We all become tired sometimes, and I don’t mean only physically. There is another kind of tiredness that comes when you have been carrying something for a long time. You have prayed, you have tried to make the right decisions, you have kept going, but the situation has still not changed. After some time, you begin to feel that you simply do not have the same strength anymore.
Many times our prayer in such a place is, “Lord, please give me strength.” I have prayed this prayer many times myself. But David says something in the Psalms that takes us even deeper. He does not only ask God to give him strength. He says that God Himself is his strength.
This week’s Hebrew phrase is Adonai Uzzi (יְהוָה עֻזִּי, pronounced: ah-doh-NIGH oo-ZEE), meaning “The LORD is my strength.” David writes in Psalm 28:
“The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.”
Psalm 28:7
In Hebrew, David says, Adonai uzzi u’magini—“The LORD is my strength and my shield.” I love these words because David is speaking from experience. His life had taught him that there were situations he could not overcome by his own strength.
David faced Goliath when he was still a young man. Later he spent years running from Saul. He knew war, betrayal, loss, family troubles, and times when his own life was in danger. Yet through all of this, David kept returning to the Lord. He learned that when his own strength was not enough, God was still enough.
I think this is something many of us need to learn. We try very hard to be strong. We want to hold everything together, take care of our families, solve the problems in front of us, and keep moving forward. Sometimes we even think that being a person of faith means we should always feel strong.
But this is not what David is saying. Adonai Uzzi is not a declaration that I am strong. It is a declaration that the Lord is my strength. There is a big difference.
We find the same truth in the New Testament. Paul tells the believers in Ephesus:
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might”
Ephesians 6:10
He does not tell them simply to be strong. He tells them where their strength must come from: “Be strong in the Lord.”
Paul knew this personally. Near the end of his life, he remembered a difficult time when others had abandoned him. Yet he could say,
“But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me…”
2 Timothy 4:17
I find these words very encouraging. People had left Paul, but the Lord had not left him. When Paul needed strength, the Lord stood with him.
This also helps us understand one of Paul’s most famous words:
“I can do all things through Messiah who strengthens me”
Philippians 4:13
Paul was not saying that faith meant he could accomplish anything he wanted. He knew what it was to have plenty and what it was to have very little, and through both he had learned that Messiah would give him the strength to remain faithful.
Maybe that is what you need to remember this week. You do not have to prove to God that you are strong. You can bring Him your tiredness, your weakness, and the things that feel too heavy to carry, and say with David: Adonai Uzzi. Lord, You are my strength.
When your own strength feels small, His has not become smaller. The same Lord who strengthened David and stood with Paul is still faithful today.
Prayer:
“Lord, thank You that I do not have to carry everything in my own strength. You know where I am tired and where I feel weak. Today I say with David: Adonai Uzzi—the LORD is my strength. Help me to trust You and not depend only on myself. Yeshua, strengthen me and help me remain faithful in whatever is before me this week. Amen.”
Blessings from Israel,
Pastor Israel