Psalm 18 is attributed to King David and was written at a high point in his life while he was King. David had been on the run from King Saul for many years, living most of his life, following the anointing as king, in Caves and the wilderness. Many of these words are also reiterated in the narrative of David's life story in 2 Samuel 22.
So many things take place in David’s life that are hard to explain and hard to chase away. His life is fraught with danger, threat, death, and fear. I could fully understand it if David were to have found following God hard. I’m sure most of us would have struggled when God's plans seemed as though they would never flourish, or worse still, His plans seemed as though they would never actually happen.
Yet, despite all the stories we read and struggle to fathom in our humanity, David stuck close to God, and even when he sinned, he turned back to God. At the end of his life, God calls David a man after his (God's) own heart.
But here in Psalm 18, following the death of his enemies and the victory over the Philistines in battle, David begins to celebrate. He speaks from his place of victory and responds that he praises God.
I have written on Psalm 18 before and feel this must be addressed again. The opening lines of Psalm 18 read:
“For the director of music. Of David the servant of the Lord. He sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and the hand of Saul.”
Interestingly, Saul is not lumped in with David's enemies. Saul is not counted as an enemy, as he is not listed among the enemies but beside. It is interesting to note that not everyone who seems to be against us is our enemy.
Nonetheless, David wrote this Psalm to sing to the Lord. The Lord was the focus and the audience. The intent was to sing praise for the deliverance God provided to him. In more than one place, we see people praising God for his deliverance, and I love that idea from scripture—simple folk praising God and acknowledging that He is their deliverer in life’s battles.
The verse we will look at today is verse two, which reads:
“The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
However, the question we have today is why God is defined or described as a “Rock”?
If we read the Psalms, we will see that God is described as a Rock twenty times in those 150 chapters. Two words here are used in Hebrew to speak of the Rock: Sela and Tsur. These words have similar meanings in denoting the idea of a large rock or boulder. Fundamentally, they are describing something immovable, safe, and secure.
When we describe God as a rock, we are saying He is both the strength and the refuge for us, his children, and His people.
We see many places in scripture where rocks are used to keep someone safe in the midst of danger. The Benjamites kept themselves safe for four months in the rocks at Rimmon after the battle of Gibeah (Judges 20). Moses was hidden in the cleft of a rock to keep Him safe when God revealed himself to him (Exodus 33). Even David spent time hiding in Caves and rocks, including the occasion he was inside the Cave at Adullam (1 Samuel 22-28).
In many places in scripture, we see Rocks being used to describe safe, reliable, and strong things. I feel like the last piece of Psalm 18 verse 2 explains David's thinking further as he says:
“in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
God is David’s rock because he offers him protection. That protection comes in the form of a shield that covers him from attack and allows his body to be safe from danger. David is singing and declaring that the battles he just fought were not fought or won in his own strength but in the protection of God. He places honor where it is due on the immovable rock on whom His feet are firmly planted.
This protection also comes in the form of the horn of salvation. A Horn on an animal is used for the animal’s protection, but what does the Horn of Salvation denote? In Exodus chapter 27, we read of horns that were put on the corner of the altar. Then, in 1 Kings 1:50, these same horns offered sanctuary or refuge to a fugitive or foreigner who held to them. These horns, when touched, welcomed all.
Again, we see God making room for all, not just the Jews but for those who were from other nations, and making a way for them to be welcomed also. God protects us by offering a place for us to find refuge. We need not stand by in attacks, but we can find somewhere safe to cling to. Of course, we live in the era after Jesus’ death and resurrection, which is opposite to the life of David, who lived awaiting the Messiah. We no longer need to cling to horns on altars because Jesus is now, as described by Zechariah, “the horn of Salvation for us” (Luke 1 verse 69). It is a beautiful image that anyone who clings to Jesus is welcomed and safe, with salvation offered.
Calling God a rock means that He is all we need in life because he protects us and is a firm and secure place to rest in battle.
The New Testament takes this imagery further as we read in Matthew 7, verse 24:
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”
The wise man builds his house on the rock; in this case, the rock is God. When our feet are upon him, the wind can blow, the rain can fall, but the house will not come down. God is our protection, and He will keep us safe. After following and trusting God through some of the hardest seasons, David knew this truth. Through dark times, through grief, joy, love, and fear. I believe David knew that while relationships with others may come and God, God is always present with us fighting our battles, and He will not ever let us down.
If you do not know Jesus, may I urge you to read a bible and contact someone who can tell you more about Him? Because I promise you this: being a Christian is not a magic trick that makes all your problems disappear. David’s life is proof of that. But even in the hard times, God is present with us as an immovable, unshakable rock who will help you balance when the wind blows and protect you when fire-drenched arrows come your way. Standing on the rock and trusting God to be present with you is worth it.
Photo Credit: ©Pixabay/Pete Linforth
