“For
it is you who light my lamp;
The LORD my God lightens my darkness.
For
by you I can run against a troop,
And
by my God I can leap over a wall.”
-Psalm
18:28-29
In life, I find myself repeating
things. It is not enough to say “I love
you” only once. (Too often, it is not
enough to say “Clean your room” only once!)
If I want what I say to be remembered, I find that repetition
helps. When I find something repeated
in the Bible, I sit up straighter and read more carefully, because God must
really want to drive his point home.
When I discovered that Psalm 18 is almost identical to David’s song
found in 2 Samuel 22, I thought “this must be important!” They are. These songs are amazing!
2 Samuel 22 is David’s personal song of
praise for God’s deliverance in his life, and then he adapted the song to be
used in public worship, which is how we find it in the Psalter. Both songs are found in the scriptures—not
just one of them. Pondering this, I see
how important it is to stop and personally praise God for his faithfulness in
my life…when no one else is watching.
This personal song, found in 2 Samuel 22, is no short thank you note jotted
on the back of a note card. No. I realize that I need to stop for a while and
allow my heart to sing God’s praises! In
Psalm 18, David shared his experience by adapting his song so that it might be
used in public worship. I'm so glad he did! I wonder how
many have read these verses and found strength, hope and encouragement through
his testimony of God’s faithfulness.
What promise I find in this psalm! The LORD my God lightens my darkness. When my heart is sad and dark, when I don’t
see what is ahead and cannot make sense of what is around me, I whisper, “I
need a lamp, Lord!” It is He who is my lamp. Only He can give me hope! When I come to a wall in my
life, an obstacle I can’t fathom scaling, I can trust that with God by my side,
in His strength, I can leap over anything.
We would not be encouraged by this at all if our God was weak, if he was unwise, if he was not good. But David takes the time to remind us, vividly, that our God is Almighty and All-Wise. He is Good! Two times, in 2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18, God calls out to us in the pages of His Word. Let us sit up straight and hear His Almighty, All-loving Voice! Whatever danger you encounter, whatever difficulty you face, in whatever hopelessness you are entangled, however desperate your prayer, I HEAR! I RESPOND! I RESCUE!
We would not be encouraged by this at all if our God was weak, if he was unwise, if he was not good. But David takes the time to remind us, vividly, that our God is Almighty and All-Wise. He is Good! Two times, in 2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18, God calls out to us in the pages of His Word. Let us sit up straight and hear His Almighty, All-loving Voice! Whatever danger you encounter, whatever difficulty you face, in whatever hopelessness you are entangled, however desperate your prayer, I HEAR! I RESPOND! I RESCUE!
Heavenly Father,
Please,
light my lamp! My way is dark. I cannot see you. Help me remember who you are. I am in need! I call to you for help and look to you
for deliverance. There is a wall. Help me scale it! You are my Answer. I love you, O LORD, my strength!
“This
God—his way is perfect,
The
word of the LORD proves true;
He
is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.”
Psalm
18:30
