel I read [1]was the comment that David didn’t see the giant Goliath and say he was too big to fight but too big to miss. David knew where his strength came from.
When Jesus spoke, the Devil was sent scurrying into the desert, the sea calmed, and the world was forgiven on the cross. Speaking, the ancient Hebrews were convinced, called the spiritual realm into the physical realm. It gave thoughts substance. It made them real.
Many Christians believe that audibly spouting Scripture will make Satan flee. Exorcism cannot be performed unless it is spoken. In Church, we speak together as one voice, and in our Eucharist, ask God to come into our midst. In He Reigns, the Newsboys sing that the “powers of darkness can’t drown out a single word when all God’s people say “Glory Glory, Hallelujah, He reigns”.
If despair or negative thoughts are grasping your heels, praise God aloud and watch the shackles of fear and anxiety fall off. Like David, recall in whose strength you can rely, call upon His name and praise Him. Your words will soar on the wings of angels to Heaven and not return empty.
[1] Put Faith Into Actionby Helen Lescheid, christianwomentoday.com, devotional Oct 15,2009
