I LOVE YOU

Psalm 18
I LOVE YOU
I love you, O LORD, my strength. (v.1)

"I love you” means the same in any language. Yet the three simple words, when expressed from the heart, mean far more than they can say. So when David begins with those words, they speak volumes. How appropriate that a lengthy and informative title should precede the psalm, and give us the backdrop.

"He sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul," reads the title. Some scholars believe the title as well as the contents of the psalm point to the middle period of King David's reign. He stood at the zenith of his power, with foreign enemies defeated (II Sam 8:1-14), and with the deliverance from Saul (I Sam 19-29) still fresh in his mind.

At last he was at rest. He surveyed his eventful life and saw in the broad sweep the hand of God's protection. In every danger he faced, every battle he fought, and every victory he won, he acknowledged God's strength and deliverance. "The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer" (v.2).

The reference to God as "rock" is of particular interest. During the years of flight from Saul, David took refuge among the rocky terrain of the desert, hiding in "desert strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph", and "the rock...in the Desert of Moan" (I Sam 23:14,25). Even in those perilous times, David saw God as his rock: strong, solid and safe.

We do well from time to time to survey the broad sweep of our life. Often events take on a fresh perspective when viewed from hindsight. We will no doubt see the hand of God in each phase and episode. Then we will lift our hearts in gratitude to God, exclaiming as the psalmist did, "I love you, O LORD."

From reflection comes gratitude; from gratitude comes love.