Psalm 20:7: “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; / But we will remember the name of the LORD our God.”

January 26th, 2024 by Pastor Ed in devotional

David began this psalm with a prayer request, asking God to bless us, as believers, with His defense and strength. The Hebrew word that is translated defend literally means to make us inaccessible in a place where Satan cannot attack us. David understood that God is always available to help and guide us in the way we should go. He reminds us that we are to lean on, cling to, and rely upon God and not our own resources. David was probably talking about faith and not just positive thinking, as he looked back on his experience with a giant named Goliath. That giant had a very positive attitude; he fully expected to kill the young shepherd boy, David. But David had faith in a person—God Almighty. Paul says in Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

We will be faced with Goliaths from every direction in our lives. Will we look for solutions from our own limited, puny resources or will we look to God? I love the old story of a seasoned woodsman who was accustomed to cutting wood the traditional way, with his manual handsaw. He had no use for “newfangled” technology. But when a local hardware shopkeeper told him of a power saw that could cut 10 cords of wood per day, the aging woodsman decided to give it a try. The next day the woodsman returned to the hardware store tired, sweaty, and visibly upset. “You said this thing would cut 10 cords of wood a day. I worked until I was blue in the face but could only cut 5.” “That can’t be,” replied the shopkeeper. “Let’s see what the problem is.” He took the power saw, inspected it closely, plugged it in, and flipped the power switch. The woodsman, startled, looked at it and exclaimed, “What’s that noise?” We have all exerted hours of our own energy to no avail, only to finally remember that we need to plug in to Jesus, flip on the power, and begin walking in His strength.

“LORD, we call on You to be the source of our strength today.”