David found strength in the Lord his God (1 Samuel 30:6). It is precisely this that we fail to do when we crumble under the strains of life. We fail to find strength in the Lord our God. We return to Psalm 27, with the victory David eventually enjoyed in 1 Samuel 30 still imprinted upon our minds. Even in a situation like this, David considered his God, his Light, his Salvation, his Stronghold. As he saw the awesome, seething power of His God, he rested in the confidence that God is completely capable of preserving him in that situation. He found strength in his God because he knew his God. Who could fear anything if this God is filled with kind intentions toward you and has immeasurable power and resources to carry them out? Even confronted with evil men who wanted to stone him, he was confident that as they raised stones in their hands above their heads, God was able to cause them to twist an ankle and fall down helpless in pain. Their weakness before God was actually quite ludicrous to him.

Even if an entire army came against him, he didn’t know what God would do, but he was confident that the outcome would be the very best outcome, down to the smallest detail, because his great and fearful God protected him with a jealous eye. Nothing could possibly go wrong, even in the most explosive situation where split-second timing is critical.

It is with this that I come to verse 4. While many have suggested times at which David may have written this Psalm, the timing is not critical. We have seen that he had already armed himself with this mindset before he even became king. He was able to refine his thought to the point where he could identify exactly what it is about God that so drew out his (David’s) adoring trust. It was not the fact that God lives forever that completely overwhelmed David, even though that was an immense comfort to him. It was not that God is armed with incomparable power, even though that thrilled him. It was not that God knew everything, even though that gave him humble confidence. There was something deeper and greater; something more arresting and alluring about God that captured David’s mind, heart and devotion as he considered his God.