2 Samuel 22:2–4: “And he said: ‘The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; the God of my strength, in whom I will trust, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; my Savior, You save me from violence. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.’”

July 1st, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

This chapter contains David’s song of praise (also recorded in Psalm 18), which was probably composed shortly after the battle on Mount Gilboa where King Saul fell. It marks the fullfillment of the promise made to David when the prophet Samuel annointed him to be king over Israel. David gives us a beautiful list of metaphors that describe God.

David describes God as a rock of refuge, where we are secure from all hostile attacks. As believers, we have learned that we never have our backs to the wall but rather we always have our backs to the Rock. In addition to safety, a large rock provides a place of shade and rest in a hot, desert wilderness. As a young shepherd boy, David probably sat many times in the shadow of just such a rock, leaning his back against it to rest. David also wrote in the Psalms that the rock was a place of sweetness, there was honey in the rock. To the believer, sweetness and life are found together in the Rock, even when the world offers only bitterness and death. God is our place of safety, our shade from the heat of day, and our place of refreshment.

The Hoover Dam, built on the Colorado River in the Black Canyon, was completed in 1936. It was both the world’s largest hydroelectric power generating station and the world’s largest concrete structure. The Hoover Dam is an arch-gravity dam, designed so that the more pressure applied against it, the more it is wedged into the solid rock, and thus the stronger it becomes. That is a good illustration of how our own walk with God should work. If our lives are really built on the Rock, then the more pressure exerted against us, the more our lives will be firmly wedged into Jesus our Rock, and the stronger we will stand.

“LORD, please be our Rock of strength, rest, and sweetness today.”