Think Again
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 18:2 NASB
Rock – First, David establishes the idea of security. “The Lord [YHVH] is my rock,” uses the word sela’. YHVH is my fissure, my place of safety, my hiding spot. But just a few words later David makes us think of something else, unfortunately translated with the same English word. In English, the verse appears to say the same thing. A rock is a rock is a rock. But not in Hebrew. First, sela’, then tsur. A rock is not always a rock. Hartley’s entry in the TWOT helps us see the significant difference:
Yahweh himself is many times called a Rock; I Sam 2:2 says, “There is no rock like our God.” Yahweh is a Rock, not in being represented as an idol carved from stone, but in that he is totally reliable. He is a sure source of strength and he endures throughout every generation. There is no unrighteousness found in him; he is completely upright (Deut 32:4; Ps 92:15 [H 16]). God is a Rock of salvation (Deut 32:15; Ps 89:26 [H 27]). He is a strong refuge in which his people may take shelter from any difficulty (cf. Ps 94:22). In distress the psalmists cry out to Yahweh so that they may experience the security of his steadfast endurance (Ps 27:5; 28:1). ṣûr thus appears in theophoric names: Zuriel (Num 3:35, “my Rock is El”); Zurishaddai (Num 1:6, “my Rock is Shaddai”). The man who relies on God as his Rock will not be greatly moved (Ps 62:2, 6, 7 [H 3, 7, 8]). When Israel strays, Isaiah exhorts them to “look to the Rock from which you were hewn” (Isa 51:1). [1]
So why didn’t David use tsur in the first instance in this verse? Certainly tsur is critically important. God is the paradigm case of reliability. He is the absolutely sure foundation of all that is. He endures. His steadfastness never fails. Why not use these associated ideas at the beginning of the description? Why does sela’ come before tsur?
Maybe the answer is more about us than about God. Maybe we are the ones who gravitate toward the imagery of power before we recognize the necessity of compassion. We want the God of the Exodus plagues to destroy our enemies and set the world right—as long as we are on the winning side, of course. But that isn’t God’s approach. He begins with compassion and mercy, with slow to anger forbearance, with hesed multiplied. Should He begin with the mountain of strength we would all be lost. Yes, we must have His reliability and refuge, but too often we crave a god who will do our bidding with displays of dominance. David corrects us. First compassion, then reliability.
Topical Index: tsur, rock, reliability, Psalm 18:2
[1] Hartley, J. E. (1999). 1901 צור. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (762). Chicago: Moody Press.
I want to share an application for this difference in “rock” as it applies to the “warfighter”. I teach a group of military professionals. The propensity of students is to seek better ways to apply the “strength” of the warfighting capabilities they are charged to lead. One thing that I am continually reminding them is that we are “peacemakers” first and foremost—however, when peace fails, they must be ready to take it to the enemy, swiftly and completely! A nation led by a tyrant maintains a military to control his people and crush the enemy outside his boundary (offensive focus). A nation led by a servant leader maintains a military to protect his people from tyrants and also protect other nations with this same force (defensive focus). Quite often we, military professionals, see ourselves as a source of strength first instead of a source of compassion and mercy (ie the Department of Offense instead of the Department of Defense). The interesting part about the use of the word rock by David in Psalm 18:2 as both sela and tsur is that they both seem to be more about a good defense. In military theory the defense is the strongest form of warfare. Another way of putting what Skip has revealed to us is that it is more advantageous for us to avoid being offensive, YHVH has an army of angels to take it to the enemy, swiftly and completely in His time!