Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Psalm 59 comes in a very dark time for David. Saul had sent men to watch David's house, and he was looking to murder him. He was looking to kill him. David was being hunted.
In the middle of that threat, in the middle of all of that, he does something really profound here. He speaks to God. He prays, and he speaks to God as "my strength." He speaks to God as "my fortress."
He Didn't Let Fear Consume Him
I'm sure, obviously, that he was afraid, but he did not let those fears consume him. Instead, he anchored himself in something that was greater. He anchored himself in something that was more powerful—certainly more powerful than his enemy. He anchored himself in God Himself.
He doesn't say here, I have the strength. He doesn't say, I can do this. No, he says, "God, You are my strength and You are my fortress."
I Have Strength vs. He Has Strength
The difference between saying "I have strength" and "He has strength"—that is a massive difference.
I believe if you are a Christian, that you are going to persevere in your faith until you meet Jesus someday. I believe that is a certainty and your hope is anchored in that certainty. But the reason that you will persevere is not because of your own persevering strength.
The reason that I believe you're going to persevere is because of God's preserving grace.
Preach Truth to Your Emotions
David had to remember that he had to preach truth to his emotions. To his fear, he had to preach the truth that God was his strength.
Martin Lloyd-Jones used to say that people need to learn how to replace emotional thinking with evangelical thinking, or Gospel thinking.
Emotional Thinking vs. Gospel Thinking
Emotional thinking, for David in this time, would have been: I'm surrounded. I'm afraid. I am doomed.
But evangelical thinking, Gospel thinking, truth thinking, biblically informed thinking—was what he said: "I am surrounded, but God is my fortress. I'm surrounded by an enemy. But even more importantly, I am surrounded, I am hedged in, I am protected by God Himself."
What We're Waiting For
I see this a lot. I see people very attached to their phones, and I see them checking their phones throughout the day. They're waiting for something. They're waiting for a message. They're waiting for a text. They're waiting for a like, they're waiting for a comment or a response. You can see their peace sort of rise and fall based on what is coming out of this phone, based on what comes through as a notification.
Psalm 59, verse 9 proposes a much different kind of waiting, because waiting on circumstances that you have no control over—if you've ever done that, you know that it is absolutely exhausting.
Waiting on God Will Steady You
But waiting on God is not exhausting. Waiting on God will actually steady you. When your mind runs ahead of you—and it will—I'd encourage you to slow down and to say to yourself, to say to God what David said here:
The strength you really need is not self-generated. It is only found in God. Because Psalm 59, verse 9 says: "You, God, are my strength. I wait for You to rescue me. For You, O God, are my fortress."
