Give Him Nine
Psalms 144:1-2 NKJV
1 Blessed be the Lord my Rock,
Who trains my hands for war,
And my fingers for battle—
2 My lovingkindness and my fortress,
My high tower and my deliverer,
My shield and the One in whom I take refuge,
Who subdues my people under me.
One of the amazing things about reading the scriptures for years is that you are constantly seeing something you have never seen before or seeing things in a new light. This happened to me as I was reading Psalm 144, a psalm of David.
In these first two verses, David expresses nine things that the Lord is to him or has done for him. Nine! That doesn’t seem like such a big number until you do it for yourself. Can you think of nine things that the Lord is to you or has done for you?
David calls God his Rock. Rock, being the strong, steady constant in his life. God is the one who trains David’s hand for war and his fingers for battle. I get having your hands trained for war, maybe to be skilled with a sword or hand-to-hand combat, but I am not sure about trained fingers for battle. In any case, David credits God with helping him in physical conflict.
And David continues calling the Lord his lovingkindness. This word is also translated mercy, goodness, kindness, and faithfulness, and reveals aspects of God’s character that David depended on. God is to David a fortress, a high tower and a deliverer. David was obviously involved in great battles and conflicts that were much more than verbal in nature. Starting with the lion and bear, David faced physical danger for a great part of his life. And we can see that David was dependent on the Lord for protection. The protection theme continues with David declaring that God was his shield and the One that David went to for refuge. God was the one who subdued people under him. David had to unite a divided nation when he replaced Saul as king over Israel, but God was once again helping him.
Even though the overarching theme of David’s praise was to the God who protected him and helped him in the battles he faced, the main point remains. David could express who God was to him and what God did for him.
Application
As an exercise, can you think of or write down nine things that God is to you personally? And don’t be concerned if you are struggling here. But this is a great exercise in awareness of how you relate to God. I know that for my family and me, God has been the One who has helped us over the years. He has been our healer and provider. He is the One who guides us and has given us favor so that His kingdom can be advanced. God has been merciful to us and faithful even when we wavered. God has loved us, and for me personally, has taken me back even when I disregarded Him for years. His forgiveness and grace have sustained us through the years, and His Word and His Holy Spirit give us hope for the future. That is more than nine, but when you stop and think of all God has done, nine won’t be so hard after all,
Prayer
Thank You, Lord, for saving me and for all You have done for me. I will be praising You throughout eternity!