Experience!

Experience!

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. Psalms 28:7 KJV

It is first a personal experience before it becomes a public testimony. Walking with God never keeps you from difficult situations; these situations only tend to prove the contents of your inner man. David was a man after God's heart, but he was first human, which means that what made him great wasn't first about what he was, but who he pursued after. If I will be a life used by God, I must sort out my pursuits and priorities. If they are not first about God, then I cannot lay claim to the promises on offer and I cannot claim the blessings of David. How would I live like Saul the king and what to end like David the shepherd?

And David's pursuits and priorities shine out from today's extract. You see, God is so many things to so many people, but who you call to on the day of trouble becomes your strength and shield. God help you if your strength is not the true One. We all need a place of strength and protection. There are dangers all around us. The world is not getting any safer, as man keeps thinking up new ways to hurt other men. Yet, in the midst of all these, God asks: who is your strength?

Check out the testimony after the personal experience. David could not have said he trusted in God and was helped, if he didn't first know God and how he worked in and for him. We can live on the altar and enjoy its outflow, but it will not do us much good if we do not move into a personal relationship with this God. We must not be content with just the outflows at the expense of the source. If I have the source, I have all the benefits. If I don't have the source, it really doesn't matter how much I acquire. 

So you see, the inner controls the outer. My personal relationship with God becomes a public testimony. He is MY strength and MY shield. My heart is settled on God. My heart rejoices in God. I have MY song to praise God with. You see how all I do flows out from who I know. It is so important to sort out my life's inner content before I can dare face the world. 

So, where do you stand? I hold on to God for dear life. I realise that life is too complex for me to face without the help of the One who is called Strength and Shield. As I call on Him, I am promised answers. I may not always get what I want, but what could be more than having God on my side as I face the uncertainties and inconsistencies of the world? In God is the only help I need. His time of favour is here.