Strength in His NameНамуна

OZ, MY STRENGTH

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Nobel Prize-winning Russian writer whose words helped shape the 20th century, was arrested in 1945 for privately criticizing Stalin and sentenced to an eight-year term in a labor camp. Decades later, Solzhenitsyn spoke about that experience which the late Billy Graham recounted on his radio broadcast this way:

He said when he was in that prison for so long there came one time, and one time only, when he thought of suicide. He said he was not allowed ever to speak to his cellmate. For weeks on end, they could not speak to each other. And he said that his cellmate saw him growing weaker and weaker and more depressed and more discouraged all the time. And he said his cellmate took a little stick and, in the sand, or the dirt, in the cell, he drew a picture of the Cross. And Solzhenitsyn said, “At that moment, the whole purpose of my existence dawned upon me. Because I realized that Jesus Christ shed His blood for me on that Cross. That gave me the courage to live through my imprisonment.” (Billy Graham, September 3, 1975, radio broadcast)

In the strength He found in His Savior, Solzhenitsyn not only lived through that period of great trial, but he also went on to challenge secular power structures all over the world for their abandonment of God from public life. In his weakness, he experienced what the psalmist centuries before described:

How blessed is the man whose strength is in You,

In whose heart are the highways to Zion!

Passing through the valley of Baca (weeping) they make it a spring;

The early rain also covers it with blessings.

They go from strength to strength,

Every one of them appears before God in Zion. (Psalm 84:5-7)

The great missionary Apostle, Paul, also came to realize that the strength he needed did not come from himself. He endured an affliction so great that he recalled, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.” In the torment of his own valley of weeping, he found a new source of strength, recalling: (The Lord) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Still in the valley with nothing changed, Paul concluded, like Solzhenitsyn that what God provided was what he needed most. He wrote, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (12:10-11)

Solzhenitsyn, the psalmist, Paul, and countless others throughout the centuries have all gone from strength to strength in their times of greatest weakness when they turned to the One who is the source of greatest strength. David’s words when he was hunted down by his enemies reflect the power of turning away from personal weakness and toward God.

But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength (Oz);

Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning,

For You have been my stronghold

And a refuge in the day of my distress.

O [z] My Strength, I will sing praises to You;

For God is my stronghold, the God who shows me lovingkindness. (Psalm 59:16-17)

David wrote those words before He became king over Israel, while he was still fleeing from Saul’s attempts to murder Him. His was no mere hope that God would be His strength. He was experiencing the strong hand of God for Him day by day. It was so real and tangible, that David praised the Lord by calling him by this personal name, Oz, My Strength. It is a word that implies a comprehensive strength, yes, physical, but also personal, social, and political. David was going all on His trust that whatever strength he needed, it would come from God.

Moses also called God Oz, just moments after God parted the immovable Read Sea so that a nation could pass through safely. With Moses leading the chorus, all the people sang:

“The Lord is my strength (Oz) and my song,
he has become my salvation.” Exodus 15:2

Isaiah and Jeremiah also called out to Oz and found the strength they needed from the One whose powerful arm cast Satan and his conspiring angels from heaven, who forged creation, formed mankind, sustains the universe, deadlifted our sin from us, and conquered death.

When David at last sat upon the throne God promised would be his, and with his running days behind him, David remembered how he got there. That is when He wrote His great compilation song declaring God’s strong names. And how beautiful that he begins not with his exalted place, but with his adoration of His strong God.

“I love you, LORD; you are my strength.” (Psalm 18:1)

While Oz is the name most used to declare God My Strength, in this one circumstance, David used the Hebrew term ḥēzeq. It is a much simpler word for strength, but also more personal as David is the only one to use it. So, whether you call Him Oz or Hezeq, you can know God will lead from strength to strength those who humbly come to Him in their weakness.

SO, WE CALL ON HIS NAME

O Lord, you are Oz, my strength. I join with David in singing your praises. You know the valley of weeping that I’m journeying through, and you know my strength is gone. So, I turn to you…my strength is small but yours is great. Will you perfect Your strength in my weakness and help me go from strength to strength? Oz, show me your lovingkindness in my day of distress.

REFLECT

Because God revealed he is your strength, where will you stand your ground today?

Continue your discovery of the strong names of God on Day 3.