“I love You, Lord , my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my mountain where I seek refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I called to the Lord , who is worthy of praise, and I was saved from my enemies. The Lord thundered from heaven; the Most High projected His voice. He reached down from heaven and took hold of me; He pulled me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. He brought me out to a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.”
Psalms 18:1‭-‬3‭, ‬13‭, ‬16‭-‬17‭, ‬19
King David wrote this psalm from the historical context of 2 Samuel 22, after God rescued him from King Saul who was trying to kill him out of jealousy. David was a shepherd boy, the son of a common man who was not wealthy. Yet as Saul’s character as the king of Israel began to falter, God rejects Saul as king (I Sm15) and instructs His prophet Samuel to anoint a new king (I Sm 16). So David, as a young man is anointed as the new king, although he doesn’t take the throne for several years. SO, from shepherd to king, life should be “easy peasey”, right? Not so much for David. In I Sam. 17, David catches King Saul’s attention when, while still a tween or early teen, he kills Goliath, a huge giant who was mocking Israel’s army. Saul likes David and David become Saul’s armor bearer and personal musician. He also became Saul’s son, Jonathan’s best friend. Over time, Saul become jealous of David and begins to try to kill him. Once while David played the harp for Saul, Saul hurled a spear at him. In time, as David’s popularity with the people grew, Saul felt threatened by David and began to pursue him all over Israel trying to kill him. Through all of this, David refused kill Saul, out of respect for the throne and for God. In time God resuced David. King Saul died, and almost 20 years after being chosen to be king, David gets his throne. What a Saga!

It is out of this story that David writes, “I love You, Lord , my strength”, and the rest of Psalm 18. Now go back and reread the verses-they’ll make a lot more sense, but here’s the deal: Just because God has personal plans and promises for all of us, sometimes its a rough road getting there! David went though a lot between being appointed and anointed as king and actually taking the throne. But all the while, he held tight to God and His promise. He refused self-promotion and just allowed God to guide him and place him on the throne in His timing.
Many times, we embrace God’s promise to us and His plans for us, but get bummed and quit when things get hard. I’m sure there were days when Saul was chasing David through the desert that David wondered how THIS was part of God’s plan for him. David, however CHOSE to believe God, and so should we. David CHOSE to cling to God, His Word and His promises, and so should we!
DON’T GIVE UP-YOUR DESTINY MIGHT BE RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!
Think about it!