When we place our trust and confidence in people, sooner or later, we will be left alone and disillusioned. When we seek satisfaction in material things, our hearts will be unfulfilled. When we worship money, we run after a god who only provides fleeting happiness. False gods always leave us abandoned and empty.

As Alexis de Tocqueville recorded his famous observations on America in the 1830s, he wrote of a “strange melancholy that haunts the inhabitants . . . in the midst of abundance.” Americans believed, and still believe, that prosperity brings happiness, but, as Tocqueville noted, “the incomplete joys of this world will never satisfy [the human] heart” (Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods).

David reminds us in today’s passage that there is no God besides the Lord!

2 Samuel 22:32
“For who is God except the Lord? Who but our God is a solid rock?”

There is no steady and secure refuge except the Rock! He alone is the remedy for the God-shaped void in every human heart. The answer to the two rhetorical questions in today’s passage, “For who is God except the Lord?” and “Who but our God is a solid rock?” is a resounding, “No one and no thing!” God alone delivers meaning and fills our fearful hearts with courage.

Father, show us where our fear is a “reward” for the false gods we chase. Help us turn from the gods that leave us hopeless and afraid and run to you—the Rock. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Additional Resources

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