I love you, Lord; you are my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies. Psalm 18:1-3 NLT
Psalm 18 opens with David declaring his love for God, and rejoicing because God has proven to be his place of safety, the one he calls on when he is under attack.
The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. Psalm 18:4-6a NIV
Have you ever been there, overwhelmed, drowning in despair, and feeling like a wave of destruction is about to break and completely wipe you out? Our circumstances may be different from David’s and different from each others but we’ve all faced those moments when we are entangled in the pain and feel like we’re just one step away from falling apart. In those moments, when we are distressed and we cry to God for help, does God really hear us?
From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. Psalm 18:6b NIV
Yes! God hears us when we cry out to Him! But what does He do? How does He react?
The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them. 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. Psalm 18:7-15 NIV
What a beautiful picture of God’s response to our cry for help! When he hears our cry, anger rises up in Him. He loves us so much that it angers Him to think that the enemy is causing us such distress! He does not want us to be overwhelmed or to feel like we are drowning! He sees our pain and He rushes to our rescue!
He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. Psalm 18:16-19 NIV
If you are God’s child, He delights in you! He feels your pain when you are struggling! He is your place of safety!
Use this link to read the rest of Psalm 18.