I love you, O Lord, my strength.
I love you, O Lord, my strength.
It’s so simple, yet it’s a statement of conviction and longing for what we know we need. We’re looking at Psalm 18:1 among other gems in the Bible today. So, join us, as we break it down, read the context, and see how the beauty of God’s Word changes our lives.
Having an Evergreen Relationship with God is a time for women and teen girls to seek the one thing that can’t be taken away from us—God’s Word—and to let it light our path, so we can be with God all the days of our lives and purposefully live our lives for him.
So let’s break it down:
To tell the God of the universe, I love you. And knowing that he is God, the Lord. But not only that our strength.
There is only one other place in the Bible where someone directly tells God, “I love you.” In John 21, Peter announces that he’s going fishing and some of the other apostles join him. They had all seen Jesus alive but they weren’t traveling around and proclaiming the good news every day like they were before Jesus’ death. So the apostles spend all night in the boat and catch nothing. But then, as day breaks, someone on the beach tells them to try again.
Just like Jesus had before, back in Luke 5, when they first met him, having fished all night and caught nothing until they did as Jesus told them and tried again and caught so many their nets broke. So here again, in John 21, they did as directed and tried again, and when they did and they were overwhelmed with fish. And they realize it’s Jesus. Peter then literally throws himself out of the boat to get to Jesus and when Jesus asks for the fish, Peter hauls it down to him.
Peter seems eager to be with Jesus, to do as he asks. You see, just before Jesus’ death, Jesus had said Peter would deny him.
And though Peter had said he wouldn’t, later on in Luke 22:61, after Peter did deny Jesus, not once or twice but three times, the Lord turned and it says he looked right at Peter as the rooster crowed. And Peter, remembered Jesus’ words, went out and wept—bitterly.
So now, Peter is sitting with Jesus, drenched from coming to him directly from the sea. And after breakfast is finished, Jesus asks him directly, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” And not once, not twice, but three times, Peter gets to tell Jesus, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”
Those three words—I love you—hold so much meaning. And so does the lack thereof.
For some, those words have always been there. Someone has always told them from infancy “I love you”. But for others those words haven’t been said enough, if at all. Just like any other words, though, they mean nothing without truth behind it, without actions to show they’re true. How many times has “I love you” been said too casually? And though most times it’s meant sincerely, are the actions that follow actually showing it?
Just as much, there are some who never hear the words “I love you” from a loved one but can still say without a doubt that they were loved by them. That it was never questioned it because the loved one showed daily the love that they had. So saying “I love you” is powerful but only if it’s fulfilled by our actions.
So now for the next part of our verse- after uttering such personal and intimate words, David tells us who he is addressing: O Lord.
He acknowledges that he isn’t just a friend or close family member or even the one to whom we vowed to spend the rest of our lives with on earth. This is the God of everything, Lord!
When Jesus was traveling around teaching and healing people, he would more often than not be addressed as Lord, the one with authority and to whom respect was due. They knew. He proved it. And 2000 years later, we still call him Lord.
The one whose power naturally demands worship. But it goes back to whether our words are meaningful. Jesus tells the people in Matthew 7 that not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven. It can be meaningless. He goes on to say those who will enter are those who does God’s will.
If we really do see him as Lord, then we would fall to our knees in front of him, realizing we don’t deserve even to be in his presence because we are sinners— like Peter did after seeing all those fish the first time back in Luke 5. But Jesus, though fully Lord of everything, still stoops down to us and lovingly tells us to follow him.
Moreover, like the last part of our verse, we get to call him “my strength.”
The One we follow is not a God who stands afar and dictates our lives, judging our steps and ready to call us out if we falter. He is a God who is near, who wants to help guide our steps since he can see the right path and ready to catch us when we are weak. This God, our Lord, he himself is our strength.
Because, as it says in Isaiah 40, he does not faint or grow weary. He is the everlasting God. And he chooses to give power to the faint and increase the strength of the one who has no might. Our strength doesn’t come in our youth or our health or our position in life. Our true strength comes by waiting on the Lord. Because he will deliver. If we wait patiently knowing that God is able, our Lord renews our strength. He makes it so we can run and not be weary or even walk and not be faint.
Sometimes we have to remind ourselves and each other that we are never going to make it on our own strength, even if the devil tries to make it seem that way temporarily. But with our strength in God, we are guaranteed to soar, like eagles.
