EXALT GOD - PART 3

MONDAY 04 SEPTEMBER 2023

The central idea in today's article is the necessity of hosting the Lord as your rock - by the revealed salvation of God's love in Christ. Moreover, in order to properly establish the view of God being our rock, I will briefly examine the exposition I gave in part two of this topic - concerning the verdict, "The Lord lives!" More below!

Reference: Psalm 18:46 New International Version (NIV) "The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!"

The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock!

What we have here is a remarkable link of connection based on the Lord's immortality and who He is to David. Although they both form a simple message, their underlying significance is rightly connected. The nexus between the two weighty sentences guards against any possible misconception, meaning that, without any atom of doubt, David gave us real and mature conclusion about who God is (His foreverhood) and His manifestation being actuated as a fixed, solid foundation (Rock) that continued well as a succour in his personal life.

So the subject of focus in this article is: Praise be to my rock, which is the next in the order of Davidic declaration according to our referenced Scripture. Since the expression "The Lord lives" notifies us of His "foreverhood," the Lord being David's rock is based on the personal experiences he had encountered with God, in which God continued to prove Himself so in his life. Beloved, the Lord is compassionate as the rock. His stability, faithfulness and firmness are as unshakeable as the rock.

Today how do we get to the point where we do not just declare and personalise the notion that "The Lord is my Rock", but also go beyond its presumption - by means of observable experience?

Firstly, through the "theoretical" knowledge of His will: How much time we spend in looking into God's Word matters. The Bible says, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom..." (Colossians 3:16 NKJV). Now watch this: The positive effect of having the Word in a rich manner is "being of one mind with the Lord" as consisting in the power of our spiritual understanding, which helps us to exercise confidence in no other but God alone. In doing so, we are bound to experience the Lord as our rock in our personal lives.

Secondly, through the "practical" knowledge of His will: By understanding the knowledge of God's will, we can put it into practice. In Matthew 7:24-25, Jesus says, "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock" (NIV). What about those who have the "theoretical" knowledge of His will, and yet, do not practise it? Jesus also said, "But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash" (Matthew 7:26-27 NIV).

Thirdly, by acknowledging the Lord as the source of our righteousness: Psalm 89:26 says, "And he will call out to me, 'You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation'" (NLT). The Lord being the rock of your salvation, equally means that He is the source of your righteousness. If you are in Christ, He is your all-round Saviour, and therefore, you have His righteousness. To that effect, Pauline epistle says, "And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith" (Philippians 3:9 NKJV). To be found in Christ is to acknowledge Him as the source and foundation of God's righteousness, which is the new nature at work in you; then, believing and relying on Him as your rock, by heeding His Word.

Beloved, avoid putting any confidence in the righteousness of your own, which is of the Law, and be firmly built on God's righteousness by grace, functioning with unshakeable conviction, on the basis of faith in Christ alone. This is how to establish the Lord as your rock in your lifestyle. Stay tuned for part 4. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - 2 Samuel 22:2; Psalm 18:2; Isaiah 28:16; Psalm 78:35.

Exuberant Declaration: The Lord is my rock; I shall not be moved. I live to strengthen my faith in Him through prayer, godliness, saintliness, confidence and unwavering trust. Blessed be God!