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Sometimes we need reminders about God. Life blurs our vision of Him. We think He does not care about hat bad experience we went through. We start to believe Satan’s lies like “God is not good. God just wants to restrict you.” So we need to recapture a clear vision of Him.

Psalm 18:2 might be the most packed verse in the Bible about God’s characteristics. It says:
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” So let’s take these one by one.

· My rock– The Lord is a solid foundation on which we can build our lives. Though storms may come, we will come through them because of the solid rock.

· My fortress – Ancient people fled into the fortress when an enemy threatened their city. There, they found protection they did not have outside the city walls or even within the city. The Lord is our fortress who protects us from the enemy’s assaults.

· My deliverer – This portrays someone who releases a prisoner from a jail or a captive from a slave owner. Deliverance happened through paying a price or breaking into the prison to open a way for escape. God did both of these in sending Jesus. We are no longer slaves to sin. He continues to do His delivering work in our lives spiritually and physically.

· My God– This phrase simply reminds us that we have someone who is great and supreme over us. We might resent this if we value our own personal autonomy above everything else.
However, when we accept that the realities of life often overwhelm us, it is a great comfort to know God rules over it all.

· My rock in whom I take refuge – Here is a little twist on the rock theme. Usually we don’t think of taking refuge inside a rock. However, many ancient fortresses were made of rock. Or they sometimes found refuge in caves made out of rock. Yet a refuge is slightly different than a fortress. In a refuge we find a safe place. In God, we find a safe place to be ourselves and come to Him for peace from the trials of life.

· My shield– This is another protecting image. Unlike a fortress however, the shield assumes you are in the battle. You are fighting the fight. Yet even in the midst of the battle, God is your shield. We will never know how much God protected us in daily life until eternity.

· The horn of my salvation – This could refer to the announcement of our salvation. The Israelites used loud horns to warn, call to arms or celebrate. Or it could mean the security of our salvation. The horns of an altar provided a place of refuge. If someone had their hands on the horns, an enemy could not strike them down until a judge heard the dispute and rendered judgment. We might experience discouragement in our salvation or even doubt it. Yet our salvation is secure as we hang on to the horn of God’s salvation.

· My stronghold – Finally, there is the stronghold. This is similar to the fortress and refuge. Yet it may refer to the strongest part of a castle defense. It may refer to the doubly protected place inside the fortress. This gives us a picture of God protecting us even when tragedy strikes our lives or something very difficult happens. We still have the stronghold of the Lord who will see us through even death to life.

So wherever you are at, I pray that one of these realities about God might encourage you in life today.