He Heard My Voice (Psalm 18:1-6)

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.

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What struck me today is the reliability of the Lord to answer our prayers.  David simply states that he called on the Lord in his distress, and God answered and saved him.

David’s distress is rather extreme.  This heading for this Psalm indicates that he wrote it regarding his deliverance from Saul.  David saw himself as near death. His only hope was to call on the Lord, who delivered him.

Now, keep in mind that David is a formidable warrior.  And yet he speaks not of his own prowess or that of his men.  Rather it is the Lord who is his rock, fortress, deliverer, refuge, shield, stronghold, etc.  For David, the answer to his distress is the Lord, not himself.  His hope in distress is not his strength, but the fact that the Lord hears his prayers.

Do I pray with such confidence?  Do I see the Lord as such a defender and refuge in the troubles that in my life and those of the people around me?  Do I call on the Lord only when I’ve run out of options, or is He the first line of defense, the stronghold, the shield?

So my prayer today is for faith to turn to the Lord in every challenge – not just facing imminent death – and to trust that as I lift up my prayer, so it is heard in the Lord’s ears.  And He will deliver.

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