Key Verse: 2 Samuel 22:2
And he said: “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer…”

The words of today’s reading take on much more significance because of the previous chapters in the life of King David and those around him. David has lived a perilous life. He has fled from King Saul and from his own son, Absalom. From his years as a shepherd boy, protecting his sheep from the lion and the bear, to the rebellions which could have taken his life, David knew very well that he needed a hiding place in a time of crisis. David had hidden in the cleft of a rock. He had known the protection of a fortress. Now, as he composes and sings these Psalms, he is not at all confused as to how he has been saved each time. He recognized that he was never protected by a physical rock or a fortress made of stone alone. He confesses that his true Deliverer in every case was the Lord God. We learn here that God is our Protector, our strength and our future.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord Jesus, I run into Your loving arms. You are my Rock, my Fortress, and my Deliverer. Keep me, I pray, from foolish human pride which would make me think, even for a moment, that I can go it alone. In Your strong Name, Jesus, I ask for Your grace 24/7, Amen!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:
David burst into song when he realized all God had done for him. I’ve done the same just now. As I sing “Rock of Ages, cleft for me; let me hide myself in Thee,” I think of my dear friend, George Beverly Shea, who, at the age of 104, went into the immediate presence of his Rock, his Fortress and his Deliverer, the Lord Jesus. George, or Bev, as he became known, was raised in Canada’s capital region and was a graduate of Annesley College in Ottawa, where my parents served. As Billy Graham’s soloist, he has probably sung to more people in person than anyone else (click here to hear him sing about the “Rock of Ages”). I can never read 2 Samuel 22 without also singing a children’s song, the words taken from this Scripture, and the music composed by my son-in-law, Bruce Stacey. My great-grandchildren began singing this when they were two years old. Click here for the God Rocks team with “The Lord is my Rock,” sung by my granddaughter, Sheryl Neilson.

Yours, singing for joy at the knowledge that “He is my Rock,”

David