So that was breaking it down. Now let’s look at the context:
This is a little different because there’s no context before this verse— it’s the first line of the song! Which makes it all the more powerful. In the very first line David tells God “I love you, O Lord, my strength.” He makes it clear from the very beginning where his heart lies and that he knows from whom he is getting his strength.
But what does he follow this up with, this declaration? He continues by recognizing that God is his everything.
Verse 2 has seven other ways he addresses God. Seven! And all of them begin with the word “my.” It’s like a kid who wants everyone to know that their dad is the best—the strongest protector and greatest hero. But the kid doesn’t call him the dad. He calls him my dad. Because the strongest and the best is there for that kid, personally.
In the same way, but even more so for us, we know that our father is the best. Not because we believe it but because he actually is the strongest and the best. And on top of that, he is a true father. Not a distant one, but ever near.
So verse 2 lists how David calls God: my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my shield, the horn of my salvation and my stronghold. And in between he repeats, my God, my rock and then says the seventh, in whom I take refuge. Our refuge. Such powerful imagery of who God is, personally!
For three of these— our rock, our refuge and our stronghold— Psalm 61 gives us a little more info: “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.” He knows that God isn’t unstable or untrustworthy. He is, has been and always will be, a rock, solid and immovable. Not only that, he is the rock who is higher than we are. His ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts higher than our thoughts as it says in Isaiah 55.
David knows that’s how he can stay steady despite living in the crazy world around him. Then, he continues by explaining why he is asking God to lead him to the rock higher than him— “for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.” Very similar to Psalm 18. Both are saying the same thing: we need our rock for he is our stronghold, our refuge. Which refuge broken down “re-“ is back and “-fuge” was talking about fleeing— so it means to flee back to. We know that no matter what God is our stronghold, the one we can flee back to anytime.
And when we’re there, no one can snatch us out of his grasp. As Jesus says in John 10, no one can take us from him. He clarifies by adding: “ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.” We are safe at home with him.
Another psalm, Psalm 71, adds a little more saying, “Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come; you have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.” The rock to whom we can continually come. In our life on earth, there is never a time when we can’t come to God. He is always there for us.
And Psalm 71 actually used another one of our seven describers in from Psalm 18—my fortress. In French, the word for strong is “fort” or fort. God being our fortress is literally a place of strength. God cannot be shaken. And when we are with him, we can’t be either.
So that’s four of the describers of God: he is our rock, our refuge, our stronghold, our fortress. Strong and constant, always there for us to come to. But he is also the other three of the seven describers: the horn of our salvation, our deliverer, and our shield. God isn’t passive in the background, only waiting as a strong tower for when we come running to him.
He isn’t just the defense defending us, he is the offense, actively seeking and going out of his way to bring us to safety.
So fifth, he is our horn of salvation.
Many years later, in Luke 2, when newborn Jesus is presented in the temple, they see a man named Simeon, who had been waiting for the consolation (or comfort) of Israel, waiting to see the Lord’s Christ. And when he saw Jesus, he gave thanks to God, saying that he could now die in peace because “my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” He saw the one through whom all of humanity could be saved—Jesus!
As it was said by Zechariah just a chapter earlier in Luke 1: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us.” The horn, a sign of strength and endurance in the fight. The fight to which our salvation, Jesus, purposefully came down from heaven to not only fight for us but save us.
Sixth, he is our Deliverer.
As Galatians 1:4 says, “he gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” He was sent to us to get us out! He gave himself—not anyone else, he himself—because of our sins and got us out of a darkness that we couldn’t get ourselves out of, that without him, we would have wandering in, forever lost.
And, seventh, the last of the describers of God, he is our shield.
As we are wading through the battlefield, we are protected. As our Savior is leading us out to take refuge in him, he is shielding us from everything that is being thrown at us, things that are trying to get us to stay on the battlefield. So that we’d eventually die. But we aren’t helpless.
Which leads to the next part of Psalm 18.
Now that we have a picture of how powerful God is, Psalm 18 goes on to talk about how God acts after we call on him, how he comes down powerfully from heaven, hearing our cry. And we recognize that he is our only hope. Verse 28 says, “For it is you who light my lamp, the Lord my God lightens my darkness.” And then it goes on to say “For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.” He changes everything!
When we see our Father, the strongest and the most powerful but also who chose to come down for us, we realize anything is possible! Nothing is hopeless! Psalm 144:1-2 actually summarizes it pretty well: “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.” That is how we make it!
We aren’t forever wandering on the battlefield. God is there, fighting for us and teaching us how to as well. We are warriors!
