Psalm 59:16

Psalm 59:16

But I will sing of your strength;

I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.

For you have been to me a fortress

and a refuge in the day of distress.

God is a refuge (Ps. 62:8), a stronghold for His own. No matter what the circumstances in a person's life, God's children can always run to their loving Father and find His faithfulness proven. No task is too difficult for God (Job 42:2; Dan. 4:35), and no earthly or heavenly power is so great as to dismantle His.

A great hope for God's people - indeed, the hope - is that God is strong. It is because of God's strength that He offers grace in redemption (1 Cor. 1:18) and in preservation (2 Cor. 12:9-10; Ps. 42:8). God's might is the very song we sing, our only prayer (Ps. 42:8). We are totally dependent on the power of God for all things (2 Pet. 1:3-11).

These precious promises are our full assurance. All we are and all we have hangs on the power of God, and God does not fail. Therefore we rejoice, we praise Him, we love Him, we seek. And we sing. From the dawn of each day, our hope is secure, so at every sunrise we have every reason among every creature to sing.

Psalm 54:4

Psalm 54:4

Behold, God is my helper;

the Lord is the upholder of my life.

Oftentimes when we most need something, we see that God is that something. There are two ways we can go about this. The incorrect way is to make God into who we want Him to be so that He can fill our needs. A right approach, however, is one in which we realize that we are far too weak to do anything about our circumstances but that God is not; He is the Remedy. Therefore in our time of need, He is the helper; in death He upholds us.

David could not get a firm grasp on this until his life was in danger (v. 3). He needed a Savior, and that Savior was the Lord. It was not merely God's help that David sought; it was God, the Helper, the Upholder.

We need not seek individual gifts. It is unsatisfying and foolish. Rather, at all times let us seek that Giver, the God who sees and satisfies. He will be an unfailing Refuge amid times of evil. He will bring comfort by His own goodness and faithfulness. He is the Upholder.