God’s presence gives us victory in life’s battles. As Christ’s redemptive works triumphed over sin and death, so also did God give David victory over his enemies, thus he praises God in this Psalm. He highlights the following attributes that spotlights the trustworthiness of God:
God’s strength is revealed in combat. In faith, David declares, “Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand” (v6). God displays his might in the lives of his people (especially when they are most desperately dependent on him). An excellent example is in Exodus 14 when the children of Israel were trapped at the Red Sea by Pharoah and his troops. When they had no way of escape, God answers their cries and parts the Red Sea so they may cross on dry land. Then that same path that preserved his people’s lives, became a tomb for the enemies of God. Remember the encouragement given to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9). We serve a God who delights in and is glorified in saving his people. Trust God.
God grants the desires of our hearts. David rejoices, “May he shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the Lord fulfill all your petitions” (v5). Remember, David was a skilled man of war who learned what it meant to hold fast to the promises of God over his enemies. Additionally, because we belong to God, we are assured that (a) God welcomes and exhorts us to bring our petitions to him (Mt 7:7-11, Phi 4:6-7), and (b) we can have confidence that he will answer all our prayers according to his will (1 Jn 5:14-15). This truth should be the anchor to our souls that tethers our hearts and minds to Jesus in the midst of the never ending choppy waters of life.
Our faith delivers us. God gives all gifts, skills, and talents. Many of these things we can use to prepare our defense against many challenges of life. However, behind it all it is God who preserves us through and delivers us out of troubles. We should take courage in the three Hebrew boys who received the death penalty (fiery furnace) because they stood in faith in opposition to Nebuchadnezzar’s false god worship edict. Their gifts and talents placed them as high advisors in the Babylonian kingdom, but ultimately could not save them from his wrath in judgment. It was God who granted deliverance by stepping into the fiery furnace with them. Nebuchadnezzar was so amazed at this great display of Gods’ might, he (dumbfoundedly) said to his other counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?…….But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like the son of the gods” (Dan 3:24-25). This is why David warns the reader to be careful about what we put our trust in, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. (8) They will collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright” (v7-8).
Trust in the Lord today for your life. His love is unfailing for those who belong to him. This truth should strengthen our faith, as his light of hope shines brightly in us. He walks with us in the furnace of life.
Blessings,
Dr. Jason S. Price, Th.D
www.springoflivingwaters.com