God is My Strength

By: Julie Maschhoff

Tuesday, September 1, 2026

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy and with my song I praise Him. Psalm 28:7

Have you ever felt extremely weak? Patients can feel weak after surgery, and they may need physical rehabilitation to regain full strength. It's common to feel emotionally weak after something sad or tragic happens in our lives. I remember feeling mentally weak after finishing one of my statistics exams in college. I was so drained, if anyone asked me my name, I would have only been able to mumble an incoherent answer.

We experience weakness in many ways, but spiritual weakness may be the most dangerous. In the book of Judges, we read about the complicated life and spiritual weakness of Samson. He was born in a God-fearing family, but before he was conceived, an Angel told his parents he would be a Nazirite. That meant he was dedicated from birth to serve God, but one of the main Nazirite requirements was never allowing their hair to be cut.

Samson ruled Israel with physical strength for twenty years, but he disobeyed God and pursued pagan women the entire time. Eventually, in a moment of spiritual weakness, he let a Philistine woman named Delilah cut his hair. That moment of spiritual weakness cost Samson his physical strength. He was blinded, humiliated, and weakened in every way. But his weakness prompted Samson to cry out to the Lord for help.

God answered Samson's prayer and restored his strength so he could wipe out the Philistine rulers. But imagine how different Samson's life would have been if he stayed spiritually strong. How do we do that? We stay spiritually strong by having a personal relationship with God and obeying His commands. But it's important to pray for spiritual strength daily. At times, we'll occasionally feel physically, mentally, or emotionally weak. But staying spiritually strong helps us face life's obstacles in God's power, not ours.

You must love the Lord your God and always obey his requirements, decrees, regulations, and commands. Deuteronomy 11:1 (NLT)

Our opening verse from Psalms tells us the Lord is our strength and our shield. But if we want His divine protection, we must obey Him! Obeying God's commands keeps us in His will, and it allows us to call on Him for strength. He may not remove us from every difficult situation, but He will equip and empower us to stay spiritually strong through it!

Lord, help us trust you more, and help us stay spiritually strong. Whenever we feel weak, strengthen us with your mighty power. Amen