Receive his Provision and Protection

He is my steadfast love and my fortress,

my stronghold and my deliverer, 

my shield and he in whom I take refuge,

who subdues the peoples under me. (Ps.144:2) 

This is the verse immediately following the acknowledgment by David, that it is God, his rock, who trains his hands for war and his fingers for battle. But notice how many times he uses the word, my. I count six. God is my rock, my steadfast love, my fortress, my stronghold, my deliverer, my shield. How would it be different if David substituted the words a or the for the word my? So very different because it would no longer be personal. Battles are best fought, not with concepts but with a Person. David grew to know God personally as he let him lead him. He got to know God intimately when he ran to him for refuge, when he asked him for wisdom or when he bared the depths of his soul before his God whom he grew to know and trust. 

How would it be different for you if you proclaimed this verse over the internal or external struggles you face? In the magnificence of who God is, he delights for each of his blood-bought children, to call him, my God. When waves of accusation come at me, he is my shield. When confusion clouds my ability to know what to do, he is my refuge and deliverer. When I have experienced setbacks, he is my rock and fortress. When I have messed up, he is my steadfast love. I can proclaim that this is who God is even before I experience him in these ways. In that way, my faith is strengthened and he is honored as who he is and always will be.