“From the end of the earth will I cry unto Thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Psalm 61:2
It is one thing to know intellectually that God is our rock, our salvation, our shelter in the storm. But who truly experiences it, proves it, lives in the reality of it? Certainly David did, for he wrote of it extensively, and proved it on the battle field, on the throne as king, and in the sanctuary, worshipping God. How did he prove it?
It began with the heart of David. When the Lord told Samuel the prophet that he was to go to the house of Jesse the Bethlehemite, and there to anoint one of his sons to be king, Samuel was very afraid. He knew that if Saul learned of such an act, that he would be killed by Saul. But there was another concern of Samuel, a problem that God alone could solve. How would he know, among the several sons of Jesse, which one was to be anointed? The Lord answered that question by declaring to Samuel as he was looking at Eliab, one of Jesse’s sons, “Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as a man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) What was it that the Lord saw in the heart of David, the youngest son? In the book of Acts, we find where the Apostle Paul quoted the Lord’s words: “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after own heart, which shall fulfill all My will.” (13:22) If there is one thing that we discover in David from a youth it is that he had a heart for God, one that panted and thirsted after God, who sought God, to worship and serve Him. God was for David the dominant reason and means for living. His heart was seemingly always in pursuit of God. We find this same kind of heart in the Apostle Paul, when he wrote: “Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Phil. 3:8) Here is a man like David, and other psalmists, and many saints of old, who had a heart for God, who would declare: “My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God.” (Psalm 42:2) David’s experience of knowing God began with his response to the revelation of God to his heart. That which he saw and learned of God caused him to go forward, run towards, and pursue the ever-deepening, and increasing, knowledge of Christ.
There is another reason for which David came to know God in specific ways, and proved Him. Beyond having a heart desirous of the things of God, David was a receiver of the truth of God. It would be as he mediated upon God, and worshipped Him, that God began to reveal Himself in specific matters. For example, David learned the truth that the Lord was his Shepherd. He also learned the truth that the Lord was his Keeper, his Guide, Protector, and Provider. As David learned these truths, he learned to specifically take them and use them to trust God in specific ways. His Psalms are full of phrases like, “…the Lord IS my Shepherd.” Or “The Lord is my rock and my salvation.” (Ps. 62:2) Why would he need to know these truths about God? It would be so that he could trust God according to the truths. How did David do this? How did he take the truth, and use it, to place his trust in God?
First of all, he approached the matter of God in the absolute sense of believing. He wrote, “He ONLY is my rock, and my salvation. He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.” David would then take his stand upon every truth that he learned, waiting ONLY upon God, “…for my expectation is from Him.”
Dear Father, Be all to us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.