I will keep watch for You, my strength, because God is my stronghold. My faithful God will come to meet me; God will let me look down on my adversaries. But I will sing of Your strength and will joyfully proclaim Your faithful love in the morning. For You have been a stronghold for me, a refuge in my day of trouble. To You, my strength, I sing praises, because God is my stronghold — my faithful God.
Psalms 59:9-10, 16-17
David was running from King Saul when he wrote Psalm 59. It is set in the context of I Sam. 19. King Saul was trying to kill him. Though David knew what it meant to be threatened and chased, he also knew what a stronghold was and Who his stronghold was. “STRONGHOLD” is military term whose definition is: “a place that has been fortified so as to protect it against attack”. It is and was a safe place where one could rest in safety, guarded by an ally.
Historical strongholds include Gibraltar, the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Chittorgarh Fort, Windsor Castle, Fort Jefferson, Prague Castle and Fort Knox.
David called God not only his STRENGTH, but also His STRONGHOLD. This tells us 2 critical truths: 1. NONE of us are strong enough to stand through life alone. ALL of us need God and ALL of us need others. Though our strength fails, God, thru Holy Spirit can literally be our strength. The Apostle Paul discovered this while asking God to remove his “fleshly thorn”. He asks God to remove this 3 times. 3 times,God’s reply was, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (II Cor. 12:9)
Does this mean God wants us to be weak? No, quite the contrary-multipule times in Scripture He commands us to be STRONG (I Chr 28:20, I Cor 15:58, Deut 31:6-8, Eph 6:10, Josh 1:9-just to name a few!). HOWEVER, He NEVER expects to be strong in our own strength. Our strength literally comes from God’s presence in our life. God told Nehemiah that, “Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Neh 8:10)
2. The STRONGEST among us sometimes needs a place to hide and rest. King David was historically Israel’s mightiest warrior. He killed Goliath as tween and was credited with having “slain his tens-of thousands” as opposed to King Saul’s mere “thousands” (I Sam 18: 7 & 29:5) (which is what God Saul jealous of him, which, in turn started the chase in the 1st place). Even Jesus would retreat to quiet places to rest and pray (Luke 5:16). King David needed some peace. King David needed some rest. King David needed a place to be guarded safely. David found that place in God!
Are you in need of strength and peaceful rest today, come to Jesus. Let Him be you strength and stronghold!
Think about it!
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