“I love You, O LORD, my strength.” The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Psalm 18:1–2)

Similar to a fortress, David reflects on God being his “stronghold.” A stronghold was a place built up to provide a strong defense and a launching or staging area for military raids. While a fortress offers complete protection, a stronghold is a place of strength. One thinks of the Wild West, when outlaw gangs would set up their strongholds in mountainous regions, high places overlooking canyons and passes, with gunmen at strategic vantage points. The only access was through unprotected, exposed areas, where invaders could be easily picked off.

In the first century, the Jews built just a stronghold on Masada, a large mountaintop plateau southeast of Jerusalem. When the Romans conquered Jerusalem in 70 A.D. it took three years to breach Masada in order to subdue the remaining Jews who had escaped there. The only access to the top was over narrow, openly exposed trails up the steep slopes. Roman attempts to scale the mountain were met with a hail of rocks thrown down from above. Eventually the Romans had Jewish slaves, previously captured in their conquest of Israel, build an enormous ramp to the top. They succeeded because the Jews at the top would not throw down rocks and kill their own. Behind a large battering ram hoisted up the ramp, the Romans were able to break through. That was a stronghold, to withstand the unrelenting, overpowering Roman army for so long.

David’s strongholds were not as large or fortified as Masada, but he knew how to make his camps secure. In the same way, he knew how to overcome the strongholds of others. At the beginning of his reign as king over the united tribes of Israel, he captured the Jebusite stronghold of Zion, which became Jerusalem, the central city of Israel (2 Sam 5:6-7). One only needs to see the city today to see how its situation on the highest hill in the area would make for a good stronghold. David (and King Solomon) fortified the city with walls that made it extremely difficult to breach, and the city stood for hundreds of years.

David knew strongholds. So when he says, “The LORD is my stronghold,” he knows whereof he speaks. God, Yahweh, is the place where he found protection and from where he could go forth in strength. From there he was able to subdue all the enemies of Israel.

Lord, You are my stronghold. Just like David, I can go forth from Your presence in Your strength to face my life situations.