But if you noticed, Psalm 144 (which in fact had six of our seven describers of God) actually adds one other, which matches the end of our context, the end of Psalm 18 and what makes everything make sense— this one other thing is “my steadfast love.”
Strong and secure, but also the one who loves. A love that is steadfast. The last verse of Psalm 18, verse 50, says, “Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.”
This is the key!
This incredibly mighty and powerful God— our rock, our refuge, our stronghold, the horn of our salvation, our shield and our deliverer— loves us. With a love that is steadfast, that will never stop and can never be taken away. He is everything for us not out of a sense of begrudging duty, but because he actually loves us.
And because of his extraordinary love for us, we are able to know what true love is and how to love. We love because he first loved us, as it says in 1 John 4:19. Throughout the Bible, Old Testament and New, God doesn’t hesitate to let us know how much he loves us.
He declares in Jeremiah 31:3: “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Through time, from when he first made man to now and until forever. The tender love of our Creator, who tells us in Isaiah 43:“I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God.” Our God, our strength goes before us.
But that’s not all. The next verse says: “Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.” He tells us very clearly—“I love you”! But he doesn’t just say it. He does give Someone in exchange for our lives. The very well-known verse, John 3:16 says it’s because he loved us that he sent our only hope and his Beloved child. So we could have eternal life. So we could also be his beloved children on whom he lavishes his love, as it says in 1 John 3:1.
So he sent his Son and Jesus came, not as an expectant King or arrogant Teacher, but as a humble servant. A servant who washed the feet of his own followers because he loved his own, to the very end as it says in John 13:1.
He came for his Bride, the church. His love is the standard to whom everyone else is compared. In Ephesians 5, it says two times: “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.” It says it in verse 2 and then again in verse 25, when telling husbands how to love their wives as “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”
And the reason why Christ had to give himself up out of love for his Bride is so that “he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” He gave himself up so that we could be whole. From filthy sinners who were too weak to do anything to beloved.
He carried us out of the darkness and cradled us to him. He personally washed all of the sin off of us so that when he was done, he could step back and look at us, his chosen Bride, without any spot, any wrinkle, no fault. Not through any merit of our own, but because he loved us enough. So much more than enough.
So that was the verse in context. Now how does the beauty of this part of God’s Word change our lives:
So, how can we truly say “I love you, O Lord, my strength,” not just saying the simple words but meaning every bit of it, to the one to whom we owe our lives? How can we show him we love him?
Jesus answers that for us in Matthew 25:35-40: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”
To show our King, the King, that we love him, we love not only our brothers, but even to the least of these.
That’s why after it says “We love because he first loved us,” in 1 John 4, he goes on to say “If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot] love God whom he has not seen.” By loving those around us, we are loving God. But not just superficial love. The true love. God’s love. The love that Jesus had when he came for us, his Bride.
He tells us in John 15:12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you,”
The actions themselves may be hard on a daily basis, but the answer to how we show him we love him is simple: We love as Jesus loved.
Which brings us back to John 21.
Peter is looking at Jesus, not after having denied him at his death, but having told a now-resurrected-Jesus he loved him—three times. But that’s not the end of the story.
The end is when we can be with Jesus forever, him loving us, us loving him, without any sin to come in between us. But before and until that beautiful day, we want what Jesus wants: as many of his creation, his children, to be with him.
So Jesus tells Peter: “Feed my lambs.” After asking Peter again “Do you love me?” and Peter saying yes, Jesus says, “Tend my sheep.” And the last time he asks: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” and Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” so he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”
God does know everything. He knows if we mean we love him. But if we really love Jesus, then we love the ones he loves. His sheep.
When Jesus was traveling and teaching in the years before his death, in Matthew 9:36, it says when he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. This is how we show Jesus we love him: we love the rest of the sheep, harassed and helpless, the same way that Jesus loved us.
We direct them to Jesus, the Shepherd who found us. Our Lord, our strength, our steadfast love.
So, with reverence and with the utmost trust, we get to simply yet intimately say: “I love you, O Lord, my strength.”
Well, that’s it for this time. I pray this week is a wonderful one as you continually seek the Truth in God’s Word, that by its light we will know the right path to live as children of God— children that have an evergreen relationship with him.
Until the next one— same time, same place. See you soon :)
- Rebecca
Psalm 18, verse 1-3:
I love you, O Lord, my strength. 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. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
Psalm 18, verse 50:
Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.
