The king shall joy in Thy strength, O LORD;
and in Thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!
Thou hast given him his heart’s desire,
and hast not withheld the request of his lips. Selah.
For Thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: 
Thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.
He asked life of thee, and Thou gavest it him,
even length of days forever and ever.
His glory is great in Thy salvation:
honor and majesty hast Thou laid upon him.
For Thou hast made him most blessed forever:
Thou hast made him exceeding glad with Thy countenance.

For the king trusteth in the LORD,
and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved.
Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies:
thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.
Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger:
the LORD shall swallow them up in His wrath,
and the fire shall devour them.
Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth,
and their seed from among the children of men.
For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device,
which they are not able to perform.
Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back,
when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them.
Be Thou exalted, LORD, in Thine own strength:
so will we sing and praise Thy power.

The joy of the Lord is my strength. I delight in the salvation of the Lord because He alone is mighty to save, and I stand in awe that He cared enough about me to save me. I like verse 3, “You come ahead of time with blessings and goodness.” This reminds me of Isaiah 65:24 “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” God doesn’t wait for me to ask Him my petitions, but He anticipates them with a ready answer. He is already working on my behalf before I even think to pray. A lot of times I don’t even know what I ought to pray for, but He knows the need, and He goes to work right away to meet that need. I’m so glad God doesn’t wait for me to recognize my need.

Verse 7: I trust in the Lord, and through the mercy of the most High I shall not be moved. In other words, my steps will always be certain. Sometimes in life my foot slips out from under me, in the pool, in the shower, and even on the trail. But spiritually I am on sure footing, for my feet are on the Rock that is Christ Jesus.

Verses 8-12: I don’t pray precatory prayers upon my enemies like David did, but this one thing I do: I trust God to defend me when others would seek to do me harm, lead me astray, or destroy my testimony. I don’t need to fear what other men may say about me or do to me, but just keep my eyes fixed on Jesus.

Verse 13: And so we end the psalm with praise to the Lord God. May the Lord be exalted in His own strength, and we will sing and praise Your power. I am weak, Lord, but You are strong. I am nothing, but You are everything. I am lost, but You are the Way. I am confused, but You are the Truth. I am dead, and You are my life. Lord, I praise You for who You are, and I thank You that You care about me more than I could ever imagine.

Photo taken on Skyline Drive, VA, 2014