Devotional: I Love You God

I love You, Yahweh, my Strength! (Psalm 18:2)

Do you love God, and why? And if you do love Him, can you tell Him? Can you say, “I love you God,” with all that is in you, and as a lover might be asked, “Tell me why you love me,” can you express to God what it is about Him that so draws forth the affection of your soul?

David unashamedly uttered his affection for Yahweh God because of His strength, His strength particularly as it was displayed in saving David from his enemies, being a refuge for him, a place of safety from those who would do him harm. In his “distress” he cried out to Yahweh and Yahweh answered him with a miraculous deliverance, reaching down out of heaven, so to speak, to rescue him from foes too powerful for him to handle.

David was not passive in this rescue. “In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall” (18:29). God was literally his strength. His own energy and might was not sufficient to quell the raging sea that came against him. He was empowered by the Powerful One who gave strength to his arms, who trained him for this battle, whose help made him great.

⁴⁶ Yahweh lives! Praise to my Rock! May the God of my salvation be exalted! ⁴⁷ He is the God who pays back those who harm me. (18:46-47)