Strength #8—Praise for Strength

Yahweh deserves to be blessed because he has heard the voice of my supplication. He is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. Therefore, my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank him. Psalm 28:6–7

Every experience I have with you, O God, in some way teaches me of your strength and my weakness. By your power I live and move. You brought me into being by giving me a spirit, and you hold the atoms of my body together by your powerful word. So there is no room to “esteem humanity, in whose nostrils is the breath of life.” Without the spirit you’ve given me, I am but skin and bone. You have fitted me for my tasks in life and furnished me with the strength to accomplish them. You make my feet like the feet of deer that walk the mountain trails. You train me for the battle until I can “bend a bow of bronze.” You strengthen my understanding and undergird my resolve, so I can make choices that honor you and bring your grace into others’ lives. And in all this, you give me the “joy of a strong man running a race.” More wondrously still, I know “the surpassing greatness of your power toward me as a believer, strength that accords with the exercise of your immense strength which you brought to bear on Christ when you raised him from the dead and seated him at your right hand.” You answer me from your holy dwelling with the saving strength of your right hand. “Some boast in chariots, and some in horses; but I will boast in the name of Yahweh, my deity,” through Jesus Christ, my Lord.