When You Cannot, God Can
Psalms 18:2-3, 16, 48
The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
David says not only is God a strong building I run to in times of trouble but he also builds as it were a fortress around me where I am. Then God is the deliverer both against my accusers and a way out for me. He is the one man army for me complete with praise when he wins the victory for me. Out of no personal effort of David was he delivered. It was all God, who both builds the life, defends it, then adds value to it. Note God's response to one man's cry for help. Just one man "who sought the Lord" at all times in Psalm 34:4 produced an unimaginable response. Is it not hard to think that a God that big would respond to just a life that is here today, gone tomorrow. Just a life that is a breath or a mere thought compared to the eternity of God. God did not deliver because of who David was but rather because of who God is. So the qualities God saw good in David's life were God's.
He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.
Notice the forces against David; the devil launched an all-out attack against one man. The value of a life is measured in eternity based on a relationship with God. God's response reaches to the foundation of creation. For the whole story of the Scripture since Adam and Eve in the garden long ago has been of God's relationship with man. His response is equal to that of a lover, stronger than a father, and more than that of a negligent creator. His response to death, the forces of hell, and even David himself was to dress him in clothing from God. Isaiah 61:10 describes being clothed in "garments of salvation" and being dressed "in a robe of his righteousness." This was the devil's fear in the garden when he said the tree of good and evil must be eaten; he was afraid that "you will be like God, knowing good and evil" and that man would not "surely die" in Genesis 3:5. Death was not certain because the devil knew the heart of God as one who had rebelled but had not been destroyed as of yet. David's salvation demonstrates that his life is God's knowing both evil and good from the Lord. Not to say that God brings evil, but rather what the devil meant for evil God turned around for good as Genesis 50:20 testifies. Thus, the devil is a liar because God makes him so. For this reason, God's answer to Job, David, and the rest of his children has never been why but always who. The Lord knows what you are going through and who you are going through it with. You are never alone to him.