Hello Beloved,

 We have been studying the “epithets” for God. As a reminder, the Oxford English Dictionary defines an epithet as “an adjective or phrase expressing a characteristic quality or attribute of the person or thing mentioned.” Last month, we considered the epithet of God as “Fortress, Refuge, and Stronghold.” This month, we will consider the epithet of God as “my Strength.”

In being “my Strength” God exhibits His mighty power as the omnipotent God Who is able to resist all who oppose Him with any force they may bring against Him. As Strength, God can give His people perseverance, toughness, and fortitude. He is able to support them mentally, physically, and morally in any adversity, temptation, danger, or challenge that may be faced in this life.

After God delivered His people from Pharoah’s Army by opening the Red Sea and then closing it on their adversaries, Moses sang, “The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him” Exodus 15:2 (ESV). In Nehemiah 8, after the people listened to God’s Word read and explained, they cried out in contrition and remorse. Nehemiah encouraged them with the words, “. . . Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength” Nehemiah 8:10 (ESV). Consider the first words of David in the eighteenth Psalm, “I love you, O LORD, my strength” Psalm 18:1 (ESV). Further, David opposed the reasons to fear with the truth of God as his strength when He writes, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1 (KJV). The wisdom of Proverbs reminds us that this strength is found as one follows the “way” of the Lord. “The way of the LORD is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity” Proverbs 10:29 (KJV). In Isaiah, Jesus as the prophesied “Servant” is to restore Israel to the Lord and be a light to the nations as God is His strength. “And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him— for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength" Isaiah 49:5 (ESV). After hearing the revelation and plan of God, the prophet Habakkuk praises God, ending his prayer with, “GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places . . . ” Habakkuk 3:19 (ESV).

I conclude with this thought on strength from depth, “The iceberg is steadied because the great mass of its bulk is beneath the surface. So the life of the strong man must go deep. Underneath the surface lie the great principles that endure—truth and justice and rectitude and the things that make for wholesome life and character.” (Bible Illustrations - A Treasury of Bible Illustrations). May the Lord be the strength in your life.

Until next time, this is Pastor Daniel writing, “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.”