The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
    my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
    and I have been saved from my enemies.

Psalm 18:1-3

The psalmist was delivered from evil many times, both in the form of earthly enemies and in the form of his own weaknesses, and yet he achieved greater things than simply being delivered.  The psalmist was the greatest of earthly kings, an unlikely choice as it happened, but great nevertheless. He established justice in a land torn by conflict and then presided over a time of great prosperity for his people; a time of building within God’s kingdom on earth.

As we go through our lives, I wonder how often we contemplate the similarities between David and ourselves. We also have the influence of evil in our lives, an influence that may take various forms at various times.  We are also unlikely choices to be representatives of God on this earth. We too have been charged with building up God’s Kingdom on the earth, although ours is a different sort of kingdom than David was leading.

In our time, the kingdom we must build is to be built up by making disciples of Jesus Christ, disciples who will be willing to set aside the things of this life and follow Him.  David’s kingdom was something of a prelude to the work that we must do, and his kingdom is no longer on the world stage as it once was, but the kingdom of Jesus Christ is an eternal one; how much greater is our work!

Our God is our deliverance, our rock and our strength.  He will sustain us through our trials, deliver us from evil and provide us with the strength to accomplish the work He has given us to do. With His strength, we cannot fail!