Word of Encouragement (11/21/2023)
And David spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said, "The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, 3 my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence. (2 Sam. 22:1-3)
David goes on to praise God as “my God...” (v. 3). When he says “my God,” it highlights the fact that he prefaces every title of God in this long string of divine titles and imageries with the first person possessive, “my.” It may sound a bit like a cliche, but we can sense David’s deep, personal relationship with God. He is bold enough to think of God as “my God”; he glories in this personal relationship he has with God.
We can see this as a reflection of David’s deep affection for God. There is a world of difference between thinking of God as God and as “my God,” isn’t there? God is God to everyone whether anyone believes in Him or has a relationship with Him. One can even believe in God’s existence and still have no personal relationship with Him (like the Deists). But everything changes when one thinks of God as “my God.” God is no longer viewed just as a “superior Being” or “higher Power” who sits on His throne in heaven, minding His own business, to whom he is no more than just “a number.” He senses that there is a special connection between him and his God.
Of course, this would have been nothing more than a grand delusion on David’s part if God did not condescend (con- [together] + descend = to stoop down to our level to commune with us) and offer Himself to be his God. How could David or anyone dare to call God his God if God did not initiate the relationship by establishing a covenant with him? To have a personal relationship with God is too great a privilege for anyone to just claim it. If David could confidently refer to God as “my God,” it was possible only because God granted him a covenant and showered him with many blessings and favors. David could address God as “my God” because God chose him and called him “My servant.”
But we know Someone, who is greater than David, David’s greater Son—Jesus Christ, who addressed God as “My Father.” God spoke of Him when He established a covenant with David: “I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.... I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son (2 Sam. 7:12-14). In a veiled prophetic language, God was speaking of His eternal Son, not just a human being. We know this because this Figure would reign forever. (Here, God was not speaking of a dynasty that would last forever. If that were true, God could have applied the same promise to David. But this promise was given to one particular Offspring of David, not to David.)
We are united to Jesus Christ through faith. Because of Him, who is the Son of God, we are adopted as God’s beloved children. Not only can we call God “my God,” we can call Him (in Christ and along with our fellow saints), “our Father.” What a tremendous and unimaginable blessing this is! You don’t have to feel distant from God. You may not feel worthy of having this relationship with God. But God is the One who initiated this relationship with you. So, you can respond with humble faith and call Him, “my God and our heavenly Father!” Draw near to Him because He has drawn near to you!