2 The LORD is
my rock, my fortress and my
deliverer; my God is my rock, in
whom I take refuge. He is my
shield and the horn [a] of my
salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call to the LORD, who is
worthy of praise, and I am saved
from my enemies.
4 The
cords of death entangled me; the
torrents of destruction
overwhelmed me.
5 The
cords of the grave [b] coiled
around me; the snares of death
confronted me.
6 In my
distress I called to the LORD; I
cried to my God for help. From
his temple he heard my voice; my
cry came before him, into his
ears.
7 The earth
trembled and quaked, and the
foundations of the mountains
shook; they trembled because he
was angry.
8 Smoke rose
from his nostrils; consuming
fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it.
9 He parted the heavens
and came down; dark clouds were
under his feet.
10 He
mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared on the wings of the
wind.
11 He made
darkness his covering, his
canopy around him- the dark rain
clouds of the sky.
12
Out of the brightness of his
presence clouds advanced, with
hailstones and bolts of
lightning.
13 The LORD
thundered from heaven; the voice
of the Most High resounded. [c]
14 He shot his arrows
and scattered the enemies ,
great bolts of lightning and
routed them.
15 The
valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth
laid bare at your rebuke, O
LORD, at the blast of breath
from your nostrils.
16
He reached down from on high and
took hold of me; he drew me out
of deep waters.
17 He
rescued me from my powerful
enemy, from my foes, who were
too strong for me.
18
They confronted me in the day of
my disaster, but the LORD was my
support.
19 He brought
me out into a spacious place; he
rescued me because he delighted
in me." (Psalm 18:1-19)
"He alone is my rock
and my salvation."
(Psalm 62:2)
Thought:
Where do you hide? Do you
have a place far from the
stress, from the noise, from
everything?
Before he
became king, David's favorite
hiding place was the rocks of
the desert, where King Saul
couldn't track him down. He was
safe there.
David
recognized, of course, who his
real protector was. He trusted
the God who created the rocks
more than he trusted the rocks
themselves. The desert crags and
caves were convenient, but they
also were tools God created and
used to fulfill His promise to
David that he would be king.
Without that promise, David
was always only one step ahead
of Saul. If his pursuer made a
right move somewhere, the
protection would be gone.
In the same way, nothing
guarantees that our hiding
places will be hidden forever.
If someone finds our hiding
place, we'll feel vulnerable
again.
But God is not
the kind of hiding place that
makes us invisible. Instead, He
protects us as we come to Him
for help and wisdom. And, as far
as eternity is concerned, they
can't defeat us.
No
doubt when Psalm 18 was
celebrated (whether David sang
it or was present in the
assembly), some might have
glanced over at their king and
thought, Protection?! After you
were anointed king, you spent
quite a few years on the run!
And in the years after this
psalm was written, David faced
even more problems.
Through it all, God remained
faithful to His servant, and
David never forgot that. Even
the craziest, most
out-in-left-field hassle didn't
shake his faith in God.
If God is your Rock, you can
have that same assurance.
Troubles will still find you,
but they won't crush you.
A good question might be,
"Who is your hiding place?" If
your refuge is only a where,
once the location is
disclosed--you're toast. But if
your refuge is the right Who,
you can always trust in His
protection, even when trouble
finds your hiding place.
Questions to consider:
* What is my favorite place
to hide out? Why?
* How
is God a faithful place of
refuge for me?
* Lord, I
am glad that You are a faithful
hiding place. Even when problems
find me, You protect me from
anything that could destroy me.
Thank You that I do not have to
face these problems in my own
strength.
God is our
hiding place.
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