I’M SAVED
Opening Prayer
Be still and know that he is God and is with you now.
Read Psalm 144
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
1 Praise be to the Lord my Rock,
who trains my hands for war,
my fingers for battle.
2 He is my loving God and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield, in whom I take refuge,
who subdues peoples under me.
3 Lord, what are human beings that you care for them,
mere mortals that you think of them?
4 They are like a breath;
their days are like a fleeting shadow.
5 Part your heavens, Lord, and come down;
touch the mountains, so that they smoke.
6 Send forth lightning and scatter the enemy;
shoot your arrows and rout them.
7 Reach down your hand from on high;
deliver me and rescue me
from the mighty waters,
from the hands of foreigners
8 whose mouths are full of lies,
whose right hands are deceitful.
9 I will sing a new song to you, my God;
on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you,
10 to the One who gives victory to kings,
who delivers his servant David.
From the deadly sword 11 deliver me;
rescue me from the hands of foreigners
whose mouths are full of lies,
whose right hands are deceitful.
12 Then our sons in their youth
will be like well-nurtured plants,
and our daughters will be like pillars
carved to adorn a palace.
13 Our barns will be filled
with every kind of provision.
Our sheep will increase by thousands,
by tens of thousands in our fields;
14 our oxen will draw heavy loads.
There will be no breaching of walls,
no going into captivity,
no cry of distress in our streets.
15 Blessed is the people of whom this is true;
blessed is the people whose God is the Lord.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Read today’s verses a second time, pausing at each new image as if you’re watching scenes from a film.Psalms are often full of wonderful, vivid images, communicat-ing deep theology and heartfelt response in picture language. We don’t know exactly what circumstances gave rise to this psalm, but they clearly fit what happens around Absalom’s re-bellion. Here are snapshots from David’s life—the soldier (1,2), the poet (3,4), the musician (9,10) and the shepherd (12–14). Each of these has its own visual expression of what it means for God to be Savior, and our place of strength.
For the soldier, it’s being properly trained for battle; for the poet, it’s thoughts about how much God cares for even little us; for the musician, the latest creation played on the finest musical instrument; for the shepherd, thousands of safe, well-fed sheep.
Then for me, the best of all—the cinematic sweep God takes from the highest to the lowest to save me—from above the heavens (5), down past the mountaintops, through the stormy thunder clouds (6), past the battlefields, plunging down into the deepest waters where I’m drowning (7). And God grabs me in the nick of time. That image of salvation will stay firmly fixed in my mind. I’m blown away byJesus leaving heaven and coming to a cattle feed box and a criminal’s cross to save me.
Apply
Who is God to you? What is your “visual expression” of him? How can that affect the way you live today?
Closing prayer
Thank You, Jesus, for who You are.
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