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Psalm 18:2
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
Our Lord is truth and in fact is known as the “God of truth” because His divine essence is characterized by nothing but the truth (Isa. 65:16). Divine attributes and metaphors and titles related to the truth of the Lord include immutability, light, and Teacher. Because God is immutable—unchangeable—He exists as the standard of truth and cannot go back on the truth that He has given us (Mal. 3:16). Since He is light, He is only truth, not possessing the darkness of sin or the shadows of deception (1 John 1:5). As Teacher, God instructs us with perfect clarity (Isa. 30:20).
That brings us to another metaphor for God related to His attribute of truth as well as to other attributes such as His omnipotence—His being all-powerful. Psalm 18:2 is one of many biblical texts that give us this metaphor—namely, that God is the Rock of His people. It makes good sense for the biblical authors to call the Lord our Rock. For millennia, human beings have used rock at the foundation of their buildings because of its stability and resistance to change. Eternal truth cannot change, and if the Lord cannot change, then it is fitting to describe Him with creational metaphors drawing on the things around us that are seemingly unchangeable. Thus, God is our Rock.
We noted above that the metaphor of rock is also related to God’s power. That comes out with particular clarity in Psalm 18:2, where David the author couples the rock imagery with descriptions of the Lord as our fortress, deliverer, and stronghold. In those days and long thereafter, people used rock to construct secure fortresses for the defense of a territory. It takes great power to breach the walls of a stone fortress, and well-constructed strongholds can be nearly impregnable. Thus, rocks and stones as metaphors communicate well the strength of God, especially His strength to protect His people from their enemies. John Calvin comments, “Those whom God intends to succor and defend are not only safe against one kind of dangers, but are as it were surrounded by impregnable ramparts on all sides, so that, should a thousand deaths be presented to their view, they ought not to be afraid even at this formidable array.”
Of course, God as our Rock has the power to safeguard us completely only if He is also unchanging truth. If He were not unchanging truth, His promises to protect us could fail, and it could be that He lied when He told us about His unconquerable strength. Since God is our Rock, He is absolute truth and absolutely able to deliver us.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
John Calvin writes, “Whatever afflictions befall us, we may always have recourse to God, and may be fully persuaded that he has virtue and power to assist us in different ways, according to the different methods of doing us mischief which the wicked devise.” Let us ask God to fully persuade us that He is our Rock and that He is full of truth and power to aid us.
For further study
- 1 Samuel 2:2
- Psalm 144:1
- Isaiah 26:4
- Luke 6:46–49
The bible in a year
- 2 Kings 6–7
- John 4:31–54