APRIL 3

OUR PERSONAL PROMISES

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Psalm 61:2

“From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

Psalm 27:5

“For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.”

Psalm 18:2

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Deuteronomy 32:4

“He is the Rock, His work is perfect;  for all His ways are justice,  a God of truth and without injustice;  righteous and upright is He.”

2 Samuel 22:2

“ And he said:   ‘The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;’”

1 Samuel 2:2

“No one is holy like the Lord,  for there is none besides You,  nor is there any rock like our God.”

Psalm 18:31

“For who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?”

Psalm 18:46

“The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted.”

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Our book for this month  is called “100 NAMES OF GOD”  written by Christopher D. Hudson.  Each day we’ll take one Hebrew name for God as given in the Bible to study and relate to.

TSUR YISRAEL

ROCK OF ISRAEL

2 Samuel 23:3-4

“the God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me:  ‘When one rules over people in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings grass from the earth.’”

Throughout history the people of Israel have been threatened and mistreated.  Attacked and enslaved by other nations, singled out by maniacal leaders with genocidal intentions, the Jewish people have faced thousands of years of insecurity.

So when we read that the great King David on his deathbed called God TSUR YISRAEL, “THE ROCK OF ISRAEL,” the words should make us all sit up and pay attention, because when wise people are facing their own mortality, they often have great clarity and are able to put things in amazing perspective.

In effect, David was saying that Israel would never be saved or sustained by great political leadership or military might.  Their security wouldn’t be found in alliances with other nations.  Ultimately, it was God who was Israel’s rock, Israel’s foundation.

What mattered: What would give security?  David saw the truth clearly.  There is just one rock…..  One place of security…..  One safe haven………One God.

Others have glimpsed this truth too.  When the thief on the cross next to Jesus realized that death was imminent, he no longer relied upon his criminal wits or delusional justifications.  With everything stripped away, he poured out his honest thoughts and desperate need to Jesus.  When Job lost his wealth and more importantly, all his children, he no longer cared about possessions.  He focused on finding meaning in God.  When Jeremiah was threatened with death and escape seems impossible, the prophet refocused his life on God, on finding fulfillment only in Him.

You may not be Jewish, and you may not be in the shadow of the valley of death.  Even so, the rock of Israel is YOUR Rock.  He’s the only sure foundation in life.

In what specific ways does God as your Rock give you security?

PRAYER

Thank You,  God, my Rock, for being the Rock of Israel, the Rock of Jacob, and the Rock of King David.  Thank You for being MY ROCK.  Please help me to remember that all other ground is sinking sand.  Amen

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