God who is a rock
Psa
18:2
The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
In
this verse David pours out a number of descriptions of the Lord. We've
previously considered the Lord as our fortress (or stronghold) and
as our deliverer and so now we focus on the Lord as our rock.
Perhaps the best way to remind ourselves of the nature of a rock is
to remember Jesus' parable of the two house builders (Mt 7:24-27),
everyone who hears these words of mine
and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house
on the rock. (v.24). In the parable when the floods
came the house built on sand was washed away but the one built on
rock remained firm. New York is a city
which is built on rock, which is why so many of its buildings go so
high they have a strong foundation. The picture conveyed is of a
firm, fixed and stable foundation.
The
picture of a deity as a means of support was not uncommon. Moses comparing
the Lord with the gods of other nations, said, For
their rock is not like our Rock (Deut 32:31). In similar
vein Isaiah wrote of the Lord saying, Is
there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one
(Isa 44:8).
Even
more, the picture of a rock is of an enduring or lasting support.
When we look at mountains made of hard rocks we realize they have
been there a long time! Isaiah wrote: Trust
in the LORD forever , for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock
eternal. (Isa 26:4). When all else is shaky
or moving, God can be depended upon to be the same, unmovable: Be
my rock of refuge, to which I can always go. (Psa 71:3).
The
heading over this psalm speaks of it being written by David when he
had just escaped from Saul. In the historical context we find, David
stayed in the desert strongholds and in the hills of the Desert
of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give
David into his hands
(1 Sam 23:14) and Saul and his men began
the search, and when David was told about it, he went down to the
rock and stayed in the Desert of Maon (1 Sam 23:25).
The place of refuge for David was evidently a rocky outcrop in the
midst of a desert. What a picture! All around is sandy wasteland that
is barren and unstable, and David finds his security in a rocky outcrop.
Thus is the Lord to us, a rocky, stable outcrop in the midst of a
dry and barren and unstable world.
In
the world everything is constantly changing. The early part of the
twenty-first century has been characterized by natural disasters as
well as human wars and conflicts and terrorist activity around the
world. It is an unstable place. Postmodernism is a way of thinking
that doubts and questions the assurances of the previous scientific
age. Cynicism is a common characteristic. The old adage of Been there,
done it, got the tee-shirt might now be changed to Been there, done
it, and it doesn't work. People have tried alternative life-styles,
for example cohabitation instead of marriage and are finding it
doesn't work! Constant change is because we have been unhappy
or even disillusioned over what has gone before. Where is something
that is stable, unchanging and trustworthy? Here He is! The Lord,
our Rock! All else changes but the Lord is unchanging. When
we speak of the Lord's love, His goodness, His kindness or whatever
other characteristic that He has, it is ALWAYS there, it never changes.
We may drift away from the Lord but when we come back, we find He
is still there, unchanging, still as faithful as ever, with his arms
of love reaching to us. He is our Rock! Hallelujah!