Abide: Resting Daily in God’s Presence

THURSDAY, 17 JULY 2025

TEXT: Psalm 18:1-15

1: I love you, Lord, my strength.

2: 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.

3: I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.

4: The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

5: The cords of the grave 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.

14: He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them.

15: The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, Lord, at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

(New International Version Holy Bible)

TOPIC: ENDURING TWENTY YEARS HATRED

The Bible says: "Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry" (Ephesians 4:26). But King Saul kept malice, bitterness and intense hatred towards David for twenty long years.

In those twenty years, David kept moving from one place to another, often hiding in the crevasses of rocks and the earth's craters. He became a wanderer by necessity.

As he sang this Psalm, David must have remembered the way God had continually intervened on his behalf.

The memories prompted him to burst into tears of joy as he declared: "I love you, O Lord, my strength."

David's close affinity with God made him see Him as his rock, fortress, deliverer, shield, horn of salvation and refuge.

A book can be written on each of the seven facets of God that David experienced.

Some people experience God as horn of salvation, some as their shield, some as their rock, etc.

We too can identify with David and look for vivid contemporary images to describe our experience of God. You may see God as your Iron Dome, bunker, bulletproof vest, missile interceptor, etc.

QUESTION: Have you been pursuing an innocent person for no reason or has someone made you a fugitive needlessly?

PRAYER: Dear Lord, You are my umbrella, my bulletproof vest, my missile defence system and my shelter when the storm breaks over me.