“The Lord is my strength.” What enabled King David to make this declaration so confidently? If you’ve read any part of the Old Testament, you know he didn’t have it easy. He needed God’s help to navigate many rough waters, and so do we. Whether we’re weathering a personal storm or overwhelmed by the problems of everyday life, we may feel that without a divine power boost, we’ll never make it through. So, how can we get it?
Let’s look at David for a second. He was a teenager when he was anointed king. Imagine the shock he must have felt. One minute he was out in the boonies, guarding sheep, and the next, the prophet Samuel declared him the future king of Israel. To make matters worse, he had to wait about fifteen years for his coronation, mostly running for his life from King Saul.
Did David ever doubt? Of course he did, as his psalms clearly show. Yet even in his youth, David turned those doubts into trust and experienced God’s strength (as in his battle with Goliath). What was his secret? I think Psalm 28:7 offers a clue: “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.”
David chose to trust God, enabling him to experience God’s help. Faith is always the key to receiving anything from God – whether it’s salvation or the strength to make it through the day. When we believe God is with us and willing to help, and we ask him to intervene based on that belief, we open the door for him to act in our lives.
How do we know David trusted God? We see it in his refusal to kill King Saul when he had the chance. He chose to do things God’s way, declining to take matters into his own hands. Trust always leads to obedience, and David followed God’s direction, even at a high personal cost. He had to live in hiding from Saul, who was bent on destroying his life.
David was far from perfect, yet he’s described as “a man after God’s own heart.” What does that mean? I believe it refers to his resolve to trust and follow God, no matter what. His faith led him to experience divine help, enabling him to say with confidence, “The Lord is my strength.”
I realize that faith can be challenging, and I’m sure David would agree. Reading his psalms offers a glimpse into why he trusted God so deeply. David was always honest about his doubts and questions, but they never became his focus. Instead, he focused on God Himself, his attributes and actions, and the reasons the Lord is trustworthy. That is an excellent roadmap for us to follow.
No matter what we’re facing, God sees our situation and is willing and able to help us walk through it. If we trust him, as David did, we’ll be able to say with confidence, “The Lord is my strength.”