Word of Encouragement (01/09/2024)

"For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God? ³³ This God is my strong refuge and has made my way blameless. (2 Sam. 22:32-33)

Here David praises the LORD—YHWH (translated as the LORD in all capital letters), the God of Israel—to be the one and only true God. He was not simply making a baseless claim because he was on an emotional high. He knew YHWH to be real from numerous personal experiences. His experiences of God certainly included highly personal and private encounters with God through his prayers as we can see in many of David’s psalms in the Psalter. Religious experiences can indeed be self-induced through various psychological maneuvers, both conscious and subconscious. But we must not deny that there are genuine experiences of the reality of God and His presence. They may not serve as “proof” of God’s existence for other people, but neither can we dismiss them merely as purely subjective experiences that have nothing to do with reality.

But David’s experiences of God were not limited to the private, subjective realm. He made many inquiries concerning what course of action he should take in many dire situations, and God provided specific instructions and promises for his deliverance and victory, which came true without fail. When he was just a lad and while Saul was still solidly established as Israel’s king and Jonathan was a well-respected and popular prince, God anointed David as the next king. Despite all the odds that were stacked against him and all the dangers and setbacks he had to go through, he succeeded Saul as Israel’s king according to God’s promise.

But could David claim that YHWH was the one and only true God? Just because YHWH is real doesn’t mean that He alone is the true God, does it? True. But consider the implications of what David experienced of YHWH. What had to be true of Him to make David Israel’s king according to His promise? He had to protect him from Saul’s relentless pursuit to capture him and kill him. He had to protect him in the many battles he had to fight against the neighboring nations, who served other gods, while he was running away from Saul. He had to protect him even when he chose to reside among the Philistines. He had to fulfill His promise to dethrone Saul. How could He do all these things if He was not the sovereign Lord of history, working out all things according to the counsel of His will?

Of course, what David experienced only affirmed the peerless supremacy of God, which was demonstrated at the time of the exodus. The ten plagues that devasted Egypt were a demonstration of God’s sovereign lordship over natural elements as well as the gods of Egypt, who supposedly had control over them but were proved not to do so (cf., Ex. 12:12). How blessed we are that the LORD should be our God to protect, love, and care for us because Christ through His sacrificial love as saved us and made us His people!