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I will love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies. (Psalm 18:1-3)

Loving God is the essence of our relationship with the Lord. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Mat 22:37). Our love for the Lord is in response to His great love for us. “We love Him because He first loved us” (1Jn 4:19). Long ago, the Lord had promised that He would be available to work in the heart of His people, if they were to love Him properly. “And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deu 30:6). The context of David’s promises to love God indicates that He understood this promise from the Lord. “I will love You, O LORD, my strength.” God was the one David was trusting in to give him the strength that was needed to walk in a loving relationship with the Lord.

As we grow in awareness of the love of God, we learn to call upon Him to deliver us in times of trouble. “I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.” David’s promise to cry out to God in the midst of difficulties was based upon the Lord’s praiseworthy character. David had called upon the Lord many times before, and He had delivered him. David had come to know the Lord (to experience Him) as his mighty protector. “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust.”

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Excerpt from “Day By Day Grace” – Bob Hoekstra