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. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies. (Psalm 18:2-3)
When we see the word “horn” in Scripture (the Hebrew word is קרן keren), it is commonly used to denote the source of strength, power, anointing, and in this case, salvation. When the prophet Samuel traveled to Bethlehem to identify the next king of Israel, it was with a horn of oil that he anointed David to be that king. The point being, David understood this horn-related concept in a most literal way. Thus, David acknowledged that the LORD was his source for all — defense against all enemies and by whom his ultimate deliverance and salvation would come.
He was so confident of the LORD, in fact, that even before the victory came, he thanked God for salvation from his enemies. In other words, he celebrated something that had not happened as if it was an accomplished fact. This is an attribute that David exhibited more than once: when he confronted Goliath he said, “This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you … that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s” (1 Samuel 17:46-47).
David’s relationship with God was such that he didn’t just hope that God would deliver and save, he knew it to be a certainty. Why else would he have faced off against a physically superior foe, armed only with sling and stone? When he had the opportunity to take Saul’s life and refused to do so, it wasn’t because he was weak; his strength was that he had full confidence that God would, in His time, deliver him from all his enemies. David was not disappointed either because that is exactly what happened.
Likewise, you and I can and should exhibit the same confidence that the LORD will deliver us from all our enemies. The same God who defended David defends us, and so, whatever our situation may be, let us all call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised, the horn of our salvation.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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