We have seen God revealed to His people in many ways. In the book of Psalms, God is referred to as a Rock. From the word “Rock” we are given many insights into the help and strength that we receive from God.
Psalm 19:14 says, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.”
The word “strength” comes from the Hebrew “Tsûr.” God is my Strength and my Redeemer.
In each of the 24 verses that refer to Jehovah Anî Tsûr, God is revealed as the defense for His people. In Psalms 144, David says the Lord is his rock and then he describes what that means to him.
Psalm 144:1-2 NKJV Blessed be the Lord my Rock, … My lovingkindness and my fortress, My high tower and my deliverer, My shield and the One in whom I take refuge…
Look at these powerful words one at a time.
First, “The Lord My Rock” — Jehovah Anî Tsûr
The word Tsûr means rock, mighty One, Strong, and Strength. Throughout his life, David found the Lord to be his Rock, strength and protection. God alone gave him the ability to go out against the lion and the bear. God gave Goliath into his hands.
The Lord is My Rock!
Can you make that your statement of faith and trust? God is the only One Who makes me strong. As David considers God his Rock, he begins telling what that means to him.
“The Lord is My Lovingkindness” — Jehovah Anî Hë-sëd
Hë-sëd — means mercy, kindness, goodness, merciful, lovingkindness, and favor. When you consider the Lord your Rock, He is all of that.
“The Lord is My Fortress” — Jehovah Anî Me-sû-dāt
Me-sû-dāt — means fortress, stronghold, a place of defense, a strong place. The Lord your Rock is a place where the righteous run and they are safe. Consider all of the strong things that come against you. The Lord your Fortress is stronger than any stronghold you may face. No wall of Jericho can stand against Jehovah Anî Me-sû-dāt. My God is a strong defense for His people.
“The Lord is My High Tower” — Jehovah Anî Miś-gâb-bi’
Miś-gâb-bi’ — a high tower is a refuge, retreat, and a place that is above and secure. The name of the Lord is a High Tower. His name is exalted, but He is a place of safety that is above the flood and the raging waters. When you use the name of the Lord, He brings you up and makes you secure. Start speaking the name of Jesus and you will notice that those things that have assailed your body, mind and soul begin to fall down. When His name is highly exalted, the righteous are set free from their oppressors. Go ahead and lift up the name of the Lord.
“The Lord is My Deliverer” — Jehovah Anî Me-pāl-ti
Me-pāl-ti — means deliver, an escape and place to be saved, a place of security. Jehovah Me-pāl-ti is the Lord your Deliverer. He is able to get you out of all of your disasters. When you feel trapped by the schemes of the enemy, run to the Rock of your salvation and find Jehovah Me-pāl-ti to be the Lord your Deliverer. He always provides a place of safety and security.
“The Lord is My Shield” — Jehovah Anî Mā’-gin-ni
Mā’-gin-ni — a shield is a barrier for self-defense. The Lord your God is your defense against all of the evil that the enemy can devise. He is your shield and buckler. This is a hiding place in the midst of the conflict. You can lift up the Lord My Shield and find that the fiery darts of the wicked do not get through. Satan’s intended darts of evil are defeated by Jehovah Anî Mā’-gin-ni, the Lord My Shield.
“The Lord is My Refuge” — Jehovah Anî Hā-sî’-tî
Hā-sî’-tî — is the refuge and place of safety where we can take shelter. The Lord your Rock is a refuge and place of safety. In the Old Testament, cities of refuge were established as places of protection. When you have been accused by the devil, you can run to the Lord who is My Refuge. No demon or devil can get through your Refuge and place of Safety.
What is David saying about the Lord his Rock?
Some people have never understood the depth of what we are being shown. God is the source of the strength that you need. He is the safety and shelter you have been looking for. He is not hard and cold toward you, but is loving, merciful and kind. He is the defense and barrier against the many things that come to steal, kill and destroy.
As you begin thinking about the Lord your Rock, you need to see how He has helped His people.
In the book of 1 Corinthians we get additional revelation of what God our Rock has done for His people.
1 Corinthians 10:1-4 NIV84 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that Rock was Christ.
When Israel escaped from the hand of bondage and oppression in Egypt, they were covered by the Lord God Almighty. They found the SPIRITUAL ROCK that accompanied them. They were under the Lord’s lovingkindness, protection, and provision. He mercifully took care of them and sheltered them from the heat of the sun and the cold of night. He gave them food from heaven and water from the Rock that followed them.
God is showing us that He is Jehovah Anî Tsûr. He is the Lord My Rock.
Moses had been on Mount Sinai and had been walking in the presence of the God of Glory.
God had come so close that Moses was radiant with the glory of God. Moses had a deep desire to know more and see more of the God of Glory. He had enjoyed the blessing of drinking from the Rock that followed them. He had been sheltered and hidden in the strength, defense, and kindness of God. God had been his Fortress, High Tower and Deliverer.
Now Moses wanted more.
Exodus 33:18 NKJV And Moses said, “Please, show me Your glory.”
God had already promised to go with Moses and the people of Israel and give them His blessing, covering and protection. Every promise He had made to their ancestors was going to be fulfilled. The Lord our God is faithful. Moses had a hunger to know more, get more, and go deeper with God.
“Please, show me Your glory.”
Exodus 33:21-23 NKJV And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”
God provided a place in the Rock where Moses could know God more fully. It was a prepared place of access for him to come near to God. After telling Moses what he was to do, God told Moses to come up to Mount Sinai alone the next day. This was the time Moses was to come closer to God.
Exodus 34:5-8 NKJV Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.
There was a place provided where Moses could come near and know that God was His rock, strength, and salvation.
God has provided for us a place in the Rock Jesus Christ that we can come into and see and know the glory of God.
There is a place in Jesus Christ where you can find safety, refuge, and salvation. Jesus told Simon Peter, “ On this Rock, I will build My church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
Psalm 18:2 NKJV 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.
Isaiah 28:16 AMP Therefore thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am laying in Zion for a foundation a Stone, a tested Stone, a precious Cornerstone of sure foundation; he who believes (trusts in, relies on, and adheres to that Stone) will not be ashamed or give way or hasten away [in sudden panic].
Jesus Christ is My Rock and Foundation.
Whatever you are up against, there is a secure place in Christ Jesus that you can trust in, rely on and adhere to. Everyone who is founded on that Rock shall not be moved. The storms can come, the winds may blow, but your house will stand when you put all of your trust in Jehovah Anî Sûr — The Lord My Rock. When all of the world is sinking sand, you can stand on Christ the Solid Rock.
The Lord is My Rock and My Salvation