Scripture
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.
Psalm 18:2 NIV
Question
How do you need the Lord to be your refuge today?
Psalm 18 - I Love You, Lord, My Strength
Psalm 18 is a favorite psalm of many people. This psalm has been on the lips of people of faith for thousands of years—people who were desperate for God’s refuge, protection, direction, and perspective in their lives.
Psalm 18:2 says: 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.
Another translation reads: The Lord is... my high tower.
Psalm 18:2 says: 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.
Another translation reads: The Lord is... my high tower.
Why a “high tower”? These words seem to echo the ones we find in Proverbs 18:10: The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe. A high tower is a place of refuge when the enemy attacks. It would be a place of security, protection, and safety. It would be a point of reference to help you know where you are based on the position of the tower. And a tower provides the height for watchmen to gain perspective on approaching danger.
This psalm is the cry of a heart who knows God is all of these things and is saying to God in worship: “I love you, Lord (v. 1) and you are my refuge, strength, protection, and place of perspective.”
One person who prayed Psalm 18 was a young Jewish author named Etty Hillesum. On September 7, 1943, she read Psalm 18 and wrote on a postcard: “The Lord is my high tower . . . We left the camp singing.” Then she threw the postcard from a train car she was on—bound for the concentration camp in Auschwitz. Those were the final recorded words we would read from her. On November 30, 1943, she died in Auschwitz. She was 29.
Later, her diaries of her experiences in a concentration camp were translated and published. They chronicled her perspectives on the horrors of Nazi occupation along with the beauty of God’s world. In some of her final moments, she trusted in God and proclaimed to the world: “The Lord is my high tower.”
May we do the same as we follow Jesus today.
This psalm is the cry of a heart who knows God is all of these things and is saying to God in worship: “I love you, Lord (v. 1) and you are my refuge, strength, protection, and place of perspective.”
One person who prayed Psalm 18 was a young Jewish author named Etty Hillesum. On September 7, 1943, she read Psalm 18 and wrote on a postcard: “The Lord is my high tower . . . We left the camp singing.” Then she threw the postcard from a train car she was on—bound for the concentration camp in Auschwitz. Those were the final recorded words we would read from her. On November 30, 1943, she died in Auschwitz. She was 29.
Later, her diaries of her experiences in a concentration camp were translated and published. They chronicled her perspectives on the horrors of Nazi occupation along with the beauty of God’s world. In some of her final moments, she trusted in God and proclaimed to the world: “The Lord is my high tower.”
May we do the same as we follow Jesus today.
Prayer