Who or What is Your God? (Ps 18:1-3)

Read the verses and explanations given below for each of the metaphors describing God as your refuge. The purpose of this study is to reveal who or what has taken the place of God in your life and to help you emulate David’s testimony of faith.

Psalm 18:1

“I love you, O LORD, my strength.”

1. I love you – David speaks to the Lord like a devoted husband gushing with affection over his bride. He is a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam 13:14). Yet this is no blind love, but a love for God in all his glory. In verses 1-2, David piles up eight pictures of God’s greatness. Why do you love God? What reasons can you give for delighting in his glory?
2. O LORD – Yahweh is God’s personal, covenant name, yet David has the audacity to speak to him directly and repeatedly uses the possessive pronoun, “my,” to emphasize his intimate relationship with Israel’s God. Do you base your prayers on the covenant promises of God?
3. My strength – The verbal form of this word means “to bind fast” as with nails or “to support” like a retaining wall (used 34 times in Nehemiah for the rebuilding of Jerusalem). It speaks of toughness and endurance as David describes the Lord as his strong buttress. What is your support and who gives you strength to get through life? Where do you turn when times are hard?

Psalm 18:2

“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

1. My rock – David hid in the cleft of a rock when he ran from Saul in the wilderness (1 Sam 23:25-28), so he declares God to be his hiding place. Where do you find shelter and derive your comfort?
2. My fortress – This mountain fort depicts an unassailable citadel like King Herod’s Masada which overlooked the Dead Sea. As David flees to the Lord, his fortress, he takes refuge from life’s pressures. To whom do you typically flee during the storms of life? Who or what is your refuge and help?
3. My deliverer – This term relates to survivors in battle, for God is the One who rescues his people. David could attest how the Lord delivered him from the lion and the bear, from the giant Goliath and from angry King Saul. The Lord delivered him even when his enemies were bigger, stronger, or greater in number. To whom do you turn for help when escaping life’s pressures? Where do you find deliverance and who is your rescuer?
4. My rock, in whom I take refuge – David uses a different word here for “rock” than the one above, this time meaning, “boulder.” It is elsewhere used of the one whose confident faith is in the Lord (62:1-3, 6-7), for those who place their trust in God will not be greatly shaken. In whom or what do you place your confidence? Do you have faith that you will not be shaken?
5. My shield – This small, maneuverable shield protected the warrior in battle from enemy arrows (see also 18:30, 35; 28:7). Many times, David felt the thud of arrows that might have pierced his flesh. What shields in your life do you trust to protect you? Behind whom are you hiding and what are your defense mechanisms?
6. The horn of my salvation – A horn represented strength like he-goats battling for dominance or the shofar signaling the troops to action. David depicts God’s power to save and his might in battle. To whom do you cling when you are attacked? What trumpet do you blow in times of trouble? What would be your definition of victory and what would win the battle so that you could have peace? What is your ideal salvation to make your life livable? What power do you call upon to deal with your enemies or the pressures of life?
7. My stronghold – This rocky refuge in battle described “a fort on high ground.” David and his men often retreated to their stronghold in the cave of Adullam (1 Sam 22:4; 24:22; 2 Sam 5:17; 23:13-14). So also, David finds spiritual refuge in the Lord (see Ps 46:7). Behind what walls do you cower and in what activities do you immerse yourself? Where do you hide when the pressure is on and what do you count on as your advantage over others?

Psalm 18:3

“I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.”

1. Salvation – What causes you pressure in life and which enemies seem too mighty for you (see v. 17)? Who or what are your giants (i.e., people, emotions, habits)? Do you call upon the Lord to save you like David in his distress?
2. Praise – As you consider the God worthy of your praise, reflect on how he has saved you from spiritual enemies (i.e., Satan and his demons, fleshly desires, and sin’s consequences). How does God’s physical protection of David promise God’s spiritual protection of you?
3. Prayer – Meditate with your whole imagination on each word picture of God in Psalm 18:1-3. Let each metaphor shape your prayers as you call upon the Lord.

The following application questions are designed to help you change and grow:

1. Consider the word pictures in verses 1-2. David claims that God is all of these things to him. Is God all these things to you as well?
2. If God is not your refuge, then who or what has taken his rightful place in your life? Do you give more zeal, devotion, energy, or passion to these than your relationship with the Lord?
3. What can you do to restore the Lord to his rightful place? What thinking must you change? What verses can you memorize? Which fellow believers can hold you accountable?
4. Read the remainder of Psalm 18 and let each word picture turn your heart toward God.
5. Read the psalm again and consider how Jesus applied it to himself (Luke 24:27, 44-45) as the Lord’s Anointed King and as the greater Son of David (see Ps 18:50).
6. Sing the lyrics of the hymn, Rock of Ages. Meditate on God’s refuge found in Jesus Christ and let it lead you into praise (vv. 46-50).

[i] This study was inspired by a class with Dr. Ernie Baker at The Master’s University.